All Lead Articles - 2008

A Very Happy Christmas to Archers Everywhere

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The KAA President and Committee would like to wish all our members and fellow archers everywhere a very happy Christmas and every success with their shooting in the New Year.

Happy Birthday

At the unanimous request of the Operational Committee members present, we would like to publicly embarrass one of our members who was not there and only uses modern technology under duress, so probably will not actually see this until it is much too late!

We would like to wish a happy birthday to Kent's oldest kid, Tim East, our illustrious treasurer, who is today 65 going on 6.5 years old. He's had the heating allowance and the free bus pass, but he is still aiming for the free TV license.

KCB for Longbows

As promised, the Kent County Bowman classification has now been extended to include longbows with effect from 01 January 2009.

The handicap equivalents for each gender/age group are now available in the updated Kent County Bowman Policy and each club will shortly receive a copy of the score matrix, showing the scores required for each round - if you haven't received yours by the end of December, please contact the county Records Officer.

Compound Limited

You may already have read in the Winter 2008 edition of ArcheryUK, that the "Compound Limited" bow style will no longer be recognised for target archery (outdoor and indoor) and clout archery with effect from 01 March 2009. It will however continue in Field Archery.

In Kent we stopped maintaining records for this style some time ago, because we had not received a single claim in almost 10 years. The Championships and Tournaments Policy has been updated to reflect the change - we have made the change a bit early, because there are no county championships between now and the end of February.

County Invitation & Team Selection

The latest in our series of explanatory leaflets covers how you get invited to the County Invitation Tournament and what it is for; then it gives an short explanation of the County Team selection process. All of this leads on to the monthly "Score Returns", explaining exactly what information we would like and why.

The County Invitation and Team Selection Policies are now available for download, or can be found in the Downloads section of this web site.

Additional County Records

At the October meeting of the county's Operational Committee it was agreed to recognise county records in Junior Target Archery for the following rounds:

  • FITA 70m Round / 70m Cadet Round (6 dozen arrows shot at 70m on a 122cm target face)
  • FITA 60m Cadet Round (6 dozen arrows shot at 60m on a 122cm target face)

Please note that records will only be accepted for single rounds shot on or after 01 January 2009.

Although a number of events stage a "Double FITA 70m/60m round", this should be thought of as two rounds for which awards are based on the aggregate score - neither ArcheryGB nor FITA currently recognise double 70m or 60m rounds for record purposes.

The Target Archery Records book for juniors will also be updated to show the Cadet FITA rounds alongside the domestic Metric 1 & Metric 2 rounds. This is only a "clarification" and no additional records are involved.

Child Protection

The committee has been looking for a CPO for some time and just after the October meeting of the Operational Committee a volunteer came forward. Mark Davis (Crystal Palace Bowmen) has been an Individual Member of Kent for many years and is well known around the county in his capacity as a coach and judge; he recently retired from teaching and has had a number of years' experience working with and implementing Child Protection measures. After a short discussion this evening, Mark was appointed to the post with immediate effect.

You may have read that a revised "Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy" is due to be issued by GNAS very shortly and I am sure you will remember that the first version was very comprehensive and lengthy, containing a lot of information that was either not relevant to or of only occasional relevance to most clubs. If this is repeated this time, we are planning to provide help by producing short guides, tailored to the most common activities that club members engage in (e.g. club target days, beginners' courses, running a local tournament).

It is important to emphasise that our guides will not replace the GNAS policy document, but we aim to take much of the pain out of implementing it. It will take a while to produce the guides and make sure that they are accurate, so when the GNAS document arrives, please give it a go and watch this space for news and help.

2009 Diary

A few dates for next year have started to filter through and these have been added to the diary. If your club is holding a tournament, or is running or involved in an archery-related event, please let us know so that it can be

d - it's completely free to KAA clubs!

Ideally include a link to the entry form and details on your club web site, or contact the webmaster to send a copy by e-mail or post.

Annual General Meeting - Report

The Association's AGM was held last Sunday, 17 November 2008 in the Village Hall, Stansted.

As with the EGM back in August, attendance was much higher than in recent years - in fact it was up more than 50% on last year with 53 members present, representing 20 clubs! It was certainly very encouraging to see so many people there, including a lot of new faces; many thanks to everyone who attended.

Read on for details of the new committees and the discussion about the rebranding of GNAS.

Indoor Target Championship - Results

Ashford Archers held their annual Indoor Tournament at Homewood School, Tenterden on Sunday 9 November 2008. This was the 20th. year that this event has incorporated the Kent Indoor Archery Championships, so to commemorate the occasion the KAA provided the customary gifts for the judges and Lady paramount and another as a special "Thank you" to the organisers.

Congratulations go to everyone who took part, but especially to our new county champions, all of whom are now

d in our Hall of Fame. Full results will be sent out by the organisers, but they are also available for download here as a PDF document.

The KAA would like to thank Ashford Archers for their hard work and excellent organisation once again this year.

Leybourne Archers Closure

We regret to announce the closure of Leybourne Archers. The club's future had been uncertain for a while, but it is nevertheless disappointing to loose them.

We wish the members all the best and trust that those who are remaining in the sport will find another club that suits them.

Crystal Palace Bowmen join the KAA

We would like to welcome Crystal Palace Bowmen to the KAA. They have joined us from London at the start of the new membership year.

Although their name suggests South London, their current ground is actually within the old county boundary as it stood before the local authority reorganisation of 1963. Mark Davis, their secretary, is well known to many of us and he has been an individual member of Kent for many years and frequently judges at events in the county.

Club & Coach Development Courses

As part of their programme of education and development for coaches, volunteers and leaders, the KCC Sports Development Unit (KSDU) has updated the list of courses available over the remainder of this year at a variety of locations throughout the county. These courses include a wide variety of issues and are not exclusively for coaches. Details, dates and application forms are available from the KDSU web site.

Alternatively, you may contact the Kent Archery Development Officer for further information and forms.

Ashford Indoor and Kent Indoor Championship

The Ashford Indoor Tournament, which incorporates the Kent Indoor Championship, will be held on Sunday, 09 November 2008.

Entry Forms are now available for download from this web site.

New Documents Available

The new constitution refers to three additional documents, which have been available in draft for some time. All three were formally adopted at the first meeting of the Operational Committee last Monday and all are now available from the Admin. section of this web site.

One of the early problems that we are seeking to address is that many of the things that the KAA already does are not written down in an accessible form. For example information about county records and the Kent County Bowman (KCB) classification can be found in correspondence and/or minutes of various committee meetings over the years, but it can be incredibly difficult to work out what is current. We have therefore published another two "Policy" documents to explain them - these are not a bunch of new rules that are imposed on clubs and members, rather they are an explanation of how these things work with all of the current information in one place.

Paper copies of these documents will be circulated shortly with the minutes of Monday's meeting.

We hope that they don't contain any surprises - they are what we have been doing for years and members should already know about them, but if you do have any queries or constructive suggestions for improvements, please contact the officer shown alongside the respective document or the KAA Development Officer.

Further similar information on other activities is in the pipeline and will be published over the coming months.

Target Championship News

With total entries for this event above 130 for the second year, we might be forgiven for thinking that this tournament is going through something of a renaissance. The venue has so far received nothing but praise for its facilities and peaceful character - the first will only get better once the refurbishment of the clubhouse is complete, the second is about to disappear for the start of the new rugby season! So again we thank Vigo RFC for their superb hospitality over the whole weekend.

Better weather this year certainly helped - it stayed mild, a little cloudy but with sunny intervals and throughout the day there was a moderate but very variable breeze that certainly helped to keep everyone on their toes!

Congratulations go to all of our winners, especially those Kent archers who earned the accolade of "County Champion" - the list has now been updated and is available in our Hall of Fame. The results are also available to show the world how well you did (or in some cases to provide a long-term source of embarrassment).

And not least, thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to stage the event - the organiser, judges, work parties, scorers - and to our Patron, Peter Ladd, who presented the awards. There is a lot of work needed to stage a tournament of this size, made particularly difficult again this year by having to transport so much equipment between the store and the venue. The entire event is a team effort and the team is always looking for volunteers, even if only for a limited part of the work, so please do consider whether you can get involved next year - the team has vacancies and it is an ideal opportunity to learn more about the sport we all love.


On a more serious note, for some years now archery has laid considerable emphasis on the need to find arrows before leaving a venue, especially when it is a multi-sport or multi-use field - the danger to other users of the field is obvious. Less obvious, if only because it has never been given the same publicity, is the danger at the other end of the field! Tent pegs are easily overlooked, but every bit as capable of inflicting injury on later users.

A sweep of the whole tent area with a metal detector on Monday morning brought to light five pegs, at least four of which had been left by archers. We therefore ask all archers to be aware of the need to check the space that they have occupied and ensure that it is completely cleared and all of their equipment is accounted for; needless to say, this applies to most club grounds every bit as much as a tournament field.

The KAA now has a new Constitution

Many thanks to everyone who attended Wednesday's EGM; this was by far the best turnout for any meeting of the Association for a number of years and it is very gratifying that so many members showed an interest in this important development. It is all the more impressive for being so well attended on a mid-week evening in peak holiday season!

The outcome was that the new constitution was adopted by a very large majority - just two abstentions short of unanimous. The new version is now available here and in the Download section of this web site. A copy of this final version was recently sent to each club secretary with the EGM notification.

The three supporting documents, drafts of which have been available here for a while, and were also circulated with the constitution, will be put forward for adoption at the next meeting of the Operational Committee in September.

There was some discussion about the rebranding of GNAS as ArcheryGB and whether we should accept or challenge it. While it was generally accepted by the meeting that it made no difference to the constitution (a name is just an "identifying label" for an organisation), it was agreed that this issue would be

d for discussion at the next meeting of the Operational Committee. It should be noted that the agenda for that meeting had already been circulated, so this will be raised under "Any Other Business" if time permits, failing which it will be d as a specific "Notified Item" in the agenda for the following meeting in October.

Target Championship News

Entries are now closed for the KAA Target Archery Championship on 17 August 2008 and the target list is now available here.

If anyone believes that their entry has been accepted for the wrong round, please contact the Tournament Organiser urgently, as it may not be possible to make changes on the day of the competition.

For those who are not familiar with the area, a map is

d with the target list and an on-line version is also available here.

Target Championship News

Entries are now closed for the KAA Target Archery Championship on 17 August 2008 and the target list is now available here.

There are a small number of spaces available for the Bristol 2 (2), Bristol 3 (1), Bristol 4 (1), York (1) and Burntwood York (2)rounds; if anyone wishes to fill these spaces, please contact the tournament organiser urgently.

If anyone believes that their entry has been accepted for the wrong round, please contact the Tournament Organiser urgently, as it may not be possible to make changes on the day of the competition.

For those who are not familiar with the area, a map is

d with the target list and an on-line version is also available here.

Target Championship News

All members are reminded that the Kent Target Archery Championship this year will be held on Sunday 17 August at Vigo Rugby Club's ground, near Meopham. There is now only one week to go until the closing date for receipt of entries - Sunday 03 August. So if you or your club have not yet sent yours in, we would ask you to do this urgently to avoid disappointment.

All club secretaries were sent forms in February, but if you have lost yours or need additional copies, you can download and print more here.

All entries received to date have been acknowledged, provided that either an e-mail address or an s.a.e. was

d for that purpose. If you have sent an entry and it has not been acknowledged, please contact the webmaster urgently.

New Constitution for the KAA

The committee has called an EGM to discuss and hopefully approve the new constitution. The meeting will be held on Wednesday 13 August 2008 at 7:30 pm in the clubhouse of Medway Archers. Official notification has now been sent to every club secretary and individual member.

Further details, a map and the latest draft of the new constitution are available:

Support for Archers in the Medway Area

Medway Council are seeking to turn Medway into a centre of sporting excellence, centered around the £11 million, Government-backed Medway Park development.

To complement the development of world-class facilities they have launched three new support programmes for athletes of varying ages and abilities. In particular they are seeking to assist local athletes aged 12-24 who compete at county, regional or national level - in other words members of county, regional and national teams and/or squads.

More information is available from the Medway Council web site (expired link).

Target Championship News

All members are reminded that the Kent Target Archery Championship this year will be held on Sunday 17 August at Vigo Rugby Club's ground, near Meopham. There is now only a little more than a month to go until the closing date for receipt of entries - Sunday 03 August. So if you or your club have not yet sent yours in, we would ask you to do this soon to avoid disappointment.

All club secretaries were sent forms in February, but if you have lost yours or need additional copies, you can download and print more here.

All entries received to date have been acknowledged, provided that either an e-mail address or an s.a.e. was

d for that purpose. If you have sent an entry and it has not been acknowledged, please contact the webmaster urgently.

Field Championship Results

The KAA Field Archery Championship was held over the weekend of 28 & 29 June 2008, hosted by Bowmen of Woodstock in extraordinarily fine weather! The Association would like to thank the Bowmen of Woodstock for all their hard work in staging their tournament and incorporating the county championship within it.

The results and the updated list of county champions are now available.

Archery Manager Appointed for London2012

LOCOG have announced the appointment of an Archery Competition Manager, responsible for all the planning, organisation and management of the Olympic and Paralympic Archery events which will take place at Lord's cricket ground and Eton Manor in the Olympic Park.

More information can be found on the ArcheryGB web site (expired link).

You can also sign up for regular updates direct from London2012 here (expired link).

SCAS General Secretary

We are pleased to announce that SCAS now has a new General Secretary, Andrew Woodger, who was a member of Allington Castle Archers until he moved to Middlesex.

Any club or member needing to contact him on archery business is asked to use the job-related e-mail address, rather than any personal e-mail address you might have for him.

He can be contacted by e-mail here.

Kent Longbow Championship

In the last few years the Longbow Championship has been going from strength to strength and this year it attracted a total of 96 entries, which was the maximum capacity of the present venue at Gravesend Archers' ground.

Congratulations go to this year's County Champions: Stella Green, Neil Richardson and Stephen Hagon.

Further details and results are now available:

Archery Job Opportunity

The Ian Wright Organisation is currently the corporate activity supplier to Leeds Castle and has been asked to set up a permanent archery experience at the castle. They are therefore looking to employ a manager/instructor who will be responsible for:

  • detailed planning, setting up and day-to-day management of archery for corporate events and "Have-a-Go" facilities for the general public;
  • providing archery instruction to both groups of visitors.

The successful candidate will therefore need a good knowledge of archery and will be required to liaise closely with management and staff of the castle and be comfortable working with the general public.

It is planned to start these activities during this summer on the basis of 2-3 days per week, increasing later to full-time, once marketing is fully in place and the actual demand is better understood.

Further information about the Ian Wright Organisation is available from their web site; please contact Ian Wright direct on 01732 529511 for further details and to register your interest/application not later than 31 May 2008.

Kent Longbow Championship

The target list for the Kent Longbow Championship is now available here.

Please note that this tournament will be shot to GNAS rules and so will be shot in one direction only. We wish "Good Shooting" to all competitors.

National Coaching Conference 2008

This year the annual National Coaching Conference will be held at Lilleshall National Sports Centre from Friday 7 November to Sunday 9 November and is open only to GNAS members who hold a current coaching qualification (Level-1 upwards).

The agenda will include a report on our archers' performance in Beijing, Level 2 upgrade workshops and opportunities to shoot indoors and meet with fellow coaches from all over the United Kingdom.

The main guest will be Coach Kim Hyung Tak from the Korean Archery School and a member of the FITA Coaching Committee.

Further information and booking forms are now available from the GNAS web site.

Club & Coach Development Courses

As part of their programme of education and development for coaches, volunteers and leaders, the KCC Sports Development Unit (KSDU) have released the list of courses available over the summer at a variety of locations throughout the county. Details, dates and application forms are available from the KDSU web site.

Alternatively, you may contact the Kent Archery Development Officer for further information and forms.

Forms Now Available in "Word" Format

Following a number of requests for Record Claim Forms and Score Return Forms in a format that you can fill in on your PC and print, they are now available in "Word 97-2003" format.

Please note that in most cases it will still be necessary to submit forms by post, because of the requirements for signatures or documentation. Full details are given in the respective admin. process pages.

New Constitution for the KAA

Since the EGM last November, more work has gone into producing a new constitution that will provide the improved framework for running the Association, but which is also now substantially more robust. At its next meeting on 12 May, the committee will discuss the timing of a further EGM.

Members are invited to provide feedback on the constitution in time for that committee meeting.

County Matches Reinstated for 2008

After a break of a couple of years, the Association is now in the process of arranging regular matches against neighbouring counties for the 2008 season. The match calendar started with the Indoor match that was held on Sunday 30 March in Sunbury-on-Thames - results are now available here.

We also have a provisional date of 11 May for an away match against Surrey.

Although entry is by selection, dates will be

d in the diary to help archers plan their season.

The county is also still looking for a County Captain - if you have what it takes to create and inspire a team in a competition environment, then we would like to hear from you.

County Matches Reinstated for 2008

After a break of a couple of years, the Association is now in the process of arranging regular matches against neighbouring counties for the 2008 season. Starting with the Indoor match that was held yesterday in Sunbury-on-Thames, we also have a provisional date of 11 May for an away match against Surrey.

Although entry is by selection, dates will be

d in the diary to help archers plan their season.

The county is also still looking for a County Captain - if you have what it takes to create and inspire a team in a competition environment, then we would like to hear from you.

Obituary

It is with sadness that we report the recent death of Mike Herridge.

Although he did not shoot in recent years because of problems with his health, Mike was for many years a stalwart of Kent. He served not only on club committees, but also on the county committee as organiser of the Clout and Longbow tournaments and will probably be remembered by most for his years as County Captain. Mike will be remembered with affection by those who knew him, especially devotees of "Dunster Week", where his jokes and antics were legend.

He will be missed by all who knew him and our thoughts are with his family at this time. The service will be at Eltham Crematorium on Tuesday 25 March at 2:30 p.m..

No flowers by request.

Target Championship News

The Kent Target Archery Championship this year will be held on Sunday 17 August at Vigo Rugby Club's ground, near Meopham.

Last year saw a significant increase in the number of competitors, which the available space at Leigh CTC was only just able to accommodate; the new venue will be able to cope with further increases in competitor numbers. The ground appears to be quite well sheltered by trees and is in a lovely, quiet location. The change will also bring several further advantages:

  • it isn't right at the extreme western edge of the county, so it should be more readily accessible to more archers,
  • the organisers will be able to set out the targets on the Saturday, making the start a little less traumatic for the working party,
  • we have been offered use of the clubhouse and bar after the tournament, so the awards and post-match social should benefit, especially if the weather is "less than perfect".

All club secretaries will receive entry forms in the next few days and they are also available for download here; anyone who supplied an e-mail address with last year's entry will also be sent a form automatically.

And don't forget the KAA Longbow Championship on 20 May - details below.

Target Championship News

The Kent Target Archery Championship this year will be held on Sunday 17 August at Vigo Rugby Club's ground, near Meopham.

Last year saw a significant increase in the number of competitors, which the available space at Leigh CTC was only just able to accommodate; the new venue will be able to cope with further increases in competitor numbers. The ground appears to be quite well sheltered by trees and is in a lovely, quiet location. The change will also bring several further advantages:

  • it isn't right at the extreme western edge of the county, so it should be more readily accessible to more archers,
  • the organisers will be able to set out the targets on the Saturday, making the start a little less traumatic for the working party,
  • we have been offered use of the clubhouse and bar after the tournament, so the awards and post-match social should benefit, especially if the weather is "less than perfect".

Entry forms should be available very shortly from this web site and will be sent to all club secretaries; anyone who supplied an e-mail address with last year's entry will also be sent a form automatically.

And don't forget the KAA Longbow Championship on 20 May - details below.

FITA TV now on YouTube

For anyone who is interested in international archery, FITA have today announced that videos of a number of competitions are now available on YouTube. Currently there are 42 videos available, mostly covering highlights of World Cup matches and World Championships from 2006 and 2007, but there are some dating back as far as 1957. There are also a few advertising excerpts. The lengths of the videos vary from a couple of minutes up to just over half-an-hour. In time they plan to make available many more recordings from their archives.

They are all professional quality, official videos, not shaky home-made recordings or pirated copy. However, for those who are not familiar with YouTube, please bear in mind that streaming video is necessarily highly compressed, so it will not have DVD sharpness - it can suffer if you expand to full-screen!

More information is available from the FITA web site, or you can go straight to FITA TV on YouTube.

FITA TV now on YouTube

For anyone who is interested in international archery, FITA have today announced that videos of a number of competitions are now available on YouTube. Currently there are 42 videos available, mostly covering highlights of World Cup matches and World Championships from 2006 and 2007, but there are some dating back as far as 1957. There are also a few advertising excerpts. The lengths of the videos vary from a couple of minutes up to just over half-an-hour. In time they plan to make available many more recordings from their archives.

They are all professional quality, official videos, not shaky home-made recordings or pirated copy. However, for those who are not familiar with YouTube, please bear in mind that streaming video is necessarily highly compressed, so it will not have DVD sharpness - it can suffer if you expand to full-screen!

More information is available from the FITA web site, or you can go straight to FITA TV on YouTube.

Changes to County Records

We would like to remind all of our members of important changes to the way you claim county records that came into effect on 01 January 2008. As previously advised, from that date county record claims will only be accepted on the new claim form.

Full details and an initial supply forms have been sent to every club Records Officer; details are also available here and forms can be downloaded and printed as required.

Now that the days are gradually getting longer and we are all looking forward to shooting outside regularly (!), don't forget that with effect from 01 January 2008 the records available to juniors for Outdoor Target archery have been massively expanded.

And last, but not least, more county record information is now available in a new section of the Archive.