MDC cancels MoNASP virtual state tournament activities at schools

THIS CONTENT IS ARCHIVED
News from the region
Statewide
Published Date
03/16/2020
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With an increasing number of school closures around the state in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces that it must cancel its Missouri National Archery in the Schools (MoNASP) virtual state tournament.

MDC and the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation (MCHF) announced last week that the 2020 Missouri National Archery in Schools Program (MoNASP) state tournament scheduled for March 19-21 at the Branson Convention Center in Branson has been cancelled and was changed to a virtual tournament where participating student archers can compete at their local schools and teams can submit scores.

The change from a live statewide tournament involving attendance by thousands of people to numerous, smaller competitions was in response to recommended health and safety precautions related to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

With an increasing number of school closures throughout Missouri in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), MDC is announcing that it must now also cancel the MoNASP virtual state-tournament.

“We have reports that most MoNASP-participating schools are closed or closing for the next several weeks or more,” said MDC MoNASP Coordinator Eric Edwards. “With the inability for many schools to compete in the MoNASP State Virtual Tournament, we must also cancel the MoNASP state competition for this year.”

He noted that trying to determine a fair system of a virtual state tournament with so many schools and competitors unable to compete at this time was simply impossible.

“I know this is very disappointing news to the student archers, schools, families, and other supporters,” Edwards said. “Please know this was not an easy decision nor was it made lightly.”

Edwards added that all teams and student archers who competed in a state-qualifying event will be eligible to pre-register for the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) national championship and will be placed in their tier based on their highest score in a state-qualifying tournament that took place this season, including the current virtual qualifying tournament listed at nasptournaments.org. The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) national tournament is scheduled for May 7-9 in Louisville, Kentucky.

“Schools will only be eligible to have one team qualify for nationals,” Edwards added. “If you were an individual shooter, your high score will count. If you were part of a team, your individual score for the national-tier setting will be the score you shot when your team posted its highest score.”

For those who have registered for the virtual tournament, but are unable to participate, Edwards asks school administrators to email him at Eric.Edwards@mdc.mo.gov stating they are unable to participate due to school policies. Upon receiving the email, schools, teams and participants will not be responsible for any fees for the virtual tournament.

For more information on MoNASP, contact MDC Education Outreach Coordinator Eric Edwards at Eric.Edwards@mdc.mo.gov, or 573-522-4115, ext. 3295.