ARACOMA — Chapmanville Regional High School Archery Coach Estil Murray hopes to get a little financial help from the Logan County Board of Education.

Murray, who coaches the archery teams at CRHS at Chapmanville Middle, goes out each year and collects up to $2,600 in donations. The archery program also received a $3,000 grant from the State Legislature to help buy another set of archery equipment to give the team a total of three sets.

Murray told the board on Wednesday evening that he would like to use the money he collects from donations to take the archery students on trips, to pay for food on those trips and to buy team tee shirts. He asked that the board help buy equipment so that the donations can be used for other activities that would benefit the children.

Murray said that in three years, he has taken 105 archery athletes to compete at the state competition.

“I think that’s more than any other sport,” Murray said, noting that he had coached two individual state champions, one second place individual archer and a third-place archer. He said as a team, the Chapmanville squads have finished as high as fourth place out of 23 competing schools.

Murray said he would like for the school board to buy equipment for archers in the program. He already has three sets of archery equipment and he hopes the board of education can help buy more.

Logan County Schools Superintendent Wilma Zigmond said she has to look into funding the archery program, because it’s not school-sponsored and isn’t sanctioned by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission.

She said it’s possible that the school board would have to hire a certified coach, if archery is considered a school team sport, rather than an activity.

Currently, the team uses some equipment paid for by the BOE, but that equipment was purchased for the archery class and not for a team.

Zigmond said there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed before the board can decide if it will pay for the archery equipment or not.

“I think we need to sit down and look at this,” Zigmond said. “This board is in full support of anything to help our children.”

Assistant Superintendent Terry Elkins said that, in the past, the schools have helped with equipment and transportation to competitions.

Board Member Bill Davis said he appreciates the work Murray puts into the archery program.

“It’s one of the nicest programs in the schools,” Davis said.

Board Member Mark McGrew thanked Murray for bringing the issue before the BOE.

“I like the nonconventional sports,” McGrew said. “Whatever we can do to get kids into college, I think that’s fantastic.”

This is the fourth year that Murray has guided the archery team. He just returned to the team after taking some time off to recuperate from heart bypass surgery seven weeks ago.

Murray is also a Chapmanville Town Council member.

To contact Staff Writer Michael Browning, call 304-752-6950, extension 309, or email him at mbrowning@loganbanner.com.