Summer Camps
Table of Contents
Give Archery a Try This Summer
According to the American Camp Association (ACA), over 11 million children and adults attend camps each year. Many of these camps do their best to offer a wide variety of activities ranging from kayaking to spelunking, while archery has consistently proven to be a popular favorite. In fact, according to a survey the ACA conducted in 2011, roughly 80% of residential camps offered the opportunity to try archery.
Advantages to Trying Archery at a Summer Camp
New archers begin in a friendly low stress environment
Camp venue provides range space, bow, arrows, target and other equipment
Instead of range fees, the price for lessons is usually included in overall camp fees
Archery lessons are typically given by an instructor
Although archery is a favorite pastime, most camps focus on a variety of activities and do not concentrate on archery. Because of this, instructors may not have as much experience in archery or in specialized techniques that will help archers avoid injury from poor form. If you are interested in trying archery through summer camps, you should contact the camp organization to ask if they employ instructors certified by USA Archery.
An archer in a summer camp will commonly have access to two inexpensive kinds of bows: a simple recurve or a compound-style Genesis bow used widely in National Archery in the Schools Program because of their versatility with archers of any height. Because camps are seasonal, the archery gear may be used once a year and may not be kept in ideal condition.
The American Camp Association website contains information on thousands of accredited camps across the country, of which, 1500 feature archery. Use their advanced search feature to find a camp that will help you discover archery.
