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:

• 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.
  • exiting junior ladies' national records for "Under 13" will be moved to the new "Under 14" category and remain there until superseded;
  • the new junior ladies "Under 12" category will remain empty until new national record claims are approved;
  • the "Under 9" category for junior ladies and junior gentlemen will no longer be recognised - national records do not exist for this age group.
• 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 information below has been changed since original publication on this web site on 28 March 2010 to reflect as closely as possible the way in which ArcheryGB will deal with carrying forward records from the old age groups to the new ones.

The Effect on County Records

The KAA will 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:

The KAA Operational Committee has decided deal with existing records along similar lines to ArcheryGB, but this is made less straightforward, because the KAA has maintained records for the existing Under 9 age groups, whereas ArcheryGB does not:

• all existing records for the Bristol 5 round will be moved to the "Closed Records", because the round has substantially changed;
• for Junior Gentlemen:
  • the Under 12 and Under 9 categories will be merged;
  • where records exist in both age groups for the same round, the higher score will be carried forward.
• for Junior Ladies:
  • where the necessary information is readily available, existing records for Junior Ladies Under 16 and Under 13 will be individually assigned to the appropriate new age group;
  • all remaining records in the Under 16 category will remain the new Under 16 category;
  • all remaining records in the Under 13 category will be moved to the new Under 14 category;
  • all records in the Under 9 category will be moved to the new Under 12 category;
  • where more than one records exists for the same new age group and round, the higher score will be carried forward.
• the Short Junior Windsor round will be added to the available records.

We acknowledge that this may result in some cases where a record for a Junior Lady will be recorded in a higher age group than should normally be the case - any query relating to possible errors will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

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.

Claims received up Friday 14 May 2010 will be considered for ratification at the meeting of the KAA Operational Committee on Monday 17 May 2010. Successful claims for rounds shot before 01 March 2010 will be added to the record books and the result will be published. The changes described above will be made, claims for rounds shot on or after 01 March 2010 will be added and a further edition of the records books will be published.

Rounds shot before 01 March 2010:

• Claims received for ratification at the May meeting of the KAA Operational Committee will be processed under the old age groups – all subsequent claims will be adjusted automatically to the appropriate new age groups.
• The old distances apply to the Bristol 5 round - you cannot claim for the revised Bristol 5 round.
• We cannot accept claims for the Short Junior Windsor round.
• Although we would prefer record claims to be made on the old form (link expired), we will accept them on the new form, provided that it is clearly amended to show the old age group to which the claim relates.

Rounds shot on or after 01 March 2010:

• Claims must be for the new age groups - we cannot accept claims for the old age groups.
• The new distances apply to the Bristol 5 round - you cannot claim for the old Bristol 5 round.
• You can claim for the Short Junior Windsor round.
• We will only accept record claims on the revised form.

Please remember that it is in your interest to submit claims as early as possible; claims received after the 6-month deadline cannot be accepted.

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 the Kent County Bowman Classification

A small number of changes are required and the opportunity will also be taken to introduce the KCB classification for the Recurve Barebow style, thereby extending it to cover all of the bow-styles

All of these proposed changes will published on the KAA web site and circulated to clubs for comment under the 12-week consultation period.

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.