All Lead Articles - 2011

Dates for our 2012 championships and tournaments are now

The first one to issue details and entry forms is the Longbow Championship on 20 May 2012 at Vigo.

The London 2012 Ticket Resale Programme will launch on 6 January 2012. The resale programme is a safe and secure way for ticketholders to sell any Olympic or Paralympic Games tickets that they are unable to use, for the face value of the ticket. Tickets may be released for purchase at any time during the ticket resale period (6 January to 3 February 2012) and all tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Please note that tickets will only be released if put up for resale by another ticketholder.

More information on the ticket resale programme will be available on the London2012 ticketing website (expired link) no later than 6 January 2012.

Remember that it is an offence to sell or offer for sale tickets at more than face value - this automatically excludes selling by auction (for example on eBay), if the seller cannot set a maximum limit on the final price.

The Games and Beyond (expired link) is part of Sport England's London 2012 legacy programme which aims to build on the excitement of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games to increase sporting participation across the country.

The new website provides information about each of the sports that are

The results of the Kent Indoor Championship are now available and the list of Indoor Champions has now been updated to include this year's results.

However, as is always the case with a tournament that runs over several sessions, a number of medal winners were no longer at the venue, when the presentation was made at the end of the day. We believe that all medal winners should now have received their medals, but if you believe that you should have won an award and have not yet received it, please contact the county Treasurer as soon as possible.

Please note that medals are awarded in the bow-styles currently recognised for championship purposes, i.e. Compound, Recurve (combining Recurve Freestyle and Recurve Barebow) and Longbow. The age/gender categories that are awarded within each bow-style are now Senior Ladies, Junior Ladies, Senior Gentlemen and Junior Gentlemen.

The number of places for which medals are awarded follows the old ArcheryGB guidelines, according to the number of participants in the category:

The KAA Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday, 20 November 2011 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers. It was followed by an informal meeting, to provide 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.

An Extraordinary General Meeting was held on Sunday, 20 November 2011 at the clubhouse of Medway Archers, to consider and vote on a number of changes to the KAA constitution. All of the proposed changes were accepted, so the constitution has now been revised accordingly.

A number of KAA policies were affected by the changes to the names of the main membership categories, so these have been amended as well.

All of the revised documents are now available from the downloads section of this web site.

Dates for our 2012 championships and tournaments are now

While some of the dates are still shown as provisional and could still be changed, most have been booked with Vigo RFC and so can be treated with a high degree of confidence.

Most clubs that run tournaments use the services of Judges and unless they book them way in advance, it can be very difficult to find enough who are available on the right day - whether we like it or not, we need more Judges. In particular we need more Judges who know the rules, know how to apply them wisely and don't scare babies!

The Development section now includes an Introduction to Judging, put together with the help of Katy Lipscombe, the SCAS Judges Liaison Officer. While this is intended primarily to provide information to anyone who is thinking of taking up Judging, it also contains advice that we believe will be useful to clubs and tournament organisers.

Oh, and yes, it is also an advertisement!

Read more about how to become a judge.

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

For those who did register, key dates for the selection process are:

For those who have volunteered to take part in the archery event, the following dates are archery specific:

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

A huge range of Olympic and Paralympic branded items are available from the London2012 Shop; they range from clothing, badges, bags, mascots and toys right through to household items and Christmas Decorations.

Last year the Royal Mint released a number of new 50p coins to commemorate the London Olympic and Paralympic Games; the 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 2011 Annual General Meeting will take place at Medway Archers' clubhouse next Sunday, 20 November 2011 and all club secretaries should now have received the agenda and other paperwork.

The afternoon will start with an EGM at 2:00 p.m. at which members will be asked to vote on a number of changes to the Constitution. Then after a short break to allow the minutes of that meeting to be compiled, we will start the AGM. The afternoon will then conclude with an opportunity for members to raise issues that they would to discuss.

At present we do not have any nominations for the posts of Secretary, Development Officer or Tournament Organiser for the Target Championship. If any member would like to take one of these roles, then please contact the acting county Secretary for more information, or come along to AGM and put your name forward.

The first details of the Olympic Torch Relay (expired link) were announced some of months ago and this week more of the detail of the route (expired link) has been published, showing many of the towns that the relay will pass through.

The relay will start at Landsend on Saturday, 19 May 2012 and end at the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony on 27 July 2012, passing within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the population of the UK.

The evening celebration events will be staged by the London 2012 Organising Committee and the Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners with the support of the host local authority. Each event will differ, with locally-programmed content on the stage adding to the celebratory atmosphere.

The main points on the route in the Kent area are:

The street-by-street detail will be available next year.

Several archers from Kent were among the Young Games Makers (expired link) working at the London Classic Archery Tournament at Lords Cricket Ground. This tournament was part of the London Prepares series of test events and was also a world ranking tournament.

The main task of the Young Games Makers was to return arrows from the targets to the athletes after each end was scored, but many were surprised to be

Read more on the London2012 website about the Olympic Test Event. (Expired link)

The first details of the Olympic Torch Relay were announced a couple of months ago. It will start at Landsend on Saturday, 19 May 2012 and end at the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony on 27 July 2012. The route will come within an hour of 95 per cent of the population of the UK.

The evening celebration events will be staged by the London 2012 Organising Committee and the Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners with the support of the host local authority. Each event will differ, with locally-programmed content on the stage adding to the celebratory atmosphere.

The main points on the route have now been announced and those in the Kent area are:

More locations on the route are due to be announced later in the year and it will be some time yet until a detailed route plan is published.

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

For those who did register, key dates for the selection process are:

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

ArcheryGB has a vacancy for the post of Operations Director, which is to be filled by co-option until their next AGM on 12 April 2012. Further information about this role may be viewed here. The deadline for registering your interest is 31 October 2011.

The SCAS County Team Championship (more commonly known as the SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament, or just the SCAS Inter-Counties) was held on 11 September 2011 and

Congratulations to our compound teams - both the senior and junior compound teams finished in 3rd for the bronze medals, but our recurve teams were only able to achieve 7th in the senior and 4th in the junior classes. Full results can now be downloaded.

Kent hosted the event at the University of Kent Sports Field, Canterbury; this was the first time that we have worked with external partners to put on an event and it certainly looked impressive with a shooting line over 150m long, running almost the full length of their sports field. It was also the first time since 1993 that we have hosted this event and the first time for 8 years that the senior and junior championships have taken place together.

Read more about the SCAS County Team Championship.

The 2011 Annual Clout Championship was held at Ramsgate last Sunday and was once more hosted by Thanet Archery Club. The weather remained good for most of the day, except for a brief shower toward the end of the tournament.

Entries were up on last year, but the numbers from Kent remain disappointingly low in spite of the very successful instructional/practice days that the club ran during the summer.

The results are now available for download and congratulations especially to our new Clout Champions.

The SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament will be held in Kent this year for the first time since 1993 and the Senior and Junior events will be held together, as used always to be the case.

The tournament will be held on the sports field of the University of Kent, Parkwood Road, Canterbury on Sunday, 11 September 2011. (Postcode for satnavs is "CT2 7SR".)

Please come along and support your county teams and even if you cannot spare a whole day, come for just an hour or two. The Pavilion coffee bar will be open all day and will give a superb view across the tournament field, so you can watch in comfort with a cup of tea and a bacon buttie, even if the weather is poor!

The following teams have been selected to compete for Kent:

Kent was not able to field a Senior Longbow team.

Competitors' Information and the Target List are now available.

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

The 2011 Annual General Meeting will take place at Medway Archers' clubhouse on Sunday, 20 November 2011 and notification has now been sent to all club secretaries, so it should be received within the next couple of days.

The afternoon will start with an EGM at 2:00 p.m. at which members will be asked to vote on a number of changes to the Constitution. Then after a short break to allow the minutes of that meeting to be compiled, we will start the AGM.

The afternoon will then conclude with an opportunity for members to raise issues that they would to discuss.

For 12 days in the summer of 2012, the world's best athletes will be coming to London to compete in the 20 different sports that make up the Paralympic programme. More than 500 medals will be up for grabs and you could be there to enjoy the action!

The full Paralympic Games competition schedule and ticket pricing is now available from the official ticketing website (expired link). For the archery event at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, ticket prices are £5 and £10 each, except for the ranking round on the first day which is not ticketed.

Application for London 2012 Paralympic Games tickets is now open and will remain open until 6pm on Tuesday 26 September 2011.

The quickest and easiest way to apply is via the official ticketing website (expired link). Alternatively, the paper application form is available from branches of Lloyds TSB.

The SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament (both senior and junior) takes place at Canterbury this year on Sunday, 11 September.

The following teams have been selected to compete for Kent:

Kent was not able to field a Senior Longbow team.

Competitors' Information and the Target List are now available.

Congratulations to all of our team members and good shooting.

The London Classic Archery Tournament is the test event for the London Olympics in 2012 and is being held at Lords Cricket Ground, London from Tuesday 4 to Monday 10 October.

Archery GB has been allocated tickets for all days of the competition. Members can obtain free tickets for themselves, their friends and family using a reply form, which can be downloaded from the ArcheryGB website. Each member can order up to 10 tickets in total.

Read more on the ArcheryGB website about obtaining tickets for the Olympic Archery Test Event. (Expired link)

The SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament will be held in Kent this year for the first time since 1993 and the Senior and Junior events will be held together, as used always to be the case.

The tournament will be held on the sports field of the University of Kent, Parkwood Road, Canterbury on Sunday, 11 September 2011. (Postcode for satnavs is "CT2 7SR".)

The organisers are therefore looking for volunteers to help with the setting up of equipment on the day before and/or to form part of the work party during the tournament itself. If you are willing to help, please contact Adam Kenyon on 01795 556791.

Even if you cannot spare a whole day, please come along and support your county teams on the Sunday - the Pavilion coffee bar will be open all day and will give a superb view across the tournament field, so you can watch in comfort even if the weather is poor!

Following the success of their inaugural junior tournament in honour of Tony Bates, Fox Archers would like to remind archers that this year's tournament takes place on Sunday, 11 September.

Full details and entry forms can be downloaded, but hurry because the closing date is now not far away.

All clubs will have recently received the Annual Return from ArcheryGB, with instructions on how to complete it and make payment.

However, it does not contain information about SCAS or KAA membership fees; additionally, a recent change that SCAS has made to the way it will collect membership fees, means that the ArcheryGB instructions on how to pay them are incorrect.

We have therefore prepared a comprehensive guide to the membership system, which covers all of the above issues and more - it will remain available online from the "Development" tab in the main navigation menu and as a downloadable/printable PDF booklet.

A printed copy of those sections that are of immediate importance was circulated to all club secretaries on 31 July 2011.

The Kent Target Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 21 August 2011. Entries have now closed and target lists will be circulated shortly.

On 18 July Sport England launched 'Inspired Facilities' - a key part of the Places People Play programme which will deliver a mass participation sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Through Inspired Facilities, Sport England will invest National Lottery funding in up to 1,000 community sports clubs.

Further information can be found from ArcheryGB and Sport England.

For 12 days in the summer of 2012, the world's best athletes will be coming to London to compete in the 20 different sports that make up the Paralympic programme. More than 500 medals will be up for grabs and you could be there to enjoy the action!

The full Paralympic Games competition schedule and ticket prices will be announced later this month.

Applications for London 2012 Paralympic Games tickets will open on Friday 9 September 2011 and will remain open until 6pm on Tuesday 26 September 2011.

The quickest and easiest way to apply will be via the official ticketing website (expired link). Alternatively, the paper application form will be available from branches of Lloyds TSB from 9 September.

All clubs will have recently received the Annual Return from ArcheryGB, with instructions on how to complete it and make payment.

However, it does not contain information about SCAS or KAA membership fees; additionally, a recent change that SCAS has made to the way it will collect membership fees, means that the ArcheryGB instructions on how to pay them are incorrect.

We have therefore prepared a comprehensive guide to the membership system, which covers all of the above issues and more - it is now available online from the "Development" tab in the main navigation menu and as a downloadable/printable PDF document.

A printed copy of those sections that are of immediate importance will be circulated to all club secretaries during the next few days.

Working with the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), Archery GB has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity available for members to volunteer at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Archery GB is looking to select three teams of volunteers for the Olympic Games and three for the Paralympic Games. The teams consist of eight young people (aged 16-18 years old) and one team leader who must be over 18. The YGMs will be needed to carry out the arrow collecting duties during the Archery competitions next year.

Applications must be made by the team leader and if selected for interview, then these team leaders must be able to assemble a team of eight young people. Team members do not all have to come from the same archery club or school and we would be open to applications from team leaders who have not got full teams of eight, as we are receiving individual applications from Young Games Makers and if needed these YGM could be pooled together to form a full team.

All information required is

Please note that timescales are extremely short on the recruitment of the teams. Applications for the Olympic Games should be submitted by August 4th. Any applications after this date will only be considered for the Paralympic Games.

For more information regarding these roles or for an application form, please contact Alex Smith or by telephone on 07423 437407.

The first details of the Olympic Torch Relay were announced a couple of months ago. It will start at Landsend on Saturday, 19 May 2012 and end at the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony on 27 July 2012. The route will come within an hour of 95 per cent of the population of the UK.

The evening celebration events will be staged by the London 2012 Organising Committee and the Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners with the support of the host local authority. Each event will differ, with locally-programmed content on the stage adding to the celebratory atmosphere.

The main points on the route have now been announced and those in the Kent area are:

More locations on the route are due to be announced later in the year and it will be some time yet until a detailed route plan is published, but in the mean time the search has started for 8000 inspirational Torchbearers - 8000 ordinary people from all walks of life, but whose personal stories will inspire others.

Although the main nomination process is now closed, it is still possible to nominate Torchbearers through one of the Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners - the deadline for nominations is 30 September 2011.

The Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability will be held at Sittingbourne Community College on Saturday, 23 July 2011 and a provisional target list can now be downloaded.

Congratulations to two of our members, who are continuing to take a major role on the international stage: during the World Archery FITA) Congress in Turin Ken Bearman (Allington Castle Archers) has been re-elected to the Coaches Committee and Derrick Lovell (Bowmen of Woodstock) has been re-elected to the Field Committee.

Following his recent award of Honorary Life Membership of GNAS/ArcheryGB and an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, World Archery (formerly FITA) have now awarded their Bronze Plaquette to Derrick Lovell in appreciation of his outstanding work as a volunteer.

On 18 July Sport England will be launching 'Inspired Facilities' - a key part of the Places People Play programme which will deliver a mass participation sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Through Inspired Facilities Sport England will invest National Lottery funding in up to 1,000 community sports clubs. In advance of the launch, they are giving you the chance to sign up for a workshop where you will be able to learn more about the programme. Please register by clicking on the relevant link below, and entering your name, club and contact details into the email that opens up.

Further information can be found on the Sport England website.

In September, Archery GB intends to start piloting a new entry level training award in the instruction of archery. The course is designed to train learners to be able to safely instruct fun taster archery sessions for beginners.

Archery GB would like to recruit up to six enthusiastic tutors to help deliver a small number of pilot courses, training up to 12 learners at a time. The pilots will trial and evaluate the format and outcomes of the course before its official launch in 2012.

More information and an opportunity to register your interest is available from the ArcheryGB website (expired link). The deadline for applications is 29 July 2011.

On Friday, 01 July 2011 FITA Congress (meeting in Turin, Italy) decided to change the organisation's name from Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc (FITA) to World Archery Federation (WA).

Read more on the FITA website about changes made at the 2011 Congress.

The SCAS Junior Target Championships will be held at Rayleigh Town Archery Club on Saturday, 03 September 2011. Full details and entry form can now be downloaded. (They do not appear on the SCAS website, as previously reported.)

We have received several requests in recent months for guidance on how to be a club secretary, mostly from members who have no previous experience, but have been asked to take on the job. The suggestion was also discussed at the recent Club Development meeting.

Today we have published a guide that we hope will help new and established club secretaries - it is not a policy and does not create any new jobs for secretaries; rather it brings together in one place a list of the main tasks that club secretaries normally need to do (or at least need to know about), a short explanation of each plus a list of places where they can get further information. If there are other topics that could usefully be added to the guide, please do let us know.

Two further guides have been added to explain what "Not for Profit" actually means and how clubs are affected by tax - plus suggestions for how to keep your tax liability and the work involved to an absolute minimum.

All three guides are available now from the Download section and will also be circulated to clubs in due course.

The KAA Operational Committee are recommending a change to the Championships and Tournaments Policy (link expired) to:

• include the categories within which the title of "Champion" will be awarded and
• be more flexible about the round used in the Field Archery Championship, so that we can attract more participants.

This change is now available for consultation until 11 September 2011 - any member who would like to offer comment on the change, is asked to contact any member of the Operational Committee by that date.

Again this year the Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability will be held at Sittingbourne Community College on Saturday, 23 July 2011. Able bodied archers are also welcome to enter and act as helpers for the more disabled archers competing, but of course, disabled archers will have priority.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

The Kent Target Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 21 August 2011. As usual it will consist of the York, Hereford and Bristol rounds according to gender and age. While the emphasis is on the county championship, we welcome any GNAS- or FITA-affiliated archer who would like to compete in the "visitors" or "open" sections of the tournament.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

Clubs often report problems with finding and keeping suitable, affordable grounds and halls - the lack of such venues is often given as one of the biggest obstacles to the development of clubs and of archery in general. The ArcheryGB Development Team are inviting all clubs to take part in a short survey as a starting point for addressing this problem.

Please see the Development section below for more information.

It is an often reported problem that clubs lose the use of their grounds because development by the owners, that suitable indoor facilities are difficult to find and becoming ever more expensive to hire, or simply that clubs feel insecure, because their can lose their venue at short notice.

The ArcheryGB Development Team are turning their attention to this issue and their starting point is a short survey (expired link), which should only take a few minutes to complete. We ask that as many clubs as possible fill it in and return it. This is not just an opportunity to report any problems that you face (or are expecting to face); even if you think your facilities are perfect, please also complete the survey so that we have as accurate a picture as possible of the current situation - good and bad.

We are pleased to announce that in the Queen's Birthday Honours list published this morning, Derrick Lovell has been awarded the MBE for Voluntary Service to Archery.

The President and Committee of the Kent Archery Association would like to offer their congratulations to Derrick on behalf of all of our members.

The results for the Kent Longbow Championship are now available to download.

The weather was reasonably kind, but the wind made for very tricky shooting, so congratulations to everyone who took part and completed the day. Special congratulations go to Clinton Hill and Robyn-Marie Kenyon who both successfully defended their championships and to Rachel Jones our new Lady Champion.

Not all university archery clubs are set up in the same way, so the members of some can shoot at GNAS clubs and tournaments, but the members of others cannot. It is important to know which are which - and why!

Read more about whether university archery club members can shoot at other clubs.

Following the introduction of the new ArcheryGB membership system, there are also changes to the way regional and county affiliation fees are dealt with for new members. Updated guidance notes are now available, describing all of the changes.

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.

Read more about how the ArcheryGB, regional and county membership system works.

As previously announced, the Kent Clout Championship will be hosted by Thanet Archery Club at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate on Sunday, 18 September 2011 and full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

We understand that a lot of archers have been put off entering this tournament in previous years, because of the need to receive instruction in clout shooting beforehand and because for most of us there is no opportunity to practice. Thanet Archery Club will therefore be hosting two 'taster' sessions at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate CT11 7AF on Saturday 23 and Sunday, 24 July 2011 to provide instruction and an opportunity to practice and work out sight-marks.

Each day will start at 10:00 a.m. and cost £3 - you can go to either or both days; there won't be an entry form, just turn up on the day with your £3, a packed lunch and your bow - tea and coffee will be provided. If you have any queries, please contact Bob Gawler at Thanet Archery Club (details on the tournament entry form above).

The Olympic Torch Relay will pass through Kent during July 2012 and the first few main locations on the route have now been announced.

The relay organisers are now looking for 8000 people to carry the Olympic Torch - 8000 ordinary people from all walks of life, but whose personal stories will inspire others.

More information, including how to get involved, is available in the London2012 section below.

The first details of the Olympic Torch Relay have been announced. It will start at Landsend on Saturday, 19 May 2012 and end at the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony on 27 July 2012. The route will come within an hour of 95 per cent of the population of the UK.

The evening celebration events will be staged by the London 2012 Organising Committee and the Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners with the support of the host local authority. Each event will differ, with locally-programmed content on the stage adding to the celebratory atmosphere.

The main points on the route have now been announced and those in the Kent area are:

More locations on the route are due to be announced later in the year and it will be some time yet until a detailed route plan is published, but in the mean time the search has started for 8000 inspirational Torchbearers - 8000 ordinary people from all walks of life, but whose personal stories will inspire others.

A full description of the requirements and nomination and selection process for Torchbearers is now available - the deadline for nominations is 29 June 2011.

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

If you have sent in an entry and it does not appear in the target list, please contact the tournament organiser urgently.

Vigo RFC will be providing a barbeque, tea and coffee through the day, so that you can buy lunch and snacks.

Don't forget that the closing date for Kent Archery Development Project grant applications is fast approaching. Full details and application forms are available for download below.

Please note that to qualify, the Kent Sports Development Unit must receive your application no later than this coming Friday, 13 May 2011.

It is now only three weeks until the Kent Longbow Championship, which will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 22 May 2011. And it is only two weeks until the closing date for entries, so it is important to get your entry in fast. 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.

At last Sunday's GNAS AGM Derrick Lovell was awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of all the work he has done for the Society over many years.

Read more about the ArcheryGB AGM and Derrick Lovell's award of Honorary Membership.

The GNAS AGM was held at Lilleshall last Sunday. You can now read some of the highlights of that meeting.

Read more on the ArcheryGB website about their AGM.

Jane Percival, the new editor of ArcheryUK, is looking for local news to include in forthcoming issues. So if your club has an interesting story, please get in touch with her.

Read more about Jane Percival's request for more local news for ArcheryUK.

Application for tickets for the London2012 Olympic Games close at the end of Tuesday, 26 April 2011.

You can apply either on-line or by using a form that will be widely available in high street shops throughout the UK. The full event schedule and detailed ticket prices are now available. Note that admission to the unticketed archery "Ranking Round" on 27 July 2012 is free of charge. The remainder of the archery is divided into two sessions each day and each session is ticketed separately. Special prices for young people (under 16) and seniors (over 60) are available at three sessions.

If there are more applications than there are tickets available for any session, then the tickets will be allocated by ballot; ticketing is not on the basis of 'first come, first served'. Note also that you will be obliged to purchase all tickets that you are awarded, so it is necessary to think carefully before placing an order for multiple sessions as "insurance". London2012 will however provide a mechanism for reselling unwanted tickets at face value (it will be an offence to offer tickets for resale at a price above face value).

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets will open on Friday, 09 September 2011 and will follow a similar sales process.

Important Note: Tickets for Olympic and Paralympic events will only be available direct from LOCOG. Although hospitality and travel packages will also be available via Thomas Cook, Prestige Ticketing and Jet Set Sports from 15 March, all other offers of tickets for sale through agencies are likely to be fraudulent! The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) will be providing an internet-based checking system to help would-be purchasers to verify sellers.

If you have registered as a London2012 "Games Maker" and expressed a particular interest in working at the archery event, the current news is that volunteer interviews are scheduled to take place in London between 19 June and 25 July 2011.

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

For those who did register, key dates for the selection process are:

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

Archers are invited to the British Blind Sport (BBS) Charity Shoot which will be held in Ashford on Saturday, 11 & Sunday, 12 June 2011. This tournament is not restricted to visually impaired archers - all are invited and it will give a superb opportunity for normally-sighted archers and coaches to find out more about VI archery.

Don't worry you are allowed to use your sight for the competition, but for those who would like to experience more, there will be a have a go with either partially sighted or total blackout simulation specs after the main competition, so you can try shooting as a visually impaired archer or even just go for a walk and try to navigate the field. There will be experienced spotters/guides around to help you with your experience.

Details and entry form are available now for download.

Important note: You must be a current member of GNAS or another national archery body affiliated to FITA to shoot at this tournament.

Forget the idea that Britain is a nation of good sports who can accept defeat and victory with equal good grace.

A recent survey suggests UK's schoolchildren find it difficult to lose graciously in sport and goes on to say that their parents can be just as bad.

Read more on the Human Kinetics website about sportsmanship by schoolchildren and their parents.

The Kent Target Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 21 August 2011. As usual it will consist of the York, Hereford and Bristol rounds according to gender and age. While the emphasis is on the county championship, we welcome any GNAS- or FITA-affiliated archer who would like to compete in the "visitors" or "open" sections of the tournament.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

Archers who achieve Kent County Bowman classification or above during any year are invited to the following year's County Invitation Tournament - this year's event for those who achieved it during 2010 will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 08 May 2011.

Invitations were sent out during March, direct to members where we have their addresses, otherwise via club Records Officers; If you believe that you have qualified, but have not yet received your invitation, please check first with your club Records Officer whether an invitation has been received and, if not, that your scores were submitted to the county Records Officer last year. If they have been, then please contact the county Records Officer urgently.

Please also remember that, although entry to this tournament is free of charge, you must complete and return the entry form to be

We regret to announce the closure of Sennocke Archers with effect from 31 March 2011 after a long struggle with the availability of their ground, caused by development at the Wildernesse School.

We understand that most members will be transferring to other clubs in the area and wish them all well for the future.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new grant scheme from the Kent Sports Development Unit, funded by SportEngland and available to support new development projects by clubs, schools and other organisations that provide archery in the Kent and Medway area.

Grants from £100 to £1000 are available to assist in a wide variety of new projects, for example:

• training costs for coaches, judges and volunteers;
• implementing ClubMark;
• equipment;
• promotional costs.

Guidance notes and the application form can be downloaded now. Further information and printed copies of these forms are available from Kay Holliman.

The deadline for applications is 13 May 2011 and all applications received by that date will be assessed during early June.

The SCAS Annual General Meeting will be held at 2:30 p.m. on 09 April 2011 at University College London. Full details can be downloaded here.

The ArcheryGB development team are currently inviting members to join a new National Development Advisory Group; if you are interested in shaping the club development program and would like to get involved, please complete the application form (expired link) and return it by 27 March 2011. Alternatively, if you know someone who would be interested, and would suit the role, please could you forward this to them.

Application has opened for tickets for the London2012 Olympic Games and will continue until the end of Tuesday, 26 April 2011.

You can apply either on-line or by using a form that will be widely available in high street shops throughout the UK. The full event schedule and detailed ticket prices are now available. Note that admission to the unticketed archery "Ranking Round" on 27 July 2012 is free of charge. The remainder of the archery is divided into two sessions each day and each session is ticketed separately. Special prices for young people (under 16) and seniors (over 60) are available at three sessions.

If there are more applications than there are tickets available for any session, then the tickets will be allocated by ballot; ticketing is not on the basis of 'first come, first served'. Note also that you will be obliged to purchase all tickets that you are awarded, so it is necessary to think carefully before placing an order for multiple sessions as "insurance". London2012 will however provide a mechanism for reselling unwanted tickets at face value (it will be an offence to offer tickets for sale at a price above face value).

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets will open on Friday, 09 September 2011 and will follow a similar sales process.

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

Important Note: Tickets for Olympic and Paralympic events will only be available direct from LOCOG. Although hospitality and travel packages will also be available via Thomas Cook, Prestige Ticketing and Jet Set Sports from 15 March, all other offers of tickets for sale through agencies are likely to be fraudulent! The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) will be providing an internet-based checking system to help would-be purchasers to verify sellers.

Again this year the Kent Tournament for Archers with a Disability will be held at Sittingbourne Community College on Saturday, 23 July 2011. Able bodied archers are also welcome to enter and act as helpers for the more disabled archers competing, but of course, disabled archers will have priority.

Full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

Coaches who provide out-of-hours archery in schools should be aware of the External Provider Training and database of providers. Training courses are available during 2011 at Oakwood House, Maidstone. Full details can be downloaded from the link above.

The Springboard tournament is an annual event specifically for archers who have never reached "Bowman" classification in any discipline or age group. This year it has moved to Vigo RFC, but remains on the customary 3rd. Sunday in July (17th.) and the entry form and details can now be downloaded.

This tournament is the ideal way for up-and-coming archers to ease themselves into competition - there will always be help available from the officials and Invicta coaches present, if you find yourself with a problem and not enough experience to sort it out!

The KAA Operational Committee are recommending a change to the Membership Policy to create a new class of Associated Club for University Clubs. This change is now available for consultation until 30 June 2011 - any member who would like to offer comment on the change, is asked to contact any member of the Operational Committee by that date.

Details are now available for the 2011 Glade 70m League for teams of 3 archers (not necessarily from the same club).

With the help of the Kent Sports Development Unit, we have arranged a "Club Development Meeting" for Thursday, 31 March 2011, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Civil Service Social Club in Maidstone - that's Crown Archers' ground. We have tried to make it as central in the county as possible.

The meeting is open to all Kent clubs and individual members and tea, coffee and biscuits will be available during the evening.

David Reader and Arran Coggan will be there to provide information about ArcheryGB's ontarget development scheme – the help that is available now and plans for the future of the scheme. There will be a short update on ClubMark and news about the changes that the KAA is making in the way it operates. Lastly, and probably most important, will be an opportunity for you to tell us what development help you need.

Resources and funding are limited for both ArcheryGB and us, but we hope that there are problems that we can help you with and in other cases we might be able to point you to where you can get that help.

Invitations have now been emailed to every club for which we have an email address and sent by post to those for which we don't. Several other papers were also

It would be very helpful if you would return the cut-off section at the bottom of the invitation as quickly as possible, whether or not your club want to attend, so that we have a reasonable idea of how many are likely to be there. Please try to give a realistic estimate, but if your plans change and more want to come (or fewer?) then give Kay Holliman or the Development Officer a follow-up call nearer the time.

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

Applications for tickets to all Olympic Games events will open on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 and close at the end of Tuesday, 26 April 2011. You can apply either on-line or by using a form that will be widely available in high street shops throughout the UK. The full event schedule and detailed ticket prices are now available. Note that admission to the unticketed archery "Ranking Round" on 27 July 2012 is free of charge. The remainder of the archery is divided into two sessions each day and each session is ticketed separately. Special prices for young people (under 16) and seniors (over 60) are available at three sessions.

If there are more applications than there are tickets available for any session, then the tickets will be allocated by ballot; ticketing is not on the basis of 'first come, first served'. Note also that you will be obliged to purchase all tickets that you are awarded, so it is necessary to think carefully before placing an order for multiple sessions as "insurance". London2012 will however provide a mechanism for reselling unwanted tickets at face value (it will be an offence to offer tickets for resale at a price above face value).

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets will open on Friday, 09 September 2011 and will follow a similar sales process.

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

Important Note: Tickets for Olympic and Paralympic events will only be available direct from LOCOG. Although hospitality and travel packages will also be available via Thomas Cook, Prestige Ticketing and Jet Set Sports from 15 March, all other offers of tickets for sale through agencies are likely to be fraudulent! The London2012 organising committee (LOCOG) will be providing an internet-based checking system to help would-be purchasers to verify sellers.

We are pleased to announce that the problems we have been experiencing with receiving emails have now been resolved.

We understand that no emails should have been lost because of the problem and all outstanding emails should by now have been answered, but if you have sent an email to any "...@archerykent.org.uk" address during the last few days and it has not been answered, we would be grateful if you would resend it.

Thanks for your understanding.

We are currently suffering problems with receiving emails on certain ...@archerykent.org.uk addresses and are working with our hosting company to resolve them. It is hoped that the problem will be resolved within the next couple of days, but in the mean time, if you have anything urgent, please telephone or use personal email addresses.

We will notify you here once the problem is resolved and business can return to normal. Thank you for your patience.

The Kent Clout Championship will be hosted by Thanet Archery Club at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate on Sunday, 18 September 2011 and full details and entry form can now be downloaded.

We understand that a lot of archers have been put off entering the tournament because of the need to receive instruction in clout shooting beforehand. Although it is obviously not possible to do this on the day of the tournament or to waive this insurance requirement, Thanet Archery Club have agreed to provide the required instruction at the same venue during the lead up to the championship itself - we will post dates as soon as they become available.

Archers who achieved Kent County Bowman classification or above during 2010 may wish to add the date for the County Invitation Tournament to their diaries - it will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday, 08 May 2011.

Invitations will be sent out during early March, direct to members where we have their addresses, otherwise via club Records Officers; If you believe that you have qualified, but do not receive your invitation by the end of March, please check first with your club Records Officer whether an invitation has been received and, if not, that your scores were submitted to the county Records Officer last year. If they have been, then please contact the county Records Officer urgently.

Rhonda Cohen is a Chartered and Registered Sport Psychologist and the Head of the London Sport Institute at Middlesex University. She is conducting some research as part of her PhD and has found that there is relatively little available information about archery and the people who take part in and enjoy it.

It would be helpful if some of our members would take part in either or both of the following short surveys (both conducted through "SurveyMonkey":

• Personality (expired link)
• Thrill Seeking (expired link)

All information collected will remain anonymous. If you would like more information about these surveys or Rhonda Cohen's work with the London Sport Institute, you can visit the Middlesex University (expired link) or London Sport Institute websites.

The Kent Longbow Championship will be held at Vigo RFC on Sunday 22 May - please note that this is a week later than the provisional date originally given in the 2011 Diary2011 Diary, to avoid clashing with Mid-Kent League matches. 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.

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

Applications for tickets to all Olympic Games events will open on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 and close at the end of Tuesday, 26 April 2011. You can apply 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; ticketing is not on the basis of 'first come, first served'.

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets will open on Friday, 09 September 2011 and will follow a similar sales process.

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

Important Note: Tickets for Olympic and Paralympic events will only be available direct from LOCOG. Although hospitality and travel packages will also be available via Thomas Cook, Prestige Ticketing and Jet Set Sports from 15 March, all other offers of tickets for sale through agencies are likely to be fraudulent!

As the website has grown during the last 4 years, there has been an increasing need to reorganise where information is stored (to make it easier to maintain) and to provide a better menu system to navigate round it (to make it easier to use). So the New Year starts with a number of improvements to the website structure and navigation, the most obvious being the new drop-down menus in the main navigation bar. These improvements have required changes to the names and location of many pages and a few cases where large pages have been divided into several smaller ones.

Because of this some search results and saved bookmarks might therefore result in unexpected results, such as 'missing page' errors or the page not holding the content that you expected to find. Please accept our apologies for any short-term inconvenience these changes might cause.

The opportunity has also been taken to make use of new browser features to improve appearance - this will be most noticeable in Internet Explorer 9 (due for release shortly) and many of the non-Microsoft browsers.