All Lead Articles - 2009

The December edition of the KentSport Funding Update is now available for download.

Please note that enquiries about any of the available funding opportunities should be directed to the contacts shown at the end of the corresponding section of the document.

Level-1 Coach Training Course:

The Invicta Coaching Group are planning to hold a Level-1 Coach training course early in the new year, starting with a pre-course meeting on 5 January 2010. The course will be held at Valence School near Westerham and is expected to cost approximately £100 per person.

Almost half of the clubs in the county do not have a qualified coach and several others have only one, so if your club needs a coach, please consider training. There is no formal minimum experience needed to qualify to attend this course, but a short period in the sport will mean that you may already have learned some of the course content and should be able to understand the club context.

For further information or to apply to attend, please contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

Coaching Workshops:

Two shooting workshops will be held at Medway Archers' ground on 31 January 2010 and 21 March 2010. Qualified coaches who are interested in working at either or both of these workshops, or any archer who would like to attend for help with any aspect of their equipment or shooting form, should contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

Disability Coaching Workshop:

This workshop will be held at Northfleet Youth Centre on Saturday 23rd January 2010 and is open to all qualified coaches. There will be disabled archers you can talk to and a range a specialist equipment to try out. Paralympic gold and silver medalist John Cavanagh will be on hand to add first hand advice. Full details and an application form are available for download.

Coaching for Your Club:

If you need some extra coaching in your club, then please contact the Invicta Coaching Group with details of numbers of people and a selection of dates. They will then try to arrange for a group of coaches to visit you for a coaching clinic.

Kent Sport (KCC Kent Sport, Leisure & Olympics Department) run a year-round program of workshops aimed at sports coaches and anyone involved in the running or administration of sports clubs. They take place on week-day evenings and at weekends at a variety of locations around the county, so most members should be in reasonable striking distance of at least some of them.

We have listed below some of the workshops currently available during the first few months of 2010, but a full and regularly updated list can be found on the Kent Sport web site; you are advised to check there for up-to-date details. All information provided here is given in good faith and is believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but no liability can be accepted for errors or omissions.

Enquiries and bookings relating to all workshops should be made by contacting Jennifer Taylor at Kent Sport, either by e-mail, or by telephone on 01622 605055.

Bowmen of Woodstock will be holding another of their one-day field archery taster courses on 17 January 2010 at their ground near the A2/A249 junction - this will be the second they have held this winter. Full information and contact details for the organiser can be downloaded.

This course is only available to ArcheryGB members and is especially suitable for any who have not tried field archery previously.

Most members should be aware by now that ArcheryGB are in the process of creating a new membership renewal system; this was the subject of a consultation exercise during September and development of the new system is expected to start early in the New Year.

In parallel to this they have also been looking at the membership fee structure - what types of membership should exist and how much should they each pay, relative to each other. They believe that the current structure is overly complicated and have put forward suggestions for change; their recommendations have recently been published on the ArcheryGB web site and they are asking for comment from members. The recommendations document can also be downloaded here.

The county committee will be discussing the content at their next meeting and would be very interested to hear the views of Kent members. Please feel free to respond direct to ArcheryGB, but it would be very helpful if you were to copy your responses to the Kent secretary, so that we can better represent our members when we respond to ArcheryGB.

The Development Conference and EGM was held in Telford on 21-22 November 2009, as previously notified by GNAS.

Robert Merrick attended both on behalf of SCAS and has produced a report of the main points of interest. His report is now available for anyone who is interested in the development of the sport at national level.

It is important to understand that this is a report by a participant and not an official GNAS record of the meetings.

The EAF held its annual general meeting in Telford on 21 December 2009. Draft minutes and accounts are now available.

The recent FITA World Coaching Seminar in Rome

The content of this superb week ranged from how coaching is organised in that country, to the coaching and development of the national team, right through to how archery is taught at club level.

Copies of the presentation slides (expired link) can now be downloaded from the FITA web site in PDF format.

The KAA Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday, 15 November 2009 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers. It was followed by an informal meeting (which replaces the "Any Other Business") which provided a forum to discuss any issues that the members or committee wished to raise.

A report of the main content of both meetings is now available.

Read more about the Kent Archery Association AGM.

Level-1 Coach Training Course:

The Invicta Coaching Group are planning to hold a Level-1 Coach training course early in the new year, starting with a pre-course meeting on 5 January 2010. The course will be held at Valence School near Westerham and is expected to cost approximately £100 per person.

Almost half of the clubs in the county do not have a qualified coach and several others have only one, so if your club needs a coach, please consider training. There is no formal minimum experience needed to qualify to attend this course, but a short period in the sport will mean that you may already have learned some of the course content and should be able to understand the club context.

Coaching Workshops:

Two shooting workshops are planned in the Medway area, with the first provisionally set for 31 January and the second currently expected to be held in March. Qualified coaches whoa re interested in working at either or both of these workshops, or any archer who would like to attend for help with any aspect of their equipment or shooting form, should contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

Coaching for Your Club:

If you need some extra coaching in your club then contact Invicta with details of numbers of people and a selection of dates. They will then try to arrange for a group of coaches to visit you for a coaching clinic.

For information about any of the above activities or to apply to attend, please contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

The KCC compiles a list of awards and grants available to a wide variety of organisations and publishes this list under the name "Inside Track". While it contains much that is not relevant to sports organisations, it frequently contains information that is likely to be of interest to our clubs and members.

The current issue is now available. Please note that enquiries should initially be directed to the contacts shown on the cover page of the list.

Members are reminded that the KAA Annual General Meeting will be held next Sunday 15 November 2009 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers, The Strand, Gillingham (map).

The English Archery Federation is looking for nominations for the following two volunteer posts, for which information is provided:

• GNAS Director for England (non-executive),
• EAF Cross - Administrator.

Any member interested in either role should follow the instructions provided.

The University of Kent, Canterbury are advertising for applicants to a new position as "Coaching Network Officer".

Further information and contact details are available for download and anyone interested in applying is asked to use the contact details provided.

In the last few days we have been informed that the Village Hall in Stansted will not be available while refurbishment work takes place. We have therefore had to change the location for this year's KAA AGM at very short notice.

The date and time of the meeting remain unchanged, but the venue has been moved to the clubhouse of Medway Archers, The Strand, Gillingham. For members who are not familiar with the area, the clubhouse can be found by leaving the A289 (Pier Road) at the Strand Roundabout northward onto Strand Approach Road, go across the car park, then carry on through the gates at the other side of the car park and along the drive-way (map).

Official confirmation of this change of venue will be

Recent questions about certain long-standing county policies have indicated a need for an explanation of how members can change county policies, where they feel it to be necessary.

The most important thing to understand is that these policies are never "cast in stone" and must adapt and evolve to suit the current archery environment.

The KAA Operational Committee has therefore approved a "Policy Review and Amendments" policy, which sets out the method for requesting and introducing changes, including safeguards to make sure that:

• the changes actually reflect what has been requested and what members want;
• all members have the opportunity to contribute;
• the effects of those changes are properly understood before they are put in place;
• and once those changes have been agreed, someone else does not immediately try to change it back!

So, far from preventing change, the intention here is to describe an effective method for ensuring that the right changes are made. We have tried to keep the process as simple as possible and, because our membership is smaller than GNAS's, we have kept the consultation period shorter than theirs, to keep the process as quick as possible.

As with all KAA policies, if you have any questions or concerns about the new process, please feel free to contact any member of the KAA Operational Committee.

Thanet Archery Club have brought clout archery back to Kent for the first time in more than 15 years.

Members who have been in the sport since the early 1990s may remember the Clout Championship held at Eltham College; unfortunately due to the absence of a venue that could comply with more the rigorous insurance requirements, it was no longer possible to hold the event - until this year. We therefore extend our thanks to Bob Gawler and the members of Thanet Archery Club, who organised the tournament which incorporates the Kent Clout Championship.

Results are now available for download and a new list of Clout Champions has been added to the web site.

Members of clubs in the Dover area are invited to attend the second 'Active Dover - Sports Development Seminar' on Thursday 8th October from 7pm – 9pm at the Dover District Council Offices, in Whitfield near Dover.

The seminars aim to provide an opportunity for local sports clubs and parish councils to:

• meet members of the 'Active Dover' partnership,
• discuss the development of sport across the wider community,
• and keep up-to date with facility developments and funding opportunities.

To reserve a place at the seminar, you can complete a simple application form on the Dover District Council (expired link) web site, or phone Sarah Philpott on 01304 872446.

Members are reminded that the KAA Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 15 November 2009 at the Village Hall, Stansted.

Notifications and requests for nominations were recently sent out by post to every club secretary and Individual Member, but it appears that some might have not been received. If you should have received notification but have not yet received it, please contact the county Secretary as a matter of urgency.

Details of the proposed new membership process (expired link), covering new memberships and annual renewals, was posted on the ArcheryGB web site last Monday. It consists of one page of explanation and two pages of straightforward diagrams, giving a high-level overview of the proposed new system.

We all know how creaky the existing system is and how important it is that it is replaced as soon as possible with something much more up-to-date. However, more important to all of us is that it works well right from the outset, so please take some time to look at the proposal and respond urgently - the proposal will only be available until 14 September and responses are required by 21 September.

The KAA discussed it at this evening's Operational Committee meeting and will be replying with the issues that it has identified both at club and county level, but the more people review the process, the more likely we are to get a system that works well.

The 2010 Diary has now been available for several months and is there to allow all clubs to advertise their tournaments. However another way in which it is of value is that it tells other clubs when other events are on and can help prevent clashes of dates in a very busy calendar.

So please let us know the date of your tournaments and club championships just as soon as you have fixed a date - even if these are only available for your own members. This way other clubs will know about the clash that might damage the success of both events. If your tournament is on a regular date (e.g. 3rd. Sunday of July) let us know that too, so that we can add it to the General Diary.

The SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament takes place on Sunday 13 September 2009 at Andover. The following teams have been selected to represent Kent:

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

The sun is shining, the weather is warm, August bank holiday weekend is upon us and it is still the height of the holiday season, so it is high time to start thinking about the winter indoor season!!!

The Kent Indoor Championship will again be hosted by Ashford Archers and incorporated into their tournament on 08 November 2009 at Homewood School, Tenterden and the entry form and full details are now available.

Please note that the closing date is 16 October 2009, but since this is a very popular tournament it could easily fill up beforehand, so it is important to send your entry in as early as possible.

Full results are now available for the SCAS Junior Inter-Counties Team Tournament, held at Belhus Park, Aveley, Essex on Sunday 16 August 2009.

Congratulations to all of the team, but especially to Stephanie Kenyon who earned an 1100 Rose Award.

The SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament takes place on Sunday 13 September 2009 at Andover. The following teams have been selected to represent Kent:

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

The 56th. Kent Target Championship and Open Tournament took place on Sunday at Vigo RFC in near perfect weather. Although numbers were a little down on last year, they were still well above the average during the last 15 years.

Results can now be downloaded and the list of champions has been updated; you can also read a full account the event, including the archers' volley to honour Geoff Allen of Allington Castle Archers.

Read more about the Kent Target Championship.

The next step in building an archive of the Association's History is now available to everyone in the Archive section of this web site.

A partial history of the County Invitation, Target Championship & Open Tournament and Longbow Championship has been recorded, together with links to recent results, photos and descriptions of trophies and other related information. We have published it in its current, rather incomplete form, not least because we don't have all the information we would like.

The intention is to fill in as many gaps as possible over time, so if anyone can fill in gaps now, it would be very much appreciated. In particular we need:

• Venues - most tournaments have been staged in different places and our records are very incomplete and dispersed through many boxes of paper!
• Results - most were typed, or the electronic copies were not kept - does anyone have good quality paper copies that can be loaned temporarily?
• Trophies - can you fill in any of the gaps, especially concerning their origin - who donated them, when and why?
• Anecdotes - any interesting anecdotes from the dim and distant past that can be published.

This applies not just to the three tournaments that we have started with - we would appreciate information about all of the tournaments and championships that the Association itself has run over the years, so that we can add the rest over the coming months.

If you can provide any of this, please contact the Webmaster; any paperwork you can offer will be returned as soon as the useful and interesting information has been recorded. Bear in mind that information that was considered too ordinary to record 50 years ago, is often looked on as interesting now; it is likely that in another 50 years our successors will think the same about what we consider ordinary now!

The SCAS Junior Inter-Counties Team Tournament takes place on Sunday 16 August 2009 and unfortunately once again this year it coincides with our county Target Championships. In spite of this we have been able to send a team to compete in the Recurve section of the tournament:

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting and our thanks go to all the team, parents and helpers, who have given up the opportunity of competing in our county championship to attend this event.

Entries for the Kent Target Archery Championship & Open Tournament at Vigo RFC on Sunday 16 August have now closed; please note that late entries and substitutions cannot be accepted for this tournament.

The target list is now available for download. Archers who supplied e-mail addresses with their entry should receive notification today; the rest will be in the post later this week. Please check the target list as a high priority and let the tournament organiser know urgently, if you spot an error; if you wait until the day of the tournament, it might not be possible to make the necessary changes.

We wish everyone who has entered, good shooting on the day and our hopes that the weather is kind!

Don't forget that the Kent Target Archery Championship & Open Tournament will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday 16 August - that's just three weeks away.

The closing date for entries, Sunday 02 August 2009, is now fast approaching and late entries cannot be accepted - remember, the closing date is the last date for receiving entries. If you haven't sent your entry form in yet, please hurry to avoid disappointment. If you have any problem or enquiry, please contact the tournament organiser urgently.

This year's Springboard Tournament was held at Sennocke Archers' ground on Sunday; full results are now available for download.

Thanks go to the members of Sennocke Archers and everyone who helped during the course of the weekend; especially we thank all those archers who took part on a day of very challenging weather.

The KAA has agreed and adopted a safeguarding policy to cover events that it organises, sponsors or attends. This includes county tournaments and championships, county matches (home or away), team training sessions and social events.

It is short, simple, written in plain English and does not include any additional requirements for club activities, but if you find any of it useful in drawing up your club policy, feel free to copy and adapt. Don't forget that if you need any help or advice about safeguarding matters, our county CPO is available to help.

Our policy refers to a "suitable 'Form for Assignment of Parental Responsibility'"; we have asked the ArcheryGB CPO to provide an acceptable wording and ideally an additional example letter for inclusion in the ArcheryGB policy folder - we will let you know when either of these are available.

Important note - do not send confidential details about specific cases by e-mail - it is not secure.

We regret that it has been necessary to cancel this tournament because of a very disappointing lack of entries - only 8 had been received (5 of them KAA members) as at the closing date, even though reminders were sent to clubs that were believed to have qualifying members.

It is planned to hold the event next year and the date will be

If you had wanted to enter, but some aspect of the tournament discouraged you, then please let the tournament organiser know, so that we can improve and make it more attractive.

As announced in March, the KAA is planning to maintain county records for archers with a disability, but to date claims have only been received from two archers and only in the "VI" category. To ensure the success of this project, please make sure that any qualifying members of your club are aware.

While this has been agreed in principle, a lot of work is required to determine exactly what records should be maintained, whether any changes to the existing process are required and to make any changes to the published Records Policy.

It has been agreed, however, that records will be held for each of the IPC-recognised categories (expired link), plus visually-impaired (VI) archers shooting with a blindfold (conforming to IPC rule 1.14).

Any archer who:

• qualifies in any of these categories
• and has shot any Outdoor or Indoor Target Archery Round (including FITA, British and Burntwood rounds)
• on or after 01 January 2009
• in accordance with the GNAS Rules of Shooting and IPC rules (expired link),

is invited to submit a record claim(s) on the standard County Record Claim form (expired link).

Please make sure that you mark the form clearly with the appropriate IPC category (i.e. ARST, ARW1, ARW2, or VI), but please do not supply any details or evidence of your disability with your claim.

All record claims will be acknowledged when received, but ratification will be deferred until later in the year, when agreement is reached on which records to maintain.

It is with sadness that we announce the death last week of Bob Gunther at the age of 86.

Bob will be well known especially to the field archery community, as for many years he was a regular judge at the Kent Field Championship. He was one of the most experienced and most liked judges in archery and commanded great respect from competitors and judges alike - he will be greatly missed.

His funeral will take place on Wednesday 15 July 2009; Derrick Lovell and Neil Dimmock will attend on behalf of the KAA.

Before long the more fastidious readers of the KAA minutes and ArcheryUK will notice that the county is registering team colours for 2010.

A number of archers have recently commented favourably on the obvious team identity of some counties we have recently competed against and this has prompted the committee to register colours, based on the traditional deep red and the white "Invicta" (horse rampant) of Kent, to give us the option of using them from next year. No decision has yet been made as to when, how or even if they will be introduced, but if they are not registered now, the option would not exist to use them at National Record Status matches (like the SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournaments) until 2011.

Two rare "Forge" Compound bows, sights, arrows, scope and stand all in a bag were stolen from a car outside the owners home in Addiscombe (Croydon) on Tuesday 23 June 2009.

Please be aware and if you see that equipment answering this description is offered for sale in circumstances that are not obviously genuine, please contact Crystal Palace Bowmen.

Allington Castle Archers will celebrate their 40th anniversary by holding an open shoot in aid of Children in Need. It will take place on 13th September 2009 and will consist of a Fun Double Warwick. Please download an entry form and sponsorship form.

It will be a fun shoot: Double Warwicks, non record status, non dress code and unique rules of shooting complete with interesting award allocations! Extra points can be gained by overt bribery of the organizers.

There will also be a raffle and a chance to shoot the Normans at the castle have-a-go - shooting blunts. There will be catering on site.

It will be a colourful fun day out - come along and sponsor Children in Need. Bring lots of cash as bribery is to be condoned (or should that be "encouraged"?) by all officials.

For further information, please contact the tournament organiser, whose details are on the entry form.

The Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) is the umbrella organisation for national governing and representative bodies of sport and recreation in the UK. Its purpose is to 'protect, promote and provide' for sport and recreation, by lobbying Government to promote the welfare of sport and arguing for increased support and funding for sports clubs.

The CCPR is currently conducting a survey (expired link) of archery clubs, and any input that you can provide will be very valuable.

In return for your time there is an opportunity to win £200 of "Decathlon" vouchers for your club – or a weekend in a top class London hotel.

The survey can be accessed from the link above, or via the Archery GB web site home page.

Our first outdoor county match of the new season took place at Gravesend Archers' ground in Meopham.

A report and full results are now available.

Read more about the county match on Sunday, 07 June 2009.

There has been some confusion over the deadline for applying for Tassel Status for clout tournaments; this has now been resolved and an application has been submitted - we realistically hope to be granted it in due course.

Full details and entry forms are available for download.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

As promised, the KAA has now produced a set of straightforward guidance notes to help every club to implement the new ArcheryGB "Policy for Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults", which now replaces the earlier 2003 version. The Archery GB Policy was sent to every club secretary earlier this month - if your club has not yet received its copy, please let the ArcheryGB office know as a matter of urgency.

Implementing the policy looks complicated from the handbook, but it really is not and many clubs have already made preparations, anticipating the current procedures as a matter of good practice. However, as previously promised, the KAA has now produced straightforward guidance notes to help you implement this mandatory policy and a copy has been sent to every club in the county during the course of the last few days. If you have not received yours yet (or you would like additional copies), you can download it here.

Please note that this guide does not replace the ArcheryGB document - it is there to help you get started and ensure that you have got the first basics in place.

If you have any problems with implementing the policy at your club, do not hesitate to ask for help either from the County CPO or the Archery GB CPO.

Important note - do not send confidential details about specific cases by e-mail - it is not secure.

Thanet Archery Club will host the Kent Clout on Sunday, 4 October at their new venue at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate.

As previously reported, this tournament is recognised by the KAA as a County Championship; unfortunately it has not been possible to achieve Tassel Status this year because of the required time scales, but it is intended to pursue this in the future.

Full details and entry forms are now available for download.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

We are sorry to announce the closure of Swanton Archers, who have shot at Farrington School, Chislehurst for some years, but have recently found it difficult to attract sufficient members to allow them to continue.

Results are now available for download for:

• The indoor 4-way County Match on 29 March 2009
• The County Invitation Tournament on 26 April 2009

Please accept our apologies for the delay in getting these out to you.

The team has now been selected to represent the county in our first outdoor county match of the new season; Kent will face Essex, London and Middlesex in the annual 4-way fixture. This year is Kent's turn to host the match, which kicks off at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday 7 June at Gravesend Archers' ground in Meopham.

The following teams have been selected to represent Kent:

Read more about the team selected for county match on Sunday, 07 June 2009.

The Kent Longbow Championship took place at Gravesend Archers' ground in Meopham last Sunday, 17 May. It was a difficult day for shooting, with heavy rain followed by strong winds, but longbow archers are a tough bunch!

A full report, photos and results are now available.

Read more about the Kent Longbow Championship - results and match report.

Every club secretary should have received a copy of the new ArcheryGB "Policy for Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults" during the course of the last week or so - if your club has not received its copy, please contact the County CPO urgently.

The process looks complicated from the handbook, but it really is not and many clubs have already made preparations, anticipating the current procedures as a matter of good practice. However, as previously promised, the KAA is producing straightforward guidance notes to help you implement this mandatory policy and we plan to send them to every club in the county during the course of next week.

If you have any problems with implementing the policy at your club, do not hesitate to ask for help either from the County CPO or the Archery GB CPO.

Important note - do not send confidential details about specific cases by e-mail - it is not secure.

Thanet Archery Club will host the Kent Clout on Sunday, 4 October at their new venue at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate.

• Tassel Status has been applied for (for those archers who are not familiar with the Tassel scheme, it is the clout equivalent of the Rose Award scheme in target archery).
• The KAA Operational Committee has awarded this tournament County Championship status.

Full details and entry forms are now available for download.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

Now that the closing date for entries for the Kent Longbow Championship has passed, the target list is available for download.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

"Framework England" have the job of modernising the delivery of coaching in the five English regions and are looking for Regions to nominate additional volunteers to carry on the work. Please note that this work relates to how coaching is delivered (as opposed to the content of that coaching) so volunteers do not have to be qualified coaches.

If any GNAS member in Kent is interested in taking part in this work, please contact the SCAS secretary, as nominations can only be made via Regions.

Read more about Framework England and the delivery of coaching in English regions.

This year's GNAS Annual General Meeting took place on Saturday 18 April 2009 at Lilleshall and was followed by presentations about various current projects and a question & answer session.

A full account of the meeting will be published in ArcheryUK in due course, but there are several matters that are of specific local interest:

• GNAS Membership Fees
• membership cards
• a new membership system
• awards
• Vice President

A brief synopsis of these items is provided for your information.

Read more about the GNAS AGM.

After an absence of two years the Kent Tournament for Disabled Archers returns on Saturday 25 July and it is planned to be a regular annual event, now that a tournament organiser is an established committee position. Details and entry forms are available for download, but copies will also be sent during the next few days to clubs and archers who have taken part in previous years.

We are indebted to Ashford Archers for hosting this tournament once again, to Headley Brothers Ltd. for their support and to Ten-Ring Archery for providing target faces by way of sponsorship for the event.

Plans are currently underway to hold a Level 1 Coach training course in the Westerham area to start in June 2009. For full details and pricing, please contact the course manager, Peter Drewry.

At the moment we have just over 40 coaches to cover the needs of more than 1200 members across the whole of the county, but they are spread very unevenly, leaving many clubs with no qualified support at all.

This course provides an opportunity to receive quality training, so that you and your club can have confidence that new and improving archers will receive up-to-date and accurate advice to help them develop. Every club could benefit through access to coaching and it is so much better if that coaching is ready to hand, rather than waiting until a coach can visit your club, or (worse still) soldiering on without!

A range of archery forms has been developed and has now been published under the new "Archers' Forms" brand and all of them can be downloaded and printed as you require them - and completely free of charge.

They range from score sheets to arrow spine and clocking forms to equipment records and more will be added in time, so if you have any ideas please let the Development Officer know. Some of the forms are old favourites, but as far as we can tell this is the first time most have been made so readily available.

You are also welcome to adapt the forms for your personal or club use, subject to a few basic restrictions - we hope you will find them useful!

The County Record Claim Form (expired link) has been amended to include the claimant's telephone number, to allow the county Records Officer to make contact more easily in case of any query about the claim. At the same time the bow styles available in each discipline have been corrected.

Existing stock of the old form may be used until they have been used up, but care should be taken to ensure that claims are only made for the correct bow styles. The new version should then be used as soon as practical.

There are exactly 2 months to go until the Kent Longbow Championship, but it is already filling up fast - last year it was full to capacity, but everyone who entered got a place - just.

This year entries are coming in even earlier and faster, so to avoid possible disappointment, get your entry in as soon as possible!

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

After a gap of many years, Kent now has a venue large enough to stage not just a clout tournament, but a two-way clout tournament!

Thanks to Bob Gawler and colleagues in Thanet Archery Club the Kent Clout Tournament will return on Sunday, 4 October at a new location near Ramsgate. Entry forms will be available shortly and will be sent to all club secretaries and downloadable from the web site.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

The KAA is planning to maintain county records for archers with a disability. While this has been agreed in principle, a lot of work is required to determine exactly what records should be maintained, whether any changes to the existing process are required and to make any changes to the published Records Policy.

It has been agreed, however, that records will be held for each of the IPC-recognised categories (expired link), plus visually-impaired (VI) archers shooting with a blindfold (conforming to IPC rule 1.14).

Any archer who:

• qualifies in any of these categories
• and has shot any Outdoor or Indoor Target Archery Round (including FITA, British and Burntwood rounds)
• on or after 01 January 2009
• in accordance with the GNAS Rules of Shooting and IPC rules (expired link),

is invited to submit a record claim(s) on the standard County Record Claim form (expired link).

Please make sure that you mark the form clearly with the appropriate IPC category (i.e. ARST, ARW1, ARW2, or VI), but please do not supply any details or evidence of your disability with your claim.

All record claims will be acknowledged when received, but ratification will be deferred until later in the year, when agreement is reached on which records to maintain.

The following team has been selected to compete in the 4-way Indoor County Match on 29 March 2009:

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

The All-British Field Championship returns to the South-East after an absence of almost 15 years; this year it will be held at the home of the Kingsbury Company of Archers on 23/24 May in Rotherfield (20 minutes from Tunbridge Wells, just across the border in Sussex).

Details and entry forms are available in ArcheryUK (Winter 2008 edition), or can be downloaded from the ArcheryGB Field Archery web site (expired link).

The organisers, Pauline and Cliff Swift, are also looking for volunteer helpers during the weeks leading up to the tournament, during the weekend of and the weekend after. More information and contact details.

We have now received the final results from the inaugural SCAS Winter Field Archery League and they are now available for download.

We have received a request from the Rochester Round Table to help run an archery evening on Tuesday, 14 July 2009. If any member or club is able to help, please contact Rochester Round Table for more information.

If you have always wanted to appear in films and are available at short notice, this might just be the chance you have been waiting for!

The Casting Collective provides supporting artistes and walk-ons for the film, television and photographic industry and are currently recruiting archers and swordsmen for a forthcoming cinema film production. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to appear in a film with a star cast!

If you are interested, take a look at their flyer, or visit their web site for more information and details of how to apply.

The Sevenoaks and District Community Sports Network is run by Sencio on behalf of the Sevenoaks District Council; they have recently launched an on-line database of leisure and sports organisations in the Sevenoaks District Council area and will shortly be circulating a publicity leaflet to every household in that area.

Any of our clubs in that area that would like to take advantage of this publicity can register free of charge on the Get-Active web site (expired link).

The first event on Saturday 7th February 2009 was unfortunately cancelled because of the heavy snow, but the second event on the 5km route will still go ahead on Saturday 7th March 2009 at Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest. Bedgebury is outstanding in its natural beauty and has many activities and facilities that can also be explored on the day.

Supported by the Kent County Council Sports Development Unit, Run 4 You is designed to give people clear goals, incentives, training advice and support at an affordable price. Run 4 You comprises of two events that can be either walked, jogged, run or a combination of all three.

Run 4 You also provides a training plan, which has been devised to support beginner and intermediate participants who do not have a clear understanding of how to progress training themselves and to help them complete the course.

For more information see the leaflet, or contact Mark Dayson, Race Director and Kent Athletics Development Officer on 01622 605593 or e-mail him.

To enter visit the Run4You web site [website no longer available] - hurry, places are limited!

As reported toward the end of last year, the Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability is set to return during this summer. The date has been set for Saturday 25 July at Ashford Archers' ground.

Full details and entry forms will be available within a two or three weeks, so watch this space.

The Invicta Coaching Group runs its "Springboard" tournament each year, based on the 8-dozen arrow "Western" family of rounds. Entry is limited to those archers who have not previously achieved Bowman classification in any discipline or age group, and although it is aimed particularly at new and developing archers in the county, any qualifying archer may enter.

While "coaching on the line" is expressly forbidden in the rules of shooting, the organisers, coaches and officials present will do everything they can to help inexperienced archers - this makes it an ideal introduction to competition.

Entry forms have been sent to all Kent coaches during the last few days and are also available for download here.

Capacity is limited, so we recommend that you send your entry form in as quickly as possible to avoid disappointment!

The Kent Longbow Championship will again be held at Gravesend Archers' ground and will take place on Sunday 17 May 2009.

Entry forms have been sent to previous competitors during the last few days and will also be sent shortly to every club Secretary; you can also download the details and entry form.

Under Neil Turville's stewardship this tournament has been growing rapidly over the last few years and last year it was full to capacity, so we recommend that you send your entry form in as quickly as possible to avoid disappointment!

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

Last year the archers who took part all seemed to like the new venue at Vigo Rugby Football Club, so we are returning there again this year for the Kent Target Archery Championship and Open Tournament on Sunday 16 August 2009.

Entry forms will be sent to previous competitors on the e-mail list during the next few days and will also be sent shortly to every club Secretary; you can also download the details and entry form.

This is another tournament that has been growing steadily over the last few years and last year it was full to capacity with a waiting list, so we recommend that you send your entry form in as quickly as possible to avoid disappointment. Remember, this is a substantial tournament that involves a lot of planning and preparation work, so we regret that we cannot accept entries/substitutions after the closing date.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

We are pleased to announce that plans are underway to reintroduce two tournaments that have been absent in recent years:

Bob Gawler is planning the "Kent Clout Tournament" (after many years' absence) and hopes that it will be possible in the Thanet area in the autumn.

Meanwhile Bob Beaney has been working on the "Kent Tournament for Archers with Disability" with help/advice from Peter Drewry and Melissa Carter; the target for this one is the coming summer, to be held in Ashford.

For further information and offers of assistance, please contact the respective tournament organiser.

The County Records policy has been updated to include information on how to deal with situations in which more than one round is shot on the same day. It is not straightforward and appears to have caused considerable confusion, so a further explanatory guide is planned, describing why it is so complicated!

The new Membership Policy is also now available, which describes the different classes of KAA membership and the benefits and responsibilities of membership.

And finally a Guide to the Membership and Affiliation Process (withdrawn for revision 12 July 2010) that describes how clubs should process new affiliations, renewals and transfers from other clubs. It also contains an explanation of why the process is the way it is and why it is so difficult to make changes to it until the whole membership system is replaced - soon, we hope!

If anyone has a query about the content of any of these, or suggestions for improving them, please contact the county committee member indicated against each in the Downloads section.

Do something for yourself, start the New Year feeling fitter and healthier and complete a Run 4 You.

Supported by the Kent County Council Sports Development Unit, Run 4 You is designed to give people clear goals, incentives, training advice and support at an affordable price. Run 4 You comprises of two events that can be either walked, jogged, run or a combination of all three.

The first event is a 3km route on Saturday 7th February 2009 and progresses to a 5km route on Saturday 7th March 2009.

Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, on the Kent / Sussex border is the venue for both events, Which in itself is another reason to enter. Bedgebury is outstanding in its natural beauty and has many activities and facilities that can be explored on the day.

Run 4 You also provides a training plan, which has been devised to support beginner and intermediate participants who do not have a clear understanding of how to progress training themselves and to help them complete the two courses.

For more information see the leaflet, or contact Mark Dayson, Race Director and Kent Athletics Development Officer on 01622 605593 or e-mail him.

To enter visit the Run4You web site [website no longer available] - hurry, places are limited!