All Lead Articles - 2012

Three KAA members have featured highly in this year's BLBS yearbook that was recently circulated to their members. Although they do not compile rankings in the same way that ArcheryGB does, the BLBS does publish an annual list of the 12 best competition results for each of the three rounds that are predominantly shot by ladies and by gentlemen - as is normal for BLBS, these are based on the number of hits.

For ladies shooting the Double National round, Christine Bearman (Allington Castle Archers) achieved the 2nd. highest result and Trish Lovell (Direct Member, Bowmen of Woodstock) the 3rd. highest result of the year.

For gentlemen shooting the York round, Clinton Hill (Thanet Archery Club) achieved the 3rd. highest result of the year, but did so with the year's highest score, setting a new BLBS record score of 652, blowing away the record that had stood since 1995. That score also betters the existing ArcheryGB record, made all the more remarkable by being shot 2-way in ends of 3, which is normally considered rather more difficult than the standard ArcheryGB 1-way format.

Our congratulations go to all of them.

Most archery clubs are dependent on school/college playing fields or similar and it is not uncommon to hear of clubs loosing their ground because of building development; if this sounds familiar, read on...

Communities across the country can bid for a share of £2 million of National Lottery investment to protect and improve their local sports playing fields. The latest round of Sport England's Protecting Playing Fields fund will help enhance local playing fields or create new sports pitches.

The Protecting Playing Fields fund is part of the £150 million Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark - celebrating the link to this summer's Games.

Through the Protecting Playing Fields fund, Sport England is making investments of between £20,000 and £50,000 to create, improve and protect playing fields by:

• bringing disused playing fields back into use
• improving the condition of pitches (e.g. leveling, drainage, reseeding)
• buying new playing field land (not less than 0.2 hectares)
• buying existing playing field land where there is a known threat, such as the expiry of a lease or a development proposal.

Read more on the Sport England website about the Protecting Playing Fields Fund.

ArcheryGB recently published proposals for substantial changes to modernise membership and the membership system, including:

• how ArcheryGB membership fees are paid,
• the membership year,
• classes of membership.

The consultation document is seeking the views of all members on the principles involved; the level at which membership fees would be set for each membership class is not

There is no doubt that the proposals would have significant impact on many members and all clubs and when discussed at the KAA committee meeting on 10 December 2012, a number of significant concerns were expressed about some specific points in the document. The KAA therefore strongly recommends that all members and clubs take the time to give the proposals serious thought and respond constructively with their opinions both in writing and via the survey (expired link) (a secure link to the survey is

Full details can be found on the ArcheryGB website in the news article and the consultation paper it links to. The cut-off date for responses is 31 January 2013.

Until 2002 the KAA held an annual non-record status FITA Outdoor Target Tournament, consisting of Gents' and Ladies' FITA rounds plus the full range of Metric rounds for juniors.

Initially it was held on a Sunday in July as a separate tournament, but because of falling attendance and difficulties finding a willing Tournament Organiser, in later years it was held on the Saturday immediately before the Target Championship in August. Finally attendance dropped to the low 20s and the tournament was dropped from the calendar for lack of support and popularity.

We are now considering whether to revive the tournament in some form and would like the opinion of members whether they would support:

• the old 12-dozen FITA/Metric format;
• a double FITA 70m/50m (plus equivalents for juniors);
• FITA 70m/50m followed by head-to-head eliminations.
• an alternative World Archery tournament format.

The tournament would be held at the county's normal venue at Vigo RFC.

Please let our county Secretary have your feedback by Friday, 11 January 2013 so that we can consider the matter at the next committee meeting. Don't forget that an additional tournament will ideally require an additional Tournament Organiser, so please also let us know if you would like to volunteer.

Archery GB recently announced that the first National Inter-County Team Championship will be held next year and we understand that it will be at Lilleshall on 29-30 June.

Unfortunately this falls on the weekend after a scheduled county match and coincides with a popular local UK Record-Status Tournament. Because of the distance and being a 2-day tournament, it would require 2 nights' accommodation in addition to 400+ miles travel.

The Operational Committee has therefore decided that it will not be able to send a team in 2013, but will include it in its planning for the following year.

The KAA Operational Committee has approved changes to the Score Returns & Team Selection Policy that were opened to membership consultation in September.

The amended policy is now permanently available in the Download section.

The main change was to introduce Score Returns for compound archers shooting certain indoor rounds, to make it possible to select a compound team for the annual indoor county match. The county Records Officer will be circulating further information to club Records Officers shortly.

At the December committee meeting that followed the KAA AGM, Sophia Andrews (Swan Archers) came forward and volunteered to take on the roles of Development Officer and Deputy CPO.

We would like to thank Sophia and welcome her to the committee.

The short AGM report has been updated to include her later appointment.

Mike Higgins (Crystal Palace Bowmen) has also been reappointed as Equipment Officer and Mike Brighton (Direct Member) continues as Webmaster, both of these being non-committee specialist roles.

The KAA AGM took place on Sunday, 25 November 2012 in the clubhouse of Medway Archers.

A short report is now available of the main issues of interest, including membership fees and the newly elected committee. Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated in due course.

The 2012 KAA Indoor Championship was again hosted by Ashford Archers, incorporated into their UK Record Status indoor tournament at Homewood School, Tenterden on Sunday, 11 November 2012.

Full results are now available for download.

Because of a change of date for the Allington Indoor Tournament, it has been necessary to move the KAA AGM back to Sunday, 25 November 2012; please also note that it will start at 2:30 p.m..

The deadline for nominations for committee members and for any resolutions to be put to the meeting has now passed and the AGM Information Pack (including agenda, draft minutes of last year's meeting, list of nominations received and annual accounts) has been sent to all Club Secretaries and Direct Members.

Congratulations to everyone who achieved their targets and especially to our new Indoor Champions.

The KAA Operational Committee is recommending changes to two key policies:

• Policy - County Records: to clarify that it is only possible to make a record claim for a record that is currently maintained, where to find the list of records currently maintained and how changes to that list will be made.
• Policy - Championships and Tournaments: to clarify members' responsibilities relating to trophies, to explain current insurance cover for trophies and to make it clear that winners must not be asked to sign for any award until they actually receive it.

These documents are now subject to the 12-week consultation period before they can be adopted and are therefore available for comment from members until 31 January 2012; please let us know if you have any reservations or objections to the proposed changes, or have suggestions for improving them. If so, please contact Bob Beaney, the county Chairman to discuss.

Because of a change of date for the Allington Indoor Tournament, it has been necessary to move the KAA AGM back to Sunday, 25 November 2012; please also note that it will start at 2:30 p.m..

The deadline for nominations for committee members and for any resolutions to be put to the meeting has now passed and the AGM Information Pack (including agenda, draft minutes of last year's meeting, list of nominations received and annual accounts) will be sent to Club Secretaries and Direct Members during the course of this week.

Archery GB encourage all forward-looking clubs to sign up for EduCare for Sport, a bespoke online learning service that features a range of essential duty of care and introductory business skills programmes for your volunteers and members. Each programme is presented in bite-size learning chunks and there is a downloadable personalised certificate for successful completers. Clear, simple management reports help you to see who has started, is in progress or has completed their programmes.

There are 10 learning programmes including 'NSPCC Child Protection Awareness in Sport and Active Leisure', 'An Introduction to Equality and Diversity', 'NSPCC Preventing Bullying Behaviour', 'An Introduction to Safety in Clubs' and introductions to finance, budgeting, marketing and planning.

Further information is available on the EduCare website and discounts are available to ontarget clubs by contacting Arran Coggan at the ArcheryGB office.

Because of a change of date for the Allington Indoor Tournament, it has been necessary to move the KAA AGM back to Sunday, 25 November 2012; please also note that it will start at 2:30 p.m..

The deadline for nominations for committee members and for any resolutions to be put to the meeting is Sunday, 21 October 2012. Full details are on the notification letter and nomination form.

Official notification has now been sent to Club Secretaries and Direct Members.

The 2012 KAA Indoor Championship will again be hosted by Ashford Archers and will be incorporated into their UK Record Status indoor tournament at Homewood School, Tenterden on Sunday, 11 November 2012.

Full details and entry form are now available for download.

The 2012 KAA Clout Championship was held on Sunday, 16 September 2012 at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate. It was again hosted by Thanet Archery Club as part of their UK Tassel Status tournament.

Results are now available for download.

Because of a change of date for the Allington Indoor Tournament, it has been necessary to move the KAA AGM back to Sunday, 25 November 2012.

Official notification will be sent to club secretaries and direct members very shortly.

The KAA Operational Committee is recommending a further change to the KAA Policy - Score Returns and Team Selection to improve the information available when selecting teams to represent the county at indoor matches. Most importantly it will allow the selection of senior compound teams in future, so it is hoped to adopt the changes in time for team selection early in the New Year.

Three small changes have also been

This document is now subject to the 12-week consultation period before it can be adopted and is therefore available for comment from members until 09 December 2012; please let us know if you have any reservations or objections to the proposed changes, or have suggestions for improving them. If so, please contact Bob Beaney, the county Chairman to discuss.

The KAA Operational Committee approved two new documents and changes to two others that were opened to membership consultation in May:

• Policy - Award Assessment (new)
• Policy - County Records (amended)
• Policy - Score Returns & Team Selection (amended)
• Terms of Reference - Award Assessment Panel (new)

All are now permanently available in the Download section.

During the consultation period several members expressed concern that we would no longer be maintaining records for Field Archery. In fact the changes relating to Field and other forms of Archery were to the appendix that lists the rounds for which World Archery maintains World Records - World Archery no longer includes Field Archery rounds in the list in Rule 5.3 (Book 2 - Events). This information is

• if all the rounds you shoot in a day are in that World Archery list, you can claim county records for any of them
• if not, you can only claim a county record for the first one shot.

So please rest assured that the KAA is not axing and has no plans to axe Field Archery records!

The 2012 KAA Target Championship took place at Vigo RFC, on Sunday, 19 August 2012 on a hot, dry still day!

The results are now available for download.

The 2012 KAA Target Championship will take place at our regular competition venue, Vigo RFC, on Sunday, 19 August 2012.

The target list is now available for download.

The Archery Big Weekend is a chance for anyone to come to a local club and try out this family sport completely free of charge.

There will be fun and friendly taster archery sessions taking place across the country from 25-27 August 2012. It's free to take part and no experience is required. The session's are ideal for all ages and abilities and provide the perfect family activity.

Fox Archers (near Sevenoaks) are taking part on Saturday, 25 August 2012 (download full details) and Sittingbourne Community College Archery Club will be on Sunday, 26 August 2012. To find these clubs, take a look at our club list.

To find participating clubs all over the country, go to www.archerygb.org.

A Service of Thanksgiving was held for the life of Bernard Moore at St Egburg's Church, Bicester on the afternoon of Friday, 17 July 2012.

Bernard worked tirelessly with Fred Duhig and others during the 1960s and 70s to further the interest of the KAA. So much so his services were recognised by the award of a life membership of the KAA in his then capacity as its President.

His move to the MOD at Bicester was due to his promotion from Fort Halstead and his departure was a loss to the KAA. Subsequently, he was often seen at our KAA Championships and he continued to keep in touch with what was going on in the county.

We extend our sympathy to his family for their loss.

Are you a confident driver and interested in a role at the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Here is a fantastic opportunity to be in the thick of it this summer - all you need is a clean driving license!

World Archery (WA) require a dedicated driver during both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. You will be provided with a LOCOG car and paid a daily fee (as they appreciate the assistance and time commitment)!

Read more about an opportunity to work at the London Olympic Games.

The 2012 KAA Target Championship will take place at our regular competition venue, Vigo RFC, on Sunday, 19 August 2012.

Full details and entry form have now been sent to all clubs and are also available for download.

Please accept our apologies for the considerable delay in making this available to members.

The results of the 2012 KAA Longbow Championship are now available for download.

Our thanks go to everyone who made the day such a success and our congratulations go to our 2012 Longbow Champions.

Because of a change in the law relating to the use of internet "cookies", it is no longer practical to provide the option of hiding the sidebar. The sidebar will always be visible if it has any content, but will be suppressed automatically if empty. The privacy policy has been updated accordingly.

The list of useful links and glossary have been redeveloped to provide more information - in the case of the glossary, this now includes an explanation of the expression and many links to related websites and other information. There is a residual issue in which the sort order of links is inconsistent in the Chrome and Opera browsers - this is being worked on.

Information about the national membership system and fees has been updated with the 2012-2013 fees and has been moved to the "Clubs" section of the website.

As with most sports, the volunteers who do the day-to-day running of our clubs are vital to archery. Many people who take on these roles for the first time have little prior experience, so it is unsurprising that from time to time we get requests for help in understanding how to do the job and how to do it well.

In the past there was little or no help available on how to be a club secretary, treasurer or any of the other jobs that make up a club management committee. More recently ArcheryGB and Running Sports have provided some help and now there is another resource available.

Many of the skills required to administer a successful club are very similar to those needed to run a successful business, so Sport England and PriceWaterhouse Coopers have teamed up to provide free e-learning training and support, under the name "Club Leaders".

Club Leaders is part of the Olympic Legacy programme, Places People Play, and provides free training and support to those doing the day-to-day running of community sport, helping create a robust, economically sustainable and enterprising club network.

Registering with Club Leaders gives you access to all of the learning, support and networking opportunities.

Read more on the Sport England website about the Club Leaders programme.

Membership Fees for 2012-2013 are now available from the main menu in the "Development / Membership / Fees" section of this website. Although these don't come into effect until the membership renewal process during the summer, all the figures are now available for clubs who want to plan ahead.

Clubs are also reminded that new members who join on or after 01 July are no longer required to pay county or regional membership fees for the remainder of the current membership year. However the following year they are required to pay the full annual fee - this is a change from the traditional way of dealing with new members, which was the exact opposite.

Please also note that clubs need only send one copy of the renewal form to the county Treasurer, irrespective of any instructions to the contrary received from ArcheryGB with the renewal information.

Like other County and Regional Associations, the KAA receives occasional requests to recommend possible recipients of awards, judge between competing applications for awards or make nominations for awards. Historically this has not normally presented a problem, but some awards now can involve substantial sums of money, goods or services; we therefore need a well-defined, transparent process so that members can see that this is being done fairly.

The KAA committee is therefore recommending that we adopt an Awards Assessment Policy, together with a Terms of Reference for an Assessment Panel (to be formed only when actually required) and some additions to the existing Score Returns Policy.

All of these documents are now subject to the 12-week consultation period before they can be adopted and are therefore available for comment from members until 31 August 2012; please let us know if you have any reservations or objections to the proposed changes, or have suggestions for improving them. If so, please contact Bob Beaney, the county Chairman to discuss.

A number of significant changes were agreed at last Monday's meeting of the KAA Operational Committee, involving Outdoor, Indoor and Flight Archery.

Read more about new changes to county records.

Any KAA member, who has shot the FITA 50m Compound Round on or after its official introduction in the Handicap and Classification tables on 31 March 2012, is invited to submit a claim for a county record. Please note that county records for this round are available for all recognised bow-styles, not just for compound.

The KAA committee is also recommending changes to the existing County Records Policy. The number of rounds and distances for which 'multi-spot' faces are available has increased greatly in recent years, primarily to reduce the risk of arrow damage at short distances. We have therefore

The opportunity has also been taken to update the appendix recognised by World Archery for record purposes.

This document is now subject to the 12-week consultation period before it can be adopted and is therefore available for comment from members until 31 August 2012; please let us know if you have any reservations or objections to the proposed changes, or have suggestions for improving them. If so, please contact Tony Henwood, the county Records Officer to discuss.

A number of significant changes were agreed at last Monday's meeting of the KAA Operational Committee, involving Outdoor, Indoor and Flight Archery.

Read more about new changes to county records.

The target list for the Longbow Championship on 20 May 2012 at Vigo is now available.

Rochford Archery's mobile shop will be at the tournament during the day and Vigo Rugby Football Club will be running their barbeque during the lunch-time period.

Membership Fees for 2012-2013 are now available from the main menu in the "Development / Membership / Fees" section of this website.

Although these don't come into effect until the membership renewal process during the summer, all the figures are now available for clubs who want to plan ahead.

London2012 have announced that they will soon be offering further tickets for sale. This will start with a presale of Olympic Games tickets for people who have applied unsuccessfully for tickets in previous rounds.

Once this is complete, you will be able to purchase any remaining Olympic Games tickets, including tickets to the Olympic Football Tournament, from 11am on Wednesday 23 May 2012. They will announce closer to the date a full list of the sports that still have availability.

They will also be offering some tickets to the Olympic Games for the first time. All of these will go on general sale from 11am on Tuesday 29 May on a first come, first served basis. In addition, any remaining Paralympic Games tickets will go on sale from 11am on Monday 21 May 2012.

For more information, please visit the London2012 Ticketing website (expired link).

The KAA Disabled Archery Tournament will be held on 21 July 2012 and again this year it is hosted by Sittingbourne Community College.

Details and entry form are now available for download - copies will also be circulated to clubs and archers that have previously taken part.

Falcon Archers have reported the recent theft of training equipment from their ground.

The damage has been repaired, the locks and an alarm fitted. Additionally they intend to use SmartWater to mark all equipment in future - this should greatly help in identifying equipment and perhaps the intruder (although it would appear that significant evidence was left at the scene this time).

If any archer of club is offered (or notices) archery equipment being sold at suspiciously low prices, please contact Falcon Archers for further information about what remains missing.

In the year of the London Olympics KCC's Staff Club want to organise a special event to encourage employees to get involved with a range of activities across the County. After consulting with staff members, they decided to arrange a week of activities ranging from boggle to badminton. This event is called the KCC Staff Games 2012.

The aims of the event are fourfold:

• Improve KCC staff awareness of the amazing facilities on their doorstep & engage with Kent businesses.
• Link staff with similar interests in sports who may then continue to meet on a regular basis.
• Raise money for Kent based charities and help to raise their profile.
• Improve general health and wellbeing of employees within KCC.

The event will run for seven days during the evenings and weekend of the week commencing 11th June 2012. The staff games has attracted the support of the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet who have offered to host the final day of the games, where they are looking to hold track events and activities. This will also give the various charities a chance to further promote their messages and collect money.

They are now looking for venues to hold certain events and in particular a venue to hold Archery in East Kent on Tuesday 12 June for around 20 people, who have shown an interest in taking part. If any club is interested in hosting this or is able to provide assistance, they are asked to contact Emily Smith at the KCC as soon as possible.

Because of a change in the law relating to the use of internet "cookies", it is no longer practical to support the option suppression of the sidebar. The sidebar will always be visible if it has any content, but will be suppressed automatically if empty. The privacy policy has been updated accordingly.

The list of useful links and glossary have been redeveloped to provide more information - in the case of the glossary, this now includes an explanation of the expression and many links to related websites and other information. There is a residual issue in which the sort order of links is inconsistent in the Chrome and Opera browsers - this is being worked on.

The Paralympic Archery Test Event is being held at Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich as part of the London Prepares series on Saturday 5 May and Sunday 6 May.

A very limited number of tickets will be available through ArcheryGB to members, their families and friends.

Read more on the ArcheryGB website about Paralympic Archery Test Event Tickets.

Last year GNAS celebrated its 150th anniversary and one of the ways in which it did so, was to have 150 medals made - The President's Medals. All clubs, county associations and regional associations were able to apply for a medal and decide just what they would award it for - for example for a fantastic shooting result or for an outstanding volunteer.

SCAS applied for and received a medal; the winner was announced at yesterday's council meeting and the medal went to Adam Kenyon of Crown Archers.

Read more about Adam Kenyon receiving the GNAS President's Medal from SCAS.

The Association has now taken delivery of 40 new 4-legged target stands and they were used in anger for the first time today at the County Invitation tournament. The new stands mean that there is now no woodwork behind the gold/red/blue area of the target and if today's experience is anything to go by, this has dramatically reduced the problems of arrow penetration and breakage, even with straw bosses.

It also means that the Association now has a number of used, traditional, 3-legged stands that are surplus to requirements and will be given free-of-charge to clubs, schools, etc., who are looking to develop their facilities. (Please note that commercial providers of archery will only be considered after all non-commercial requests have been dealt with.)

If you are interested, please contact our Equipment Officer to discuss what is available and their condition. Please note that we cannot deliver stands to your club, but we plan to make them available for collection on the day of the county Longbow Championship - Sunday, 20 May 2012. If the requests exceed the number available, it will be necessary to limit the number we can give to individual applicants.

The Association has now taken delivery of 40 new 4-legged target stands and they were used in anger for the first time today at the County Invitation tournament. The new stands mean that there is now no woodwork behind the gold/red/blue area of the target and if today's experience is anything to go by, this has dramatically reduced the problems of arrow penetration and breakage, even with straw bosses.

It also means that the Association now has a number of used, traditional, 3-legged stands that are surplus to requirements and will be given free-of-charge to clubs, schools, etc., who are looking to develop their facilities. (Please note that commercial providers of archery will only be considered after all non-commercial requests have been dealt with.)

If you are interested, please contact our Equipment Officer to discuss what is available and their condition. Please note that we cannot deliver stands to your club, but we plan to make them available for collection on the day of the county Longbow Championship, 22 May 2012. If the requests exceed the number available, it will be necessary to limit the number we can give to individual applicants.

Details of the Olympic Torch Relay were announced some of months ago and in November more of the detail of the route was published, showing many of the towns that the relay will pass through. Now street-level detail (link expired) of the itinerary is available.

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:

ArcheryGB announced changes to many of the classification levels in the Spring 2012 edition of ArcheryUK; in particular this sorts out anomalies in the classification requirements for juniors of all ages shooting Recurve Barebow or Longbow. These changes are effective for all rounds shot on or after 01 March 2012.

As a direct consequence of these changes, the Association has changed the score levels required for the Kent County Bowman classification with effect from the same date. The new score levels can be found in the appendix at the end of the KAA Policy - Kent County Bowman.

Please remember that the Kent County Bowman classification is used to determine:

• the cut-off level for some score returns to the county Records Officer, which are then used as the basis of County Team selection;
• qualification for invitation to the annual County Invitation Tournament.

After a much longer delay than we had originally hoped, records are now maintained for Indoor and Outdoor Target Archery for archers with disabilities. The first record books published, contain the accepted claims going back to when we first invited claims - if more than one claim has been received for the same record, then the highest has been

For all future claims, please use the standard County Record Claim Form, but make sure that you mark the form clearly with the appropriate IPC category (i.e. ARST, ARW1, ARW2, or ARVI), but please do not supply any details or evidence of your disability with your claim.

Please note that:

• you must have shot in full compliance with any IPC restrictions (e.g. ARVI must qualify as visually impaired and shoot with full blackout blindfold), but it is not necessary for you to have been formally classified - we only need your assurance of the classification you would qualify for.
• the normal 6-month time limit now applies to all new record claims.

An article in the Winter 2011 edition of the ArcheryUK magazine outlined a proposal for including the American Flatbow as an additional bowstyle for outdoor & indoor target archery, clout, field and flight archery. However it has been announced in the Spring 2012 edition that it will be recognised as a separate bowstyle only for Field and Flight Archery.

The Association has therefore agreed to maintain records for the American Flatbow for Field Archery only (we do not yet maintain county records for Flight Archery, although this is currently under consideration).

The Field Archery records book and county records application form have therefore both been updated, but please note that record applications can only be considered for rounds shot on or after 13 March 2012.

The Paralympic Torch Relay will take place from 24-29 August. Four separate flames will be lit at Flame Lighting events in London, Greater Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Each nation will also host a Flame Festival.

The flames will then be united at Stoke Mandeville to create the Paralympic Flame, before a 24-hour Torch Relay starting on the 28 August to journey the Flame to the Olympic Stadium.

Read more on the London2012 website about the Paralympic Torch Relay.

Details of the Olympic Torch Relay were announced some of months ago and in November more of the detail of the route (expired link) was published, showing many of the towns that the relay will pass through. More information is being published during the course of this week, giving street-level detail of the itinerary.

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:

This week Sport England published guidance which will help thousands of schools across the country open up their sporting facilities to the local community.

At the moment, 76 per cent of sports halls, 73 per cent of artificial grass pitches, 29 per cent of swimming pools and 52 per cent of grass pitches in England are located within the education sector.

This means that a lot of the country's sports facilities sit redundant in the evening at weekends and during the school holidays, despite many sports clubs desperately crying out for somewhere to play.

If your club is looking for outdoor or indoor facilities, it is possible that this latest initiative by Sport England as part of their Places People Play programme could help you to persuade a school in your area to make its facilities available.

Read more on the Sport England website about opening up school facilities for community use.

If you want to plan a celebration for the Games, look no further. Sign up to be a Local Leader and whether you invite three friends or your whole community, you can get the tools to make your celebration one to remember.

It doesn't have to be a sporting event - you can celebrate the Games in many ways. If you need some inspiration, have a look at the ideas on the London 2012 Local Leaders website that people like you have suggested. You can also check out their tools and tips to get you started planning your event.

Whatever you decide to do, sign up for Local Leader emails and over the next few months you will receive planning guides, 'Save the date' cards, decoration ideas, exclusive offers and more.

ArcheryGB is celebrating London hosting the Games by organising Archery's Big Weekend on August 25 and 26. The "Archery Big Weekend" will see clubs and other archery providers from all over the country come together and open up their doors to host an archery open day for their local community. As part of a nation-wide campaign to mark the Games, the event will enable members of the public to come along to their local venue and give archery a go. This is set to be a big weekend for archery lovers everywhere, with something for everyone to enjoy, from the Big Weekend to the National Series final, which it coincides with.

Clubs are invited to hold their open day on one or both days over the advertised weekend. The sign up process will start in March and end in June. This will allow ArcheryGB time to promote all of the participating venues to the public and give clubs plenty of time to prepare. Each club that signs up will receive an organiser pack to help them set up their open day; they will be promoted as a part of a national event, and they will also be entered into a free prize draw. All that is asked, is that in the spirit of the Games, it will be free for members of the public to shoot some arrows!

More information will be available within the next month.

Unfortunately Kate Weber has had to stand down as county Secretary, because of pressure of work; we would like to thank her for the work she has done during her short time in the role. In the short term Bob Beaney will become the contact point for postal correspondence and Mike Brighton will have responsibility for email correspondence and meeting minutes.

This leaves us though with a vacancy for a vital role in the running of our county association, which we need to fill as quickly as possible. The two main parts of the job are keeping/circulating minutes of meetings and acting as the main point of contact - normally that involves working out who can best respond and passing the matter on, rather than having to do everything yourself!

If any member is interested in taking on this job, or knows someone who is, please contact the county Chairman, Bob Beaney for more information.

At last year's GNAS AGM the suggestion was made that it should be held in different parts of the country, perhaps in a different region each year; the intention behind this was to make it more accessible to members who do not normally attend, because of the difficulty in getting to Lilleshall.

This year it will be held on Saturday 28 April (a week later then usual) at the University of East London, Stratford, London, starting at 11:00 a.m..

As an added incentive to attend, there will be an opportunity afterwards for up to 90 members to tour the Olympic Park - please note that this tour will only be available to those who attend the AGM!

Full details together with the agenda, reports and voting forms will be circulated to club secretaries and GNAS Direct/Honorary Life Members during March.

Three months after Sport England launched its search for 40,000 Sport Makers, who will make sport happen for their friends, neighbours or colleagues, the number who have signed up has passed the 10,000 mark.

Every Sport Maker who has signed up is invited to an informal and interactive workshop where they'll gain the skills and opportunities to get involved in sport in their area. Backed by the British Olympic Association and £4 million of National Lottery funding, Sport Makers is part of the Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country.

To find out more about Sport Makers, which is open to anyone aged 16 and over, and to sign up, visit the Sport Makers website.

Our congratulations go to Hannah Brown of Bowmen of Woodstock for her recent appointment by World Archery (formerly FITA) as an International Judge. Hannah has also been appointed as one of the NTOs at the Olympic Games archery event at Lords Cricket Ground later this year and as a judge at the World Indoor Championship in Las Vegas.

The county of Kent continues its tradition of numbering International Judges among its membership - we also have 2 Emeritus International Judges (Derrick Lovell and Neil Dimmock).

The KAA is still planning to maintain county records for archers with a disability and is currently finalising exactly which records will be maintained going forward. In the mean time any archers who fall into any of the IPC-recognised disability categories are asked to continue to submit claims for rounds shot.

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

Please note that you must have shot in full compliance with any IPC restrictions, e.g. ARVI must shoot with full blackout blindfold.

Following a recent enquiry, the KAA is currently investigating the possibility of maintaining county records for flight archery.

Any archers who have a particular interest in flight archery are asked to:

• contact the county Records Officer with details of their normal flight bow category, flight classification and the flight tournaments that they have previously attended or have entered this year; (When writing, please ensure that you include your name and club.)
• submit claims for rounds shot on or after 01 January 2012, using the standard County Record Claim Form, clearly marked "Flight Archery".

If there is sufficient active interest in this discipline, the KAA will consider maintaining records, commencing toward the end of this year with the highest accepted claims received at that point.

An article in the Winter 2011 edition of the ArcheryUK magazine outlines a proposal for including the American Flatbow as an additional bowstyle for outdoor & indoor target archery, clout, field and flight archery. This announcement has already resulted in an enquiry as to whether the KAA will maintain records for the new bowstyle.

It is important to note that this is only a proposal at present and is subject to change, or even (in theory at least) cancellation; the KAA has decided to wait until the consultation period is ended and It is clear what changes will in fact be made to the Rules of Shooting (and when they will come into effect) before including the American Flatbow in county records.

In the mean time it would be helpful to know to what extent the American Flatbow is used within the county, so we invite any member who regularly uses this type of bow to provide some basic information (e.g. what discipline do you use it for and how often) to the county Records Officer. (When writing, please ensure that you include your name and club.)

Sport England and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt today gave details of a new five-year youth and community sport strategy that will deliver on Lord Coe's 2012 Games bid promise to inspire a generation to get involved in sport.

Between 2012 and 2017 over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding will be invested to create a meaningful and lasting community sport legacy by growing sports participation at the grassroots level.

Under the new strategy, every secondary school in England is set to host a community sports club, and £10 million will be made available to open up school sport facilities for wider public use.

Read more on the Sport England website about £1bn of Funding for Sports Clubs. (Expired link)

This year once again, Archery GB is running a postal shoot for individual archers based on the Junior November Challenge. You should simply submit your best score for the Portsmouth round that you have shot in January.

For various reasons the launch of the January Challenge for individual archers was delayed, but it is on again this year and the closing date for entries is 09 February 2012.
Information and entry form:

We would like to welcome Kate Weber of Ferryfield Bowmen as our new county Secretary.

The role remained vacant during the last year, with other members of the Operational Committee filling in on a temporary basis and it had looked as though the situation might continue until Kate volunteered. The hand-over is planned to take place at the end of next week, so I'm afraid it will be the same old face dealing with correspondence for the next few days!

An updated committee contact list will be circulated very shortly to all Club Secretaries and Direct Members.

There are now 165 clubs registered nationally for ontarget. The Community Specialism is open for applications and so is Round 2 of the Small Grants Scheme - up to £1500 available for projects that increase the opportunities for potential new members to join clubs, projects that look to retain members by increasing the number of opportunities available (including additional shooting time, coaching sessions, competitions etc.). Clubs that are working towards the Community Specialism are encouraged to apply.

Further information and how to apply can be found on the ontarget website.

ArcheryGB's Handy Guide to Funding has been updated with new funding opportunities and includes a new section on 'Sponsorship' - the guide is available from the ArcheryGB website.

The KAA is looking for an existing member who is prepared to take on the role of Development Officer. This is a volunteer post on the county Executive and Operational Committees (not to be confused with the salaried role with the KCC Sport, Leisure and Olympics Department that recently came to an end).

The main responsibility is to provide help and advice to clubs in the county that wish to develop, so you may wish/need to:

• develop contacts with the ArcheryGB Development team and the County Sports Partnerships that fall within our county area,
• keep up to date with club development opportunities, for example by attending the annual ArcheryGB Development Conference and/or subscribing to newsletters from a variety of sport-related organisations (e.g. SportEngland, RunningSports, Kent Sport)
• help organise occasional club development meetings (no more often than annually),
• pay occasional visits to clubs, although most contact is likely to be by phone or email.

A considerable amount of help and experience is available from other committee members and the contacts that they already have at ArcheryGB and Kent Sport, so you are not going to be left to just get on with it on your own.

Obviously you will also need to provide a short report to the KAA Operational Committee and attend its meetings, but this is only for a couple of hours, seven times a year.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact any member of the current committee for more information.