All Lead Articles - 2010

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.

Membership Fees for New Members

Following the introduction of the new ArcheryGB membership system, there appears to be some confusion about how to deal with national, regional and county affiliation fees for new members. Now that the KAA has had the chance to gain some experience of how the new system works, it is able to provide guidance notes, covering the main issues that have arisen in the last couple of months.

Careful adherence to these guidance notes will help to ensure that new members are dealt with in the most efficient and effective way at national, regional and county levels and help to keep costs to a minimum.

Junior County Match

Unfortunately the junior county match that was scheduled for Saturday 18 December at Sittingbourne Community College had to be cancelled because of the recent severe weather. Travelling conditions were just too dangerous to realistically expect members to travel.

Sport:ed Training Courses

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.

A list of up-coming courses in Kent during the early part of 2011 is now available and a full and regularly updated list can be found on the Kent Sport web site.

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.

Annual Membership Renewals - Outstanding Problems

The new ArcheryGB membership system went live in August and this year's membership renewals took place on that system. However the move to the new system has encountered problems with quality of data and there have been a significant number of errors reported; the most common ones appear to be that some renewing members have not received their membership cards, while some past members who did not renew have received a membership card.

There are a number of reasons for these errors and Peter Dickson explains some of them in the latest edition of ArcheryUK. One of the most common is non-delivery because of an incorrect/invalid address - the office is trying to resolve these by contacting the club concerned.

If you have a problem with your membership card that is still outstanding at the end of December, please email details to Trish Lovell no later than Monday, 10 January 2011. She will then try to sort them out, when she visits Lilleshall later in the month.

Please be sure to include your club name (and code, if possible), your name, your membership number and brief details of the problem. To avoid inundating Trish with a large number of emails, we would ask that for any club with multiple issues the club membership secretary should send the details of all outstanding problems together in a single email.

County Secretary Wanted

We announced before this year's Annual General Meeting last month that Pam Hagon would not be seeking re-election as county Secretary for the coming year; she has had to stand down because of increasing family commitments. Unfortunately no nominations were received for this important post, so it currently remains vacant. The Operational Committee would like to thank Pam for agreeing to continue to act as the first point of contact for the time being, but it would be unfair to impose for more than the very short term.

The KAA is therefore inviting any senior member, who is interested in taking on this role, to contact the County Chairman as soon as possible.

The main responsibilities involved are:

  • to attend committee meetings (7 each year) and record/send out minutes of those meetings (Email access is essential and basic word-processor skills would be useful, but help and training can be provided),
  • act as first point of contact for enquiries relating to archery activities in the county (but in many cases this need only involve referring the enquiry to the best person to deal with it).

Subsidy for Coach Training

The Lord Mayor's Skill Legacy Fund was set up to encourage increased participation in sport within the London boroughs after the Olympic and Paralympic Games. One way in which it intends to do this, is to provide funding for Level-1 and Level-2 coach training. Funding is available to coach trainees of up to 75% of the course fees in return for carrying out voluntary coaching hours - the more hours you put in, the more funding you will get.

To qualify for funding you must apply by the end of March 2012, the course must take place within the London boroughs and so too must the voluntary coaching hours; however, there is no restriction on where the trainee lives, just provided they go into the London area to train and coach. The discount is as follows:

15 hours of voluntary coaching: 25% discount
20 hours of voluntary coaching: 50% discount
25 hours of voluntary coaching: 75% discount

The Invicta Coaching Group has been planning to run a Level-2 course, but is waiting until the new process and syllabus has settled down, following a recent trial. They therefore plan to run a course during next year.

If any member is interested in training to UKCC Level-2 (whether or not they wish to take advantage of the Legacy Fund), please contact the County Coaching Organiser for more information and to add your name to the waiting list. Similarly, if any club in the London Boroughs would like to take advantage of the voluntary coaching hours, or is able to host the course, please contact the County Coaching Organiser.

Please note that each course can accept a maximum of 12 candidates and will only be possible if there are sufficient candidates to make it financially viable. Candidates for archery Level-2 training must hold a current archery Level-1 license to be accepted for enrollment.

KAA Annual General Meeting

The KAA Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday, 21 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.

London2012 Tickets

The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) has announced further details (link expired) about how to apply for tickets for the Olympic events.

It will be possible to apply from March 2011 for Olympic Games tickets, either on-line or by using a form that will be widely available in high street shops throughout the UK. If there are more applications than there are tickets available for any session, then the tickets will be allocated by ballot.

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets will open in autumn 2011 and will follow a similar sales process.

You can keep up to date with all the latest ticketing news by registering your interest (link expired) now - please note that this does not commit you to applying for tickets, or entitle to tickets - it is just a simple way to stay informed.

National Development Conference

This year's National Development Conference was held at Lilleshall on 23-24 October 2010.

The headline presentation of the weekend was the launch of ArcheryGB's new club development programme, ontarget, a completely voluntary package of benefits that initially includes a small grant scheme (£500 - £1,500) to help clubs increase capacity or attract new participants and an on-demand printing service for club promotional material; further benefits will be added as the programme grows.

The number of grants available is strictly limited, as are other resources, so we recommend that clubs consider the value of this development programme as a priority and if you wish to apply, do so as quickly as possible.

Further details of the development programme and how to apply are available here and from the ArcheryGB website.

A conference report has also been prepared and is now available.

The club list has also been updated to include the district in which the club lies and their local County Sports Partnership - the latter can be very useful when looking for development help.

KAA Annual General Meeting

The KAA Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 21 November 2010 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers, The Strand, Gillingham (map). Full details and the agenda have now been sent to all club secretaries and Individual Members.

The AGM starts at 2:00 p.m. and will be followed by an informal meeting, which replaces 'Any Other Business'. This informal meeting provides an opportunity to raise and discuss any issues of importance to you or your club - the new county committee will then deal with issues raised and consider any suggestions early in the new county year.

It is important to note that only members of the KAA can take part and vote during the meeting. If you plan to attend, we suggest that you have your current GNAS/ArcheryGB membership card with you as proof of membership; if you have not yet received your membership card, please contact the county treasurer by phone (Tim East on 01474 357807) beforehand, to check that your KAA membership fee has been received in good order – we cannot guarantee to sort out membership problems when you arrive at the meeting, especially if this requires contacting your club.

London2012 Volunteering

Registration for volunteers to work at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games has now closed and more than 240,000 applications have been received for the 70,000 posts that will be required! Unfortunately, if you didn't register as a "Games Maker" by the cut-off date last Wednesday (27 October 2010), I'm afraid it is now too late.

For those who did register, key dates for the next part of the process have now been published:

12 November 2011 Deadline for ensuring that all your application details are complete and up to date.
January 2011 LOCOG start inviting short-listed applicants to a selection event.
February 2011 - February 2012 Selection events take place and all invited applicants are interviewed.
October - December 2011 LOCOG start sending out offers to successful applicants.
February 2012 Orientation training and role-specific training begins.
April 2012 Venue training begins.
Late April 2012 Distribution of uniforms and accreditation passes begins.

Volunteers will receive regular updates and further information is available on the London 2012 Games Maker website (expired link).

Review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme

A system has existed for a number of years to check the background of coaches, prospective coaches and certain other people who will have substantial access to children and/or vulnerable adults; one of its main features has been the CRB check. This system was due to be substantially revised with effect from July 2010 with the addition of a new "Vetting and Barring" process.

In June 2010 the incoming government announced that these changes would be halted pending a review of the entire safeguarding process. The government has now outlined the terms of reference for that review, but it does not yet give any time scales for completion.

The government is also conducting a parallel review of the criminal records regime, which will look at what records will be kept, by whom, who will have access to them and for what purposes. A further review of some provisions in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 has been recommended to parliament and is expected in the near future; this could also have an impact on what criminal record information is held, for how long and for what purposes.

In the mean time and until further notice, the existing CRB checking process will continue to apply unchanged, except that the revised form will be used, even though parts of it may no longer be relevant. ArcheryGB provides comprehensive guidance for completion of the form as part of their "CRB pack".

London2012 Volunteering

Since 2005 thousands of people have registered their interest to volunteer and they will have received regular newsletters from the organisers to keep them informed of developments and provide information about the many roles that are available. Unfortunately there appears to be some confusion among the general public and many believe that by registering their interest they have already volunteered - this is not the case.

Anyone who wants to volunteer to work at the London2012 Olympic and/or Paralympic Games must register as a "Games Maker" on the London2012 website (expired link). Registration opened on Wednesday, 15 September 2010 and closes at midnight on Wednesday, 27 October 2010, but you are strongly advised not to wait until the last minute!

For anyone who is unable to work as a "Games Maker" but would like to get involved in other ways, the London 2012 website also gives information about other opportunities to get involved in the preparations and about volunteering locally.

London2012 Tickets

The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) has announced details of ticket pricing (expired link) for the Olympic events:

Tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games will be available at a wide range of prices starting at £20. There are also special prices available for young people and seniors across all Olympic sports. Young people who are 16 years old or younger (at 27 July 2012) will pay their age for a ticket. Seniors aged 60 and over (at 27 July 2012) will pay £16. These 'pay your age' ticket prices and senior ticket prices will be available in more than 200 sessions. The price of a ticket for a wheelchair space includes a companion seat located next to it.

Paralympic Games ticket prices will be announced in 2011.

Olympic Games tickets go on sale in March 2011. Paralympic Games tickets will go on sale separately later in 2011.

You can make a start today by signing up to register your interest (expired link) if you have not already done so. Being registered means you will be the first to receive important news about tickets for the London 2012 Games.

The archery event will be held at Lords Cricket Ground and is currently scheduled to run from 27 July - 03 August 2012. It is one of the least expensive sports to watch and tickets will cost:

27 July 2012 Ranking Round Non-ticketed
Preliminary £20 - £65 Concessionary prices available
Finals £30 - £95 Concessionary prices not available

The following information is available from the London 2012 website:

Important: Please note that payment for tickets will be possible by cash, cheque or VISA credit/debit card - no other credit/debit cards will be accepted!

London 2012 Olympic 50p Coins

The Royal Mint has announced the release of new 50p coins to commemorate the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

29 different designs each feature the London2012 logo and one of the Olympic/Paralympic sports on the reverse. All of the designs were submitted by members of the general public and were selected from more than 30,000 entries.

87 million coins will be released into general circulation during 2010 and 2011 and are therefore very likely to turn up in your change at some stage. They will also be available as uncirculated, polished coins in presentation folders direct from the Royal Mint either individually or in sets.

The first set of eight coins is now available and includes the archery coin.

The more assiduous amongst us might well find a number of faults with the design, but please note that (as with all of the designs) the national governing body of the sport was not involved at any stage in the design or selection process. Coaches might even find the archery coin valuable to illustrate a number of shooting problems!

BBC Unsung Hero Award

Each year the BBC honours individuals from the grassroots of sport at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards through its Unsung Hero Award. The award recognises people who go the extra mile to change the lives of others through sport and who deserve to be recognised for their selfless work on the part of others.

Nominees should be people who, on a voluntary basis, prepare facilities, roll the pitch, coach the juniors, run local sports leagues or work behind the scenes so that sport can be played and enjoyed by people throughout the UK – we know that there are thousands to choose from.

Nominations for the award can be made at www.bbc.co.uk/sportsunsunghero (expired link) using a printable form. There is also a low-cost phone number you can call to request nomination forms – 03700 100 800 - which are also available from BBC Local Radio stations and BBC Regional and National Centres. The closing date for nominations Friday 29 October.

So if anyone has impressed you, go ahead and nominate them - make them feel good and help to raise the profile of our sport.

ArcheryGB Club Finder

Information about Kent clubs is still incomplete in the ArcheryGB Club Finder and this might be costing your club potential new members! In fact several Kent clubs are completely missing at present.

Would members please check the information relating to their club and if it is missing, incomplete or incorrect please arrange for it to be updated, as explained on the ArcheryGB website (expired link). Remember that the club location is where you normally shoot, not the club secretary's address - the latter can be provided separately in the contact information if you wish.

If your club has submitted changes recently, it may take a short while to include the changes, so please do not repeat them.

Annual Membership Renewals - Update

ArcheryGB report that they have now sent membership cards to members whose clubs met the 01 September deadline, except in a few cases where queries remain unresolved. The remainder will be dealt with in the order received.

A full update is given on the ArcheryGB website.

London2012 Volunteering

Since 2005 thousands of people have registered their interest to volunteer and they will have received regular newsletters from the organisers to keep them informed of developments and provide information about the many roles that are available. Unfortunately there appears to be some confusion among the general public and many believe that by registering their interest they have already volunteered - this is not the case.

Anyone who wants to volunteer to work at the London2012 Olympic and/or Paralympic Games must register as a "Games Maker" on the London2012 website (expired link). Registration opened on Wednesday, 15 September 2010 and closes at midnight on Wednesday, 27 October 2010, but you are strongly advised not to wait until the last minute!

For anyone who is unable to work as a "Games Maker" but would like to get involved in other ways, the London 2012 website also gives information about other opportunities to get involved in the preparations and about volunteering locally.

WADA Prohibited List 2011

WADA have recently published the new list of prohibited substances and methods that comes into effect on 01 January 2011. The 2011 International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions is also available.

While most archers are unlikely to be affected in practice, all archers and coaches should be aware of the drug testing policy and requirements

d in the ArcheryGB:

Annual Membership Renewals

Changes have been made to the ArcheryGB membership renewal process for the start of the 2010-2011 membership year and club secretaries should have received information from ArcheryGB some time ago on how the new system will work for this year. If your club has not received their annual return yet, please contact the ArcheryGB Membership Officer at Lilleshall urgently - please see the latest edition of ArcheryUK for contact details.

It is apparent that there is some confusion about what clubs are required to do, so here are the main points that clubs need to be aware of:

KAA Indoor Championship

Ashford Archers' Indoor Tournament on 14 November 2010 will again incorporate the KAA Indoor Championship.

Details and entry forms have been sent out to clubs are also available for download.

KAA Annual General Meeting

the KAA Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 21 November 2010 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers, The Strand, Gillingham (map). Official notification has now been sent to all club secretaries and Individual Members.

Several long-standing members of the committee have decided not to stand for re-election this year and the President and Committee would like to express their appreciation and thanks for the considerable amount of work that all have them have done for the Association:

  • Derrick Lovell has been the county Chairman for 31 years and before that was Tournament Organiser for 3 years (in those days the one job covered the FITA, Championships, Longbow, Clout and Field); he is standing down partly because he feels that the time has come to hand over the reigns and partly for health reasons;
  • Pam Hagon took on the role of county Secretary two years ago and before that had been an ordinary member for several years;
  • Tim East has held the post of county Treasurer for the last seven years and before that was Secretary for 12 years.

The nomination form (sent out at the same time) contains provision for nominations for the post of President; as this post was elected last year for a three-year term, nominations are not required and cannot be accepted this year. Please accept our apologies for any confusion that this error might have caused.

SCAS Senior Inter-Counties Team Tournament

The SCAS Senior Inter-Counties Team Tournament takes place at Andover again this year on Sunday 12 September.

The following teams have been selected to compete for Kent:

Senior Compound
Name Club
Aristos Aristodimou Sutton Bowmen Archery Club
Bob Beaney Ashford Archers
Richard Clark Abbey Bowmen
Hilary Essex Swan Archers
Aldred Wright Ten-Ring Archery Club
Senior Recurve Freestyle
Name Club
Mark Constable Lamorbey Park Archers
Jacqui Gould Crown Archers
Adam Kenyon Crown Archers
Dale Robertson Raven Archers
Steve Smith Dover Castle Archers
Lisa Kenyon Crown Archers (reserve)

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

Invicta Coaching Group AGM

Members of the Invicta Coaching Group are reminded that their AGM will be held on Friday 24 September 2010.

This meeting is only open to members of the KAA with a current coach license (any level, but excluding Leaders) and all should by now have received their official notification. Any Kent coach who has not received notification and wishes to attend, is asked to contact the Invicta Coaching Group secretary.

The AGM will be followed by an opportunity for coaches to gain CPD points for their next license renewal - Hilary Essex will be giving a short talk on the "Principles of Training".

Coaches Working in Schools

The Association for Physical Education (AfPE) has issued new guidance to schools for the employment of sports coaches and this is likely to affect Leaders and Coaches providing archery lessons, whether as a part of the formal curriculum, or as an extra-curricular activity.

Details are available from the AfPE web site.

Queries should be directed to the Kent School Sport Manager Nathan Hazeldene.

Kent Target Archery Championship

A report on the county Target Archery Championship will follow in the next few days, but for those who want to get record claims in quickly, the tournament results are now available for download.

Congratulations to everyone who achieved the performance that they set out for, and especially all of our winners. The list of county champions has also been updated.

Kent Target Championship

The Kent Target Championship and Open Tournament takes place on Sunday, 22 August 2010 at Vigo and after a final flurry of entries in the last two weeks, the numbers are just very slightly up on last year with 115 archers taking part.

The target list can be downloaded now.

Please check that your entry is correct; if you spot an error, please contact the tournament organiser urgently so that we can correct it before the event - there is no guarantee that changes can be made on the morning of the tournament.

County Match v. Surrey

After the disappointment of having earlier matches this year cancelled, Kent took on Surrey at Vigo on Sunday 01 August 2010 on a day of sun and threatened rain that didn't actually materialise.

Surrey won the Compound match by a short head and the "Mixed Junior" match by a comfortable margin, but Kent made it 3-2 with wins in the Recurve Freestyle, Recurve Barebow and Longbow matches. Many congratulations to all of our team for a very creditable result.

The match results are now available for download.

Kent Disability Tournament

John Cavanagh, a British Paralympic archer, was the special guest at this year's KAA Disability Tournament at Sittingbourne Community College last Saturday.

Our thanks go to College for its enthusiastic support of the event, to the local branch of the MS Society for helping to raise the profile of the event and to the many helpers led by Bob Beaney (Tournament Organiser). The event was blessed with fine weather - the breeze might have made shooting a bit more difficult, but it certainly helped to take the edge off the heat!

The tournament results are now available for download.

Invicta Springboard Tournament

This year's Springboard Tournament took place on Sunday at Sennocke Archers' ground at Wildernesse School, Sevenoaks. Around 50 competitors enjoyed a wonderfully sunny, if rather breezy day of shooting. Thanks are due to the coaches from the Invicta Coaching Group who organised the event and to those coaches together with members of Sennocke Archers, who helped before, during and after the event.

The tournament results are now available for download.

Membership Renewals

Changes have been made to the ArcheryGB membership renewal process for the start of the 2010-2011 membership year and club secretaries should by now have received information from ArcheryGB on how the new system will work. The KAA Club Guide to the affiliation and membership process has therefore been withdrawn with immediate effect, as the sections dealing with membership renewal are now out of date.

Any club that is unsure about how to process new applications or transfers or renewals of membership, should follow the instructions given by ArcheryGB; if you are still unsure about how to proceed, then please contact the county Treasurer for further advice.

Clubs are reminded that KAA membership fees have increased since last year and the new fees are shown in the current edition of the KAA Membership policy.

The increase was effective as follows:

Existing members 01 October 2010 (payable during this year's membership renewal process)
New members 01 May 2010 (this includes membership through to 30 September 2011)

Kent Target Championship

Members are reminded that this year's Kent Target Archery Championship and Open Tournament will take place at Vigo RFC on Sunday 22 August 2010. Details and entry form can be downloaded now.

Please remember that 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, Sunday 08 August 2010. There are just three weeks remaining to get your entry in.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

County Match v. Surrey

The next county match of the year will be against Surrey at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 01 August 2010. The match will include a senior barebow team for the first time.

The following teams have been selected to compete for Kent:

Senior Compound
Name Club
Richard Clark Abbey Bowmen
Hilary Essex Swan Archers
Chris Horan Castle Moat & Folkestone Bowmen
Helen Hume Bowmen of Darenteford
Mike Jewiss Swan Archers
John Martin Ten-Ring Archery Club
Sarah Essex Swan Archers (Reserve)
Senior Recurve Freestyle
Name Club
Mark Constable Lamorbey Park Archers
Shannen Girdler Sutton Bowman Archery Club
Jacqui Gould Crown Archers
Adam Kenyon Crown Archers
Dale Robertson Raven Archers
Steve Smith Dover Castle Archers
Graham Souch Fox Archers
Senior Recurve Barebow
Name Club
Glen Chapman Sutton Bowman Archery Club
Trish Lovell Bowmen of Woodstock
Neil Richardson Allington Castle Archers
John Weatherly Fox Archers
Senior Longbow
Name Club
Tony Andrews Swan Archers
Geoff Barker Allington Castle Archers
Stella Green Thanet Archery Club
Clinton Hill Thanet Archery Club
Bob Moore Swan Archers
Mick Williams Crystal Palace Bowmen
Junior Mixed Bow-Styles
Name Club
Phillip Gower Canterbury Archers
Luke Higgins Crystal Palace Bowmen
Robyn-Marie Kenyon Crown Archers
Stephanie Kenyon Crown Archers
Piers Lawrence Ferryfield Bowmen
Leah Smith Canterbury Archers

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

KAA Club Guide - Affiliation and Membership Process

Changes are being made to the ArcheryGB membership renewal process for the start of the 2010-2011 membership year and club secretaries should shortly receive information from ArcheryGB on how the new system will work. The KAA Club Guide to the affiliation and membership process has therefore been withdrawn with immediate effect, as the sections dealing with membership renewal are now out of date.

Any club that is unsure about how to process new applications or transfers or renewals of membership, should follow the instructions given by ArcheryGB; if you are still unsure about how to proceed, then please contact the county Treasurer for further advice.

It is planned to issue a fully revised version of the guide later in the year.

KAA Policy Changes

The following revised policy has been adopted with immediate effect, following the end of the 12-week consultation period.

Copies will be circulated to clubs with the minutes of yesterday's Operational Committee meeting.

Kent Target Championship

Members are reminded that this year's Kent Target Archery Championship and Open Tournament will take place at Vigo RFC on Sunday 22 August 2010. Details and entry form can be downloaded now.

Please remember that 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, 08 August 2010.

For further information please contact the tournament organiser.

Fox Archers' Tony Bates Open Junior Tournament

Tony Bates had been a member of Fox Archers for nearly 20 years, when he fell ill in 2006. The illness led to paralysis from the neck down and a long-term reliance on a ventilator.

Four years on and one of his mouth paintings is due to be exhibited at the Mayor of London's office, he organises Have-a-Go sessions at his hospital and his club, Fox Archers, are organising a tournament in his honour.

National Archery Development Conference

This year's National Archery Development Conference will be held on 23-24 October 2010 at Lilleshall National Sport Centre. Details of the conference and the Archery Development Plan for England are now available from the ArcheryGB web site (original link expired).

Please note that the deadline for booking places is 01 October 2010, but places are limited and provided on a strictly 'first come, first served' basis.

Kent Longbow Championship

This year's Longbow Championship on Sunday 16 May 2010 was the first to take place at Vigo RFC and was blessed with better weather than recent years. A mild and reasonably calm day

d no more than a few spots of rain - the torrential downpour held off until after the ground was cleared and most competitors had got home and unpacked!

The full results and awards list can now be downloaded and copies will be sent in the next few days to those who requested them.

Congratulations go to all of our longbow champions:

  • Clinton Hill, who retains his title once again,
  • Christine Bearman, our new lady champion and
  • Robyn-Marie Kenyon, our new junior champion.

This championship has grown in recent years and we are now also getting more entries from "out of county", so the tournament organiser and county committee will be looking at obtaining additional trophies.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this such a successful event; everyone involved in setting up and running the tournament and especially to all those competitors who made it so enjoyable.

County Records

All of the county record booklets have now been updated to show the new ArcheryGB junior age groups. It has been possible to move each individual record to the correct new age group, based on age on the date that the respective record was achieved. Because no claims for junior records in affected categories were received for ratification at yesterday's Operational Committee meeting, it has only been necessary to publish one version of each booklet.

The following are available:

If you believe that a record has been allocated to the wrong new age group, please contact the county Records Officer with as much detail as possible; we will then check it and make any corrections that are needed.

KAA Membership Fees

Clubs are reminded that a small increase in KAA membership fees of £0.50 per person was agreed at the Annual General Meeting last November - this was the first increase in about 15 years and was primarily to provide team clothing and better support for the county team.

This increase takes effect as follows:

Existing members 01 October 2010 (payable during this year's membership renewal process)
New members 01 May 2010 (this includes membership through to 30 September 2011)

The Membership policy has been updated to include the new fees and a copies will be circulated to clubs with the minutes of yesterday's Operational Committee meeting.

County Invitation Tournament

This year's County Invitation Tournament was scheduled to take place on Sunday 02 May 2010 at Vigo RFC. 116 archers from all around the county accepted the invitation to attend, but on the day weather conditions were so bad, that only about 40 actually attended - and even that was short lived, as the tournament was abandoned without an arrow being shot.

We will try to stage the event at a later date in the season, but conflicts with other events make this unlikely.

Kent Longbow Championship

This year the Kent Longbow Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday 16 May and the target list is now available to download.

We wish good weather and good shooting to everyone taking part.

Selection for England Teams

The EAF is responsible for selecting teams to represent England at events where separate teams compete for each of the UK home nations (for example Commonwealth Games, Euronations tournaments and home nations teams at certain major domestic events).

We have been asked to remind members, who wish to be considered for selection, that:

  • details of the selection criteria are available from the EAF web site;
  • it is the archer's responsibility to seek selection and to supply the required information - the EAF will not actively search for potential candidates.

Awards and Grants

Clubs that are interested in applying for development grants can get a wide range of information from the KCC web site:

While both of these links include funding information for a wide range of activities other than sport, it is relatively easy to identify those opportunities that do relate to community sports clubs.

Information is also available about Kent and Medway Funding Fairs (expired link) that are held throughout the year at various locations around the county

ArcheryGB Coaching Conference

Details of the National Coaching Conference have now been published and can be downloaded. Further information will also be available from the ArcheryGB web site in due course.

Please note that this conference is only available to licensed ArcheryGB coaches, but coaches of any grade may attend.

Field Championship Test Event

Unfortunately the test event hosted by Bowmen of Woodstock on 18 April 2010 was only attended by 6 archers, so Hannah Brown from the host club is looking for feedback from our archers.

If you would have liked to attend, but didn't or were not able to, please let her know why that was; please take the opportunity to let us know what would encourage you to compete at your county's Field Archery Championship.

Appeal for Volunteers to Train as Judges

We have received an appeal from Katy Lipscombe, the SCAS Judges' Liaison Officer, for more members to volunteer to train as Judges.

The SCAS region covers the south-eastern corner of England, its border forming a long, ragged arc that runs from The Wash to the Solent (and a little beyond). It takes in 14 county archery associations, with over 250 clubs and more than 10,000 members.

There are literally hundreds of tournaments in the region each year - target, indoor, field and clout; from local club shoots to county championships to world record status FITA Stars. Although a tournament strictly only has to have qualified judges present if it has national record status or above, many other tournaments choose to have a judge - someone has to keep us under control (and sort out those difficult technical questions about rules, that would otherwise have you worrying through sleepless nights).

Currently the region has only 44 judges to deal with all of that (6 of them here in Kent) and some end up judging somewhere or another most weekends of the year - there is an urgent and growing need for more judges to 'lighten the load'. If you are interested in training to become a judge, please contact Katy Lipscombe, or speak to any of our judges, next time you go to a tournament.

GNAS Annual General Meeting

Our congratulations go to Trish Lovell (Bowmen of Woodstock, Kent) who succeeds Tom Williamson as President of the Society and will serve for a period of 3 years.

There are significant changes to the Board of Directors, as a number of directors retired at the end of their maximum permitted term of office. There were also further set-backs for the "Governance Review".

KAA Field Championship

The KAA Field Championship was held first at Penshurst and more recently at Bowmen of Woodstock's ground near Sittingbourne. Unfortunately during all of this period it has been rare that more than a dozen archers from Kent have competed - across all bow-styles, genders and age groups! It would appear that the current format is not popular among local archers, even though (or perhaps because?) it attracts top archers from all over the country.

However, the recent Field Archery "taster" sessions run by Bowmen of Woodstock have been very successful, with many archers who took part in the first, returning for the second one in January.

Bowmen of Woodstock will therefore be trying out a different format this year to see if we can attract more Kent archers to the event. The date for this has been set for 18 April 2010 and will replace the county championship for this year - if the new format is successful, then it will be adopted for the county championship from 2011.

Details can be downloaded.

Junior Age Groups

ArcheryGB first circulated a proposal during last year to make changes to the junior age groups in target and clout archery (field archery is unaffected). Their adoption was confirmed in the Spring 2010 edition of the ArcheryUK magazine and Individual Members of ArcheryGB and club secretaries should by now have received replacement pages for the Rules of Shooting, Shooting Administrative Procedures and Handicap Tables; please note that these changes came into effect as at 01 March 2010, even though the replacement pages are dated "April 2010".

We have introduced a revised claim form for use with rounds shot on or after 01 March 2010 and in May we will convert our existing junior records to the new age groups.

KAA Policy Changes

The KAA Operational Committee have agreed changes to the published KCB policy. As detailed in our "Policy Review and Amendments" document, there is now a 12 week consultation period for members to comment on the changes. The Operational Committee will then take into account those comments, when making a final decision on the changes at their meeting in July 2010.

  • The table of maximum distances has been revised to reflect the new ArcheryGB junior age groups;
  • Qualifying levels have been revised to reflect the new ArcheryGB junior age groups;
  • The classification has been extended to include Recurve Barebow.

It is intended to introduce the changes retroactively to 01 March 2010, the date that the new ArcheryGB age groups take effect; this is to ensure that the classification is available for the 2010 outdoor season for the new age groups.

The changes are also being circulated to all club secretaries, but are available here for download in ".pdf" format. Please send any comments or queries about the above changes to the county secretary.

Junior Age Groups

ArcheryGB first circulated a proposal during last year to make changes to the junior age groups in target and clout archery (field archery is unaffected). Their adoption was confirmed in the Spring 2010 edition of the ArcheryUK magazine and Individual Members of ArcheryGB and club secretaries should by now have received replacement pages for the Rules of Shooting, Shooting Administrative Procedures and Handicap Tables; please note that these changes came into effect as at 01 March 2010, even though the replacement pages are dated "April 2010".

Last week we published details of the changes that the KAA would be making to county records. However, we have since received more details of how the changes will be dealt with nationally and these might enable us to simplify what we do locally. We will let you know within the next week or so how we plan to manage the changes to the age groups, but in the mean time please do not delay sending in claims for county records, especially for rounds shot before 01 March 2010.

Junior Age Groups

ArcheryGB first circulated a proposal during last year to make changes to the junior age groups in target and clout archery (field archery is unaffected). Their adoption was confirmed in the Spring 2010 edition of the ArcheryUK magazine and Individual Members of ArcheryGB and club secretaries should by now have received replacement pages for the Rules of Shooting, Shooting Administrative Procedures and Handicap Tables; please note that these changes came into effect as at 01 March 2010, even though the replacement pages are dated "April 2010".

These changes will have a significant impact on the administration of county records during the remainder of this year, so it has been necessary to introduce a revised claim form and make some temporary changes to the ratification process. There is minimal change to the way that you claim for a county record.

Updates to Rules of Shooting

All Individual Members of ArcheryGB and club secretaries should now have received their copy of the updated pages for the GNAS Rules of Shooting, Shooting Administrative Procedures (SAPs) (including Classification scores) and Handicap Tables.

The updated Rules of Shooting and SAPs can now be downloaded from the "Documents" section of the ArcheryGB web site, as can the specific updates only, so that you can more easily see what has been changed.

Printed copies of the updated pages, so that you can update your existing book, will also be available, but there is likely to be a delay because a printer's collation error in some sets of pages.

It is strongly recommended that every member should have or have ready access to an up-to-date copy of the Rules of Shooting, but please note that complete copies currently available are unlikely to include the latest updates.

London2012 Tickets

You may have heard in the media in the last week or so that information is now available about ticket sales for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) has announced in its recent newsletter that tickets will go on sale during the spring of 2011; more information will be available later this year and you can register now to receive this information direct when it is published.

To sign up for their general newsletter, please visit the London2012 web site;
To register for news about tickets, please visit the London2012 ticketing web site (expired link), or phone 0844 847 2012.

Please also note that LOCOG is currently stating that payment will be possible by cash, cheque or VISA credit/debit card - it will not be possible to pay using other credit/debit cards!

After-School Olympic Sports Clubs

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced on 17 March 2010 that £6M of government and lottery money would be made available to create a network of new after school clubs in secondary schools and colleges across England. Although the initial list of sports does not include archery, the DCMS hopes that in time this will spread to all Olympic and Paralympic Sports.

This is just one part of the work that is being done to increase the participation in sport and includes incentives to national governing bodies of sports to get involved.

The Government aims to offer all young people aged 5-16 five hours of sport a week (inside and outside of school) and for all aged 16 – 19 year olds to be offered three hours a week by 2012-13.

The complete media release is available on the DCMS web site (expired link).

County Colours

The county now has an impressive new sweatshirt and polo-shirt design, featuring the white horse of Kent and the Association's name.

It is expected to be available in time for the 4-way Indoor County Match on Sunday, 11 April 2010 and a version will also shortly be available for all members to purchase.

ArcheryGB Membership Cards

As part of the membership system project ArcheryGB have started to look at the design of membership cards. Three mock-ups of possible designs can be downloaded from the ArcheryGB home page and members can also record their feedback on these designs in a very brief survey.

Club Details

The redevelopment of the ArcheryGB web site will include a facility for prospective members to search for a local club based on the postcode. If your club would like to be

d in that search facility, please ensure that your club details are up to date by completing the (expired link) club details survey.

Please note that the facility on the main ArcheryGB web site has been suspended temporarily. If you require further information, please contact the ArcheryGB office.

Indoor County Match

The following team has been selected to compete in the 4-way Indoor County Match on Sunday, 11 April 2010:

County Team Members
Name Club
Mark Constable Lamorbey Park Archers
Jacqui Gould Crown Archers
Mark Hadley Dover Castle Archers
Matthew Sharpe Ashford Archers
Steve Smith Dover Castle Archers
Graham Souch Fox Archers
Ken Freeman Leaves Green Bowmen (reserve)
Linda Richart Crystal Palace Bowmen (reserve)

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

Kent Target Championship

The Kent Target Archery Championship and Open Tournament will take place at Vigo RFC on Sunday 22 August 2010. Details and entry form can be downloaded now. Although copies of the entry form will not be sent to club secretaries as a matter of routine, if you are aware of anyone who does not have internet access, please advise them to contact the tournament organiser by phone and we will be happy to send a copy by post.

Important Note: the entry form assumes that the expected changes to ArcheryGB junior age groups and to the Bristol 5 round will go ahead as planned - in the unlikely event that this does not happen, it might be necessary to revise the age groupings and rounds offered.

Please remember that 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.

Kent Archery Development Officer

The Kent Archery Development Officer (KADO) is a part-time post, employed by the KCC Kent Sport, Leisure & Olympics Department and currently funded jointly by the KCC, Dover Town Council, Sport England and ArcheryGB. The post was created for a 3-year term, starting in October 2007 to help develop the sport of archery within the Kent area (unfortunately this is restricted to the KCC area and so the help available to clubs situated in the London Boroughs is limited). The project started as a legacy for the FITA World Cup event at Dover and as a prototype for possible use by ArcheryGB throughout the rest of the country.

The first two years were largely occupied with setting up archery in schools, colleges and community centres, especially in the three key areas of Dartford, Sheppey and Dover; this also resulted in the creation of a new club in Queenborough, Sheppey. This work coincided with a substantial increase in the number of schools that offer archery as an alternative to traditional team sports and the KADO has been instrumental in helping set up the sport at many such schools throughout Kent. To date help has been provided to set up archery in 17 schools and 9 community groups, thereby introducing over 1300 juniors and over 350 adults to archery!

In the third year the emphasis is moving toward support and encouragement for clubs that want to develop, for example by qualifying for ClubMark, forming a partnership with local schools or finding resources for training members to become coaches.

We are now looking for the views of members as to whether there is a continuing need for this post beyond October 2010, subject of course to the availability of adequate funding. Please note that this must relate to the development of archery as a sport and the organisations and people that deliver and administer it - this project cannot provide archery coaching. If there are longer term issues with which your club needs help, please let us know, because they could be the kind of problems that the Kent Archery Development Officer can help with.

Please send your suggestions and requests to the county secretary.

If you have any questions about current and planned activity for the remainder of this year, please contact the Kent Archery Development Officer.

Requests for Link Exchanges

From time to time the KAA receives e-mail requests for us to add links from our site to a third party in exchange for that organisation adding a link to our site. Such exchanges of links can help to boost internet search engine "page rankings" and so can appear to have value.

However a number of requests we have received recently have thrown up some very strange results, so if your club receives similar requests, you are advised to treat them with care and not just add them to your web site until you have done a little research. For example:

  • Do you know where the request came from?
  • Check to find out who registered the domain - remember that a .uk suffix does not prove they are based in the UK. A "WHOIS" search can be done through WHois.net - other registrars also provide a similar free service.
  • Does the web site provide verifiable contact details? This is particularly important if the web site is selling anything.
  • Is it likely to provide actual value to your members (quite apart from the promised inward link)?
  • Does the request and the site "feel" genuine - many requests are simply spam, but many are genuine and might actually benefit the members of a relatively small sport. A little bit of "gut feel" can be valuable.

But remember above all, if you have doubts don't reply to the request, don't visit the web site yourself and don't add the link to your club web site.

Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability

This year the Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability will be held at Sittingbourne Community College on Saturday 24 July. Able bodied archers are also welcome to enter and act as helpers for the more disabled archers competing.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

Sport:ed Training Courses

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.

A full and regularly updated list can be found on the Kent Sport web site.

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.

KAA Policy Changes

The KAA Operational Committee have agreed a number of changes to some of our published policies. As detailed in our "Policy Review and Amendments" document, there is now a 12 week consultation period for members to comment on the changes. The Operational Committee will then take into account those comments, when making a final decision on the changes at their meeting in May 2010.

The changes are also being circulated to all club secretaries, but are available here for download in ".pdf" format.

Some of the changes are intended only to add more detail, or to make future changes easier to accommodate. The main changes are summarised as follows:

Championships and Tournaments: Download as a PDF document

  • The County Invitation Tournament has been moved into this document, to keep all of the tournaments together in one place.
  • References to the "Invitation Letter" have been replaced by an "Entry Form", which will be used in future for this tournament.
  • County Matches used always to be held on the first Sunday of May – August; however, it has become impossible in recent years to do this consistently, so the existing tear-off availability slip on the invitation letter is no longer useful. The County Invitation entry form will contain a revised section, which is described.

County Records: Download as a PDF document

  • We have added an explicit statement about who is responsible for what in the claims process.
  • The claim process is explained in more detail.
  • New sections have been added describing the approval process, what happens if a record is refused and how disputes will be handled.

Score Returns and Team Selection: Download as a PDF document

  • The County Invitation Tournament has been moved from this document to the Championships and Tournaments policy (the document has been renamed accordingly).
  • A new section has been added explicitly explaining the significance of certain tournaments in the selection process.

Please send any comments or queries about the above changes to the county Secretary.

ArcheryGB Membership Fee Structure

We would like to thank all of those clubs who responded with their views about the proposed changes to the ArcheryGB membership fee structure.

A short analysis of all the responses received is now available from the ArcheryGB home page; we understand that further consultation with Regional Associations will occur in the near future. If you have any further feedback, please contact ArcheryGB as before, but please keep us informed by copying your responses to the county Secretary, so that we can represent you at future Regional meetings via our SCAS Representatives.

KAA Field Championship

The KAA Field Championship was held first at Penshurst and more recently at Bowmen of Woodstock's ground near Sittingbourne. Unfortunately during all of this period it has been rare that more than a dozen archers from Kent have competed - across all bow-styles, genders and age groups! It would appear that the current format is not popular among local archers, even though (or perhaps because?) it attracts top archers from all over the country.

However, the recent Field Archery "taster" sessions run by Bowmen of Woodstock have been very successful, with many archers who took part in the first, returning for the second one in January.

Trish Lovell (T/O for the Field Championship and member of Bowmen of Woodstock) is therefore proposing to try out a different format this year to see if we can attract more Kent archers to the event. The date for this has been provisionally set for 18 April 2010 and will replace the county championship for this year - if the new format is successful, then it will be adopted for the county championship from 2011.

More details will be available shortly.

Kent Longbow Championship

This year the Kent Longbow Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday 16 May. As usual it will consist of a Double National shot in one direction only, so only ArcheryGB members are eligible to take part.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

ArcheryGB Membership Fee Structure

We would like to thank all of those clubs who responded with their views about the proposed changes to the ArcheryGB membership fee structure.

Invicta Springboard Tournament

The annual Invicta Coaching Group "Springboard Tournament" is exclusively for those archers, who have not yet reached "Bowman" classification in any age group or discipline; it is therefore the ideal starting point for any Kent archer who wants to gain competition experience without being overwhelmed! This year it will be held at Sennocke Archers' ground on 18 July 2010 and details & entry form are now available to download.

Qualified coaches who are interested in helping are asked to contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

Kent Longbow Championship

This year the Kent Longbow Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday 16 May. As usual it will consist of a Double National shot in one direction only, so only ArcheryGB members are eligible to take part.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

Invicta Springboard Tournament

The annual Invicta Coaching Group "Springboard Tournament" is exclusively for those archers, who have not yet reached "Bowman" classification in any age group or discipline; it is therefore the ideal starting point for any Kent archer who wants to gain competition experience without being overwhelmed! This year it will be held at Sennocke Archers' ground on 18 July 2010 and details & entry form are now available to download.

Qualified coaches who are interested in helping are asked to contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

Coaching News

Coaching Workshops:

The second shooting workshop of this year will be held at Medway Archers' ground on 21 March 2010. Any archer who would like to attend for help with any aspect of their equipment or shooting form, is asked to complete and send in the application form.

Qualified coaches who are interested in working at this workshop are asked to contact the Invicta Coaching Group.

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.

ArcheryGB Membership Fee Structure

We would like to thank all of those clubs who responded with their views about the proposed changes to the ArcheryGB membership fee structure.

Swan Archers' Beginners Course

Swan Archers will be holding a "Beginners' Course" at their club ground, The Glebe, Swanley Village, starting on 13 March 2010 at 10:00 a.m. and running for 4 consecutive Saturdays.

This course is open to members of the public and is ideal for anyone who wants to take up the sport, or just wants to try it out to see if it is for them. Anyone who wishes to take part should contact the organisers first - further information and contact details can be downloaded here.

Remember, don't go out and buy a bow first, because all the equipment you need will be provided for the duration of the course and is

d in the course fee.

KAA Operational Committee Meeting

The KAA Operational Committee Meeting scheduled for Monday, 11 January 2010 has been cancelled due to weather conditions. It is intended to reschedule the meeting for Monday, 25 January 2010.