Top Archery Competitions Return to London
London, Ky. will be the focus of the archery world for three straight weekends beginning May 27 when it welcomes more than 2,000 professional and amateur shooters to compete in three major tournaments.
Sandwiched between a regional qualifier on May 27-28 and a scholastic 3D state tournament June 9-11 is the massive Archery Shooters Association’s 3D Pro/Am Archery Tournament June 1-4, which attracts participants from about 35 states.
All three tournaments will be held at the London-Laurel County Fairgrounds, which first began hosting the ASA in 2007.
“The Archery Shooters Association is proud to once again be working with the London-Laurel County Tourist Commission and City of London Tourism & Parks on hosting the 2023 TRU Ball 3-D Archery Pro/Am,” said Ken White with the ASA. “This event is open to the public, and we encourage everyone to come check out the London-Laurel Fairgrounds from June 1–June 4th. ASA offers everyone the chance to experience these professionally ran events with competition ranges that are specifically designed to be spectator friendly.”
The archery tournaments infuse a lot of tourism dollars into the Southeastern Kentucky economy, generally filling up hotels from Jellico to Berea. The money injected into the community is shared by restaurants, hotels, service stations, grocery stores, retail and visitor attractions.
As an added bonus for competitors and the community, country music star Sammy Kershaw kicks off the Town Center Summer Concert Series on Friday, June 2.
Chris Robinson, executive director of City of London Tourism, said the ASA tournament “continues to be one of the best summer tourism events in our region. The staff of ASA archery has done a wonderful job developing a premier event that our community should be proud to be a part of.”
“As I talk to both professional and amateur archery athletes from across the country, they have always complimented London, Ky. for its hospitality, affordability, and access to other attractions post tournament,” said Kelly Burton with London-Laurel County Tourist Commission. “Hotels and restaurants are just minutes away from the fairgrounds. The ASA team is very good to work with, and we look forward to many more years partnering together.”
The archery bonanza begins on May 27 with the Ky ASA state qualifier, hosted by AimTakers Archery, a local archery organization. This will be a last opportunity for shooters to qualify for the next two tournaments in London. About 250 shooters are expected.
“Our local AimTakers Archery team is excited to be helping with the upcoming ASA Pro/Am event,” said Nick and Candace Metcalf, head coaches of AimTakers Archery. “This is an opportunity to get the whole family involved and enjoy the sport of competitive archery.”
The next week, the ASA will fill the fairgrounds with shooters from all over the country. About 50 archery companies will set up booths to display their new products. Competition Archery Media will provide daily coverage of the competition, and will produce a live show of the pro shoot down on Saturday June 3 that can be seen on The Sportsman Channel and other streaming services.
The archery competition wraps up on June 9-11 at the fairgrounds with the Kentucky Scholastic 3D State Tournament. About 400 youths are expected to participate.
“We are looking forward to hosting the Kentucky S3DA state tournament at the fairgrounds,” said Robert Cox with Kentucky Scholastic Archery. “We will have college coaches on site to watch kids and decide on scholarships for some of them. We have hosted in London for several years and can’t find a better place anywhere in the state to host this tournament.”
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Article By Willie Sawyers