started some 25 years ago in Hungary by Kassai Lajos. Since that time one mans passion has kindled fires in the hearts of a few people around the world. The home school in Kaposmero has developed into a major training center where people come from around the world to train. In recent years the focus has shifted from training individuals, to training teachers. The result of this has been the growth of smaller schools in Hungary and beyond. These schools, branches of the family tree, teach a growing number of Horseback Archers across the globe. The basic fundementals are taught at every school using an examination system that assures a student in the United States can feel at home at any school in the system.

Kassai USA started as an idea in the summer of 2000, when I met Kassai at the International Horse Archery Festival in Fort Dodge Iowa. Since that time I have trained and competed extensively with Kassai each year at his training center in Hungary. In 2003 I participated in the first International training camp in Hungary. It was at this time that the foundation was laid for the Horseback Archery World Association(HAWA). The goal was to develop an international school and competition system. Since this humble beginning many ideas have changed, some refined, others abandoned and new ones cultivated. HAWA, as a living association will continually grow, and with this growth comes change. Any organization must develop and refine itself over time or it will fail.

In 2004, Kassai USA, hosted the first recognized competition outside of Europe, I considered this a major step forward. Now Kassai USA stands beside some 15 other schools in HAWA. Brother and sister schools located in Hungary, Slovokia, Austria, Germany, Canada, and developing schools in New Zealand, Bulgaria, Greece, and Norway.