I have been competing, teaching, and coaching target archery since 1992. I started training at Nickle Archery under Ed Fortin in April 1992. In August 1994, I saw the need for Archery Judges and I became a NAA Judge Candidate. In December 1994 I earned my NAA Judge Certification. (USA Archery is the DBA for the National Archery Association, the NAA.) I earned my NAA Intermediate Instructor Certification in October 1996. I started working at Nickle Archery in October 1996 when I took over leading the JOAD program. While at Nickle Archery, I earned my NAA Coach Certification in May 1998. I moved to Northeast Outfitters in October 1999 when Nickle Archery closed its doors. Northeast Outfitters closed its doors in April 2000. I earned my NAA National Coach Certification in June 2000. I moved to Reedy’s Archery in June 2000 and took over Recurve Archery in their JOAD program. I left Reedy’s Archery in August 2001. In 2005, USA Archery renamed the “National Coach” to “Level 4”. I earned my NTS Certification in 2003 when I was among the first to embrace NTS. I started working at Archery USA in September 2001 and continued until October 2008. I started Ace Archers, Inc. on June 7, 2003 when I transitioned to full time coaching in archery. My family and I ran Ace Archers, Inc. as a traveling program until August 2013. In October 2007, we leased the space at 131 Morse St, Foxboro, MA and opened Ace Archers, Inc. on January 27, 2008. We continued in that location for almost 16 years.
Starting in 1994, I stated working as a Tournament Director and Director of Shooting for indoor tournaments. I ran 4 indoor tournaments that year for Nickle Archery. In 1996 I began running outdoor tournaments for State Archery Association of Massachusetts (SAAM). I ran two outdoor tournaments in 1996 and continued running outdoor tournaments for SAAM until 2019. Once we opened the shop, I began running 16 indoor tournaments a year from 2008 to 2012. In 2012 I reduced the number of indoor tournaments from 16 to 6. Starting in 2009, we ran three outdoor tournaments a year from the shop, two Outdoor Warm-ups and the Outdoor Archers Cup. The Outdoor Archer’s Cup and the Outdoor Warm-Up Tournaments continued until 2019.
Starting in June 1998, I began running Basic Instructor (Level 1 Instructor) and Intermediate Instructor (Level 2 Instructor) courses. I ran about 10 courses a year until 2020. In June 2000 I started teaching Archery Coach Courses with many National Coaches in Lake Placid OTC, Chula Vista OTC, or Colorado Springs OTC. Starting in 2004, here at Ace Archers, I ran one Level 3 Archery Coach courses a year until 2019.
Starting in 2003 we started the Ace Archers JOAD Program. That program has continued until today, and I hope will continue for many years to come. Ace Archers JOAD Program has produced about 10 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Olympians from the JOAD archers, and about 15 Gold Silver, and Bronze Awards for adults. The JOAD Program has produced many excellent archers and has graduated about 20 JOAD archers to Regional Developmental Teams and National Development Teams. There have been about 200 tournament archers produced by Ace Archers club. I am very proud of the archer’s accomplishments in tournaments! You are all great!
It is now time for me to step down from coaching. I am retiring as of August 31, 2023. The last day the shop will be open is August 20, 2023. From August 21, 2023 to August 31, 2023, we will be closing the shop and moving any items from our current location to a storage facility. We will be leaving the space at 131 Morse St., Foxboro, MA on August 31, 2023.
We are attempting to sell Ace Archers, Inc. The retail inventory will be gone, I hope, and all the materials for running the shop will be available for next owners of Ace Archers. If you are interested in purchasing an existing successful business, with a great reputation for service and a driving force in target archery, please contact me.
I have three potential buyers for the shop! I look forward to Ace Archers continuing under new management!
We have accepted an offer to buy the shop from one of the potential buyers. Ace Archers will continue under new management!
This is a very bittersweet time for me. Coaching, teaching, and running archery programs has been my passion since I was 36 years old. Using my life to help others in archery has been a blessing for me. But now is the time to step down and take some time for myself.
I has been my privilege to work with all of you. I will miss all of you. Thanks for everything!
I hope to see you at competitions!
Thomas Herrington
Ace Archers JOAD Leader
USA Archery Level 4 NTS Coach
USA Archery Level 1 Judge
USA Archery Instructor Trainer
USA Archery Level 3 Coach Trainer
President Ace Archers, Inc.