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Collegiate Cup 2026
The Collegiate Cup is a 5-week virtual competition hosted at collegiate campuses across the country, featuring four weeks of qualifying rounds followed by one week of virtual head-to-head competition. It offers collegiate archers a national-level opportunity to represent their school and earn team and individual awards, including a $500 scholarship for the winning team!
This year, the Collegiate Cup Invitational will feature both team and individual competition across all eight collegiate divisions. Archers may compete individually as well as represent their school in the team competition. Teams may register any number of archers; however, only the top final score in each division will count toward the team’s combined four-person score.
Register Today!
Registration
The registration fee is $10 per archer. Archers can register individually and can compete in a team if they meet the team requirements.
Teams can register as many archers as they wish, with the top archer in each shooting style (4 archers total) contributing to the team score.
All participating archers must hold a valid NFAA Collegiate Membership or an NFAA Collegiate Add-On Membership (for Professional/Life members).
Collegiate Divisions
Individual archers may register in the below divisions. There is NO additional fee for a team registration.
- Freestyle
- Freestyle Limited Recurve
- Barebow Recurve
- Bowhunter
Cancellation Policy
Registrations are final. No refunds will be issued due to scheduling conflicts, illness, or other personal issues.
Phase 1: Qualification Period
October 19 - November 14, 2026
- Weeks 1-2: NFAA 300 Rounds
- Weeks 3-4: Vegas 300 Rounds
Phase 2: Head-to-Head Virtual Finals
November 16 - 20, 2026
- Monday, Nov 16: Bowhunter (Men & Women Matches)
- Tuesday, Nov 17: Barebow Recurve (Men & Women Matches)
- Wednesday, Nov 18: Freestyle Limited Recurve (Men & Women Matches)
- Thursday, Nov 19: Freestyle (Men & Women Matches)
- Friday, Nov 20: Team Finals
*The schedule is subject to change.
Qualification Format
Qualification Period: October 19 - November 14, 2026
Weeks 1-2: NFAA 300 Rounds
Weeks 3-4: Vegas 300 Rounds
Archers are required to submit a corresponding score no later than Sunday each week via the Scorecard Submission Form. Team rankings will be posted on the website immediately after verification each week. The top two teams after the 4-week qualification will advance to an exciting, first-of-its-kind virtual individual & team round match for first place during the week of November 16th! Results will be posted on the NFAA app
NFAA 300 Round: 12 ends of 5 arrows (maximum of 300 points) on the blue/white target face
Vegas Round: 10 ends of 3 arrows (maximum of 300 points) on the Vegas target face
Event Rules
Shooting & Scoring
- The shooting distance shall be 20 yards.
- Halfway through the scoring portion on the Indoor Round, archers shooting bottom targets will move their target face to the top, and archers shooting top targets will move their target face to the bottom.
- Shooting positions will provide sufficient area to enable two archers to safely shoot simultaneously at one target butt.
- An archer must straddle the shooting line or distance marker. A disabled archer shooting from a chair or wheelchair will place the chair legs or wheels straddling the shooting line or distance marker.
- The time limit shall be 4 minutes per end for the NFAA 300 Round and 2 minutes per end for the Vegas Round.
- X-rings shall be counted and used as tie breakers and will be considered part of the official score.
- The archer shall record X’s and numeric values of each arrow in each scoring box on their scorecard before touching or drawing any arrows from the target. No archer may touch the target face before all arrows are scored.
- An arrow cutting two rings shall be scored in the ring of greater value. Scoring is determined by the position of the shaft. In all NFAA Rounds, an arrow shaft need only touch the line to be counted in the area of next higher value. In the event the scoring ring has become distorted due to torn or missing paper, the scorer shall visually reconstruct the natural arc of the scoring ring to determine the value of the arrow(s).
- Witnessed bounce outs or arrows passing completely through the target will be reshot.
- Hits on the wrong target will be scored as misses.
- When an arrow is dropped while the archer is in the act of shooting, he/she may shoot another arrow in place of the dropped arrow if any portion of the dropped arrow is within ten feet of the shooting line.
- If an archer shoots more than the prescribed number of arrows in an end, the excess arrow or arrows of higher value will not be scored. A penalty of one scoring ring (1 point and 1 X if applicable) will be assessed for each arrow shot over the prescribed number of arrows.
- If an archer shoots less than the prescribed number of arrows in one end he/she may shoot his/her remaining arrows if the omission is discovered before the end is officially completed; otherwise they shall be scored as misses.
- Archers can choose whether they shoot the 40cm single-spot or multi-spot target face for both the NFAA blue/white 300 rounds and the Vegas rounds.
- When using the 5-spot or 3-spot target faces, an archer may shoot the spots target in any order and shoot as many arrows into any spot as the archer desires, not to exceed the prescribed number of arrows per end.
Equipment
All rounds will follow NFAA shooting styles and equipment rules as stated in the NFAA By-Laws, Article II.
Individual Elimination Format & Rules
Matches are head-to-head, single elimination, and will use the Vegas round target face. Archers may choose a 3-spot or single-spot face, but must use the same style for the entire match.
Total Ends: 5 ends per match
Arrows per End: 3 arrows per end
Total Arrows: 15 arrows per archer
Maximum Match Score: 150 points
To ensure a smooth and reliable virtual broadcast, the individual finals will utilize an alternating end-by-end format.
One archer will step to the line and shoot all 3 of their arrows for the end, followed by the opposing archer shooting their 3 arrows. Each archer has 120 seconds (2 minutes) to complete their end once their clock starts.
The higher-ranked archer from qualification will choose whether to shoot first or second in the first end. In subsequent ends, the archer with the lower cumulative score will shoot first. If the score is tied, the shooting order from the previous end will remain the same.
If the total score is tied after 5 ends (15 arrows), X-count will not be used to determine the winner. Instead, the match will immediately proceed to a single-arrow shoot-off.
Shoot-Off Protocol: Both archers will shoot one arrow (30 seconds each). The archer with the highest scoring arrow wins. If both archers score the same value, the archer whose arrow is physically closest to the center of the X-ring is declared the winner.
Team Round Format & Rules
Each team will consist of four archers, with at least one archer from each equipment style:
- FS (Freestyle)
- FSLR (Freestyle Limited Recurve)
- BH (Bowhunter)
- BBR (Barebow Recurve)
Teams are formed based on the top qualifying individual scores from the same school after the 4-week qualification period.
Matches are head-to-head, single elimination, and will use the Vegas round target face. Archers may use a 3-spot or single-spot target face, but must use the same style face for the entire match.
Total Ends: 4 ends per match
Archers per End: 6 arrows per end; 3 arrows each from 2 archers
- Ends 1 & 3 – BBR and FSLR archers
- Ends 2 & 4 – FS and BH archers
Total Arrows per Team: 24 arrows (6 per archer)
Maximum Match Score: 240 points per team
Each team has 120 seconds per end to shoot six arrows.
The team clock starts when the first archer steps onto the line.
After the first 3 arrows are shot, the clock stops, and the other team shoots. When the second team completes their 3 arrows and fully clears the line, the first team resumes shooting their remaining 3 arrows.
The higher-ranked team will choose whether to shoot first or second in the first end. In subsequent ends, the team with the lower score will shoot first. If the score is tied, the original shooting order will be used.
The team's first archer is permitted to step to the shooting line after hearing the audible signal.
Only one archer is permitted on the shooting line at a time.
The shooting archer must have both feet completely off the shooting line before the next archer steps to the line. The first rotation violation will result in a warning, and subsequent violations result in a 1-point deduction per occurrence.
During scoring, one archer from each team will hold the video camera directly in front of the arrows so an official NFAA administrator can verify the scores. The team shooting first in each round will score their arrows first. In the case of a questionable arrow value, the official NFAA administrator will make the final call.
Xs will be used as the first tie-breaker, followed by total 10s, then a shoot-off if needed.
In a shoot-off, each archer shoots one arrow; the team with the highest combined score wins. If still tied, the team with the closest-to-center arrow wins.