What is JOAD?

JOAD stands for Junior Olympic Archery Development. JOAD clubs are charted by USA Archery. USA Archery has been around since 1879, making it one of the oldest sports club, in the country. Initially it was called the National Archery Association (NAA). In 2004 the NAA trademarked the name USA Archery. USA Archery is the national governing body for the Olympic sport of archery and the national governing body for archery in the United States. Through selected ranking tournaments, archers for the United States Archery Team (USAT), the junior USAT, and the Cadet USAT are chosen by USA Archery.

JOAD is for serious students who want to improve their shooting. Instructors work with archers who already know how to shoot a bow and get them ready for tournament archery. JOAD offers both recurve and compound archers the opportunity to learn range safety and proper shooting technique in an environment that also promotes focus, increased self-confidence, and team- building skills along with decision making skills. JOAD welcomes archers age eight years old through the calendar year of 20th birthday in the following divisions:

Junior: through the calendar year of their 20th birthday.
Cadet: Through the calendar year of their 17th birthday.
Cub: through the calendar year of their 14th birthday.
Bowmen: through the calendar year of their 12th birthday.

JOAD archers earn achievement award pins by shooting required scores under tournament-like conditions. The achievement levels are designed to motive and challenge the archers to develop their archery skills. Archers advance at their own pace.

In 1997 John Smith was driving his daughter to a JOAD program at Royal Oak Archers in Oakland County. Rich Andrew of the Royal Oak Archers encouraged John Smith and Clay Cooper to start a JOAD program at Flint Bowmen.

The first Flint Bowmen JOAD team included Holly Beasley, Travis Salsgiver, Amber Smith, Brian Mann, and Stacy Mann. John and Clay coached the JOAD team until about 1997 when Mark Salsgiver, a state and national champion as well as a state record holder, stepped up to coach. The Flint Bowmen JOAD team had two assistant coaches, Art Nellett and Craig Preston. The program also has a great support staff. At the end of the 2012-2013 season, Mark Salsgiver retired from coaching the Flint Bowmen JOAD. That position has been taken over by Craig Preston. Craig is looking forward to a fun and exciting 2013-2014 season.

The Flint Bowmen JOAD program is limited to twenty-eight. If you have a child who might be interested in joining JOAD, stop in on a Friday evening and check it out. Practices are Friday night, 6:00 P.M.to 9:00P.M. The cost is $60.00 per season for members and $80.00 for non members with a onetime $8.00 awards fee.

The Flint Bowmen JOAD program has produced State and National Champions and National and State record holders. Several archers have gone on to shoot for colleges and on USAT teams. Flint Bowmen is extremely proud of our JOAD program. We look forward to producing future Champions.