NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will host the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) 17th State Championships, March 12-14 (Wednesday-Friday) in Murfreesboro.

The 2025 NASP State Championships will be returning to the Tennessee Miller Coliseum for the 14th time. More than 1,900 students representing 97 schools are registered to participate. There will be three age divisions for elementary, middle school and high school participants. Awards will be presented to the top teams and individual finishers in each division at the championships’ conclusion on Friday evening.

The competition begins Wednesday with a pair of flights at 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. On Thursday the competition starts with the first of seven flights at 8:30 a.m. with the final flight scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. On Friday, six flights are scheduled starting at 8:30 a.m. with the final flight at 4 p.m. The awards ceremony is expected to begin after the results are tallied around 5:30 p.m. The public is welcome and invited to attend. There is no admission charge.

Many of the Volunteer State’s best student archers will participate in this year’s event. Central Magnet High School, Stewarts Creek Middle School, and Christiana Elementary School won titles in their respective divisions at the 2024 championships.

Tennessee began NASP in late 2004 with 12 pilot schools participating and has seen tremendous growth over the past 20 years. The number of schools has grown close to 700 now participating in the program. NASP is a two-week curriculum taught during school that teaches International Style Target Archery.

 Each student will shoot 30 arrows, 15 from 10 meters and 15 from 15 meters with a maximum score of 300. The top team and top 10 individuals in each division automatically receive a bid to compete in the 2025 National NASP Tournament to be held May 8-10 in Louisville, Ky. There will also be at-large bids for those who qualify.

 If a school or teacher is interested in starting a NASP program, please contact Don Crawford, Assistant Chief, Public Relations Division at Don.Crawford@tn.gov or (615) 293-5746.

---TWRA---