City of Cullman hits the mark with ASA archery tournament
Aug. 2—With recent tournaments from major league fishing and international athletes choosing to prepare for The World Games locally, the city of Cullman continues to make its impression as a destination for national athletic events, hitting the mark once again with the Archery Shooters' Association Championship Classic held at Saint Bernard Abbey the weekend of July 30.
ASA representatives said that Cullman Parks and Recreation Sports Tourism began preparing for the event weeks in advance. Having set up dozens of ranges — each with multiple targets — covering the entire abbey grounds. This assistance from the city played a major part in ASA co-owner Matt Tyrell choosing Saint Bernard for the culmination of the archery season.
"There's several things we look at when choosing locations. They need to have parking for at least 1,000 people, there needs to be at least 1,000 hotel rooms locally, and then the Parks Department really did a lot of the heavy lifting with setting everything up. It's one of those things where we help each other. They did that for us and then by us having this tournament there's the potential for about a $2 million economic impact," Tyrell said.
Friday's Pro/Am portion of the tournament allowed local amateurs older than 8 to compete alongside some of the world's most elite athletes. This includes Chris Perkins, who Tyrell said that is among "the pantheon of the best archers in the world" after his recent third place finish in The World Games.
Perkins said that even after all of his years of experience, the ASA was one his favorite archery organizations.
"I've shot just about every tournament there is, and this is one of the best organizations for anyone from youth just getting into the sport to professional athletes. There are archers from 8-80 years old and everything in between," Perkins said.
For those archers younger than the 8-year old age limit, multiple practice courses were set up specifically to allow children to be able to be a part of the experience.
As the culmination of a six-event season, the championship event took place Saturday afternoon, where the tournament's Top 5 shooters took to the Saint Bernard's soccer field. ASA Shooters of the year were also announced.
Winners
Levi Morgan-Open Pro Class
Jeff Raney- Known Pro Class
Tim Gillingham-Senior Pro Class
Shannon Wallace-Women's Pro Class
2022 Shooters of the Year included:
Dan McCarthy- Open Pro Class
Tim Gillingham- Senior Pro Class
Kyle Douglas- Known Pro Class
Shannon Wallace-Women's Pro Class
