Changes to Junior Age Groups

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

The main changes are to the junior age groups for target and clout archery only:

• Junior ladies and junior gentlemen will all be recognised in age groups Under 18, Under 16, Under 14 and Under 12.

and junior rounds:

• Distance changes for the Bristol 5 round (30yd, 20yd, 10yd instead of 20yd, 15yd, 10yd) to bring it into line with the other imperial rounds;
• Introduction of a Short Junior Windsor round (30yd, 20yd, 10yd) to fill a gap in this family of rounds.

The Effect on County Records

The KAA will therefore adopt the new age groups for all record claims relating to rounds shot on or after 01 March 2010 and so some interim arrangements are necessary relating to juniors:

In the two disciplines that are affected, many of the records date back a considerable time and the KAA no longer has sufficient information to reliably allocate all of them to the new age groups; even if this were possible, the amount of work involved would be prohibitive. Although some age groups have not changed, the KAA Operational Committee has decided it is more equitable to treat all junior records in these disciplines in the same way.

The decision has therefore been made to "freeze" all of the records held under the old age groups, retain them unchanged in the "Closed Records" and start from scratch with the new age groups. We understand that ArcheryGB will be taking the same approach, for precisely the same reasons.

The Short Junior Windsor round will also be added to the list of available records with effect from 01 March 2010.

A revised County Record Claim form is now available for download and a copy is being sent to the Records Officer of every club. The old version of the form (link expired) will also remain available for the time being.

Record Claims for Outdoor Target Archery and Clout Archery

The following procedure relates only to record claims for Outdoor Target Archery and Clout Archery rounds shot by juniors – there are no changes to Indoor Target Archery or Field Archery or any records for Seniors.

Rounds shot before 01 March 2010:

• Please continue to submit claims in the normal way within the 6-month deadline.
• Claims must be for the old age groups - claims for the new age groups cannot be accepted.
• The old distances apply to the Bristol 5 round - claims for the revised Bristol 5 round cannot be accepted.
• Claims for the Short Junior Windsor cannot be accepted.
• Although we would prefer record claims to be made on the old form (link expired), they will be accepted on the new form, provided that it is clearly amended to show the old age group to which the claim relates.
• The ratification process is unchanged and new records will continue to be ratified and published as usual.

No new record claims will be accepted from 01 September 2010. At the September meeting of the KAA Operational Committee all remaining record claims will be processed and the corresponding records books will be published in the normal way.

At the end of the year all junior records will be moved to the "Closed Records", where they will remain in perpetuity. The record books will then be changed to use the new age groups and the Short Junior Windsor round will be added – at this point all records are effectively reset to zero.

Rounds shot on or after 01 March 2010:

• Please continue to submit claims in the normal way within the 6-month deadline.
• Claims must be for the new age groups - claims for the old age groups cannot be accepted.
• The new distances apply to the Bristol 5 round - claims for the old Bristol 5 round cannot be accepted.
• Remember that every junior record for Outdoor Target Archery and Clout Archery will start again from zero, so claim for each score you shoot, unless you are confident that you or someone you know has already submitted a valid higher claim.
• Record claims will only be accepted on the revised form.
• Acknowledgement of receipt of a record claim will not imply acceptance or ratification.

All claims received will be checked when they are received for compliance with the KAA Policy for County Records, and any unclear, incorrect or invalid claims will be queried and/or returned in the usual way. Claims will not be returned at this stage just because a higher claim has already been received.

At the beginning of 2011 all of the new-style record claims received up to 31 December 2010 will be examined and the highest valid claim for each combination of gender, age group and round will be submitted for ratification at the January 2011 meeting of the KAA Operational Committee. Successful claims will then be published in the normal way.

The Effect on County Tournaments and Matches

All KAA tournaments and county matches:

• that offer separate junior age groups, will use the new age groups;
• that offer the Bristol 5 round, will use the new version of that round (6 doz. arrows @ 30yds., 4 doz. @ 20 yds., 2 doz. @ 10 yds.).

The Effect on Clubs

Clubs are entitled to maintain their own internal records in any equitable way that they see fit – they are not obliged to use the same age groups as ArcheryGB (or indeed, any age groups at all), but should consider whether using different criteria will be confusing for their members.

Clubs that maintain records for Outdoor Target Archery, Indoor Target Archery and/or Clout Archery for separate junior age groups and wish to change to the new age groups, may do so in any way that is acceptable to their members – the explanation above and the KAA Policy for County Records, are not intended to apply to club records.