Conejo Valley Archers

The National Archery Association of the United States recognized a need for a Junior Olympic Archery Development program in 1961 and has improved it's structure over the years. Since the commitment was made, the JOAD program has endeavored to meet the need of all youth in archery.

The JOAD program is an effort to provide a basic organizational guide for junior archery activities. The NAA, with its Olympic membership affiliation, is the guiding force for these potential Olympic and international archery contestants. The program is also intended to provide the necessary guidance for the recreational archer who is interested in archery purely for the enjoyment of shooting a bow and arrow. Youth may participate in the JOAD program through the calendar year of their 18th birthday. JOAD sponsors tournaments in which the archers are organized into classes by age group.

While general public use is how most people become familiar with our club, there are other programs we offer for the people who decide to get more involved in archery.

The JOAD Achievement Award Program

The JOAD program, sponsored by the National Archery Association, is something we have put in place with great results. A system of qualifying rounds and achievement levels are designed to provide a challenge for youths 8-18 years of age. Success at each level is dependent on the individual's skill and their willingness to apply themselves. Each archer can advance at his or her own pace, progressing to the next distance after completing the previous level. To progress through the Achievement Award Program, the JOAD archer must challenge each level, starting with Yeoman, and shoot the required score in tournament-like conditions. To score a qualification round requires a minimum of three JOAD archers and one adult sponsor. Qualifying scores are shot in rounds of 30 consecutive arrows. After an archer has achieved a qualification level or pin he or she may start working on the next level with a new 30 arrow round. Archers earn pins for each level they attain. There are a total of 8 (eight) pins followed by the Olympian Bronze, Silver and Gold category. There is an Indoor Program and an Outdoor Program. All awards for the Indoor Program are shot at 18 meters. This is the most popular program because most youngsters have no trouble shooting that distance. The Outdoor Program is different. The same awards apply but the distances vary from 15 on up to 70 meters. This makes the program more difficult and inaccessible until the kids reach their mid teens. Currently, we have 50+ kids participating in this program.