Archery Organizations and Associations

The international governing body of archery is the International Archery Federation (FITA). Founded on the 4th of September, 1931 in Lwow, Poland, by seven countries (France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, the United States, Hungary, and Italy), FITA serves to promote and regulate archery world-wide through its more than 130 Member Associations (National Federations or Associations) and in conformity with the Olympic principles. It aims at framing and interpreting the FITA Rules and arranging for the organization of World Championships and other international competitions.

The National Archery Association (NAA) of the United States was formed in 1879 to foster and promote the sport of archery through tournaments, programs and publications. Today, the NAA and its allied organizations have over 30,000 members. The NAA is the only organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee for the purpose of selecting and training men's and women's archery teams to represent the U.S. in the Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The NAA also selects teams for the World Championships and other international meets. The NAA's National Office is located in the National Sports Building at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with a subsidiary office at the USOC/ARCO Training Center in Chula Vista, California.

Since its inception in 1993 the Archery Shooters Association, headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia, has hosted tens of thousands of amateur and professional archers from across the United States in national ASA Pro/Am and ASA Federation competitions. The state level organization is known as the ASA Federation, while the national level shoots are known as the McKenzie ASA Pro/Am Tour. The ASA has Federation chapters in 30 states with over 7,000 members and 250 clubs. Features that distinguish ASA Pro/Am and Federation competitions include a standardized set of competition rules; professionally executed shooting ranges; high standards for dress and conduct; safety standards that include a maximum arrow speed standard of 280 feet per second; the copyrighted 12-ring and 14-ring scoring system; and the largest paybacks in competitive archery...

The IBO was created in 1984 by a dedicated group with the mutual desire to ensure that bowhunting and the ideals of wildlife conservation will survive, expand and flourish to be shared, enjoyed and passed on to future generations. By its charter, the statement of purpose of the International Bowhunting Organization is: "To promote, encourage and foster the sport of bowhunting; further bowhunter education; act as a political coordinator and liaison for the protection and advancement of bowhunting--function as a clearinghouse for essential bowhunter information; and--adhere to the basic ideal of the unification of bowhunters...

The International Field Archery Association, also known as the IFAA. The IFAA is an archery association that was founded 1970 when a group of field archers from the USA, Sweden, England, Scotland, Wales and Canada agreed on a set of basic rules by which Field Archery tournaments would be run. The IFAA now represent over 30 000 field archers in over 30 member countries from all continents. Although the IFAA is mainly an association for the amateur archer, new rules are now in place to accept and to provide competitions for professional archers without infringing the status of our amateur archers. IFAA World and Regional events allow for international archery competition and encourage the participation of all affiliated archers at these events, irrespective of how well they can shoot. Amateur and Professional archers, although competing in the same event, shoot in different divisions. Today most of IFAA tournaments have 400 or more participants and some of these events have in excess of 800 participants...

The National Field Archery Association (NFAA), represents the Sport of Field Archery at National level. The website also includes rules, scores and records and the national event calender of the NFAA.

Seminole County Gun and Archery Association (SCGAA) is a volunteer organization dedicated to promoting the safe and lawful use of firearms, protecting the second amendment rights of its members and providing a safe and enjoyable place to shoot. We are affiliated with the National Rifle Association, Unified Sportsmen of Florida, Civilian Marksmanship Program, National Association of Shooting Ranges, and Florida Sports Shooting Association. SCGAA provides numerous training and competitive events throughout the year that are open to the public as well as club members...

The first General Assembly of the European and Mediterranean Archery Union was held in Paris (France), on April 17th 1988 on the initiative of Mr. François de Massary, President of French Archery Federation.

During the meeting the first Constitution was approved by the delegates of 19 European Countries: Belgium, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, Yugoslavia.

Its primary goal was to promote and encourage archery throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area...

"The mission statement from the fieldarcher organization is to promote and professionalize archery in general and field archery in particular.

The initiative started in 2002 with the site fieldarcher.nl, quickly outgrew a Dutch only audience, and targeted a European audience ever since.

That being said, we welcome visitors from around the world. And with our coverage from World Championships and World Games, we do cater 'the world' in a way. Yet offering services to people geographically located on the other side of the globe (Australia comes to mind) is without better contacts in those regions hard for us. Luckily a lot of the initiatives taking place are beneficial to field archers around the world..."

The AAE is a small Field Archery Association affiliated to the International Field Archery Association and the National Field Archery Association.

In 1968 the American and Canadians stationed in Germany founded an association that affiliated to the NFAA. Many European archers attracted to this form of field archery then set about starting their own associations and the IFAA was born. AAE was one of the founder members of IFAA...

The English Field Archery Association, affiliated to the I.F.A.A. the governing body dedicated to the sport of Field Archery. Archery a family sport for all using the traditional English Longbow to the ultra high speed compound bows. From the captivating aroma of Port Orford Cedar Arrows to the blistering speeds of High Tech Carbon based arrows.

What is Field Archery ? provides a brief introduction to the sport whilst Who is the E.F.A.A.? is about where the E.F.A.A. originated. Members are sent a quarterly magazine called the "Field Archer" which lists upcoming competitions, results and a few helpful hints.

The Club Directory gives information about the Clubs. There are a total of 33 clubs located throughout the UK providing facilities for practice, coaching and of course woods for shooting. Some of the more established clubs also provides some elementary refreshments on shoot days. Of the 33 clubs 15 have chartered courses, permanently laid out in a wide variety of woodland...

FCA is a not for profit National Sport Governing Body dedicated to the promotion of all types of archery to all Canadians.

FCA supports the achievement of high performance excellence in archery in all categories and the development of a national archery infrastructure to promote archery participation across Canada in cooperation with our partners, the Provincial Archery Associations.

Mission:

To promote and develop our timeless sport of archery in a safe and ethical manner by providing programs that empower all participants to enjoy themselves and achieve their personal goals.

The NFAS exists to foster and promote Field Archery as a sport. All our courses are unmarked (i.e. unknown distances), usually situated in woodland, and our targets are predominatly 3D or paper animal faces.

There are ten shooting styles within the society: Primitive, Longbow, American Flatbow, Hunting Tackle, Bowhunter, Barebow, Freestyle, Crossbow, Compound Limited and Unlimited and each style is split into six classes: Gents, Ladies, Junior Boys, Junior Girls, U12 Boys, U12 Girls. On a standard round an archer will shoot until he/she scores, up to a maximum of three arrows...

The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) is a joint venture between state departments of Education and Wildlife. Several archery equipment manufacturers and organizations are also partners (listed on the NASP internet site).

The program promotes student education, physical education and participation in the life long sport of Archery.

Designed to teach International style target archery in physical education class 4th-12th grades, core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, core strengthening physical fitness and self-improvement. Before presenting the 2-week archery course, teachers undergo an 8-hour National Archery in the Schools Program® Basic Archery Instructor Training Program...

National Alliance for the Development of Archery

NADA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization whose members are certified instructors and coaches of USA Archery, National Field Archery Association (NFAA), National 4-H and National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP).

NADA is under contract with USA Archery and NFAA to produce and facilitate Basic and Intermediate Instructor Certification curriculum and courses as well as perform other instructor support duties.

In addition, NADA promotes the sport throughout the recreation and camp industry, creates and locates coaching opportunities for its members, and provides information services to a host of archery and recreation clubs and agencies...

For over a quarter of a century, the Professional Bowhunters Society has been at the forefront in the perpetuation of bowhunting. No other single organization has contributed as much in time, effort, and resources in defending bowhunters and bowhunting.

The Professional Bowhunters Society is an organization of experienced bowhunters. Its format and foundation is one based on leadership and "knowledge through experience."

The P.B.S. is dedicated to the advancement and preservation of bowhunting as a major outdoor sport. The P.B.S. encourages the development of skill in bowhunting as well as the exchange of knowledge between bowhunters. The organization is dedicated to the belief that more personal satisfaction is derived from skilled hunting techniques and that bowhunters have a responsibility for efficiency in their sport and must use equipment adequate to do so. But foremost, it is the brotherhood of most of the best bowhunters in the world. We have chosen our standards, met and faced the challenge. We are not discriminatory but selective in our membership. We feel everyone is not cut out to be a bowhunter. We feel personal satisfaction in our sport must be measured in direct relation to the degree of challenge involved. Satisfaction lies in the hunting more than the shooting.

Many people ask why the word "Professional" in the organization's title. To some it means P.B.S. members bowhunt for a living. Some have said it makes members sound like "hired killers." Both of these assumptions are wrong. The term "Professional" in the name denotes professionalism in both attitude and skill, synonymous in the manner a professional pertains to a profession...

The Pope and Young Club is one of North America's leading bowhunting and conservation organizations. Founded in 1961 as a nonprofit scientific organization, the Club is patterned after the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club. The Club advocates and encourages responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase hunting, and sound conservation practices. Today it fosters and nourishes bowhunting excellence and acts in the best interest of our bowhunting heritage everywhere. The Club promotes and participates in improving sound wildlife conservation and wise use of our natural resources.

Named in honor of pioneer bowhunters Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young whose exploits during the early part of the 20th century drew national attention to this "forgotten" and challenging form of hunting, The Pope and Young Club began in 1957 as a part of the National Field Archery Association's Hunting Activities Committee out of a need to improve the image of bowhunting...