SCAS County Team Championship

Introduction

This is the annual tournament more commonly (but wrongly) referred to as the "SCAS Inter-Counties", or "SCAS Inter-County Team Tournament".

With the SCAS area covering the whole of East Anglia round in a great arc to Hampshire, the Southern Counties is the largest of the eight ArcheryGB regions in the UK, in terms of both geographical size and numbers of archers. It includes 15 county associations.

Each year SCAS holds an outdoor target archery championship in which teams representing each of its constituent county associations compete against each other; entries are only accepted from county associations - individuals cannot apply. For many years there was a single event, but it became necessary to separate the Junior and Senior sections, because of problems finding grounds that could accommodate both at the same time.

However in 2011 Kent hosted the tournament at the University of Kent, Canterbury and successfully recombined the senior and junior events, showing that it is all the more dramatic on that scale and makes the entire event simpler for families with representatives in both age groups.

Longbow teams were

d for the first time in 2011, when the KAA hosted the event at the University of Kent, Canterbury. However this was only as an 'exhibition event' and to determine whether a demand exists, as until comparatively recently this bow-style was probably not widespread enough to justify its inclusion. The experiment showed that a sufficient demand does exist, so SCAS agreed to include Longbow teams in the Championship from 2012.

Whether one or two events, it is organised with UK Record Status, so normal regulations about shooting, drug testing and dress apply. However, it is important to note that since archers are representing a county and most counties now have a recognised team dress, it is strongly preferred that competitors wear the team colours of the county they represent.

The tournament organiser is elected to that position each year at the SCAS AGM, but the tournament will be hosted wherever a suitable ground and work-party can be found.

Team Composition

The rules for the composition of teams have changed from time to time, but to give you an idea of how it works, the following requirements applied to the 2011 tournaments:

Senior Tournament:

The rules for compound, recurve and longbow teams are currently the same:

  • The members of each team must be specified in advance of the tournament;
  • Each team consists of five archers, of whom at least one must be a lady and at least one a gentleman;
  • The team score is based on four archers, of whom at least one must be a lady and at least one a gentleman;
  • Gentlemen are required to shoot the York round and ladies to shoot the Hereford round;
  • In addition, one travelling reserve may be nominated for each team, but he/she can only be d in that team if one of the members of that team is unable to start the tournament;
  • In the event that a reserve is not required to shoot for their team, he/she is permitted to shoot, but his/her score is not d in team results;
  • Each county association may enter more than one team.

Junior Tournament:

The rules for the junior tournament are much the same as for the senior tournament, except that:

  • Each competitor must shoot the Bristol round that starts with the longest distance appropriate for their gender and age;
  • Junior compound teams consist of four archers, from which three scores are d in the team results.

Rounds

The event normally consists of the traditional British 12 dozen rounds:

The required rounds, showing the number of dozen arrows shot at each distance.
GentlemenLadiesRound122cm Face
100yds80yds60yds50yds40yds30yds20yds10yds
SeniorYork642
SeniorHereford642
Under 18Bristol 1642
Under 16Under 18Bristol 2642
Under 14Under 16Bristol 3642
Under 12Under 14Bristol 4642
Under 12Bristol 5642

However, on occasion the World Archery 1440 Rounds and ArcheryGB Metric Rounds have been used in their place:

The required rounds, showing the number of dozen arrows shot at each distance.
GentlemenLadiesRound122cm Face80cm Face
90m70m60m50m40m30m20m50m40m30m20m15m10m
SeniorWA 1440 G3333
SeniorWA 1440 L3333
Under 18Metric 13333
Under 16Under 18Metric 23333
Under 14Under 16Metric 33333
Under 12Under 14Metric 43333
Under 12Metric 53333

Results

Results of recent tournaments are available for download: