Hays/Lodge Pole Archery Program Starts Year 2
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The Hays/Lodge Pole Archery Program is getting ready to begin year number two of the program after a very successful inaugural season. Back for one more year to guide the Thunderbird program is Rod Benson. This unfortunately will be Rod's final year, but he is working diligently to ensure the program will be left in good hands after his departure.
As they get ready to dive into year two. Rod spoke of some major changes to the program, both at the school and statewide. Benson is currently teaching just three classes in the morning at the school and is excited to be able to work with the students once again, "We just started shooting again about a week ago. The high school kids each get a chance to shoot every Monday for about 45 minutes. One of my goals for this year is to find someone or a group of adults to take over because this will be my last year here, for sure this time!"
"One of the big changes this year is that there will be a State Tournament in Helena on Tuesday, March 28 and it looks like there will be many more high schools involved this year," said Benson. "We will have our intramural tournament in February or early March to crown the school champs and determine who gets to go to Helena.
In September the program received some fantastic news, "We've been given the go-ahead to use part of the new bus barn. It's a big bright comfortable space, and our activity won't interfere with bus parking. I've been making measurements, etc. in preparation for hanging the arrow curtain and getting everything ready to start up again in November," said Benson at the time. "Well, the lines have been painted the targets are in place and the students are ramped up and ready to go." In the first season of the program turnout was exceptional with strong number across each of the high school grades. This year Benson hopes to add times for the junior high students to practice as well.
"We shoot during school, so we have about 50 students who shot last week. The administration allows us to shoot during school because we don't offer many electives; we don't have an art teacher, a music teacher, or a PE teacher this year. I was a little worried about finding a place to set up the range when Hays/Lodge Pole did hire a Wood Shop teacher, which meant we couldn't use the space we had last year. However, since the Administration decided to let us use one of the bays in the new bus barn, a much bigger and nicer space than we had last year, only drawback is a 250-yard walk from the school," added Benson.
Ryan Schmaltz with the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and also serves as the State Archery Coordinator, was in Hays and held a training session Thursday morning for eight adults who took the course. Those individuals were, Carl Doney, Erik Snell, Shonda Vielle, Stace Russell, Jennifer Harper, Reyna Monteau, Garrett Doney and Derek Bell. "In the afternoon, Ryan spent some time with our sophomores, giving them an opportunity to shoot at some wildlife targets, before he headed back to Helena," said Benson. "We are a couple weeks into our season, not much happening as far as competitions. For now, we're just enjoying shooting arrows in the new archery room. Hopefully, we'll get the seventh and eighth graders shooting soon.
Looking forward to taking part in the first State Tournament, Benson is more than excited, "There are several additional high schools that have started National Archery in Schools Programs this year, including the Great Falls schools. So, we're hoping someone might host a tournament this winter before we have our intramural tournament. The best news is that there WILL be a State Tournament.
Benson relayed what he had been told, "Ryan Schmalz told me a date has been chosen for the first ever Montana State (NASP) Archery tournament. It will be held in Helena on Tuesday, March 28 and possibly March 29 as well, depending on the number of participants. The tournament will be held in a nice building at the county fairgrounds in Helena. Based on the meetings we (coaches) held earlier this spring, it looks like there will be many high school teams for us to compete against this time!"
Good Luck to the Hays/Lodge Pole Archery Program as they embark on year number two.
