What's JOAD?

JOAD stands for Junior Olympic Archery Development. It’s a program of USA Archery which is the national governing body for olympic archery in the U.S. There are hundreds of JOAD clubs across the country and seven right here in Minnesota.

The emphasis in JOAD is developing good archery form while making friends and having fun. We teach the National Training System (NTS), a series of 11 steps that are based on sound biomechanics and designed to produce repeatable shots.

Our archers earn achievement pins at official “pin shoots” throughout the year. Archers earn additional pins as their skills improve and their scores increase. There are many other optional competitions throughout the year.

While there’s no official minimum age for JOAD, we find that seven years old is about the earliest that youngsters can focus enough to master the basic steps and be safe with their equipment. Archers can compete in youth JOAD until the end of the year in which they turn 20 years old.

Visit our Contact Us page and send us an email if you’d like to learn more or join our team.

Adult Achievement #

Adults are welcome too! USA Archery has a program called Adult Achievement for archers 21 and over to participate in the learning and camaraderie of a local archery club. Some of the parents of our JOAD archers participate in Adult Achievement themselves! Registration for adult achievement is exactly the same as JOAD.