How do you make the US Shooting Team

[3B43]

A buddy and I are having a 'discussion' about this---could somebody answer it:

How does one make the US Shooting Team (compound) and represent the USA @ the World's?

A martini is ridding on the answer!

R

[Huntmaster]

You should have shot at the World Target Team Trials in Conyers, GA at the end of May. You win one of the top three spots, you compete.

Here's the results:

http://www.usarchery.org/event/event/1299

[Archery Mom]

There are quilifiers for each World Event to make up the teams, top three travel and 4th is the alternate. But let me also throw this at you, the Jr USat team this year was taken to Venezuela this year for making the JR ASAT Team.

[3B43]

OK, but can ANYONE go to the US Trials, or do you have to have a 'FITA resume' to show up and shoot? I can't see them allowing someone who can't break 1300 to shoot.

[P1r@t3]

Anyone is welcome to show up and shoot for the Trials.

[Archery Mom]

ANYONE and Everyone are welcome, We follow FITA Rules and all you need is a NAA membership.. We are not Exclussive, we like having everyone come out and play.. Your Arhcery resume only grows as you play..

[archerymom2]

We're local, and my son shot. He's just a cadet, so he had to aim at the trees to hit 90m. But he had a great time, and got to shoot along with the best archers in the country! Great motivation!

[3B43]

I lost the bet! I thought you had to 'qualify' to attend . . . Since I'm shooting decent FITA scores, maybe I'll show up next year. Where are the qual's next year?

[CHPro]

Next year will be FITA Field World Championship Trials. Possibly in OH where they held the recent NAA Field Nationals, though don't know that for sure (radman should know). FITA Indoor and Outdoor target Trials and Championships are held in odd years (doesn't conflict with Olympics which are held every 4 yrs during even-numbered years) so there won't be a Trials for those again until '11. You'll have a couple more years to practice up for those . Great opportunity though to start boning up on FITA field rules so you can try those out next summer.

>>------->

[3B43]

Thanks Guys! I shot a 1353 last week and am having LOTS of fun w/this! Shot a personal best, yesterday @ 50m, and afterwards played with lenses/clarifers, but a 3X/no clarifer works best. My bow/arrow set-up works GREAT, I just have to learn how to shoot the damn thing!

[limbwalker]

Lord, if I needed a "fita resume" before I could show up at a world/oly. trials, they probably still wouldn't let me shoot. I know JOAD bowmen who've shot more events than I have... Certainly more full fita's

It is true that you do need to shoot a qualifying score to be admitted into the Olympic trials (at least in the past), but it is a pretty pedestrian score for most experienced shooters (600/720 @ 70M for recurve men).

Anyone who has a real chance to make the team will eclipse that score by 40 points or more easily. Mainly serves to meet FITA requirements and keep the field of archers at a manageable level.

But for world championships, bring your bow and show up! I think that's one of the great things about this sport - the accessibility of top archers and national level events. Not many sports allow you that kind of access.

John.

[3B43]

Let me explain: I was a member of the US Long Range Shooting Team ('03) and in order to attend the 'trials' (in '01), you had to submit a resume. The resume listed shooting events you had competed in AND YOUR SCORE. You had to have shot @ least THREE (3) of these events (major 1000 yd match's) and shot the minimum score, in order to be 'invited' to the trials (5 days long, 1 day of practice and 4 days of 60 shots/day @ 1000 yards). I 'assumed' the archery trials would be the same.

I might just 'bone up' and attend . . . it be loads of fun!

R

[Serious Fun]

If I can comment to the general public on making a “USA shooting team”.

There are many USA Archery Teams. http://usarchery.org/
There is the Olympic Team with recurve bow only. There are also FITA World Championship Teams for youths in the year or their 18 birthday or younger. There are also Collegiate World Championship teams. All require USAA membership.

For the majority of USAA member there are adult men and women FITA member association World teams.
FITA World Championships http://www.archery.org/ take place in indoor, outdoor and field. FITA World championship teams have been selected via a trials tournament process. USA Archery also sanctioned team to take part in FITA World Cup Tournaments as well as FITA Continental Championships and World Ranking Tournaments. For many FITA Cups, Continental Championships and Ranking Tournaments the archer need only ask to represent the USA and be willing to fund entry fee, trip and uniform. Some that are USAA funded events have many archers request to take part. Should more than the quota amount of archers request to take part, a ranking system base on past performance is used. I understand that the USAA athletes are working on an updated ranking system. Some events don’t have quota to take part, only to be a part of the actually 3 person FITA member association team. There are some other events also that show up that have USA Archery Teams like World Games.

I suggest that the purpose of making a USA Archery team is to perform well at the competition.
To do well, it helps to compete internationally to learn how to travel, and perform in a foreign land. I suggest if one would like to make a FITA World Championship team, a good strategy would be to take part in a few international competitions on the way to making a World Championship Team.

Specifics
The FITA Continental Association the USAA belongs to is COPARCO http://www.coparco.org . Since COPARCO is such a large geographic area, six world ranking tournaments are offered each year, this year in Mexico, Guatemala, USA (Arizona), Puerto Rico, Venezuela and El Salvador. For Indoors Face to Face in Europe is popular (I am not sure about the member association quotas if any) also our own World Archery Festival in Vegas is popular even though the format is not strictly FITA. Field is a bit more difficult to find international events but FITA Field World Ranking http://www.archeryranking.org offers some insight. Note that events hosted by other FITA continental association are often open to all.

Opportunity
Jr US Archery Team and Sr US Archery Team: These “Teams” are programs as much as they are teams. After competing in a series of ranking tournaments, the top ranked are named to “USAT” and receive recognition, uniform shirts and sponsor benefits. Perhaps someday USAT will evolve into a world team ranking system also.
Another opportunity to get a feel of world competition is to be a volunteer at the 2009 Youth World Championship that takes place in Ogden Utah in mid July.
Lastly, arguably the most accessible FITA World Ranking Event is the 2010 Arizona Cup with has been nominated by COPARCO to again be one of the six COPARCO FITA World Ranking Tournaments in addition to FITA World Cups and FITA World Championship that may take place in COPARCO. No passports are needed for travel in the 50 states and like many other USA Archery world teams, one need only ask to be a team member.

No need wait, jump in and have at it!

[TheAncientOne]

How do you make the US Shooting Team

Same directions as Carnegie Hall "Practice, practice, practice."

TAO

[iharangozo94]

I read a whole bunch of stuff on usa archery's website. the main thing i saw was that only the top cadet makes the team along with the top 5 juniors. But at SI Cup they said that there are 3 juniors and 3 cadets going to Utah. im confused..

[Jim C]

I read a whole bunch of stuff on usa archery's website. the main thing i saw was that only the top cadet makes the team along with the top 5 juniors. But at SI Cup they said that there are 3 juniors and 3 cadets going to Utah. im confused..

It is confusing and I will explain it to you

those three cadets-including one of my students-were being selected for the world championships. That shoot also qualifies as a USAT ranking shoot but its different than a world team.

There is a team based on your end of year rankings-that is called the USAT or JUNIOR USAT. Basically, to make those teams you have to rank in the top 8 (senior) or top 5 (Juniors) or top cadet. This comes from shooting in designated qualifications shoots. For seniors, the mandatory shoot is US target championships For Juniors-its the JOAD nationals. Other shoots for seniors include, Gold Cup, Arizona Cup, the Texas shoot, and in some years Indoor. World outdoor trials and field. Juniors-its the National Target, SI Cup, Indoors and world junior trials.

In addition to placements, you have to shoot certain minimum scores in a FITA, an OR etc

What that gets you is the right to say you are on USAT, you get some sponsorship, some shirts and at one point, some training camps

Then there are the teams that actually represent the USA. For the most prestigious (Olympics, worlds, World Indoor, PAN AMs and Field) there are trials held for those teams. Sometimes the trials is a 3-5 day event or sometimes (Olympics) its several different venues over several months.

If you win a spot at the trials you represent the USA for that specific shoot.

You may or may not get funding to attend.

Bottom line-you can be on the US ARCHERY TEAM and not represent US in a tournament =-you can win a spot at a trials and go to the world championship yet never be on the USAT but you are on the US world team.

I have several friends who have represented the USA at the world indoor or field championships and never made USAT. I know a few USAT members who have never competed for the USA at an international event. I don't recall if Terry Ragsdale ever shot enough events to make the USAT-he sure did make the world team were he finished second to Dee Wilde in the 97 worlds if my memory serves me. Same with some of the compound indoor gurus who shoot the indoor trials but not the cups and other USAT shoots




At one time (I am going on memory) those on USAT sometimes were sent to events that were world ranking events or grand prixs but did not merit separate trials. Now I believe that is done on the "rolling ranking" which is ones average in 12 arrow OR rounds.

[iharangozo94]

now that i think of it the world team and the jr. USAT selection criteria seem twisted. To make the world team you only have to have one great shoot all year, and if you do well there you go all around the world. But lets say youre a consistent 1400 shooter and you go down to the selection and you get sick or something and shoot a 1200... To make the jr. USAT you have to be the top cadet or top 5 juniors all year and all you do is get a shirt with your name on it. Why dont we flip those seection processes around or atleast make them equal.

[archerymom2]

So, for Jr. USAT, I found on the USA Archery site that it's selected by JOAD Outdoor nationals (ave of placement for FITA and OR) and the top 2 placements at the other qualifying events (indoor nationals, SI, SI, and outdoor nationals, I think).

But I still have 2 questions:
1) What is the relative weight of these 2 considerations? Is JOAD weighted more heavily than the average of your best 2 placements at others, or are they equal?
2) What happens when some of the team age out. For example, any 2nd year Juniors that make the team will age out at the end of the calendar year. So for events during the following calendar year (until a new team is selected) they will no longer be Juniors. Similarly for the 1 Cadet on the team. Will they then pull from whoever was next in the ranking that is still eligible? Will it come from the next Junior or Cadet?

Maybe there detailed rules are out there someplace that I haven't found??
Thanks!

[Huntmaster]

So, for Jr. USAT, I found on the USA Archery site that it's selected by JOAD Outdoor nationals (ave of placement for FITA and OR) and the top 2 placements at the other qualifying events (indoor nationals, SI, SI, and outdoor nationals, I think).

But I still have 2 questions:
1) What is the relative weight of these 2 considerations? Is JOAD weighted more heavily than the average of your best 2 placements at others, or are they equal?
2) What happens when some of the team age out. For example, any 2nd year Juniors that make the team will age out at the end of the calendar year. So for events during the following calendar year (until a new team is selected) they will no longer be Juniors. Similarly for the 1 Cadet on the team. Will they then pull from whoever was next in the ranking that is still eligible? Will it come from the next Junior or Cadet?

Maybe there detailed rules are out there someplace that I haven't found??
Thanks!

You are correct on the selection process for JR USAT. The three tournaments are treated equally, but JOAD Nats MUST be one of those shoots. When you make the team, you are a part of it, even if you age out. If there are tournaments to be shot the next year, they will pick from who is left, then go down the rankings of the JR's to get the rest. Miranda got to go to the Venezuela tournament this year because most of the JR's had aged out. That allowed them to get that far down the list. Had they not aged out, she'd have been at the bottom of the list, right above non-JR USAT archers.

NOTE - That's how they did it this year for Venezuela. My guess would be that any tournament selection process is prone to change, and I believe this is one of the few years (if not the first in a very long time) that the JR USAT actually got to go to a tournament. Things seem to change from year to year, so next year may be completely different.

[archerymom2]

Thanks for the info! So, they move down the Jr. list only, or also the cadet list? Also, is there a "ranking" list somewhere for jr's and cadets?

[Huntmaster]

Thanks for the info! So, they move down the Jr. list only, or also the cadet list? Also, is there a "ranking" list somewhere for jr's and cadets?

There was at one time on the old NAA web page, but it appears that there's not a ranking list on the new one. I hope they are planning on one again. Last year it wasn't up untill right after SI cup if I remember right. And no, they just went to the JR list, but then again Venezuela was a JR and above tournament, so..........

[Jim C]

now that i think of it the world team and the jr. USAT selection criteria seem twisted. To make the world team you only have to have one great shoot all year, and if you do well there you go all around the world. But lets say youre a consistent 1400 shooter and you go down to the selection and you get sick or something and shoot a 1200... To make the jr. USAT you have to be the top cadet or top 5 juniors all year and all you do is get a shirt with your name on it. Why dont we flip those seection processes around or atleast make them equal.

There has always been a debate-it extends to the olympics-as to how to pick the team-a 1-2-3-4 day trial or a year long event. I note that olympic and world gold medals are based on how you perform during a few days-not how you perform over an entire year.

Do you remember Steve Williams? Great track runner-hurt himself right before the 76 trials? Didn't compete even though that year he dominated the 100M events?

One thing multiple shoots does-it kills off people who have jobs or families. USAS (the successor to the NRA) changed the shooting trials from one event to several in order to favor the RAs and Army shooters-didn't help participation in those events.

[tackle123]

I thought the JOAD outdoor nationals were great. I never saw so many USA shirts. I just wonder if you have to make a certin amount of shoots do you get a true represention of the shooters that are out there. For example indoor nationals JOAD and regular are held at different spots around the US but the outdoor JOAD and regular nationals are held at 1 spot in the US so kids the parants that can't afford to travel on a plaine don't get to shoot and then if they can make 1 event like nationals but can't get to another event they get overlooked. Maybe there are alot of really good shooters out there but just cant travel.

So lets get USA archery to set up outdoor nationals for JOAD the same indoors is. Then everyone can play at the sport we all love.

P.S. Cindy and her crew and all the judges did a great job my hats off to you all with out people like you these events would not be possible


Jim Agnew

[Jim C]

I thought the JOAD outdoor nationals were great. I never saw so many USA shirts. I just wonder if you have to make a certin amount of shoots do you get a true represention of the shooters that are out there. For example indoor nationals JOAD and regular are held at different spots around the US but the outdoor JOAD and regular nationals are held at 1 spot in the US so kids the parants that can't afford to travel on a plaine don't get to shoot and then if they can make 1 event like nationals but can't get to another event they get overlooked. Maybe there are alot of really good shooters out there but just cant travel.

So lets get USA archery to set up outdoor nationals for JOAD the same indoors is. Then everyone can play at the sport we all love.

P.S. Cindy and her crew and all the judges did a great job my hats off to you all with out people like you these events would not be possible


Jim Agnew

the problem is conditions. Even in Ohio there are different conditions. At my very best-pre shoulder surgery, I was lucky to break 1125 on the Alum Creek field due to nasty and tricky winds that swirl around the face of the dam. At the Park of Roses, a few miles away, 1125 would be a bad score for me back then. Darrell Pace, when he was the top archer in the world, said he shot a FITA near Chicago were the wind was so bad no one broke 300 at 30Meter and his 1100 or so score won.

In other words, you cannot compare a score one JOAD shoots in Ohio with one shot in Texas or California because conditions have such an impact on the scores.

[archerymom2]

My understanding is that's why they move the tournaments around the country -- so everyone has a chance to shoot close to home once every few years (except, perhaps, for those living in Alaska and Hawaii). You're right, though -- it gets expensive to go to all the tournaments.

Even more than the flights is the hotel cost. I think it would be great if we could get home-town archers to "host" JOAD archers for tournaments, to save on hotel costs (sort of like having a foreign exchange student!) Plus it would help archers get to know others from across the country...

[tackle123]

We brought our camper down it was nice for us (saved some cash) but I know people that could not afford to go. But now i do understand about the conditions makes sense . Thanks for making it clear. We will be going again.

[iharangozo94]

There has always been a debate-it extends to the olympics-as to how to pick the team-a 1-2-3-4 day trial or a year long event. I note that olympic and world gold medals are based on how you perform during a few days-not how you perform over an entire year.

right...but to make the olympic team you should have to perform exceptionally well over a certain period of time. Making jr. USAT is alot more work than making the world team and the world team is a much bigger honor...is it not?

[jhunt414]

I made the youth outdoor worlds last year and won the whole shebang but I still haven't made USAT, It's frustrating, I just want my free ****.