Nebraska State Archery Tournament Draws Hundreds of Student Competitors

LINCOLN, Neb. — Hundreds of student archers from across Nebraska have gathered in Lincoln for the state's largest annual competition.

The Nebraska Archery in the Schools Program state tournament kicked off Friday and will continue through Saturday.

Organizers expect approximately 700 students to compete in the bullseye division, which features traditional paper targets, while more than 300 participants will take part in the 3D competition, where archers aim at large foam animal targets.

“This is the largest archery tournament in the state of Nebraska,” said Megan Price, Hunting & Shooting Sports Outreach Coordinator for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The two-day event is part of the broader National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), a nationwide initiative designed to introduce archery as part of school curriculum.

The tournament has competitors from 38 schools. To qualify, students must attend a school actively participating in NASP, which requires at least 10 hours of archery instruction annually led by a certified instructor. Statewide, roughly 300 schools offer the program.

Students compete in groups known as “flights,” with each archer shooting a total of 30 arrows for score.

In addition to individual competition, students will also compete as teams. Tournament officials will award $10,000 in scholarships to the top three male and top three female archers, determined through a final shoot-off at the conclusion of the event.

Participants at the state level will also have the opportunity to qualify for national competitions, including the NASP Eastern and Western National Tournaments.

The Eastern National event draws approximately 15,000 student archers each year, making it the largest archery tournament in the world.