Suggestions for starting a youth program?

[Soilarch]

I wanted to call it youth "league" but that's really not the right word, since competition would not be a part of it.

After the crops are in I'm really itching to try and start a very small group of boys in traditional archery.  I'm purely guessing but I'm thinking maybe a dozen of them.  (It would be boys only because it would be a church-function-type-thing with the bigger picture having a focus on being a doorway into "little-man's ministry" of sorts.

I'm a strong believer that men need time to be with other men, and I see no reason the same doesn't hold true with boys.  Add to that my ever-increasing realization that the men, and in particular, the boys of our culture are being systematically feminized/emasculated
and...whhooaaa, I better stop there. Just go to any mall and take note of any male between the ages of 12 and 25.  You'll get the point.

Besides that my church already (or did at least) have a ministry for the little girls to get together and do their girlie things.  To my knowledge there is nothing throughout the week, or more likely the weekends, for the young boys.  (I'm thinking of a 8-14 age range...but that's one of the big things I'm looking for suggestions on.)  I'm from a very rural area and hunting does not have the slightest bit of a negative connotation attached to it...but hunting would not be the focus anyway (refer to the "bigger picture" portion above).

*Getting a half dozen bows lined up.
*Getting MYSELF some REAL coaching so I can actually be of some use to the young 'uns.
*Some more targets

These are the things I know I need.

Some specific question are:
*Does having multiple shooters shooting at the same target cause problems?
*Age-range and general poundage of bows?  (I have no idea what an "average" 10yo can comfortably pull.)
*Backstop ideas?  If it's inside I don't want to be tearing stuff up. If it's outside I don't want to go through arrows like there's no tomorrow.
*Ideas on games that aren't too challenging and where pinpoint accuracy ISN'T the determining factor. (Best I can come up with is "lottery" type targets)
*Points of interest about training young archers.  Things to absolutely avoid (beside broadheads LOL ) Things to really watch for.  Things to definitely include, etc.
*Lastly, the best way to get the parents involved   positively  


***(Disclaimer: I do not consider archery or hunting to be an activity reserved for masculinity.  The point is men spending time with men.  What boy doesn't like the idea of a bow and arrow?  And what better way to introduce the next generation to archery BEFORE they get sucked into one of them training wheel rigs like I did?          :D   )

[Arwin]

I teach youth archery in the summer and it's very rewarding.

 Patience is a good starting point,LOL! Being firm with the kids on saftey apects is another big one.

 Make it fun as possible. Kids who miss the target often are discouraged. I focus on having them watch their arrows fly rather than hitting a bulls eye.

 Lots of arrows!!! You can get by with a couple low poundage bows, but the kids really use up arrows.

 Great to hear your looking into this. Sometimes it's one of the only ways to keep archery alive, especially if the childs parents don't bow hunt. I came from that background and was blessed to have a few mentors tke me under their wing.

 I like to have no more than two shooting at a time if it's just myself. It can get wild with more than that and will look like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings if your not careful.      

 Try to find a lefty bow or a dual shelf bow. I learned quick that there are quite a few lefties in a group.  You could probably teach 80% of the kids with a dual shelf bow pulling around 30#@28.

 I also have a "mini" fiberglass bow for the little ones. It's funny watching a 2-3 yr old shoot for the first time.    :D

[koger]

I coach 4H, and our recurves are Greatree and Pse bullseyes, #15-20#, works great for all ages, even bigger kids can shoot reall well with lower poundage. I work with them on form basics, stance, push the bow hand at target, pull to a anchor, and pull through in one motion. You will be suprised how quick a kid can get good at trad archery, they want to do well. I teach a high anchor on the cheekbone, has them looking at where the arrow is pointing, not at the arrow. They usually are shooting good at 10-15 yards in a couple of sessions. I had a kid last night second time shooting recurves, he shot 5 relays of 5 shots at 10&15 yds, every shot in the 10 ring!! He obviously has some natural ability, but other kids who had been struggling some had wathced him, started mimicking him and their scores jumped. I had to teach the kids to shoot the recurves differently than the genesis wheel bows, they were anchoring low, point on, and were everywhere with recurves doing it this way, struggling with no let off. Get in touch with a 4H rep,get a copy of their rules/saftey regs, good to model your program after. I would get a place with a mown bank as a backstop behind targets, dont loose arrows that way, this is what we do. Hope this helps.