Foley is set to draw a national television audience this week as the Hoyt Archery Pro/Am, the season-opening event for the Archery Shooters Association (ASA), makes its sixth consecutive appearance in Baldwin County. For the first time, coverage of the competition will extend beyond online streaming to reach viewers through the Sportsman Channel, a cable network with roughly 28 million subscribers.
The tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Graham Creek Nature Preserve on Wolf Bay Drive, features top competitors from around the country shooting at three-dimensional animal targets set in a natural, wooded environment rather than the traditional circular targets used at a fixed distance. The format has become popular with both competitors and spectators for its realism and variety.
Competition Archery Media (CAM), which has partnered with ASA in previous years to stream the event’s final rounds on Facebook, worked with the Sportsman Channel to secure the new broadcast deal. According to CAM general manager Josh Grine, the expanded coverage reflects a shared goal among organizers to grow the sport of 3D archery and introduce it to new audiences.
Grine noted that last year’s Hoyt Pro/Am Shoot Down drew nearly 180,000 views online. With the addition of the Sportsman Channel, the My Outdoor TV streaming platform and expanded Facebook coverage this year, organizers believe the event has the potential to reach tens of millions of viewers combined. The Sportsman Channel alone counts more than 800,000 followers on its own Facebook page, in addition to its cable subscriber base.
The tournament’s marquee event, the Pro Pressure Point Shoot Down, will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Foley Event Center on East Pride Boulevard, where the top-ranked professional archers compete head-to-head in an elimination format.
City officials say the event’s growth over the past six years reflects a broader strategy to position Foley as a destination for sports tourism. David Thompson, the city’s director of recreation and sports tourism, credited ongoing investment in facilities and support from the mayor and city council for making it possible to host a production of this scale.
Thompson said the city’s partnership with organizations like ASA has become an important part of Foley’s local economy, drawing visitors who return to the area again and often become repeat guests long after the competition ends.
Grine said the transition from online-only streaming to television has been smoothed by years of experience producing high-quality footage for the event’s Facebook broadcasts. While this marks the first ASA event to air on the Sportsman Channel, organizers said they have no concerns about executing the production in Foley, citing the strong working relationship built with the city and the Foley Event Center staff over multiple years.
Moodie adds AFC Mobile coaching role
In other local sports news, University of South Alabama women’s soccer coach Richard Moodie is taking on an additional role as director of coaching for the AFC Mobile Academy, the development arm of Mobile’s minor league soccer club. The academy aims to build a pipeline of players from its junior program through its senior teams.
Moodie, who has been involved with the AFC Mobile Academy project since its inception and coached the girls’ team last fall, will continue leading the Jaguars as the college team prepares for an upcoming match against the University of Montevallo. He said the growth of soccer in the local community was a driving factor behind taking on the added responsibility.
AFC Mobile competes in the National Premier Soccer League, with its 2021 season scheduled to run from May through July. Steve Wieczorek, the club’s technical director, first-team head coach and men’s soccer coach at Spring Hill College, said Moodie’s experience working with the academy last fall made him the clear choice to lead the coaching staff and help implement the club’s playing philosophy across all age levels.
With Moodie’s appointment, boys’ director Ruben Risco will shift into an advisory role while continuing to serve as a first-team assistant coach and club ambassador. Wieczorek praised Risco’s contributions in helping establish the academy in its early stages.
AFC Mobile will continue to host home matches at the Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb Athletic Complex in Mobile, with a full schedule and season ticket information expected to be released soon. The club also took over management of the Mobile County Soccer Complex last October and recently hosted its inaugural Mardi Gras Camp there for players from kindergarten through eighth grade.