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USA Archery (USAA), the business name by which the National Archery Association of the United States is known, is the national Governing Body for the sport of archery in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee. USAA, a non-profit organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, proclaims to "foster the sport of archery as a national pastime" and to develop "international sports superiority in archery" and to "enable United States athletes to achieve sustained competitive excellence" in Olympic and World Championship competitions. Ref http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Archery/Resources/Governance/Bylaws.

The National Archery association was formed in early 1879 by a gathering of archers in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in the mayor's office at the behest of the Chicago Archery Association. Maurice Thompson, an essayist credited with setting the sport of archery before the American public through his writings, particularly his 1878 "The Witchery of Archery", was elected the association's first president at that meeting. That same year the first national tournament was held in Chicago.

USAA is organized into four geographical regions among which their interests in all fifty states (plus the District of Columbia) are divided, and operate a number of archer teaching and development programs at the junior, collegiate and adult levels, supported by instructor and coach certification programs. As of 2012, there were 632 USA Archery Clubs, 5,895 individual members, and 12,173 active certified instructors/coaches.

History
Archery as a form of recreation, target-shooting as opposed to hunting, was well established in England by the time that representatives of eight American archery societies (clubs) met on January 23, 1879 in the offices of John W. Ramsay, the then mayor of Crawfordsville, Indiana, for the purpose to organize a National Archery Organization in the United States. Maurice Thompson was elected the society's first president and Executive Committee Chairman.

The first National Meeting and Championship (of the newly formed national Archery Association) took place later that year, August 12-14, 1879 in Chicago, Illinois. The men's champion, Will H. Thompson, was the brother of Maurice Thompson. The first ladies' "Championess" was Mrs Spalding Brown of Hastings, Michigan. Seventy four archers shot the required double championship rounds out of an attendance totaling eighty-nine.

The twenty-sixth National held September 19-21, 1904, constituted archery's contribution to that year's Olympic Games at the World's fair in St Louis, Missouri. The 1917 and 1918 events did not take place due to America's participation in the Great War. However the thirty-ninth National Championship took place in 1919, August 26-29, at Soldier Field, Boston, Massachusetts. August 1919 was also the date that the Society's occasional newsletter "Archery" was first published.