Archery is growing in popularity in Worthington's elementary schools as students "aim for success" and try to stay "on target for life."

Both slogans grace the T-shirts of Bluffsview Elementary School's archery club as students there learn archery skills and begin to compete at state and national levels.

What began as a unit in physical education has become archery clubs at three Worthington elementary schools: Bluffsview, Granby and Worthington Park.

The Worthington Archery Classic was held March 21 at Granby Elementary School, during which the top 10 archers from each school -- five boys and five girls -- competed.

Bluffsview's archers captured the top spot, winning the Worthington Archery Classic Travelling Trophy, which will be displayed at the school until next year's competition.

"We really emphasize striving for a personal best and recognize it with a cheer and applause when it happens," said Ben Wilson, Bluffsview physical education teacher. "We encourage students to simply strive to reach their full potential and hope that lesson goes with them beyond archery."

Wilson, along with Rick Armstrong from Granby and Jay Addy from Worthington Park, attended a workshop held by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources last school year and received $1,000 grants to begin youth archery programs at their schools.

Each of the schools began archery clubs this year.

Wilson said life lessons, such as focus, precision, consistency, self-control, self-evaluating, learning from mistakes and having a positive attitude, are easily integrated into archery.

"Something new we started a few weeks ago was to label a vane or two on each arrow with a phrase or word representing some area we want to be 'on target,' such as peer pressure, respect for others, mental health, physical health or sportsmanship," he said. "Along with occasional discussions about being on target in these areas, the words are randomly reinforced every time an arrow is shot."

Bluffsview's club is preparing for a national competition May 14 and 15 in Louisville, Ky., after finishing seventh in the Ohio National Archery in the Schools Program.

The state contest was held March 4 at Veterans Memorial as part of the Arnold Sports Festival.

"It was a neat and memorable experience for our students," Wilson said.

He said it was an all-day event, with 80 to 100 shooting lanes set up to accommodate about 1,200 archers and 17 elementary schools, 17 middle schools and 21 high schools represented.

"The wildlife officers we spoke to upon arrival were somewhat surprised that a team from Worthington was participating and felt strongly we were the first team from Franklin County to participate in the five-year history of the tournament," Wilson said.

He said team scores are calculated by adding the sum of the 12 archers from a team, with at least four of the top 12 scores required to be from each gender. Teams in the elementary division could qualify by scoring a minimum of 2,700 points.

"It's pretty neat that we were able to qualify in our first year of participation," Wilson said. "It wasn't a goal of ours; we just wanted to go out and have fun and try to do the best we could."

Wilson said he introduced archery to his students in physical education classes two years ago.

"The students absolutely loved it," he said. "It was great to see some of the students who don't typically find interest in traditional sports not only be interested, but discover that they were good at the sport," he said.

He said the school's PTA helped by purchasing equipment, and grants from the Worthington Education Foundation and a state grant helped to establish the club.

"We planned to limit the club to the first 60 students, but we had students literally lining up outside the gym door on the morning enrollment began," he said. "I didn't have the heart to turn students away, so we created another day to accommodate the 81 students who wished to participate. It was awesome."

Wilson said his assistant coach is Fred Friesen, whose "deep archery background" has been an important part of the team's success.

Wilson said putting students in competitive situations can be valuable.

"Our competitive situations are opportunities to see how our best compares to that of others, so we don't shy away from winning and losing," he said. "That's an important part of life.

"The idea of healthy competition is unfortunately getting lost in a society that sometimes settles for, and even rewards, mediocrity. In archery, just like in life, our arrows and our choices have to be accepted, like it or not."