Neal Receives Archery Scholarship

Last Thursday at Vidalia Heritage Academy, Reese Neal, a rising senior at VHA received a $2,000 scholarship from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for placing 3rd at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) Eastern National Archery Tournament in Louisville, KY, in May.

Neal said, “I have been participating in archery for seven years and it feels like I've been working up to something like this. I couldn't have done this without my parents, coaches and teach- continued from page

ers who have supported me and I am very thankful.”

DNR Representative Jennifer Davison stated, “We started the program in 2004. The first year we had just eight schools, and in our first tournament we had 100 kids in 2008. Since then it has continued to grow, and when we hit almost 2,000 kids at a tournament, we knew we had something really big. Last year we had 50,000 kids that participated through their school physical education programs in the state, with many of those competing in tournaments around the state as well. We have great coaches, parents, and schools that are a part of this. We provide these scholarships through registration fees that are then matched by the National program and go back to deserving kids in our state.”