Web archery tournament set
Published 12:00 am Friday, November 28, 2003
DENVER - The finals of the first ever national archery tournament to utilize technology to link competitors from throughout the United States will be held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday, February 7, 2004.
Archery Interactive’s Bull's Eye Championship will allow archers to compete in TechnoHunt shooting ranges in their local markets against other top shooters nationwide to qualify for the championship. Thousands of archers from almost every state are expected to compete.
Qualifying rounds will be held weekly beginning on November 15, 2003. To compete, archers simply pay a $30 entry fee per tournament or qualifying round, and register online at www.archeryinteractive.com.
Each of the qualifying rounds offers up to a $750 purse in addition to the possibility of qualifying for the finals.
Each participant must shoot a minimum of three qualifying rounds at their local store with a TechnoHunt shooting range (locations are listed at www.archeryinteractive.com) to advance to the semi-finals. Located in more than 70 stores nationwide, the TechnoHunt system is typically 20-yards long with a screen at one end. Live action video projects scenes onto the screen and the archer then shoots blunt-tipped arrows with a bow at the target. The system automatically registers arrow &uot;hits&uot; on the targets and posts them in immediately onto the web site. Archers can see their results in "real-time&uot;" on the web site to see how they have fared against the competition. Archers will shoot a total of 30 arrows in each qualifying round. A bulls eye is worth 10 points and a perfect score per round is 300.
Based on average scores from the three qualifying rounds, archers will be divided into four divisions, each with a category for men and women:
Division I Men-Top scoring 25 percent
Division I Women-Top scoring 25 percent
Division II Men -Second highest scoring 25 percent
Division II Women-Second highest scoring 25 percent
Division III Men-Third highest scoring 25 percent
Division III Women-Third highest scoring 25 percent
Division IV Men-Fourth highest scoring 25 percent
Division IV Women-Fourth highest scoring 25 percent
"We designed this tournament to allow competitors at all levels to win cash prizes and merchandise and even a trip to the finals," said Brenda Butler, president or Archery Interactive, the sponsors of the tournament. "While Division I will include top hunters, Olympic and international level competitors, those in other divisions will be able to compete with archers of a similar skill level."
Those who elect to participate in the semi-finals against other archers in their division will be able to do so at a web-based tournament in mid-January for an entry fee of $50. The top ten male and female archers in each division will then advance to the finals.
The Bull's Eye Championship finals will be held in conjunction with the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough series. The two highest scoring male and two highest scoring female archers in Division I and the highest scoring male and female archers in Divisions II-IV will be invited to compete live at the national tournament championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The other finalists will compete at their local TechnoHunt shooting range.
"We are very excited to partner with the Professional Bull Riders to bring a premier event to their fans," Butler said. "There will be lot of action at the Georgia Dome on February 7th."
Based in Denver, Archery Interactive manufactures TechnoHunt archery simulation systems with digital shooting action projected in live action video. The TechnoHunt system records arrow placement and assigns points based on accuracy.
These scores are then recorded on a national computer database allowing archers to immediately know how they are scoring compared to others in remote locations. For more information about the Archery Interactive Bull's Eye Championship, visit www.archeryinteractive.com or call 1-800-890-9572.