Tournaments are conducted under rules and regulations promulgated by the National Archery Association and the National Field Archery Association. The various state organizations generally adopt the rules of the national organ izations for the sake of uniformity. The state organizations are a very important part of archery in the United States. They handle the administrative work necessary to promote and co ordinate the activities of the clubs within a single state. In many cases they sponsor state-wide competition. Through their state organizations, the archers have a voice in advocating leg islation or regulations which will benefit archery.

The fact that there are two national parent bodies should not lead the beginner to conclude that there is a fixed line of demarcation between target and field archers. To the contrary, field archers, who use the high anchor and the so-called in stinctive method of shooting, are quite capable of shooting a double American Round on the target line, and turning in a card of 600 or better. The Pennsylvania State Archery Associa tion, Incorporated, sponsors both a state-wide Target and a Field Championship tournament annually. Individual archers participate in both events and are among the top competitors in both shoots.

In order to provide competition at all stages from beginner to expert, archers are classified according to the degree of abil ity which they have attained. As their scores improve they are reclassified accordingly. It is one of the functions of a good state organization to administer the details of the classification system. To do the job in an efficient manner the state body is dependent upon the secretaries of the local clubs to make a return of the scores shot by the club members in tournament competition. An archer is automatically placed in a higher classi fication on the basis of improvement in his or her score. If, however, an archer is no longer able to shoot a score within his or her classification, it is the general policy of the state organizations, upon written request of the archer, to lower the classification of the archer so that competition with those of comparable skill is again possible. Archery Equipment - Read More.