Involve yourself in a worthwhile program - programs of archery associations

Carolee Boyles

One of the hot topics in the industry during the past few years has been how to involve non-shooters in our sports. The good news is that a number of programs, some new, some not so new, are set up to do exactly that.

Involving yourself in some of these programs can be just plain good business. In the late 1990s, the name of the success game is 'relationship marketing.' In other words, many transactions are driven by the relationship between the buyer and the seller. Involving yourself in programs that bring in new shooters is a direct pipeline to new customers. They'll get to know you, and to know that you have the goods and services they're looking for. When they shop for something, they'll come to you.

Besides, some of these programs can, by themselves, bring dollars into your shop. Running a JOAD league or getting involved in a kids' summer archery program can take a lot of time and effort. But the money that comes in as a direct result of your involvement can improve your bottom line.

So what are these programs, and where do you find them? Actually, they're all over. The ones listed here are just a cross-section of what's out there, and are the best known and best-supported efforts in the industry today. To dealers, they offer opportunities to become involved in aspects of the industry you may not have considered before, to bring new customers to your store and to help the entire industry by helping spread the word that the shooting sports are a positive, fun and family-related aspect of outdoor sports in general.

JOAD

JOAD stands for Junior Olympic Archery Development. It provides a method for kids to move up through a series of ranked tournaments. While it's not specifically a retailer program, you can use it to build your customer base through the development of a JOAD league, and the associated business the league will bring to your store.

JOAD is a program of the National Archery Association (NAA), and is the route that Justin Huish took to the 1996 Olympic gold medal in the men's archery competition. The local, state. regional and national shoots are NAA-sanctioned, and high marks in national tournaments can lead a youngster straight to the U.S. Olympic Archery Team.

Anyone who's interested in working with young people in archery can start a JOAD club. Clubs have been started by parents, local archery clubs, scouting groups, 4-H clubs, you name it. But any retailer with an indoor or outdoor range is ideally situated to participate.

To give you an example of how you can use a program such as this to benefit you and your customers, follow the lead of one retailer in Arizona who wanted to have a kids' shooting league in his store, but who didn't want to run it. He figured out how much he could charge kids to participate in a league, and then hired a JOAD instructor based on that figure. He's able to pay the instructor's salary, plus make a profit for the store without any work on his part.

To become involved with the JOAD program, you need six kids younger than 18 who want to participate. Then you must pay a $50 fee to the NAA. For that you'll receive a certificate of membership into the JOAD program, and a booklet telling you the levels of achievement.

On Target

AMO, the Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organization, has a pair of programs designed to bring kids into archery.

First is Kids on Target. AMO has forged a partnership with the National Alliance of Youth Sports, whose members are city and county recreation departments. The two have developed a new archery league format for recreation departments around the country, in which 24 youngsters per league can shoot in a team format. They compete in a baseball- or soccer-style tournament.

The Alliance is responsible for distributing the first set of equipment to the teams. But after that, team members will need someone to work on and repair equipment, and as shooters progress, they'll need somewhere to purchase additional items. All it takes from you is a phone call to let the recreation department know that you're there, you have the expertise to repair equipment, and you can stock whatever they or the kids will need to replace during the tournament season.

The second phase of this program is Right on Target, which is run through local school systems. Recreation departments can go through schools' physical education departments to provide archery experience to middle-school students through an archery education kit called Archery Alley. This is the same Archery Alley that's being used by a number of dealers to bring kids into the sport.

With the school program, you can go to the school and participate as a volunteer instructor or helper. If you try to go in on your own, most school systems won't allow it, because you're a commercial venture. But as part of a gym class, you get before a group of potential customers (and their parents).

For more information about either of these programs contact your local recreation department. If they're not active in Kids on Target, you may be able to encourage them to participate.

Step Outside

The Step Outside program has been under development by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, AMO, and other members of the shooting sports for the past couple of years. The original idea of the "Invite a Friend To Step Outside" program was to encourage individual sportsmen and women to ask a non-shooter to spend a day participating in any of the outdoor sports. Once introduced, a percentage of these non-shooters become interested in the outdoors. But the idea has expanded beyond that one-on-one approach to an organized group activity that can be initiated by a sportsman's club, a state agency, a company or a retailer.

The program is limited only by your imagination. It can be designed around any aspect of the shooting sports, from sporting clays to archery. If you decide to spearhead a program you can literally come up with almost any concept you want for involving a group in the outdoors. The PR and marketing value of such an effort is tremendous.

If you don't want to put that kind of time and energy into developing a Step Outside program of your own, consider becoming involved in an ongoing Step Outside program in your area, or encouraging a local sportsman's club to organize.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group