IF YOU GO
WHAT: USA Archery's Outdoor Nationals
WHEN: July 23 through July 27
WHERE: Joyce Park, River Road.
MORE INFO: A full schedule information will be available on www.usarchery.org starting Friday. Click the #OutdoorNationals logo for complete information.
For the fifth consecutive year, a park here will play host to a national sporting event with rapidly growing popularity.
USA Archery’s Outdoor Nationals expects an all-time high for turnout to Joyce Park for next week’s event, which is projected to bring more than $2.6 million to the local economy, up from $2 million last year, according to the Butler County Visitors Bureau.
The five-day event consists of three tournaments: the 130th U.S. National Target Championships and U.S. Open for adult and masters archers, and the Easton JOAD Nationals for youth archers.
As of Thursday, there were 909 registered archers, compared to 701 for the 2013 event and 474 for the 2012 event, according to Teresa Johnson, spokeswoman for USA Archery.
The event kicks off Wednesday and continues through July 26. Spectators are welcome and the event is open to the public.
Having such a large-scale event return for a fifth consecutive year means a great deal to the Butler County Visitors Bureau, said Stephanie Gigliotti, senior sale manager for sports and events.
“It shows that they have faith in us to be able to put on a great event year after year,” Gigliotti said. “It always gets a little easier and we get new ideas to make it better, make it bigger.”
U.S. Archery has grown from 7,584 members in July 2013 to more than 13,000 this month, a more than 71 percent increase, Johnson said. The amount of USA Archery clubs has grown from more than 500 in July 2013 to 754 this month.
Behind the recent boost in the sport’s popularity are youths looking to emulate Hollywood’s latest batch of bow-wielding heroes and heroines, Johnson said.
“Movies like ‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘Brave,’ ‘The Avengers,’ ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ have had a huge impact on the sport of archery, as have the Olympic Games,” Johnson said. “Archery was NBC’s most watched sport during its first week of coverage during London 2012.”
As of Thursday, USA Archery has more than 13,000 individual members, compared with 7,584 in July 2013, Johnson said.
This year’s event registration boasts several Olympic and Paralympic medalists, as well as several archery World Champions shooting both compound and recurve bows, and Olympic team members from other countries as well, including Chinese Taipei, Canada, Colombia, the Philippines and Mexico, Johnson said.
There will be 15 Olympic and Paralympic athletes competing, plus several in the Masters Division, who are previous Olympic athletes, she said.
This is the fifth consecutive year the event to be held in Joyce Park.
“Joyce Park has been a great choice for the past several years, offering a field that meets the unique needs of this event, as well as fantastic local support from the Butler County Visitors’ Bureau, the city of Hamilton and local archery clubs such as the Cincinnati Junior Olympians,” Johnson said.
National Events Manager Sheri Rhodes said Butler County is centrally located, making it an easy-to-drive-to place for a good deal of USA Archery’s membership.
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