Archery in Mississippi Schools (AIMS) is designed to introduce 4th-12th grade students to the sport of International-Style Target Archery during their Physical Education Class ( a 10-hour in-school per year requirement) and as an extracurricular team sport. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) is the driving force behind AIMS. The program, which began in 2006 with 10 schools, is now over 500 schools and in over 50 counties. The growth of AIMS has followed the national trend of Archery being the fastest-growing sport nationwide and statewide. The first statewide Archery Invitational was held in Mississippi in 2011 with 400 student archers competing; and that number has expanded to over 6,000 student archers competing annually in the AIMS State Championship Series.
Benefits of AIMS
Through the sport of archery, AIMS teaches safety, mental concentration, physical fitness, and self-improvement. Research shows that the program improves students' self-confidence, motivation, behavior, concentration, and focus. The program has also been shown to increase students' desire to attend school. In addition to all of the above benefits, AIMS is fun, safe, and can be enjoyed by youth regardless of athletic ability. Educators report that the archery in the schools program "engages the unengaged" and inspires students to greater achievement in school. Archery is a sport nearly everyone can truly be successful at regardless of age, size, or physical ability. Statistics show that school archery programs engage more students in the educational process, improve classroom performance, and reduce drop out rates.
Is Archery A Safe Sport?
YES! Safety is the highest priority of AIMS. The AIMS program is taught during school by highly trained teachers and coaches. The AIMS program is safer than any ball sport in our schools. All AIMS instructors maintain certification through the National Archery in Schools Program. Mississippi has over 80,000 students per year shooting in archery class and has a "0%" injury rate. This low injury rate reflects the discipline regimen of the program. Archery is a fun and safe sport and we will keep it that way by maintaining one of the top training programs in the world. Our BAI (Basic Archery Instructor) Trainers and Specialist are highly trained and maintain high standards of qualification and certification as to insure that safety is of the utmost priority.
X-TREME is a new division for AIMS schools that will allow archers to use bows with set draw lengths, release aids, and sights. This will enable our high school archers (Grades 9 through 12) to be formally trained to use equipment that will benefit them at the next level (Collegiate Archery) enabling these archers to bow hunt and shoot in adult archery events or even professionally.
AIMS X-TREME uses the new Gen-X bow with a 40 pound peak weight and is equipped with an adjustable sight, tunable arrow rest, peep sight, stabilizer, string loop, and a comfortable caliper style release aid.
The new AIMS EXTREME bow pictured above is loaded out with great terminal gear that is at home on the range or in the woods.
In capable hands, this rig is sufficient to take down a whitetail deer. This division will also introduce a new challenge for high school-aged student-athletes. The AIMS X-TREME program differs not only in the equipment from AIMS but also in the targets, which are durable animal-style target faces that are easily stored and transported, simplifying range setup for instructors and students. These targets fit easily on standard AIMS target bags, making the X-TREME program affordable for every school.
This is two of the six target faces used in AIMS X-TREME competition.
The format for X-TREME will follow the standard AIMS format: one practice end of five arrows for practice, followed by three scoring ends at 10 meters. Student-athletes will move to 15 meters and repeat the process with one practice end followed by three scoring ends. A perfect score of 300 is possible, and ties will be broken by the AIMS X-TREME protocol.
All competitors will use the same model and style of equipment. The picture below shows the equipment that is allowed for competition. Easton Genesis arrows are the required arrows, fletched with 3-inch straight vanes. The arrows must be full-length with glue-in points installed. Floor quivers are the only style of quiver allowed.
Tournament Registration
Mississippi AIMS staff coordinates archery regional and state events throughout the competitive season for public and independent school systems. The State Championships will be held in Jackson MS in April.
