Oxford Central right on target

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger

If Rachel Zorsky ever decides to take up bowhunting and proceeds to out-hunt some United Bowhunters of New Jersey members, they shouldn't grumble.

The UBNJ played a part in making 12-year-old Zorsky the archer she's become, having been a big supporter, and contributor to, the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP).

How good is Zorsky?

Consider this: There were almost 2,000 students competing Saturday in the 2007 NASP National Tournament in Lexington, Ky. Zorsky, a sixth-grader from Oxford Central School in Warren County, scored 280 points out of a possible 300.

That made her the top-shooting elementary school female at the tournament. Number One in a field overwhelmingly populated with kids from Kentucky and other states where bowhunting is much more commonplace than it is in New Jersey.

"She's a shooter," said Paul Ritter, hunter education administrator for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. "She really worked in practices."

One of her coaches at Oxford Central, phys-ed teacher Rob Causton, said Zorsky was coming in an hour before school to practice and staying an hour afterward to do the same.

Zorsky wasn't alone in making New Jersey proud at the NASP tournament. Another Oxford student, eighth-grader Kaitlyn Ischinger, took third-place in the female middle school competition, scoring a respectable 275. The Oxford Central team came in 15th out of 51 middle schools.

"I'm thoroughly impressed with that," said Causton, noting New Jersey has offered NASP in schools for only two years. "They shot over 200 points better at the national tournament than they did at the state tournament."

For reasons obvious to anyone who knows the political climate in New Jersey, Ritter and Causton do not use bowhunting as part of their pitches when they talk to other schools about participating in the NASP. However, the UBNJ, the National Wild Turkey Federation and other pro-hunting organizations support the program.

Studies have shown that archery programs in schools have a way of instilling interest in bowhunting among some students. Those that eventually give hunting a try have an advantage over many bowhunting novices.

"It teaches them how to focus on a specific target, which is so important," said Causton, who bowhunts. "They can block everything else out."

He said Zorsky, whose father is a bowhunter, has yet to try shooting game. However, "she's more interested in bowhunting now than she was before," said her teacher. "She got a Genesis Pro bow for winning at the national level and she's excited to try shooting that."

Ritter said promoting archery helps wildlife and sportsmen because Pittman-Robertson Act federal excise taxes from the sale of archery equipment is channeled to state fish and wildlife agencies. "I run my hunter education program 100 percent using federal funds," he noted.

Ritter said there are 14 schools in New Jersey participating in the NASP program.