Olympic Archery In Schools Program Soars into Alachua County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 5, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT:
Adriana Herrera
ERA Communications
(619) 573-9372 office

OLYMPIC ARCHERY IN SCHOOLS PROGRAM SOARS INTO ALACHUA COUNTY
**Easton Foundations give local students opportunities to experience archery**

Newberry, FLA - Fulfilling its mission to introduce youth to the sport of Olympic Archery, the Easton Foundations have expanded its "Olympic Archery in the Schools" (OAS) program to Florida. The Foundations recently granted 20 Alachua County schools with $3,500 in archery equipment each, and trained 20 physical education teachers in how to instruct elementary and middle school aged youth in its OAS program. The Easton Foundations is planning to recruit up to 100 OAS school participants in Florida by the end of 2010.

Each teacher received a day-long USA Archery Basic Instructor Training Course that focused on range safety, recurve bow equipment, and how to teach archery to new archers. To strengthen each instructor's archery knowledge, the Easton Foundations have enrolled each school in the USA Archery Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) program. JOAD will provide teachers with continued access to certified archery instructors from the Easton Newberry Sports Complex facility for follow-up trainings, tournaments, and assessment of the programs effectiveness.

"Alachua County schools were initially chosen because of their proximity to the Easton Newberry Sports Complex which serve as the Foundations' Florida headquarters," said Easton Foundations Archery Head Coach Robert Romero, "The new OAS programs will run full steam in the fall and the proximity will help us to support each program's success."

The instructor-training course was taught by Romero at the new Easton Newberry Sports Complex, and Phil Graves, a USA Archery Level 3 coach from Tampa.

The OAS program originated in Southern California and is currently being implemented in over 50 schools in the region. In addition to the recent program expansion to Florida the Foundations currently have a pilot program in Denver, CO.

For more information about OAS in Florida, please contact Bob Romero at rromero@esdf.org. For questions about The Easton Foundations, contact Executive Director Caren Sawyer at csawyer@jasdeaston.com

About the Easton Foundations:
The Easton Foundations' aim is to keep archery a viable part of the sporting culture in communities across the United States. Founded during the 1982 Olympics by Jim Easton, the founder and former CEO of Easton Sports, Inc, the Foundation actively works to introduce the Olympic sport of archery to communities across the country. It supports the training of aspiring archers, trainers, coaches, and administrators and building of indoor archery facilities at city parks, schools, universities and sports complexes.

The Easton Foundations encourages and engages youth to participate and develop skills in the sports of archery, baseball, softball, ice hockey, and cycling. It contributes to selected 501(c)(3) charitable groups and universities that share its vision of excellence and innovation in sports programs, business and engineering education, and medical research.

For more information on the Easton Foundations please visit http://www.esdf.org/.

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