Archery is a relatively new sport in high schools in the province. On Saturday, April 12, students from throughout the Horizon School Division gathered at Watson School for the District Archery Competition. 

Watson School was one of the early adopters for archery in schools which is run through the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). Curtis Buhs of Watson School explains how it first became involved, "Watson School got involved back in 2011. We had a principal at the time bring the NASP program. We took our training and got the kids involved."

The NASP program began in the United States and spread to Canada. It is the nation-wide governing body for the sport in schools. Because the sport is not yet recognized by the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association, in order to grow the sport, Watson School had to approach the Horizon School Division and its Athletic Association. Approval was gained to operate archery in its schools on a district level.

Buhs explains, "Archery is just a Horizon School Division sport, so it's called a district competition. All the schools within the Horizon School Division will be eligible." Buhs and Watson School welcomed 83 archers from many Horizon schools for the morning competitions. The students range from grades 6 - 12.

As Watson School has been at the epicentre of the archery movement, it has hosted the competitions for the last few years. Results of the competition will be posted early this week.