Members of the Brewer Police Athletic League are hoping a new archery program they are starting this month will get the point across to Brewer-area youths about the benefits and enjoyment provided by the sport of archery.

The city of Brewer was one of 10 locations selected by the National Association of Police Athletic Leagues to take part in the Level One Basic Instructor program.

The program is designed to expose youths to archery and to produce some advanced or elite shooters who could eventually compete for a National PAL Championship in August.

The NAPAL’s announcement that Brewer would be one of the cities selected came as a great surprise to local PAL representatives.

“We’re really privileged to have been one of the cities to be picked for the program,” said program coordinator Sgt. Dan Greene of the Brewer Police Department. “We have a lot of work to do. We’ve got to be ready for the nationals by this summer.”

The nationals will be held at the University of Miami-Ohio. It is the hope of organizers that some local kids can advance as far as that round.

Green and the other organizers haven’t been without help, however. The Archery Manufacturers Organization (AMO) collected more than $100,000 worth of archery equipment and divided it into start-up kits to be sent to each of the 10 cities participating in the program.

After getting the equipment, the biggest concerns for Greene and others were finding someone well-qualified to run the program and attracting enough youths to make it a successful venture.

“I look for a big turnout,” said Mike Rose of Holden, the man tabbed by organizers to head up the program. “Archery is becoming very, very big. And it’s becoming more of a family activity also.”

Rose has been actively involved in the sport of archery for 17 years. He’s a certified bow-hunting safety course instructor, the president of Penobscot Valley Bow Hunters and also a member of the Maine Bowhunters Association and the National Field Archery Association.

As far as his enthusiasm for archery goes, his love for the sport is obvious after talking to him for just a minute or two.

“I enjoy this as much as Richard Petty loves racing. Just like a photographer who really loves his work, I do mine,” said Rose.

Rose is looking forward to working with young people and said he expects to get more kids, as well as their parents, involved with archery.

“What we’re seeing is that not just the kids are interested in it, but the parents are getting interested also,” Rose explained.

Rose said he thinks archery is still as popular as it ever was, but for a different reason. He thinks more people are taking up archery for competitive reasons or simply for enjoyment. In the past, a lot of people who learned archery did so as preparation for bow hunting.

“A lot of people have decided they just don’t want to hunt any more, they’d rather just shoot for fun,” Rose said.

Besides the support Rose and his organizers have received from the Brewer PAL and organizations like the AMO, the archery program is also getting help from some local volunteers and businesses such as Van Raymond Outfitters in Brewer.

Another of the major aims of the program is to give people in the Brewer area another activity to participate in during the summer months.

“This is what we’re hoping for … that this will open up a new avenue for summertime activities,” Rose said.

The Brewer PAL program is scheduled to begin April 12 and will continue through June. Coordinators estimate they will be able to fully accommodate 24 children an evening, but can take more if they get them. Practices will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays each week at the Brewer Middle School.

A public informational night will be held 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, at the Brewer Middle School.

If Rose gets his wish for a big turnout by children and parents alike, the Brewer PAL archery program will be right on target for a successful first year.