2018 Spring Archery UK MagazineCover

Official magazine of Archery GB

Cover teasers

Having a smashing time: Records tumble at BUCS indoor finals. Meet our youngest L2 coach. Advice zone: get back to basics. All the latest funding updates. Inside: find out how you can help us to shape the future of our sport.

Cover photo credits:

Title: BUCS indoor finals.Picture: Malcom Rees.

Editor's letter

Welcome.

It's spring at last. After overcoming the challenges of the past few weeks we have a lot to look forward to, plus the promise of the outdoor season.

Archery GB has started 2018 with new funding, a host of fresh ideas and a new determination to put you right at the heart of developing the future of our wonderful sport. We need you to get involved and you can find out more about what's happening in our sport and Board sections.

There is a look back at some fantastic record-breaking performances at home and abroad, including reports on the Combined National Indoor Championships, the British Barebow Championships and the BUCS Indoors.

We also look forward to the newly renamed National Tour and changes to the ranking system as well as other premier events including the Big Weekend and the Disability Championships.

And don't forget the 2018 AGM. It's being held at the Crowne Plaza at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, on 21 April. See you there.

Jane PercivalEditor

Contents

4 News13 News: Obituaries16 History17 Juniors20 Field21 Clout22 Disabilities24 Sport: Participation27 Sport: Pathway34 Sport: Performance39 Tournaments44 Universities45 Experts58 Mailbag61 Your pictures64 New products

67 Membership71 Board75 Records, achievements and handicap improvement medals91 And Finally92 Sponsors

Separate documents

2018 Spring Tournament Diary: Archery UK Magazine2018 Spring Directory: Archery UK Magazine

Production information

Publisher

Produced on behalf of Archery GB by: TRMG Ltd, 1 Forum Place, Hatfield, Herts AL10 0RN. Tel: 01707 273 999. TRMG web site: www.trmg.co.uk .

Publishing Director: Jon FellowsOperations Director: Andrew StevensHead of Production: Charles DragazisProject Manager: Stefan GlosbyDesign: Andrew PollardSenior Commercial Manager: Steve Chambers

Disclaimer

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, the organisers Archery GB and the publishers TRMG cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein © 2018.

Printing

The paper used for printing this magazine has been sourced from sustainably managed forests in accordance with the ISO 14001 and EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) standards, which are internationally recognised and externally audited integrated environmental management systems.

Published for:

Archery GB, Lilleshall National Sports & Conferencing Centre, Newport, Shropshire TF10 9AT. Tel: 01952 677888. AGB web site: www.archerygb.org . Email: magazine@archerygb.org. See also the Directory document for individual staff contact details.

Correspondence

Correspondence with regard to Archery UK including mailing list queries and enquiries about advertising, should be addressed to Archery GB at the address above.

Copy deadline for the summer edition:

27 April 2018.

AGB disclaimer

Archery UK is the Official Magazine of Archery GB and is read by all members. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, however caused. Letters, articles and features do not necessarily represent the opinion of Archery GB.

The decision whether or not to include material submitted for inclusion (whether advertising or otherwise) shall be entirely at the discretion of the Editor and/or the Marketing Manager. No responsibility can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork, editorial or advertising material in transmission or with the publishers or their agents, although every care will be taken to ensure safe return of items requested to be returned.

© 2018 Archery GB

News

New Year's honour for Frank: Recognised for services to archery and arts

Frank Mulligan, who has been at the heart of Northern Ireland archery for decades, has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2018 New Year's honours list.

And the 74-year-old, who is being recognised for his services to archery and the arts, could not be more proud.

He said: "It is fantastic recognition not just for myself but my wife Pat and our family. It is also a great honour for the Ballyvally Archery Club and everyone connected with our sport across Northern Ireland.

"I'm very grateful and feel humbled to be selected for a British Empire Medal and want to thank all the club volunteers who have helped me over many years, the local community and the people of Banbridge who have always supported me.

"I want to continue giving to the sport of archery and the arts in whatever way I can and look forward to doing that in the future."

For the past 47 years, he has coached thousands of archers in Northern Ireland inspiring many to local, national and international success. They include his children Peter, who won two gold medals at the World Championships in 1998 and 2004 when he was part of GB Field teams, and Edel, a European barebow champion in 1999 and junior world champion in 2000.

He has also founded a host of archery clubs, including St Patrick's (1970), Banbridge (1975), Craigavon (1988), St Mary's (1988) and Ballyvally (1996) where he was chairman for almost two decades.

The former GB Coach of the Year coaches for over 20 hours per week on a voluntary basis as well as setting up field archery courses around Northern Ireland. He has also organised major events such as the British Open and All-Ireland Championships and field archery at the World Police and Fire Games when they were staged in Northern Ireland in 2013.

In 2011, he beat seven other regional unsung heroes to a one-off national award presented to mark the society's 150th anniversary.

The BEM also recognises his work in the arts. In 1974, he helped to found the Banbridge Speech and Drama Committee. It is still going strong and runs a very successful annual festival and summer school.

Chairman of Archery Northern Ireland Steven Beacom said: "For Frank to receive the British Empire Medal is deserved recognition for a wonderful man who, along with his wife Pat, has put his life and soul into the great sport of archery.

"Frank is an iconic figure in archery in Northern Ireland and beyond. It would be impossible to count the number of people, young and not so young, he has inspired over the years and I know he is far from finished.

"Everyone involved with Archery NI will be delighted that Frank is in the New Year's Honours List."

Chief Executive of Archery GB Neil Armitage added: "What Frank Mulligan has done for archery over the past 47 years has been extraordinary.

"He not only goes down as a great coach, but a great man for everything he has given to the sport and his community. No one deserves this award more than Frank."

Big Weekend 2018: Come and join the fun

The date has been set. This year's Big Weekend will run on 16 and 17 June and only one question remains: can we beat 2017's record-breaking event?

More than 6,500 took part in events hosted by 94 clubs and organisations across the country. So why should your club join them? It's simple. It will put your club at the heart of the community, raise your profile and potentially get more people involved in the sport.

Need to be convinced? Last year more than 150 people joined Bowmen of Warfield, and many asked about signing up for beginners' courses. Bowmen of Rutland had a similar result, as did Caldy Bowmen and Eagle Bowman of Bedford.

Visitors to Maiden City Archers' event in Derry got added extras. They found themselves being coached by Archery NI's Director of coaching and performance, Damien Lennon, as well as being treated to food and drinks.

When Archery GB Chairman Mark Davies visited Guildford Archery Club he found lots of people queueing to test their potential, while people flocked to South Bucks Archers' inaugural event.

Want more proof? This is what Nick Beeson of Bowmen of Adel said: "The biggest pay-off was the sight of so many happy people who will remember the day they tried archery for a long time."

More details about this year's event will be going up on the Archery GB website very soon; so keep your eyes peeled.

Not too serious, and just as Sam would have wanted

How do you keep the memory of a popular and much-missed member alive and do it in a way that is fitting to their character? That was the problem members of Whiteleaf Bowmen found themselves facing.

They wanted to make sure Sam Fowler, who died of cancer a few years ago, was never forgotten but they needed something that was great fun, demanding, and not to be taken too seriously. Something, in fact, that would have been right up her street.

So they came up with the Pope and Young shoot. Many clubs use it as the basis for fun shoots but it was last done properly, they think, in the late 1930s and early 40s. The slightly modified version was named the Sam Fowler Memorial Shoot, and proved eventful.

It was a combination of target, field and speed shooting and the idea was to make every shot at a different distance within an arc. The closest was 30 yards and the furthest 70 yards.

Each detail consisted of five archers positioned in an arc. After each round of five arrows, the archers altered their shooting points.

They shot one arrow at each target in turn and each round was timed, starting at 40 seconds and working down to 30, then 20 seconds.

The club's Tournament Officer Peter King said: "We are delighted to say the open shoot was a huge success. We plan to continue running it every year from now on. If you want a great day's shooting doing a round that had faded into obscurity but is definitely worthy of being revived, please join us this year in October.

"Don't be fooled, it is great fun and chaotic but also a very demanding shoot. You will get to shoot 75 arrows (if you are quick enough) and, as it is scored on hits-only, consider yourself lucky to get over 40 points. It will be held on Whiteleaf Bowmen's club field between Lacey Green and Walters Ash, near Princes Risborough and all profits will go to Sam's charity, the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home."

If you want to find out more about the shoot, see the Whiteleaf Bowmen web site: whiteleafbowmen.org.uk.

Experience counts

Knowing what to expect can make all the difference in a tournament. That's why Thirsk Bowmen decided to organise a competition experience day for all its members; including some who were new to the sport and eager to get started.

All would-be competitors were introduced to the rules and requirements of tournaments, but without any of the pressure. The event featured a Portsmouth round and the club's own Regional Judge, Allan Shuker, explained all the main competition rules, with handouts covering the key points.

There were also awards for the winning junior and senior archers. Johnny Smart, who is shooting up the junior rankings, took the junior honours while his dad, Roger, won the senior prize.

One of the club's coaches, Thomas Keane, said: "Everyone had a great day. The response was so encouraging the club has decided to run the event again later on this year. A lot of the new archers who took part went to their first real Portsmouth competition a few weeks later and many did really well. It was said with great enthusiasm that the Competition Experience Day had helped them prepare."

Only the best: Para Champ Jo is Brixham's special guest

Sometimes only the best is good enough; at least that's what Brixham Archers thought when they invited Paralympic gold and silver medallist Jo Frith to be Lady Paramount at its 2018 Clipper tournament.

Seventy-two archers took part in the UK record status Portsmouth round which featured all kinds of bows, including a Mongolian horse bow. And there were some fantastic performances with Yelverton's Marcus Yeoman scoring 593 out of a possible 600 to take the men's compound title and Wendy Broome of Lacetown Archers winning the women's category.

The recurve honours went to Zena Barker of Loco Bowmen and Meriden Archers' Calum Platt.

Rob Twigg of Exmouth Archers started the day by cutting his foot when he stood on the plug from his wife's curling tongs. He finished it by taking the mixed longbow title. And Plymouth University's Lonja Selter won the mixed barebow class.

There were superb junior performances too with personal bests from Brixham's Charlie Mitchell and Isabelle Allen who won the under-12's and under-14's titles respectively. Harry Tucker of Kyrton Archers took the boys' under-14s honours and Lacetown Archers Hannah Ottery won the girls' under-16 category.

Jersey club makes its mark

Jersey Archery Society has become the latest group in the island to achieve Clubmark status.

Members gathered as Constable Steve Pallett, the Assistant Minister with responsibility for sport, presented the award.

It is given to teams and associations in Jersey that can evidence a wide range of documents and procedures, including safeguarding training, volunteer policies, DBS (police) checks, coaching qualifications, risk assessments, first aid training and insurances. It is designed to give all those in the club, and in particular parents of young competitors, the confidence that they are getting excellent coaching from qualified staff and volunteers.

"Jersey Archery Society is very happy to have achieved this prestigious award and this shows that archery as a sport in the island is working hard to show good governance," said Heath Perrett, Jersey Archery Society's development officer.

And it was a double celebration as the club combined the event with its annual Christmas Turkey Shoot. The theme was Star Wars, plus Minions and Elf, and the eventual winner was Ian Cotillard.

A different angle: Shooting the Aussie way

Photo: Zep, Samuel and Harvey Birdsall with Kisik Lee.

A trip to Australia has given Zep Birdsall and his sons Samuel and Harvey the chance to sample a different kind of archery coaching.

They attended a four-day Kisik Lee Shot Cycle course aimed at preventing muscle injury, target panic and developing both physical and mental toughness. And, according to Zep, there have been some impressive results.

He said: "With Samuel alone, the technique has totally eliminated his previous protruding back bone, winging, caused by the linear draw. It has also eliminated the problem he was having with the increased expansion after the clicker dropped, causing his bow to torque and twist prior to release. The shot cycle teaches angular motion, which respects the body's bio mechanics, so the technique is in tune with the body's scope of movements and executes the shooting of the bow with maximum efficiency."

Both Samuel and Zep passed the Level 1 part of the course and Harvey learned a lot in the process.

They also got the chance to be part of an Aussie club, if only for a short while, after Jon Barnard, President of the Sydney Olympic Park Archers in Sydney, invited them to shoot at his club.

In memory of Christine

Exeter Company of Archers are celebrating the life of long-standing member Christine Oakes by getting together and raising cash for charity.

Clubmate Karen Williams said that Christine, who died in February, was always at the heart of Exeter Company of Archers' events. "Chris was there with a smile and a laugh," she said. "In the kitchen making teas and sandwiches for tournaments, encouraging new archers at have-a-goes and beginners' courses, and on the field, or in the woods, shooting her longbow. Chris was a regular competitor at Dunster week and will be much missed by all her archery companions.

"She was an inspiration to us all, an archer who embodied the true spirit of the archery motto: Stout arm, strong bow, steady eye, union, true heart and courtesy.”

So club members decided they had to do something as a tribute to her and decided to hold a collection in her memory at the Devon and Cornwall Grand Day tournament in May. There is a two-way longbow national in the morning followed by nationals for all styles of bow. All the money raised will go towards the Exeter Leukaemia Fund.

Christine's daughter, Shona Rawlings, is also raising cash for the fund through a Just Giving page. If you wish to contribute, just type Christine Oakes into the site's search engine.

So what does it do? Find out why county associations are so important

When Ralph Wood was told by his club secretary that Dorset and Wiltshire Archery Association needed volunteers to help its committee, he realised something. He did not really know what it was or what it did. So he decided to find out.

He had been shooting for nearly 50 years but, as a hobby archer, rarely entered any shoots other than at the club or local friendlies. He had certainly never been involved with county, regional or national shoots.

But what he found out led to him becoming DWAA treasurer. So what made him so willing to give up his time?

He said: "I found out that DWAA was responsible for authorising all training that leads to coaching qualifications in the counties. Your Level 1 and 2 qualified coaches would have qualified by attending a counties' authorised course and they would have been eligible for a grant for the cost of the course. The region, the Grand Western Archery Society, will match any grant awarded by DWAA. The counties also provide grants for other reasons such as clothing for judges and for archers representing the counties in competitions. The DWAA also has discretionary funds for grants to individual archers.

"The DWAA's website is a central location for what is going on in local clubs, which saves you having to consult many websites.

"As well as organising various competitions in the area, it also selects, supports and manages local archers, both senior and junior, to represent the county.

"The DWAA provides various services to help individual clubs. One of the simplest is allowing the clubs to send regional and county fees and forms together, reducing postage and complexity for clubs. Clubs also have access to a person who can help navigate and resolve protection issues or even disputes within clubs. This can be a major advantage as it can involve a lot of negotiation and skill to get to a resolution.

"Clubs can also use DWAA to find judges for their competition as well as borrowing a set of official lights, which are held by DWAA.

"So, if like me you want your county organisation to continue, do please get involved and offer your help. Not all help has to involve attending committee meetings and your costs can be reimbursed."

Services provided by DWAA

For archers

Local record status shoots. Authorisation of coaching courses. Grants for those taking coaching qualifications. Become a candidate judge, clothing allowance is available as a grant. Organising and managing county teams (senior and junior). Grants for county team events. Discretionary grants for individual archers. Website detailing local archery events and news.

For clubs

Website to advertise club events to a wider audience. List of local judges who could officiate at club shoots. Ability to pay GWAS and DWAA fees in one go, and notification of each year's fees. Ability to borrow competition timing lights (needed for record status shoots). Protection officer, to advise and guide resolution of issues within the club.

Committee members

Get paid expenses including car mileage. Get involved in helping archers in the area and clubs to function successfully.

A little too festive?

Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. We all dream of white Christmases but they can prove a little inconvenient; as Colchester and District Archery Club found out.

It had organised a festive fun shoot but the weather proved a little too seasonal and, despite members giving it a go, they had to abandon shooting in the end.

Testing the theory

Burscough Archers has been putting the long winter to good use by meeting once a month for theory sessions. The idea was developed by Sarah Holland, a founder member, and she is managing the ongoing programme.

Some of the topics covered includes:

Exercise and nutrition in sport and especially in archery. Physiology of archery. String making. Arrows and fletching. Basic bow tuning. Insurance matters. A presentation on becoming a judge. A presentation by an Olympic archer. A Q and A session with a panel. Buying equipment. Rules of shooting by a judge.

Lucy Holmes, a co-ordinator on the Macmillan Exercise Programme covered the first topic and there was lots of interaction as members tried the exercises she demonstrated and discussed the best diet.

Helping archery grow

Britain's band of archery instructors is growing fast thanks, in part, to Saracen Archery in Huddersfield. It recently hosted an Instructors Award course attended by candidates from across West Yorkshire and Lancashire. Most of the candidates already work in the youth sector and were all eager to learn how to run archery taster sessions.

The club also seized the chance to train up three of its own members. Saracen Archery has been going for three years and shoots indoors at a Huddersfield mosque, where archery is part of a series of activities for young people and adults in the local community.

A warm welcome

NICSSA Archery Club and Muckamore Company of Archers donned their Christmas jumpers and braved snow and ice to take part in a joint competition.

Not all of them made it through but those that did were rewarded with a warm welcome, festive music, the chance to shoot a double Portsmouth and even a visit from Father Christmas.

And there was goodwill all round as they managed to raise £200 for Save the Children.

News: Obituaries

Rachel Watson

From 2007, Rachel Watson was the first point of contact for many members who contacted Archery GB. This popular and valued member of the Archery GB team passed away in January after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 50. Her main focus was working with volunteers, supporting leaders, instructors and with CRB/DBS checks. She was the secretary to the Operations Committee and worked closely with Archery GB's historian, Arthur Credland. But her favourite job was working on Archery UK. She was an integral and very enthusiastic part of the team, proofreading articles, giving advice and even editing the spring 2011 edition of the magazine. She will be much missed.

Dave Hill

Dave Hill, who helped found both Overton Archers and Overton Black Arrows, has passed away. He was well known and had been a member of British Field squads and teams. He was also the course organiser for the World and European field Championships at The Warren, Kingsclere in 1982.

Alan Mawditt

Alan Mawditt of Hertford Company of Archers has passed away. He joined the club with his wife, Helen, in 1991. Both became coaches and specialised in working with juniors via school clubs and physically impaired archers. Alan served on the club committee, had been its Chairman and was well known for his relentless enthusiasm.

Barry Morris

Barry Morris, a member of Andover Archers, has passed away after a short illness. He joined the club in 2005 and quickly found his true love: the longbow. He was in his element when designing, building and repairing things for the club's benefit and when watching his grand-daughter Aliyah, who he had taught to shoot, taking part in competitions.

Michael Karaphillides

Michael Karaphillides, who was born with spina bifida and went on to represent Great Britain at two Paralympics in three different sports, including archery, and pushed the boundaries of wheelchair sports, has passed away.

His first successes were in swimming, then he played basketball for England and competed at the 1984 Games in pentathlon and marathon. He first started shooting in 1960 and competed until 1972, becoming a British champion. In 2014, he became hooked again at a have-a-go run by Clophill Archery Club. In 2007, he became British champion at the British and European Championships at Stoke Mandeville and was asked to represent the nation at the World Championships. He was working for Camden Council but gave up his job to concentrate on training when he was asked to join the Paralympic archery squad and competed at the 2008 games in Beijing.

David Cochrane

David Cochrane, a longbow and recurve archer, coach, judge and member of Hereford Company of Bowmen, has passed away. He helped set up several clubs, raised funds for coaching and devoted much of his time to passing on his knowledge. He was a county and regional judge and one of proudest moments was officiating at the Agincourt 600 Tournament at Chatsworth House in 2015. He was a staunch member of the British Longbow Society, had been field captain at the Herefordshire Bow Meeting Society. He had also been County Coaching Officer for Herefordshire and Chairman and Treasurer of the Herefordshire County Archery Association.

Gladys Ingham

Gladys Ingham, Club President and founder member of Friskney Bowmen, has passed away at the age of 91. She and her late husband Dennis set up Friskney Bowmen in 1965 and dedicated their lives to archery. The former European field champion was still shooting at the age of 80 and continued to support the club.

History

Bows, but no arrows: The almost forgotten alternative

Arthur Credland is Archery GB's official historian, and he wants to hear from you. Contact him at historian@archerygb.org.

Drawing: An unusual centre-shot stonebow circa 1440 with an iron central frame. Picture from: Catherine of Cleves' Book of Hours.

The stonebow is now largely forgotten, but was once widespread across Europe, China, India and south-east Asia. In effect it is a sling attached to a bow, a double string with spacers and a pouch to hold the missile. As the name suggests the early users picked up a suitably smooth and rounded stone but later hardened clay balls made in a mould provided a ready and reliable supply of ammunition.

They were commonplace in the Middle Ages and numbers of accidental deaths can be found in 13th-century records. Hand stonebows, as well as pellet-shooting crossbows, were frequently misused and the byelaws in 14th and 15th century London forbade the carrying of such weapons on the streets. On the first offence, the bow would be confiscated, on the second a fine would be imposed and for a third the person would be imprisoned.

By the end of the 16th century, stonebows had been largely discarded in Europe except in Venice were they were popular for shooting birds out on the lagoons. They remained in use there until well into the 18th century.

The English presence in India during the days of the Raj brought many Europeans into contact with the gulel, the bamboo stonebow in widespread use on the sub-continent. Captain Norton, an expert in ballistics, expressed his enthusiasm for it in a piece written for the Sporting Magazine in 1830. It was brought to the attention of the young people of Britain in an illustrated article published in the Boys Own Paper in 1900.

There are other ways of using the bow for projecting pellets, namely to fix a cup to the end of a captive arrow shaft. When the archer lets go the shaft stays attached to the string and the contents of the container are ejected. This was described by Walter Moseley in his Essay on Archery, 1792. Similar methods are found described in various treatises on archery compiled in Arabia and Turkey during the Middle Ages.

The pellet bow has been recorded in south east Asia into the 20th century and it is likely that it is still in use in some of the remoter villages of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. They were used for shooting birds for the pot and driving off marauding animals. Herdsmen would

aim a pebble at the rump of goats, sheep or cattle to help drive them on the way. They are also useful for personal defence and could inflict a painful blow, or even death if shot at close range.

Aiming is instinctive and bows of appropriate size were placed in the hands of children at a very young age so that they developed a natural facility, in the way youngsters in Britain became adept in the use of the elastic catapult.

Juniors

Ambition achieved: Now bring on the next challenge

Carrying your nation's flag at the opening of a world championships is just about the biggest honour any athlete can hope for. So when Amelia Thomas led out the British squad at the 3D Championships in Robion, France, it was something very special. Why? Because Amelia is just 12 years old.

She might have been shooting as a senior but the barebow specialist was, unsurprisingly, the youngest competitor. So what did she make of the experience?

"It was huge, from being told I was on the senior team representing Great Britain, to being asked to carry the flag at the opening ceremony and shooting with some of the best 3D archers in the world. 

"It was quite scary at first because I'm 12 and had never been away from my parents for longer than a day. But towards the end of the week I gained confidence thanks to my chaperone Vic Williams and the rest of the GB team. They were all very supportive. I also made lots of friends with other archers from other countries who I hope to see at shoots in the future.

"Although I have been a field archer for a few years and I've shot at lots of competitions, I didn't have much experience of 3D before going to France. But I think it has helped me tremendously and encouraged me to be a better 3D archer."

When she is not representing her country she spends most of her time training with Pentref Bowmen. And, having achieved one ambition, she is now working towards others: becoming our best barebow archer, representing GB many more times and bringing home world titles.

She is well on her way. To date she holds British field and target records, has won three British junior field championship titles and has triumphed at both the junior national indoor and outdoor championships.

Loving every minute

Photo: Anne Mellor gets some practice in.

When Anne Mellor was at primary school, one of her favourite things was archery at the Friday after-school club. But when she moved up to secondary school, it all stopped. And she missed it.

So mum Rachel tracked down the Cockermouth Archery Club and got all the family involved. She said: "Club members could not have been kinder or friendlier. The coaching is wonderful and we are loving every minute."

And Anne could not agree more. "In the club, they will lend you a bow if you don't have one already and the people there spend lots of time helping you, sometimes more than they do shooting for themselves, which is very kind of them.

"They show you how to set up and tidy away at the end, how to string your bow, fletch your arrows and use a sight. They brought in lots of different bows for us to try. They show you how to be safe. I shoot a recurve bow.

"You can go to the club on a Saturday morning outdoors at the rugby club and to a school hall to shoot indoors on a Tuesday evening. It's great," she said, "and everyone is very friendly."

L2 coach at 17: Maia sets new standard

Say hello to Maia Daborn. She is 17 years old and is the youngest Level 2 archery coach in Britain.

Maia caught the archery bug during a have-a-go and started shooting when she was 10. She had no interest in competing until a clubmate convinced her to try out for the Hampshire squad. She did a little too well and went on to compete in target, field, clout and wand competitions shooting barebow and longbow and breaking both national and county records. But it was never enough.

What she really wanted to do was coach. She volunteered at her club, Whitehill Archers, mentoring those new to the sport and becoming junior representative and a committee member. As soon as she could, she started her Level 1 course. She was 15.

It gave her the chance to get fully involved in her favourite things: have-a-goes and beginners' courses. She has coached people of all ages and from all backgrounds, and her dad, but particularly enjoys working with young people and children.

She said: "I have been lucky. I received some great coaching and advice through the years, both from individuals and as part of the Hampshire Junior Performance Pathway coaching sessions. That, plus the early experience helping in taster sessions, really stimulated my interest in helping others to enjoy archery.

"To see someone get pleasure from archery after I have coached them gives me a really great feeling. That's why I wanted to do the Level 2 course. I wanted to build my knowledge and gain further expertise in coaching technique, equipment set-up and psychology so that I could pass it on to others."

So what’s next?

"I would like to continue to compete and further develop my coaching and equipment skills," she said. "My Level 2 assessor said I should consider trying for County Coach. This is something I am very interested in, but fitting it in with my A levels could be a challenge."

Photo: Even an ice skating accident in 2015 could not keep Maia from coaching.

The Colts are gaining ground

How do you make sure a sport's future is secure? By investing in young people, of course. And that is exactly what is happening at Wellingborough Open Archery Club.

Members have revived an old idea, the Wellingborough Colts, to get young members involved and it seems to be working. The club has new facilities and a new junior representative, Russell Lunn.

It has also organised many more coaching sessions for the Colts. They have gone from one per term to one a week and local schools are getting involved.

They also got Boost funding from Archery GB which meant they could buy new junior compounds and flatbows, which has given them the chance to enter more competitions in recurve, traditional and compound sections.

It is paying off. The club now has a total of 32 juniors who have added 12 new records over the past two years. And they are hungry for more, so watch out.

Field

Blooming good start: Kicking off the year in style

Photo: Daffodil Shoot archers make a difficult shot across the river.

There is only one way to get a new year under way, particularly after weeks of snow, storms and rain. And that's to get outside and shoot. So that's what hardy souls from Ballyvally did, once they had cleared the course.

In fact, the Whytes Estate had to be cleared of fallen trees and broken branches three times before they got out there and it is fair to say some fairly anxious archers turned up for the annual Snowdrop Tournament.

It was worth it. They were rewarded with two bright, fine, and warm, days with minimal winds as they battled through the waterlogged course and there were some fantastic results. Northern Irish and UK records fell and entrants claimed 10 international Arrowheads, including two for Kay Kelly.

Ballyvally's flower theme continued as, three weeks later, 70 archers took part in its annual Daffodil Shoot in Tolleymore Forest.

Scores at the course count towards GB team selection for this year's World Archery Field Championships in Cortina, Italy, so it proved suitably challenging with some tricky steep shots. But that did not put anyone off and there were some cracking performances, particularly from Ballyvally junior Kathryn Morton, who broke a UK record.

Club members Sam Jackson, Gilbert McClelland and Mark Nesbitt took titles while Alan McCullagh won the men's beginner medal. Mark Wheeler and Patricia McClean also rang the changes, shooting Mongolian horse bows in the new styles category.

Coming up soon

7 April: Kendal Bowmen Open Tournament, Kendal, Cumbria. 14 April: UKRS Scottish Archery Field championships and AFA Open, (Arrowhead),

Inverawe. 21 April: Ballyvally Buttercup (Arrowhead), Whyte's Estate, Loughbrickland. 12 May: UKRS Banbridge Castle Shoot (Arrowhead), Gilford Castle Estate.

For full details about these competitions, and the rest of the field tournament diary, please see pages 40 to 44 of the separate document, 2018 Spring Tournament Diary: Archery UK Magazine.

If you are holding an event and want to advertise it in Archery UK's diary pages, it's easy. Simply contact Karen Hodgkiss at karen.hodgkiss@archerygb.org and she can help you with everything you need to know.

Clout

A brilliant start: Tons of fun at 1066's first clout

We all have to start somewhere and the 1066 Archery Club in Kent chose one of the last days of 2017 for its first clout shoot. And members loved every minute.  The winds were high, the temperatures fell, but they turned out in force and did not mind a bit.

Member Simon Skelding said: "The shooting wasn't exactly brilliant but that was not important. Everybody had fun. What's more, a good number of people turned up just to watch."

And it was the juniors who showed the adults how to do it taking the top spots. Thomas Bedwell came top with Katie Lees second.

Sizzling in the snow

Wrapping up warm was the order of the day as archers gathered for the Kettering and Open Clout tournament. But, as David Burnett's picture shows, there were some sizzling performances at the UK record status and Metric tassel event.

You can find more pictures on the club's Facebook page and information about the event on the Kettering Archers website: www.ketteringarchers.co.uk.

Coming up soon

14 April: UKRS Yorkshire Clout Weekend Hutton Cranswick Sports Field. 7 May: UKRS 14th Cheshire and Open Clout Championships. Wirral Rugby Ground. 27 May: UKRS Burton Bridge Open Clout Championships. Washlands Sports Club. 9 June: UKRS Eagle Bowmen Weekend of Clout Frenchfield Playing Fields. 18 June: UKRS 63rd Dunster Week The Old Park of Dunster Castle.

For full details about these competitions, and the rest of the diary, please see the separate document, 2018 Spring Tournament Diary: Archery UK Magazine.

Disabilities

Be part of the action: Entries open for Disabilities Championships

Entries have opened for the 2018 Disability Championships. So there is only one question: have you managed to book your place in one of archery's premier events?

It is open to World Archery classified athletes and athletes with a physical impairment and will be a 720 round with head to heads.

Tom Duggan Paralympic Programme Manager said: "I'm delighted that we are hosting the 2018 Disability Championships. It gives everyone an opportunity to compete in a top level event and challenge themselves against the best in the UK."

Qualification and finals for disability categories will be held on Saturday 23 June with finals for the World Archery classified athletes the following day.

Depending on final entries the Organising Committee (OC) reserves the right to combine genders within disciplines in the interest of creating a competitive environment.

The categories are:

World Archery classified athletes

Recurve open:

Men (70m). Women (70m).

Compound open:

Men (50m). Women (50m).

W1:

Men (50m). Women (50m).

Archers with a disability

An archer with a physical impairment but does not have a valid classification under World Archery rules.

Disability compound men (50m). Disability compound women (50m). Disability recurve men (70m). Disability recurve women (70m). Visually Impaired athletes. Open compound men (30m). Open compound women (30m). Open recurve women (30m). Open recurve men (30m).

Sharing British expertise

Britain's visually impaired archers are building an enviable reputation on the world stage, so much so that coach Sue Habgood was invited to Germany to share some of the secrets of our success.

County coach Sue travelled to Bogensportclub BB-Berlin, the German archery bundesliga champions, to give a presentation. But first she got a chance to see club members in action.

"There was a competition for archers with a variety of disabilities and I was impressed at the standard of shooting. It was lovely to see a range of abilities from Olympic standard to beginners."

The following day she gave her presentation, with the help of a translator, to a mix of archers, coaches, supporters and family members.

"I explained the coaching methods used to assist VI archers to shoot well and that the same principles of correct stance and shooting action that apply to the able-bodied also apply to VI archers. Having a good style is important. Then the tactile equipment was introduced.

"The foot locators are positioned on the shooting line so that the archer is in line with the target. The tripod and tactile sight is set so that when the archer raises his or her arm the back of the hand lightly touches the sight. This takes the place of a sight ring and can be moved according to the distance required.

"There was lots of interest. All the coaches and some archers tried out the tactile system and asked plenty of questions. I was very pleased one young lad who is losing his sight took to using the tactile equipment and spent the afternoon shooting very well. Other VI archers were able to show how consistent their shooting was using the equipment.

"It was a pleasure talking to the coaches about how we operated and explaining some of the history of VI archery and how we came to use the system we have today.

"The sport needs more archers with visual impairments and other disabilities to show what can be achieved so I was delighted to take this opportunity to visit BSC BB-Berlin and thank all the members for their welcome."

Sport: Participation

A fresh approach: Making sure clubs get the best support

ontarget is Archery GB's club development programme. It recognises the commitment and vital role that clubs play in growing our sport. Now, after seven years of success, it is time to freshen things up.

The idea is to make sure that clubs get the very best support and benefit from being part of ontarget so, from April 2018, all ontarget clubs will be asked to renew their membership.

It will involve answering some simple questions, only this time members will be asked to self-assess their club and identify the biggest barriers to their long-term development. This

will help us tailor future resources appropriately and support club's next steps. Further information will be sent to all ontarget clubs.

The three key areas are:

Community: Want to get more people involved in our wonderfully inclusive, social, family-friendly sport? Then consider achieving the Community club specialism.

Young people: If archery is to grow, we need to get young people of all abilities involved. Clubs already play a vital role but if your club wants to develop that further, it's worth considering achieving the Young People club specialism.

Performance: A Performance club is not just about archers. It is about coaches, judges, volunteers and club officials too. A performance club understands the need to help them all develop by creating opportunities to train, build on skills, achieve their potential and satisfy goals.

All ontarget clubs are invited to consider gaining one or more specialisms. You need to think about what activities you provide, compare them to the characteristics of the specialisms, think about how you meet the requirements, and how you can do even more.

Helping clubs reflect on their strengths and weaknesses will give clear ideas of what is needed. The Sport Team is always on hand to give advice and support to clubs that are interested in, or already going through, the process.

For more information go to the Archery GB website and type ontarget into the search engine.

Competition review update

Archery GB is in the process of an in-depth consultation with members to review our competition landscape.

So far, we have successfully completed eight workshops where the key themes have included the provision of competitions where families can compete together, entry level competitions for beginners and geographical challenges regarding suitable venues for Tier 1 events.

But you can still help us shape the future of our Competition Strategy.

The competition review is ongoing and we would like to hear from as many people as possible, whether you compete or not. So please take the opportunity to feedback to us, or if you would like to become more involved with the review, check out the website because

more workshops are being planned. Or you can email us via competitionreview@archerygb.org.

Funding

Stand out from the rest

If you need money for a new project or to develop your club, knowing where to look can be daunting. The other problem is that bursaries, funding pots and sponsors are often flooded with applications. So how do you make your application stand out from the rest?

The best way is to clearly demonstrate the benefits and highlight the difference the funding will make to the local community. These are the key points, and there is help available.

Every three months Archery GB releases an updated Handy Guide to Funding. It will outline new schemes, existing schemes, fundraising ideas and tips on how to successfully apply for funding.

Some of the latest funding opportunities being offered are:

Sport England

Small Grants Scheme: Grants can be awarded between £300 and £10,000 each year to support local community sport projects which seek to help more people play.

Community Asset Fund: Replaces Inspired Facilities which helped more than 15 archery clubs. They shared over £620,000 to improve facilities. This new fund helps local organisations to create good customer experiences and financially sustainable facilities that benefit their community for years to come.

For more information visit the funding section of the Sport England website: www.sportengland.org/funding.

Sport Scotland

UKCC subsidy for coaches: Coaches looking to qualify at Level 1 and 2 can apply for funding support.

Awards For All: Awards grants between £500 and £10,000 for projects that involve bringing local people together, helping people learn, improving local spaces and getting people more active.

Sports Facilities Fund: The next submission deadline is 1 May 2018.

For more information visit the funding section of the Sport Scotland website: www.sportscotland.org.uk/funding.

Sport Wales (Chwaraeon Cymru)

Community Chest: Offers grant of up to £1,500 in any 12 month period for activities towards increasing participation and/or improving standards.

Development Grant: Grants of between £1,501 and £25,000 are available for new clubs, equipment as well as coach education, floodlighting for training purposes, purchase of land or rights in land to develop activity areas.

For more information on these grants visit the funding and support section of the Sport Wales (Chwaraeon Cymru) website: sport.wales/funding--support.aspx.

Sport Northern Ireland

Active Awards Programme: Eligible groups can apply for grants from £1,000 to £10,000 which contribute to addressing the continued under-representation in sport among women and girls, people with a disability, people living in areas of greatest need.

Facility Fund Programme: Investment in sport facilities which seek to increase participation within the club structure, across local communities or seeks to partially address the high performance training needs of Northern Ireland athletes.

For more information visit the funding section of the Sport NI website: www.sportni.net/funding/.

A warm welcome and a great experience

Does your club provide a great experience for all your members? And does it have everything in place to attract and welcome potential members?

We are in the process of building the club resources page on the Archery GB website to provide more support to the different groups your club caters for. We are focusing on those groups that are not yet fully represented within our sport, or who are more likely to leave within a short period: disabled people, children and young people, women and girls.

Go to the Club Facilities and Development section on the Archery GB website and scroll down to Club Resources for more information. There you will find lots of helpful links, including one to the English Federation for Disability Sport's Talk to Me report which identifies 10 ways to make your club more welcoming.

Sport: Pathway

What you need to do

2018 youth selection policies published

Archery GB Performance has published youth selection policies for the 2018 European Youth Cup, European Youth Championships and Youth Olympic Games.

Athletes seeking to represent Great Britain will be required to successfully progress through three stages of selection designed to test their capability to succeed on the international stage.

Director of Sport, David Tillotson said: "These stages are designed to build on and exceed medal success in 2017 by identifying young archers who are internationally competitive in both their shooting ability and their competition management, as well as being great team players on and off the shooting line. This is vital to develop athletes who have what it takes to win at the 2019 World Championships where the crucial Tokyo Olympic qualification will be contested."

From today, recurve athletes will be able to submit up to 10 scores to a score tracker. Compound athletes will be asked to submit one 50-metre and two head to head scores. Scores achieved in WRS competitions from 1 May 2017 can be submitted and Archery GB recommends submitting top scores, even if these are below the minimum score threshold.

Recurvers can access their score tracker by going to the Archery GB website, clicking on National Squads and scrolling down to Selection Criteria and Squad Information. Compounders should email jon.nott@archerygb.org for their score tracker.

Athletes who achieve the minimum scores will be invited to participate in Stage 2. Performance during a series of selection events will then determine who will be nominated to represent Great Britain in 2018. Once they have been selected and ratified, they will be expected to maintain or improve standards during Stage 3.

A guide to the Archery GB youth compound selection policy 2018:

Rovereto: European Youth Cup Team

4 Compound Junior Women. 4 Compound Junior Men. 4 Compound Cadet Women. 4 Compound Cadet Men.

Patras: European Youth Championship Team

3 Compound Junior Women. 3 Compound Junior Men. 3 Compound Cadet Women. 3 Compound Cadet Men.

Selection decision:

The selection panel may decide to take fewer than the maximum permitted number of athletes.

Stage 1: Get the Scores

Junior Men: Total score for 1 x 720 + 2 x Head to Head = 970. (Based on 682 + 144.)

Junior Women: Total score for 1 x 720 + 2 x Head to Head = 948. (Based on 666 + 141.)

Cadet Boys: Total score for 1 x 720 + 2 x Head to Head = 958. (Based on 674 + 142.)

Cadet Girls: Total score for 1 x 720 + 2 x Head to Head = 938. (Based on 656 + 141.)

Scores must be obtained at WRS tournaments from 1 May 2017.

Stage 1: Record your Scores

Deadline: 02/04. Email jon.nott@archerygb.org for access to the score tracker.

Stage 2: Selection shoots

1. 07/04/182. 26/05/18

Venue: Lilleshall National Sports Centre.

Format:

720 Qualification round. Round robin head to head matches. Round robin one arrow shoot offs. Match win bonus. Starting points weighing for qualifying scores – selection shoot 1 only.

Stage 3: Maintain, improve, succeed

Performance.

Behaviours. Team unity.

Full policy:

The full selection policy can be found in the selection criteria section of the Archery GB website: http://www.archerygb.org/national-squads-records/selection-criteria/.

A guide to the Archery GB youth recurve selection policy 2018:

Rovereto: European Youth Cup Team

4 Recurve Junior Women.

4 Recurve Junior Men. 4 Recurve Cadet Women. 4 Recurve Cadet Men.

Patras: European Youth Championship Team

3 Recurve Junior Women. 3 Recurve Junior Men. 3 Recurve Cadet Women. 3 Recurve Cadet Men.

Buenos Aires: Youth Olympic Games Team

1 Recurve Cadet Woman. 1 Recurve Cadet Man.

Selection decision:

The selection panel may decide to take fewer than the maximum permitted number of athletes.

Stage 1: Get the Scores

Year of birth with minimum level and frequency for consideration to enter the selection process:

Junior Men: 1998 and 1999. 2 x 600 at 70m.

Junior Men: 2000. 2 x 625 at 60m or 600 at 70m.

Junior Women: 1998 and 1999. 2 x 580 at 70m.

Junior Women: 2000. 2 x 610 at 60m or 580 at 70m.

Cadet Boys: 2001 or later. 2 x 610 at 60m or 580 at 70m.

Cadet Girls: 2001 or later. 2 x 600 at 60m or 550 at 70m.

Scores must be obtained at WRS tournaments from 1 May 2017.

Stage 1: Record your Scores

Deadline: 02/04. Enter the scores at Archery GB recurve youth selection scores 2018 on Survey Monkey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2018youthrecurve.

Stage 2: Selection shoots

1. 07/04/182. 26/05/18

YOG women 29/07/18 to 03/08/18

Venue: Lilleshall National Sports Centre

Format:

720 Qualification round. Round robin head to head matches. Round robin one arrow shoot offs.

Stage 3: Maintain, improve, succeed

Performance. Behaviours. Team unity.

Full policy:

The full selection policy can be found in the selection criteria section of the Archery GB website: http://www.archerygb.org/national-squads-records/selection-criteria/.

Making good progress

Derbyshire's Archery Training Centre has been running for more than six months now; and it is going from strength to strength with over a dozen athletes attending each session.

The centre, which was set up by County and Academy coach David Anderson, builds on coaching already available in the area to provide aligned performance training.

Recurve and longbow archers are getting the benefit at the moment and compounders will join them soon.

Sport: Performance

A sound investment: UK Sport funding secured for Tokyo 2020

Improving international competitiveness has resulted in Archery GB receiving National Lottery funding support from UK Sport as part of the Summer Sports Annual Investment Review.

Despite losing its funding at the end of 2016, Archery GB kept its focus and set a target of winning a medal at the 2017 World Championship in Mexico. We also stayed committed and invested other funds in training and competitions. The result was that our athletes showed a steady progression throughout 2017, with all national squad athletes and teams significantly improving their world rankings. This culminated in our achieving our target of a medal, bronze in the mixed team competition, at the world championships.

Archery GB was invited by UK Sport to submit its Annual Investment Review in December and met UK Sport in January. Demonstrating our continued upward performance trajectory, based on changes in our performance thinking, world-leading coaching as well as committed athletes, secured the funding.

UK Sport's medal support plan investment will allow Archery GB to support training as well as coaching, competitions, travel, equipment and expert sport science and medicine for our Olympic team. Archery GB has also received additional coaching and programme support

for our Paralympic team to allow us to deepen the available resources and prepare more thoroughly.

David Tillotson, Archery GB Director of Sport, said: "Our increased performance capability over 2017 and the introduction of the mixed team event for Tokyo 2020, has brought about our increasing international competitiveness. We have learned fast and committed quickly to what we needed to do to increase the probability of medals.

"We appreciate UK Sport's support for our progress and this funding will allow us to move on with our thinking and preparation as we seek to deliver medals this year at the European Championships and qualify at the first attempt for Tokyo, at the World Championships in Holland 2019."

Bursary boost for Jodie

Photo: Jodie Grinham winning Paralympic compound mixed team silver with John Stubbs at Rio 2016.

Rio silver medallist Jodie Grinham is among seven athletes who have been given a GB Para-Athlete Bursary by Hogan Lovells, the official legal services provider to the British Paralympic Association.

The £2,000 is designed to help give the athletes aiming for Tokyo 2020 or who competed in the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games a competitive edge by helping them to purchase or replace vital equipment or pay for travel to training camps and competitions.

Jodie said: "Thanks to the bursary I am now able to update my equipment. Arrows will be first on my list. I am currently using two year old arrows which have served me well. However buying new ones will give me the extra points I need to really get to the top of my sport. I can also purchase a new release aid and other archery kit I have been needing.

"It will also mean I can give back some of the equipment I have been borrowing from my fellow athletes.

"Having my own means I can adjust and set up my equipment to suit me. As each person is different this will have a massive impact. In a sport where your equipment is just as important as the athlete, you need the best to be the best."

Nicholas Cheffings, Chairman of Hogan Lovells, said: "We are incredibly proud to be able to support such inspiring and talented athletes and we are looking forward to watching and supporting them in the future. The Hogan Lovells GB Para-Athlete Bursary will empower even more athletes to reach their potential."

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, said: "Hogan Lovells is a great champion for para sport and I look forward to seeing how the athletes receiving these bursaries can develop over the coming months and years and hope to see them representing ParalympicsGB in the future."

Two golds, one silver and big smiles at Nimes

More than 60 British archers headed to third stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup in Nimes, and young British stars stole the show, winning two golds and a silver.

First blood went to Penny Healey in the recurve youth girls' category. She beat all-comers to go 15 points clear of the nearest opposition, Spain's Julia Galera Lopez de Felipe, and take the title. Then Alex Wise and Lucy Mason swept into action.

Alex was facing Anthony Barbier of France in the junior recurve men's gold final after seeing off challenges from Alen Remar of Croatia, Turkey's Goze Dogukan in a shoot-off, Jonah Wilthagen of the Netherlands and Belgium's Senna Roos.

The British second seed took the first set 29 to 27 before the Frenchman pulled back to take the second by a single point. Alex took the third for a 4 to 2 lead and the fourth set was a tie. But there was no way Alex was coming home with less than the title and he shot 9, 10, 10 to win gold.

Lucy Mason was shooting for gold in the junior women's compound competition. In the opening rounds she swept past American Daisy Lente, fellow Briton and fifth seed Ella Gibson and top seed Sunniva Lislevand of Norway. That brought her face to face with second-ranked Elisa Roner of Italy in a battle for the title.

And it was neck and neck all the way. The match started with a tie. Roner pulled a point ahead in the second end before another draw and then Lucy shot a perfect 30 to level the score. And that is how it stayed. That meant a single-arrow shoot-off to decide the title. Both archers shot a 10, but the Italian's was marginally closer to the centre, leaving Lucy with a hard-fought, and very well deserved, silver.

Solid performances in Vegas

More than 40 British archers headed for Las Vegas and turned in solid performances in the fourth leg of the Indoor World Cup as well as the Vegas Shoot Championship and flight divisions.

Recurvers Patrick Huston and Bryony Pitman put on stunning performances in the World Cup but were edged out of quarter final contention while a shoot-off against Korea's So Chaewon cost Edinburgh University's Sarah Prieels the compound bronze medal.

In the championship competition, Patrick finished in 16th spot with Ashe Morgan 27th and Bryony 18th.

Compounder Hope Greenwood took 40th place in the championship, four places ahead of Hannah Brown. Daisy Clark was in 52nd spot with Stephanie Clason 77th. Chris White was ranked 60th, ahead of Simon McKelvey at 102 and Tapani Kalmaru at 141.

Matthew Yuk Wah Wong was ranked 44th in the compound young adult competition. Caroline Tebbs had earlier ranked 70th and Bob Pinder 84th in the compound youth category.

Two British archers shot in the barebow open competition. Jacqueline Hunt finished in 56th spot, just ahead of Simon Kennedy in 74th.

Others opted to compete in the flight divisions where there were more chances to win prizes. Among the most spectacular successes were recurvers Guy Matkin, Ryan Pinder and Kate Dunnighan finished second, third and fourth respectively in group two while compounder Alexander Lamb finished third in group 21.

Juniors shine at World Championships

Photo: The GB team with coach Christina Goodman.

Five British athletes took on the sport's finest at the World Indoor Championships at Yankton, and came away with two well-deserved fourth places.

Junior compounder Layla Annison was central to the achievements. A fourth place in qualification had handed her a bye into the last 16 where she saw off the challenges from

Canada's J'Lynn Mitchell and Italian Sara Ret before falling to eventual silver medallist Elisa Roner.

That left her facing Asstrid Alanis and it was neck and neck all the way until the Mexican finally edged ahead to take bronze.

Earlier, Layla, Ella Gibson and Bayley Sargeant came within two points of claiming junior team bronze from top seeds Italy.

Italy opened with a perfect 60 then stretched their advantage in the second end. Britain battled back to take a one-point lead in the third but Italy won the fourth 59 to 56 to take the medal.

The other British representatives were compounder Hope Greenwood and Olympian Patrick Huston.

Hope was denied a quarter-finals spot by Italian Irene Franchini while recurver Patrick was edged out by top seed Yuki Kawata of Japan. Edinburgh University's Sarah Prieels, shooting for Belgium, reached the quarter finals but was halted by Russia's Natalia Avdeeva.

Birmingham 2022 bid wins more support

The battle to get archery included in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is hotting up, and it is creating opportunities for Archery GB to help develop the sport in other countries too.

Hilda Gibson, who is leading World Archery's Commonwealth Working Group as part of the Games campaign, welcomed Ugandan athlete Sula Blick to Lilleshall. The idea was to show him a world-class high performance environment in action so that he can take the ideas back to his homeland.

So is he backing the bid to get archery included in the Commonwealth Games? "Yes," he said. "It would help to promote archery as a Commonwealth sport and would give each country, including mine, something to aim for."

The Ugandan Archery Federation is working hard to build the sport in the country and is aiming to send a representative to the 2020 Olympic Games. But one of the key limiting factors is the shortage of equipment so Sula received a second-hand bow from Hilda as a gesture of goodwill, ahead of providing more equipment in the future.

But if Ugandans, and the rest of the Commonwealth's archers, are to make their mark at Birmingham 2022, the sport must first be included in the Games. That has not happened since New Delhi 2010.

World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen has already met Birmingham 2022 representatives to discuss the issue.

"We are excited to be in dialogue with Birmingham City Council about the inclusion of archery on the 2022 sport programme," Hilda told insidethegames.

"We have recently put in place a three-year agreement for the Archery GB National Series Final to be held in Birmingham City Centre and, as a highly inclusive sport, we're ambitious

to help Birmingham put on a great Games reflecting the diversity of Birmingham and the Commonwealth."

Photo: Sula Blick with Hilda Gibson.

Tournaments

And our champions are: Drama all the way at the NIC

There was drama, thrills, spills and shoot-offs all the way but our 2017 National Indoor Champions have now been crowned. They are: Patrick Huston, Bryony Pitman, Layla Annison, Michael Kells, Luke Hagon and Sheila Hudson.

Top seed Patrick Huston cruised to recurve victory at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre, Stoneleigh Park. He defeated Michal Twarowski 6 to 2, fought off a determined challenged from Riley Spencer-Nice and overcame Michael Judd and Conor Hall to secure a place in the title match. There he faced sixth seed Guy Matzkin who beat Sonnie Emeney, Colin Geenes, Ashe Morgan and David Timmins in the semi-final. But experience told in the gold medal match as Patrick took the honours. Conor beat David to bronze.

It took a shoot-off to decide the women's recurve title. Sixth seed Bryony Pitman saw off challenges from Wendy Aubrey, Pip Taylor, Imogen Newby and second-ranked Hannah Burgess to earn her place in the gold medal match. There she faced 2008 Olympian Charlotte Burgess, who had beaten Jackie Fisher, Kayleigh Ivanov, Anne Smith and Lizzie Warner in a tense semi-final. It was neck-and neck all the way but it was Bryony who held her nerve to win gold. Lizzie beat Hannah to bronze.

Last year, Layla Annison won silver in the NIC compound finals. This year the 15-year-old went one better. The fourth seed powered past Jane Reith, Kirsty Robb, Stephanie Clason and Hope Greenwood to land her gold final spot. Her opponent was third seed Bayley Sargeant who had defeated Robyn Geddes, Izzy Carpenter, Daisy Clark and Lizzy Foster. In the end the difference in the title decider was only two points, but there was no way that Layla was going to settle for silver again. The bronze medal went to Lizzy Foster.

In the men's competition, eighth seed Michael Kells overcame Philip Glover, Jordan Mitchell, Marcus Yeoman and Mike Parvess for his shot at gold. And he faced 17-year-old Kai Thomas-Prause who first defeated Paralympic gold medallist John Walker then battled through shoot-offs against James Howse, Chris White and James Mason to earn his opportunity. Again, there were only two points in it but Michael clinched the title 145 to 143. James won the battle for bronze.

Sheila Hudson retained her longbow crown after qualifying in top spot. She fought off challenges from Rebecca Duncan and Bernadette Stubbings to earn a gold medal showdown with Sarah Ruth Hubbard who had overcome Louise Thomas, Sandie Graham and Jessica Nirkko to secure her place. But Sheila was in no mood to relinquish the title and went on to chalk up a 6 to 0 win. Jessica took bronze.

The men's longbow title went to fifth seed Luke Hagon who saw off Jowan Barnes, Ian Stowell and top seed Ben Ledwick. That brought him face to face with Rob Twigg who had defeated Edward Pike, Simon Thomas and 2016 champion Alex Newnes. It was a tough battle but Luke claimed the title with a 6 to 2 win and Alex won the battle for bronze.

A cracking start: Stars shine at JNIC and B2B

Our brightest young prospects seized their chance to shine and kicked off the new season in style at the Junior National Indoor Championships, while more established stars savoured victory in the Back to Back tournament.

Olympian Patrick Huston, fresh from a perfect 900 score at the Kings of Archery tournament, took the Back-to-Back recurve title at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre, Stoneleigh, with a 125 to 115 win over Ashe Morgan. The women's recurve title went to Bryony Pitman, who also competed in the Kings of Archery, with a 114 to 111 win over Alyssia Tromans-Ansell.

One point was enough to hand the men's compound crown to Chris White. He beat James Mason in a tense match that ended 129 to 128. And Lucy O'Sullivan took the women's compound title with a 124 to 120 victory over Bayley Sargeant.

More than 300 juniors from 123 clubs competed in the JNIC: and there was no shortage of drama.

When the overall results were compiled, two, Adam Carpenter (under-16s winner) and Jake Walsh (under-18s), had to share the men's compound title. They both shot 584 with 60 hits and 44 golds. And third-placed Nathan Thomas (under-16s) was not too far behind, scoring 579. Under-18s winner Ella Gibson took the overall women's title with 586 points, ahead of Holly Clifford (under-16s winner) on 576 and Chloe A'Bear (under-14s) on 574.

The women's recurve competitions served up their fair share of drama too. Under-18s winner Andrea Murray-Lopez took the overall title with a score of 581 but under-16s Eleanor Cole and Thea Rogers had to share the second spot after each shooting 566 with 60 hits and 32 golds. The men's title went to under-18s winner Jacob Reid who notched up an impressive 590, with Cameron Donaldson (under-18s) in second place and Riley Spencer-Nice (under-14s winner) third.

The men's overall longbow title went to under-18s winner Samuel Homewood with under-16s victor Samuel Kellett second and William Thomas (under-16s) third. Rosie Elliott (under-14s) took the women's honours, smashing a 16-year old record, ahead of Anja Rawlings (under-12s) and Amethyst Chopping (under-14s).

In the unrewarded category, Jacob Reid took top spot with Cameron Donaldson second, but third place again had to be shared between Adam Carpenter and Jake Walsh.

England took the 2017 Home Nations title, ahead of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A clearer target: New system makes charting your progress easy

Archery GB is trialling a new system for national rankings throughout 2018. The idea is to increase competitiveness by focusing on results and letting you follow your progress and position throughout the season.

The existing national rankings system will be updated and combined with the National Series which will be renamed the National Tour. All world record status competitions will be classified under one of three tiers. As the scheme grows, it will be developed to include more information and detail.

Archer bios and results history, rankings split by Home Country, Region and County are all possible future add-ons. It will also support selection criteria for National Squads and international trial events.

The rankings are provided to show who are the UK's top archers. They also give everyone a chance to measure performance against the rest of the UK. The level of the Tier 2 events will give enough points to achieve a top 20 position or higher.

Longbow, barebow and junior rankings will be reviewed in 2019. The current Archery GB competition review will be used as the starting point.

This is a pilot scheme and will be completed and reviewed by the end of October 2018. We welcome feedback via email: competitionreview@archerygb.org.

So, how does it work? We know there are some geographical challenges with Tier 1 events and we are to working rectify them. One advantage of the new system is that it is current and rolling, so anyone taking part can see where they sit in the national picture.

Tier 1 events attract the best archers in the country. They are harder to win so they earn you more ranking points. Tier 2 events offer a wider opportunity to gain points, and you can earn more points by topping the ranking and winning the head-to-head than by than coming fourth in a Tier 1.

The new system encourages members to use their local world record status 720 and head-to-heads to gain their ranking points, with a clear progression through the higher tiers. Plus, we have listened to you and will publish each archer's best score at the end of the season for both the 1440 and 720 rounds.

Tier 1 events

National Tour stage 1: Bucks and Bounty, Lilleshall, 5 May. UK Masters, Lilleshall, 2 June (Saturday only). National Tour stages 2 and 3, Evesham, 9 to 10 June. National Tour stages 4 and 5, Surrey, 14 to 15 July. British Target Championships, 11 August (Saturday only). National Tour stage 6, Oxford, 26 August. National Tour final, 15-16 September.

Points are available for both ranking rounds and head to heads. Each day of a two-day competition will count as a single event.

Tier 2 events

All world record status head-to-head events within the UK, excluding the ones listed as National Tour stages.

Points are available for both ranking rounds and head-to-heads.

Tier 3 events

All world record status 1440 rounds or single and double WRS 70-metre recurve and 50-metre compound rounds.

Each day of a two-day competition will count as a single day. The top 64 finishers will receive points. Double 70m and 50m events will count as a single day competition.

Find out more

You can find out all you need to know about the scheme by going to the Archery GB website and typing 2018 National Rankings into the search engine.

Stunning results at Barebow Indoor Champs

Almost 200 archers competed in the 16th British Barebow Indoor Championship at six centres across the UK; and there were some stunning results.

Three-times champion Jason Meehan became only the second archer to score more than 550 points in the competition's history. In a spectacular performance the High Weald archer shot a total of 551. Only Peter Mulligan has scored more, setting the British record back in 2002.

Second place went to Balland Bowmen's Andrew Rees; but only just. Both he and Bath archer James Annall finished the competition on 513 points and it took countbacks to decide the placings.

The battle for the women's title was much closer. Romaine Mehaffey of Ballyvally Archers eventually won with 489 points, two ahead of Penecuik's Carol-Anne Seez. Another Ballyvally archer, Angela Cowan took third place with 486.

Oliver Smith of Deben Archery Club won the boys' title for the second time while Amelia Thomas of Pentref Bowmen took the honours in the girls' competition.

The English legs of the competition were hosted by Pennine Archers, Bowmen of Malgrave and Ballands Bowmen. Bannockburn Bowmen provided the venue for the Scottish leg, Welsh entrants shot at the home of Pentref Bowmen and Ballyvally played host in Northern Ireland.

Top quality at NI Indoors

More than 80 archers took part in the Archery NI Indoor Championships hosted by City of Belfast Archers; and there were some cracking performances.

Olympian Patrick Huston led from the start and took the men's recurve title and the women's honours went to Andrea Murray-Lopez.

The new compound champions are Dean Hamilton and Jo Ann Bell while Stephen Kerr and Shana McDonald took the barebow titles.

Longbow gold went to Norman Neil and the traditional men's title was won by Glenn Thompson. Traditional woman Lisa McConnell shot 456.

In other categories, barebow compounder Marion Patterson scored 437 while John Cairns took the compound W2 honours and Leslie Parrett scored 506 in the disability compound 2 shoot.

In the barebow disability categories, top spots went to Andrew Knox, Steven O'Kane and Tanya Wilson.

Universities

A smashing time: Students take BUCS finals to a new level

Records tumbled as 247 students from 64 colleges and universities went head to head in the 2018 BUCS indoor finals, hosted by the University of Bristol.

Records fell as things kicked off in Sheffield with Edinburgh Uni's Jessica Nilsson smashing the women's experienced barebow record, while Ashe Morgan (Birmingham) broke his own BUCS record, shooting 595 out of a possible 600.

Six records were smashed during the northern and southern qualification events, and the first of the final fell to Sarah Shazad of Bournemouth University. She scored 505 to win the women's barebow event, beating Swansea's Rebecca Hill, Malin Schulz of Surrey and Georgia Thirtle of Portsmouth to earn a showdown with seventh seed Amelia Elgey of Birmingham. She, in turn, had beaten Queen Mary's Sruthy Thirunathan, clubmates Pam Quilang and India Wilson and Nottingham Trent's Essi Peuhkuri. But nothing was going to keep Sarah from the title. Georgia took third place.

Sarah Prieels scored 590 to set a new record and win the women's compound title for Edinburgh. The top seed beat St Mary's Dara Palski and Nottingham's Lydia Sinnett-Smith to face fellow international Sarah Moon of Nottingham Trent in the final. It was intense but in the end Sarah won with a score of 148 to 140. Third seed Izzy Carpenter of Sheffield took gold with a 144 to 140 win over Lydia.

The third record fell to Edinburgh's Jessica Nirkko in the women's longbow event. The top seed had a bye into the semis where she defeated Central Lancashire's Helen Woodcock. That left her facing third seed Lydia Martin of Keele University, and it was a tough battle but Jessica finally took the title with a 6 to 4 win. Helen beat Plymouth's Emma King to bronze.

The men's longbow title went to Aberystwyth's Alex Newnes. The top seed beat Alexander Adeyemi of the University of West Scotland 6 to 0 and the bronze went to Durham's Douglas Morrison with 6 to 4 win over Exeter's Joe Barham.

Plymouth's Lonja Selter took the men's barebow honours, defeating Teeside's David Cunningham 6 to 2. Loughborough's William Croydon won the battle for bronze against Chris Norwood of De Montfort University. And Aberystwyth's Chris Cassells beat Edinburgh's Pip Tucknott to men's compound gold. Top seed Andrew Brooks of Staffordshire took bronze.

In the recurve competitions, Derby's Pip Taylor won the women's title, beating Plymouth's Jessica Mooney, Warwick's Hannah Burnage, Eleanor Brug of Cambridge in a shoot-off, Eleanor Piper and then Rebekah Tipping, both Birmingham students. Edinburgh's Johanna Meyer took bronze.

The men's title went to Exeter's Ben Trudgill who swept past Cardiff's Tom Braxton, Loughborough's Christopher Cooper, top seed Tom Hall of Warwick and Southampton's Nick Wilson. That led to a gold medal showdown with Birmingham's Conor Hall and a 6 to 2 victory. The bronze medal was decided by a shoot-off between Nick and Sherman Ip of Warwick. Nick shot an eight, but Sherman edged it with a nine.

The men's team championship went to Warwick, with Birmingham second and Loughborough third while Birmingham took the women's title, ahead of Warwick and Birmingham.

Edinburgh's Sarah Prieels and Pip Tucknott won the open compound team championship, beating Warwick and Nottingham.

Experts: Welcome to Archery UK's Advice Zone

If you have any questions, this is the place to be.

In every issue our experts are on hand to give recurve, compound, barebow and longbow advice. So if you want to know something, email your question to magazine@archerygb.org and we will pass it on to our experts.

Get ready for action: In the second part of our new series, compound star Lucy O'Sullivan looks at how to optimise your archery preparations

What is the purpose of warming up before you shoot? The idea is to increase blood flow to an area of your body that you are going to use to limit injury to muscles, tendons and ligaments and prepare the body for a specific exercise.

You need to spend 10 to 20 minutes to make sure you have warmed up thoroughly and there are usually four stages: pulse raiser, increasing range of motion, specific motion and mental preparation.

The pulse raiser (choose some of these)

Light jogging, 5 minutes. Star jumps, 30s (arms laterally up over your head).

Jumping Jacks lateral arms, 30s (arms parallel to chest).

Ski jumping jacks, 30s (arms right up over your head). Skipping, 30s.

Increasing range of motion

This is a general muscle and joint warm-up that does not necessarily relate to archery and can be accomplished through dynamic stretching (stretching with movement) and movement exercises.

Legs and lower body

1. Ankle rotations, 30s: Kick your leg out in front of you and rotate one ankle clockwise and anti-clockwise. Return to standing and repeat on other side.

2. Knee hugs, 30s: Stand up straight. Raise one leg with knee bent. Gently pull the knee toward the body. Return to standing and repeat on other side.

3. Alternate lunges, 30s: Stand up straight. Take a long step back with left foot, (90 degree leg angles) drop down into a lunge. Return to standing and repeat on other side.

4. Squat to stand, 30s: Stand. Lower to a squat position, (thighs should be parallel to the floor). Stand back up and repeat.

5. Leg swings, 30s: Hold on to a wall or have your hands up in front of your chest. Swing one leg back and forth to your hand in front of you. Return to standing and repeat on other side. (To make it harder go opposite leg to opposite hand.)

Lumbar/hips

1. Scorpion rotations, 30s: (If you have room to lie down). Lie face down (prone) on the floor in a T position. Roll your left heel across and behind the body to meet the right hand. Return and repeat to other side.

2. Thoracic (spinal) extension, 30s: (If you have room to lie down). Lie face down on the floor (prone) with your hands on your temples. Lift your chest off of the floor hold for a few seconds and return to start.

3. Lateral overhead reaches, 30s: Reach down to one side of your body (lateral bend) with your opposite arm over your body. Return to standing and repeat on other side.

4. Hip hinges, 30s: Keep your back straight. Fold your arms in front of your chest. Hinge from the hips pushing your chest towards the floor. Return to standing and repeat.

Shoulders/arms/rotator cuffs

1. Wrist rotations, 30s: Clasp your hands together and make circular rotations with your wrists.

2. Overhead arm circles, 30s: Stand up straight. Circle one arm over the back of your body with the other arm the opposite direction in front of your body.

3. Arms whisk (Lateral arms, rotations), 30s: Stand up straight. Hold your arms out to the side of your body and rotate your arms in big circular motions.

4. Y shoulder shrugs (arms overhead), 30s: Stand up straight. Put your arms up over your head in a Y shape, and shrug your shoulder up to your ears and back down.

5. Lucky cat (90 degree arm bend, rotate up and down), 30s: Stand up straight. Hold both arms up straight to the side of your body with your elbows bent at 90 degrees. Rotate one arm down towards the floor and then up to the sky. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.

6. Popeyes (lateral arms, bicep curl), 30s: Stand up straight. Hold your arms up straight to the side of your body. Bend your elbows so your hands touch your shoulders. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.

7. Spine touch (swing your arms overhead), 30s: Stand up straight. Swing one arm so that the arm goes over your head with the elbow bent and touches your spine. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.

Neck

1. Head tilts laterally, 30s: Stand up straight. Tilt you head gently so one ear touches one shoulder. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.

2. Head tilts forward and back, 30s: Stand up straight. Tilt you head gently chin towards the floor. Return to start position and tilt your head gently so the back of your head tilts towards the floor.

3. Head rotations, 30s: Stand up straight. Rotate you head gently around to a side. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.

4. Chin tucks, 30s: Tuck your chin in towards your spine (make a double chin). Return to start position and repeat.

Specific motion

Specific warm-up: low intensity movement that mimics the more intense exercise to follow.

Lumbar/hips

1. Lower back leans, 30s: Stand up straight. Place your hands gently on your lower back and tilt your shoulders back towards your hands, (spine extension). Return to standing and repeat slowly.

2. Floor windmills, 30s: Have your arms out to the side of your body. Swing one arm down to the floor (spine flexion) to the opposite foot, rotating the other arm up to the sky. Return to the middle and repeat on the opposite side.

3. T-spine rotations, 30s: Sit on a chair and keep your hands on your shoulders with your elbows up. Rotate your spine to one side of your body return to the front and repeat on the other side.

4. T-spine side drops, 30s: Sit on a chair and keep your hands on your shoulders with your elbows up. Laterally drop your spine to one side your body (making a ‘C’ shape) return to the middle and repeat on the other side.

Shoulders/arms/rotator cuffs

(Note: The rotator cuff stabilises the shoulder while the deltoid moves the arm away from the body. If the rotator cuff is not doing its share of the work, the deltoid can take over and create shoulder impingement.)

1. Scaption push-up, 30s: Place your hands on your chair and keep your arms straight. Squeeze your shoulder blades together so your chest falls towards the chair. Return to start and then push your shoulder blades far apart from each other so your body moves away from the chair.

2. YTW, 30s: Stand up straight. Move your arms into a Y shape and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Move your arms into a ‘T’ shape and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then squeeze the shoulder blades down and back so your arms go into a ‘W’ shape.

3. Resistance band external rotations, 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band with both arms. Rotate one arm at a time out away from the body keeping the elbow against the hip. Return to start and repeat.

4. Resistance band internal rotations, 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band with both arms. Rotate one arm at a time towards the body keeping the elbow against the hip. Return to start and repeat.

5. Resistance band bow pulls, 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band with both arms like you are holding your bow. Pull back the band to your face. Return to start and repeat.

6. Resistance band bow shoulder shrug (holding position), 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band with both arms like you are holding your bow. Pull back the band to your face and hold. With the bow shoulder, shrug it in towards your spine and back out away from the spine. Repeat.

7. Resistance band both shoulder shrugs (holding position), 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band with both arms like you are holding your bow. Pull back the band to your face and hold. With the bow shoulder, shrug it in towards your spine and back out away from the spine, at the same time shrug the holding arm in towards your spine and back out away from the spine. Return to bow holding position, shoulders neutral and repeat.

8. Resistance band lateral lifts, 30s: Stand up straight, holding the resistance band under one foot. With both arms lift the resistance band up so your arm is parallel to the floor, like you are holding your bow. Return to start position and repeat.

Some of these latter exercises are from Archery GB Olympic coach Richard Priestman.

Mental preparation (the first steps)

1. Setting up your bow helps you get into the right mindset.

2. Reactivity training catching a tennis ball to and from friends to get your brains active.

3. Your 10 to 20 minute full body warm up will get your body prepped and more importantly get your brain in the right frame of mind to shoot well.

4. Resistance band dry fires so your mind and body can really focus on the shooting process.

5. Visualise hitting the 10 for perfect performance.

6. Positive self-talking to increase confidence.

Summary

Try a mixture of all of these exercises and work on the ones you find hardest. Make sure that your warm up has exercises from all sections in it to help best prevent injury and prepare your body for a full day of shooting.

For any questions check out my @LOSPTJersey page on Facebook.

Set your goals: Go for the positive options. Nutrition expert Jackie Wilkinson tells you how

Archers know all about goal-setting. And surrounding yourself with the people, and embracing the habits and behaviours, that can help you realise those goals makes a lot of sense. It's much the same with food.

January and February has been spent consoling people who over-indulged at Christmas and New Year by reminding them that our regular habits matter more than what we eat and drink occasionally.

But what do we eat most? Apparently it is white flour; and that's hardly a health food. Why so much? Think bread, wraps, pasta, pizza base, pies and pastry, Yorkshire pudding, cakes, biscuits, pancakes, etc. No wonder much of the population is over-fed but undernourished. What can you do? Well you could try less processed alternatives.

A cabbage leaf makes a good wrap (blanch it first to make it more flexible).

Combine whatever filling you usually put in a sandwich with some salad. Top it with olive oil to make a superior lunch.

Too cold for salad? Soups are a great way to get loads of different types of vegetables into your diet. You can put a bit of chopped up meat in for protein. Have it with a hunk of cheese and there's no need for any bread.

You can make pizza base from cauliflower chopped up in a food processor. Mix with egg, cheese and seasoning and shape into a circle. Bake for 20 minutes before adding toppings.

And you could try using omelette as a pizza base. It's very satisfying; delicious hot when you make it or cold later on.

Instead of pasta, you can make courgetti using a spiralizer or simply make strips using a potato peeler. Wider strips can replace pasta sheets for lasagna.

Nuts (not roasted) and fresh coconut make great snacks.

Sticks of carrot, celery and cheese with sliced apple is a highly portable lunch for a shoot.

Instead of biscuits, have a square or two of the chocolate/nut/seed mix from the winter 17 issue.

You can make buns using ground almonds as a base, just mix a large egg, a tablespoon of melted butter, 3 oz ground almonds, a sprinkling of raisins, 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt. Bake in paper cases in a bun tin at Gas Mark 3, 160oC for about 25 minutes.

You can even make a type of bread substitute in a cup in the microwave. Beat an egg with two desert spoonfuls of ground flax seeds, one teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt. Cook on full power for 1 minute 20 seconds.

Fill your diet with good nutrition and as you improve your habits, you'll feel the benefits. Resolve to regularly include more good things in your diet.

Try these five:

vegetables – have some with every meal (potatoes don’t count) meat/fish – good quality, home cooked healthy fats – olive oil, butter, avocado, nuts fruit – have a piece or two each day (but skip the fruit juice) water – as your number one drink

Top Tip:

Make your main five foods/drinks good ones.

Further reading

Find more advice from Jackie Wilson's Nutrition Coaching website: www.learntoeatwell.co.uk.

Make your own bowstring: Dave Hughes of Burscough Archers gives a step-by-step guide to the 2-ply Flemish twist

A Flemish twist string works well on recurves and traditional English longbow, so here's how to make one. The cost is minimal, especially if shared between a group. Each 1/4 lb roll of string will produce 20-30 strings. You can use a proprietary jig but this is a simple, cost-effective, adaptable and well-established method.

You will need:

Two wood nails. Dacron B-50 bowstring or other string material. Two colours are used here, black and

brown, to aid clarity. 1 block of beeswax, or regular string wax. A spool of nylon serving thread and a string server.

Number of strands

We are looking at a 2-ply string. A 12-strand, 2-ply string is made from two bundles of six strands, but the number of stands you need depends on the poundage of your bow:

30 to 40 lbs: 10 stands, ie 2 x 5. 40 to 50 lbs: 12 stands, ie 2 x 6. 50 to 70 lbs: 14 stands, ie 2 x 7. 70 to 80 lbs: 18 stands, ie 2 x 9.

Hint: count the strands in your existing string.

Length of Strands

Measure your existing string then add approximately 14 inches, giving you the extra length to form your loops. (e.g. 64-inch string = 64 + 14 = 78-inch long strands.)

Putting it together

Measuring and cutting:

1. Mark 78 inches on to a piece of scrap wood and hammer in your nails at either mark.

2. Wrap the end of your strand roll around the first nail and then roll it out to the second. Wrap around this nail and then return to your first nail. Repeat until you have six full length strands and tie off the last length to the adjoining nail.

3. Use three pre-cut, approximately 5-inch lengths of strand and, using a simple overhand knot, tie the bundle in the middle and close to both ends. The material is pre-waxed, so should readily stay in place.

4. Cut the bundle from the nails and put to one side.

5. Repeat for your second bundle, see figure 1.

6. Leave one strand full length, then reduce the remaining strands by approximately half an inch for each progressive strand. The reductions do not have to be exact, we simply want to stagger the lengths so they don't all finish at the same point and we get a good tapered finish. (See figure 2.)

7. Repeat at the other end, and with the second bundle.

Waxing:

Wax each bundle for about 10 inches from the ends. This will make the bundles easier to handle and help them bind together. (See figure 3.)

Twist the individual strands together as well as twisting/rotating the two bundles together:

1. Lay both bundles side by side so that the longest strands align with each other, and then grasp, between your thumb and forefinger, both bundles about 7 inches back from the ends (see figure 4).

2. Using your other hand, twist the upper bundle three or four times clockwise (away from your body).

3. Keeping hold of that twisted bundle, rotate it back towards your body. The lower bundle is now on top.

4. Keep repeating this twisting and rotating process until you have braided enough to form the loop for the top limb on your bow, approximately 1 inch of braiding. (Figures 5a/5b) The loop size depends on the width of your bow limb and should be wide enough to slide down the limb about 6 inches when the bow is unstrung.

Forming the loop

1. Make sure you align the bundles exactly.

2. Grasp the bundles at the bottom of the loop and twist the two bundles of same colour together. (See figure 6a.)

(Figure 6b shows black twisted on to black forming one large black bundle and brown twisted on to brown forming one large brown bundle.)

3. Holding these 2 bundles between the thumb and forefinger, perform the same twisting and rotating process until the last tag ends have been braided into the bow-string. Your finished loop should look like figure 7.

4. After finishing the top loop, separate both bundles all the way down to the bottom.

5. Now repeat the whole top-loop process to form the bottom loop. NB: When braiding the bottom loop you may have to stop occasionally to separate the bundles because the lower half of the string sometimes tangles. The bottom loop has to be just wide enough to fit over the nock on your bottom bow limb.

Twisting the string

1. Now that you have completed the loops you will need to put the twist into the bowstring. Ensure you twist it in the same direction as your braids otherwise you will untwist the loops.

2. Put the string on your bow and adjust for proper brace height by twisting or untwisting the string until all the stretch has been worked out of it.

Serving the string

1. With your bow strung, mark the string about where the nocking point will be, and again about 2 inches above and 6 inches below this approximate nock point. This 8-inch length is where the string serving goes.

2. Put your spool of nylon serving thread on the serving tool and pull a few inches of line out.

3. Adjust the tension of the serving tool. You want the line to come off the server with sufficient tension to get a tight wrap around the bowstring, but not too tight because the serving could cut through the bowstring.

4. Separate the bowstring at one of your serving marks and insert about 1 inch of serving thread through it.

5. Leaving that in place, pull a couple more inches of thread from the serving tool and use it to form a loop.

6. Lay the loop on the string then begin wrapping the serving around the string making sure that you wrap over the loop and the tag end. After wrapping the serving tool around the string 5-6 times (any more and you will find it too tight to pull the loop through) you can then pull the loose tag end and loop under the serving, thus locking it into place.

7. Cut what is left of the tag end and then continue serving down towards your second mark. As you near it, pull 12 inches or so of thread from the serving tool and cut it. Continue from here by hand.

8. Make another loop, take the end of the serving thread and continue wrapping it clockwise, but this time back towards you starting mark (figure 8).

9. Again make 5-6 turns with your tag end then continue serving from where you left off. You will see that as you continue to serve, you are unwinding the last loops you made and you will be able to pull that tag end back and again lock it off under the main serving.

Final waxing

1. The finished bowstring needs a good waxing with beeswax.

2. Next, take a piece of scrap leather and rub your string fast and hard. The friction causes the wax to melt and flow in between your strands, helping it to bind the strands together. It also water proofs and protects the string from dirt and grit.

Ask the experts: Questions and Answers

Compound

European compound field champion Duncan Busby is here to help with queries on form, equipment and technique.

What's happening?

Q I purchased a set of arrows several months ago. They grouped well at the beginning but I've recently noticed my groups have opened up significantly. I have checked my bow and nothing has moved. Why is this happening?

A Arrows are a high wear and tear item which suffer significant forces every time they are shot. Tight groups and tough targets can take their toll on your arrow shafts and their components.

To ensure your arrows are in perfect shooting condition you need to check how straight they are. A bent arrow will not fly straight and will be much less accurate. You should spin your arrows to see if there are any wobbles anywhere on the shaft, nock or point. This is easiest to see with an arrow spinner which you can get from most good archery shops. But you can hand spin them if preferred. If the point or nock end of your arrow is wobbling then try swapping the nock or point for a new one and check again. If this does not fix the problem or the wobble is on the shaft itself then the arrow is most likely bent and should be discarded. It is also worth checking for any cracks or dents in the arrow shaft as these will also impact on the arrow's accuracy and could be potentially dangerous.

You should also check the condition of your vanes. A loose or damaged vane will disrupt your arrow flight and cause it to impact outside the group. Make sure any loose vanes are re-glued and replace any damaged ones.

Nocks are easily damaged by impacts from other arrows and from repeated use. They are made of plastic so they will weaken over time and lose their consistency. It is good practice to check your nocks for cracks every time you shoot and immediately replace any damaged ones. But it may actually be worth replacing all your nocks if they have been on your arrows for a while. This could improve your groups.

Remember, an arrow is put under tremendous pressure when shot and using one which is damaged can be extremely dangerous. Always check your arrow shafts and components for any damage every time you shoot.

Stretchy strings

Q I am looking to invest in a new set of strings but I would like ones that won't stretch. Which material should I choose?

A It is important to note that there is a big difference between a string stretching and a string settling in. It is natural for a string to stretch a little during the first 100 or so shots but after this, the settling-in period will stop and the string will remain at its current length. String stretch is an on-going process where it continually stretches over time.

These days string stretch is uncommon because of the material used in the manufacturing process. A skilled string maker will pre-stretch the string to shorten the shooting-in period and reduce the likelihood of stretching later in its life. But if you are looking for a zero stretch string you are best going for a blended material like BCY 452X or BCY-X. These contain Vectran, a zero stretch material which helps to keep the string stable throughout its life. It does, however, have a tendency to go fuzzy, so strings made from a blended material may need to be waxed or changed more often.

Further reading

You can find more advice at Duncan Busby Archery: www.duncanbusbyarchery.com.

Mail bag

Submissions

Write to: Mailbag, Archery UK magazine, Archery GB, Lilleshall National Sports & Conferencing Centre, Newport, Shropshire TF10 9AT

Email: magazine@archerygb.org

Please note we cannot print letters sent to us without a name and address or an email address (although we can withhold the address if you wish). Letters may be edited for publication. Please try to keep them to 250 words if possible. Letters containing personal attacks will not be published.

Star Letter

Prize

An IS 60 R 15-45x60 scope by Opticron. Look out for some special offers on the Opticron IS R scope range. For more details visit the Opticron website: http://www.opticron.co.uk/.

Our prize is worth over £270.

Can you claim a VAT refund?

The following may be well known but it was happy news for our club when we discovered it. Many archery clubs pay VAT on their lettings of venues such as sports halls. VAT may not even be required but, if you have paid out, it may be possible to obtain a refund and this could be back-dated for many years, totalling hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds. You would need to apply for the refund through the venue management, not directly to HMRC.

The VAT exemption known as HMRC Notice 742 requires a club to satisfy seven straight-forward criteria. You are probably eligible if your club books the same venue for exclusive use of archery for 10 sessions or more, pays in a lump sum which is due whether you use the facility or not and your sessions are spaced at least 24 hours but not more than 14 days apart. More information can be found on the Government website (www.gov.uk) in the government publications section. Look for VAT Notice 724: Land and Property and scroll down to section 5.4.

I recommend that archery clubs investigate this since they may receive a substantial refund, just like we were recently able to do.

David Warner, Northampton Archery Club

Editor writes:

For news of a new tax incentive for sponsors, see the final article in the membership section.

Other letters

More detail please

The Tournament Diary is a great help in planning an outdoor and indoor season of tournaments but I just wonder, could it be better?

It would be extremely useful if fairly detailed location information could be included. I need to know so I can check out if it is within reach or whether I have to book accommodation and, if so, where the nearest hotel or motel is.

I checked out a couple of shoots I would have liked to attend recently but I could not work out where they were being held. Neither their websites nor Google could help.

Norman Willcox, Blandy-Jenkins Archers

Editor writes:

Thanks for getting in touch. We will certainly bear this in mind going forward and will see what we can do.

Direct membership: a question

I am writing in relation to the current system of Direct Membership of Archery GB. While I accept the vast majority of archers will want to start our sport and join a club from the outset, there will always be a few, both newcomers and experienced archers, who wish to become a member of Archery GB without affiliating themselves to a particular club.

At present, applicant can tick boxes on the application form but no checks are made. Archery GB takes these ticks as true and in due course a membership card is issued indicating the relevant county and region.

A direct entry archer may well make links to a club which will take their Archery GB card at face value and allow them to shoot. But if the archer has not joined their region and county, is their Archery GB membership in fact valid and thus will they be covered under Archery GB's insurance? Indeed, will the club itself be putting their insurance in jeopardy by allowing that archer to shoot with them?

Why does membership of county and region have to be compulsory? If an archer has not joined these groups then of course they could not take part in any county or regional competitions.

The present statement in Archery GB's current instructions for direct membership could be clearer. A new entry to our sport will not have a clue how to proceed when advised that they must join their county and region. It could be made clear what the ramifications are if you have not done this. And some guidance could be issued to clubs about any insurance implications of accepting a guest to shoot, or even to take out associate membership, if they have not in fact joined county and region, even if it says that they have on their Archery GB card. We await clarification.

Jonathan Walton, Chairman, Shropshire Archery Society.

Membership Services Manager writes:

Archery GB has about 550 Direct Member or a little over 1 per cent of the total membership. In years gone by, archers joined Archery GB as Direct Members for different reasons than they do today. For example, they used to get a personal copy of the Rules of Shooting and

automatic entry to the GNAM. Nowadays, people become direct members for convenience. They can avoid the club's annual renewal process and go on-line to renew their membership instantly by paying through Sport:80.

In our experience, very few newcomers join Archery GB as Direct Members. If a new member did elect this option, the Membership Services team would do its best to guide them through the process. This would include: who to contact to join a region and county and trying to ensure that the new member was competent and had completed a beginners' course. Also, clubs should satisfy themselves that an archer is competent before letting them continue unsupervised. That said, our systems are honesty based. Neither Membership Services nor archery clubs are police stations and we do not have the resources for forensic checking. If an individual is determined to deceive us, it is possible that they could succeed.

As in all walks of life, if an individual makes a false declaration about their status in an application process then, what they are applying for and the associated insurance might be in jeopardy if the process was scrutinised. Moreover, if it became apparent that a false declaration had been used deliberately to deceive the National Governing Body then that would be dealt with robustly through our disciplinary procedures.

An archer making a deliberately deceptive false declaration about his/her membership status might put his/her own insurance in jeopardy but provided archery clubs are diligent and act in good faith they will be fully supported by Archery GB and fully covered by our insurance.

The reasons why Archery GB asks its member to join a region and county have been covered previously in Archery UK. Please see the footnote on the cover of the Winter 2016 edition and the Chairman's comments in the And Finally section of that edition.

Your Pictures

Submissions

Our spectacular winter has been inspiring our more camera-savvy members over the past few weeks, and it has to be said, there are some very hardy souls out there.

If you want to see your handiwork displayed in Archery UK, it couldn't be easier. Simply send your photograph, it must be in jpg format, high resolution and at least 1MB, with details of where you took it to magazine@archerygb.org.

Making the shot

Timing is everything, and Mark Barraclough timed things perfectly to capture Howard Verrier's arrow in flight as he was shooting across the pond at Bryn Yorkin at Wrexham Bowmen's field course.

Mongolian horse bows in action

Mongolian horse bows took centre stage in this picture submitted by Ballyvally Archers.

Paralympic champion's new target

But there has been plenty of indoor action too and Derek Sizeland snapped double Paralympic gold medallist John Walker honing his Arrows Archery skills at the Nimes Indoor World Cup competition.

It takes all sorts

And, of course, archery attracts all kinds of spectators. Malcolm Rees spotted this unusual visitor at the BUCS Indoor Archery Championships southern regional qualifiers

The longest walk

Matt Latimer of Lough Cuan Bowmen captured one of his club mates trudging through a heavy snow fall to a field practice session on the Clandeboye Estate.

Valentine's shoot

There was a great turnout, despite the weather, at the Bromley Archery Club Valentine's shoot. The picture was taken by John Mogridge.

New Products: Some of the latest archery products on the market

Egertec novelty faces

70 x 50cm, printed on tear resistant paper and laminated with a 3D effect. Perfect for fun club nights and have-a-goes. Special offer: all 10 faces, 50 free Egertec pins, in a carry tube.

Available from: Egertec targets www.egertectargets.co.uk.Cost: £24.95.

PerfeXthumb long neck

Stan has introduced new long neck versions of the PerfeXthumb and PerfeXresistance release aids for 2018. The thumb and resistance platforms have the same anchor point, fit, and feel regardless of which style mechanism is inside.

Available from: Stanislawski www.ishootastan.com.Cost: approximately £195.

HS2 Bowscale

Newly upgraded, the Last Chance Archery HS2 handheld bow scale will read and lock on peak weight and on holding weight. It is equipped with and LED digital display, universal handle and short attachment hook.

Available from: Last Chance Archery www.lastchancearchery.com.

Cost: approximately £60.

LCA bow scale 2.0

Newly upgraded, the Last Chance LCA 2.0 bow scale will read and lock on both peak and holding weight. It is equipped with and LED digital display, a reinforced welded ring and strong, durable steel hook.

Available from: Last Chance Archery www.lastchancearchery.com.Cost: approximately £29

Gateway Batwing

The Batwing vane helps your arrow spin more as it flies toward its target. Available in right wing solid colors in 5.08 cm (2 inch), 8.89 cm (3½ inch) and 11.43 cm (4½ inch) sizes. Left wing and more colours will be introduced as demand grows.

Available from: Gateway feathers www.gatewayfeathers.com.Cost: from about £15.50.

Gehmann eye shields

A range of shields that clip on to a Gehmann headband or glasses to blank off the eye not used in sighting. Also the Gehmann Iris sight pin and optional inserts enables you to customise your sight picture by matching the aperture to the target colours at each distance.

Available from: Quicks Archery www.quicksarchery.co.uk.Costs: Eye shields; from £25.92. Iris sight pin; £79.92.

Import Duty and VAT:

Please be aware that if you order goods online from an overseas supplier which have to be imported into the UK, you are likely to find yourselves liable for both Import Duty and VAT on top of the original retail cost.

Membership

The right steps: How disputes resolution works

Sometimes it is hard to know what to do for the best, particularly when it comes to complaints and disputes resolution.

In a bid to make things clearer we have put together a flow diagram showing what steps to take and how Archery GB's system works.

Where it is reasonable, clubs are asked to go through and exhaust this full procedure before involving their county associations.

When under-18s are involved in disciplinary action their parents should be included.

The respondent is the person against whom the complaint has been made.

There is lots of help available. You can find the Archery GB Disciplinary Policy and Procedures, along with a library of forms and templates on the Archery GB website: www.archerygb.org. Clubs can adopt and adapt these for their own use.

If you need more advice and support, contact Archery GB Membership Services on 01952 677888.

Flow diagram:

1. Club member has concern or complaint

2. Report your concern to the Club Secretary

3. Club secretary determines ‘Is the concern Safeguarding or Anti-doping’?

YES: Report the concern to Archery GB (Case Management Panel)NO: Got to step 4.

4. Can you resolve the matter amicably and informally?

YES: Keep notes. No further action.NO: Go to step 5.

5. Club Committee gathers evidence, witness statements and put a panel in place (3 people) to consider the case. The Respondent is entitled to:

• Know the nature of the complaint.• Have all the evidence and statements.• Know about disciplinary proceedings.• Know which procedures will be used.

6. In advance of hearing, Evidence and Statements are passed to the Disciplinary Panel (3 people independent of case).

7. Keep a record of the procedures used and any decisions and associated reasons.

8. At The Disciplinary Hearing the Respondent must be allowed to:

• Put forward their side of the argument.• Provide their own documents/evidence.• Bring a friend to any hearing.• Respond to the complaint at the hearing.

9. Is the case dismissed?

Yes: Record the finding, no further action.No: Go to step 10.

10.For guidance on sanctions refer to the Archery GB Disciplinary Policy.

11.Right of Appeal (14 daytime limit).

12.Club Committee puts in place an Appeal Panel to consider the appeal. (Appeal Panel members to be different/independent of the original Panel).

13.For guidance on Appeal outcomes refer to the Archery GB Disciplinary Policy.

Make it a date

Archery GB's 2018 AGM is being held on Saturday 21 April, and we would love you to see you there.

The venue is The Crowne Plaza at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.

The conference and strategic update starts at 12 noon and tea and coffee will be available from 11am when registration opens. The AGM begins at 2pm and will be followed by the prizegiving.

There is free on-site parking and the building is wheelchair accessible.

The address is Crowne Plaza, Pendigo Way, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, B40 1PS. It is at Junction 6 of the M42. From the roundabout follow directions for the NEC. Take the second exit on the left, South Way. The entrance is 50 metres on the right.

It is five minutes by taxi from Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Train Station.

If you are planning to join us could you please email enquiries@archerygb.org and let us know.

It's time to talk

Can you help someone who has, or is developing, a mental health problem? Many people keep their feelings hidden because they are afraid of other people's reactions. Others might have an undiagnosed, or diagnosable, problem. It does not mean they are not struggling to cope with daily life.

Around one in four people will experience a mental health problem this year, yet the shame and silence can be as bad as the mental health problem itself. Your attitude to mental health could change someone's life.

What role could you play in your club? It all starts with someone asking how they are doing in a warm and authentic way, giving them a chance to realise you are being sincere and friendly.

Being open to mental health does not have to be awkward, and being there for someone can make a huge difference to their life.

New tax incentive for sponsors

Did you know that if companies donate money to grassroots sport it can be deducted from their corporation tax liability?

The new Finance Act provides corporation tax relief for grassroots spending by national governing bodies. It also makes relief available to companies making contributions to organisations such as associations and clubs delivering grassroots sport. That relief is available for expenditure incurred from 1 April 2017.

So what does that mean for clubs and other grassroots sport organisations?

Direct expenditure on qualifying grassroots activity (up to a limit of £2,500) by commercial organisations, such as sponsors and partners, is deductible when calculating profits for corporation tax. This should make investment into local grassroots sports more financially appealing for businesses.

The next steps would be to:

Use the new relief to attract donations from local businesses to support your activities. These companies will benefit from the relief on any donation they make up to the £2,500 limit.

Try to attract as many donations from businesses as you can. There is no limit to the number of donations you can receive under the rules.

Board

Changes target improved connections

The structure of Archery GB is changing so that it can meet future challenges. The Board now fulfils a strategic function with operational details and activities being led by Archery GB staff working closely with key volunteers.

This has brought about changes to the way things are run. Archery GB's operations committees no longer exist, but the invaluable work they did, with their input, is being realigned against the strategic objectives outlined in the Archery GB Strategic Plan 2016 to 2020:

To grow and sustain participation with effective facilities, coaching and competition strategies.

To deliver and sustain Olympic and Paralympic targets. To reduce reliance on external funding.

These objectives have been refined to the following strategic outcomes or targets:

Retention of members and reduction of churn among young people and existing adults.

Income generation and less reliance on agency funding, along with the identification and development of agreed 'new' and niche audiences.

Provision of a quality experience re clubs, coaching and competition, plus 'customer experience'.

Athlete conversion from Pathway into Podium.

Medal success at major annual milestone internationals, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020.

The new structure means that Director of Sport David Tillotson now leads a Sport Team, connecting Participation, Pathway and Performance. It uses the key areas of clubs, coaching and competition, with designated specialist staff working together and collaboratively with volunteers to ensure enjoyment, progression and a sense of achievement for all archers.

The future is bright but Archery GB knows that has been built on very strong foundations and is keen to retain the expertise, insights and contacts of all the committee members who have helped build the sport into what it is today.

Operations Committee chairmen and women have been invited to join the Archery GB Sport Team Strategic Advisory Group. It will meet twice a year to check and challenge the work of the Sport Team and deal with specific issues that may arise.

There will be focus groups for various membership segments and special interest groups concentrating on young people, disabilities and ethnicity. We would welcome anyone who wants to get involved in any of these areas. If you do, contact Kate.Moss@archerygb.org.

The specialist and designated Archery GB staff responsible for club, coaching and competition strategies would welcome for expressions of interest in their respective areas.

If you are interested, the contacts for these areas are:

Clubs: Arran.Coggan@archerygb.org. Coaching: Hannah.Bussey@archerygb.org. Competitions: Jon.Nott@archerygb.org.

From the Chief Executive

The past few weeks have been a time of change and progress for Archery GB. The future is looking bright and it is now time to put you, the archers who actually get out there to shoot and the volunteers who support them, right at the heart of the process of shaping our sport's future.

The central philosophy of Archery GB is to lead, grow and promote archery to create greater value for our sport. That is not going to be achieved by the people here at Lilleshall alone. We need your help. We need your insight, advice and knowledge. We need you to be part of the process if our sport is to reach its full potential. We need you to make it work.

Many of you have already answered the call. We thank you for that and hope that you will continue to engage and invest in the sport's future.

So how do you get involved? We have been carrying out an in-depth consultation with members to review our competition landscape and have run 12 workshops around the country, from Exeter to Edinburgh, and we want to thank everyone who has taken part. We really could not do it without you. But there is still a chance to give us your valuable input. Please take part in the Archery GB competition survey on Survey Monkey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/AGBcompetition or email us via competitionreview@archerygb.org. The survey will remain open until early April. We have already had more than 1,500 responses, for which we are very grateful, and your comments will be used to inform our competition strategy.

We are also piloting a new ranking system. It is being combined with the National Series which will be renamed the National Tour. All world record status competitions will be classified under one of three tiers. The idea is to show who are the UK's top archers and give everyone a chance to measure performance against the rest of the UK.

Again, we need you to get involved. We want to encourage clubs and county associations to consider putting on Tier 1 events to help alleviate any gaps in the competition landscape, providing all the support you need.

And, because we want to ensure that every archer gets the best possible experience, and training, we are running a series of archery workshops across the country. They will focus

on the technical framework, equipment and tournament and performance strategies. There are full details in the Coaches, Judges and Volunteers section of the website, so please check it out, come along and help us to help you.

Archery GB has a Strategic Plan, but it needs to be informed by you. Get involved and help us to deliver what you want for our sport going forward.

Neil Armitage

Chief Executive

GDPR update: What data protection changes means to you

As you may be aware the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable on 25 May. It replaces the Data Protection Act 1998.

GDPR places greater emphasis on the documentation that data controllers must keep to demonstrate their accountability and some parts of the GDPR will have more impact on some organisations than others.

Key areas are ensuring the individuals are informed about what data is being collected, the purpose of collection and how it is stored and disposed of. It is important to point out that there are no exemptions and the regulations will cover all clubs, counties and regions as well as Archery GB, which collect, process or hold data whether that is by electronic or paper systems.

That includes the data we use in Archery UK and our digital platforms. We already need to obtain consent from any juniors, and a parent or guardian, before we publish any picture which could identify them. As you can see from point four of the diagram, when GDPR comes into force we will need to gain consent from everyone, whether they be junior or senior, before we can publish an image by which they can be identified. More information is available from the Information Commissioners Office website ico.org.uk or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) section of the Archery GB website: www.archerygb.org/GDPR.

The new GDPR in six questions

1 What is GDPR?

GDPR is the new Data Protection Legislation which will come into force in May 2018.

2 What does it mean?

It means that you need to manage and protect personal data which you hold about your employees, members and patrons (including children).

3 Why should I comply?

A. To reduce the risk of losing members/patrons/business affiliates due to bad press from a data breach, particularly damaging if the data breach relates to a minor.

B. To avoid potentially heavy fines from the Data Protection Commissioner.

C. To maintain in good corporate governance and reduce risk of legal action from individuals. In the event of accidents that may require provision of personal data to legal teams.

4 What types of personal data must I manage and protect?

Data held in Membership, CRM and Booking Management systems and databases and employee HR files such as addresses (including email addresses), banking/payment card data, dates of birth, medical records/medical screening forms or questionnaires, marketing consent records, customer contact/communications records and CCTV or any other digital images of employees, members or patrons.

5 What's my first step towards compliance?

You need to compile a list of all personal data held by your organisation and identify where it is located, your reason for holding it, how long you hold it for and how you would either permanently delete or provide a full and correct set of all records held by you on any individual who requested you do so for their record set.

6 What are the next steps I need to take to comply?

Go to the Data Protection Commissioners website for further information, consider engaging expert help and or training and internal Data Protection Office and then start to develop processes and procedures which will ensure that your business is managing and protecting personal data according to the requirements of the legislation.

Records, achievements and handicap improvement medals

Records

World records: Para Archery Indoor

Compound, Women Open

Phoebe Pine, 18m (60 Arrows), 562 Jodie Grinham, 15 Arrows Match, 146

European records: Para archery outdoors

Compound, VI 2/3

Stephen Prowse, 1440, 1296

European records: Para Archery indoor

Compound, Women Open

Phoebe Pine, 18m (60 arrows), 562

European records: Outdoor

Compound, Cadet Mens Team

Adam Carpenter, 50m, 2059 Kai Thomas-Prause, 50m, 2059 Jake Walsh, 50m, 2059

Compound, Cadet Womens Team

Layla Annison, 50m, 2033 Lucy Mason, 50m, 2033 Hollie Smith, 50m, 2033

UK records: Clout

Recurve, Ladies

Charlotte Baigent, Double Metric Clout 185m, 242 Charlotte Baigent, Single Metric Clout 185m, 124 Kath Hall, Single Metric Clout 125m, 176

Recurve, Gentlemen

Chris Baigent, Double One-Way Clout 180 yds, 264

Compound, Ladies

Michelle Loxley, Double Metric Clout 165m, 347

Barebow, Junior Ladies

Jasmine Simpson, Double Metric Clout 110m, 308 Jasmine Simpson, Double Two-Way Clout 120 yds, 106 Jasmine Simpson, Single One-Way Clout 120 yds, 100 Jasmine Simpson, Single Two-Way Clout 120 yds, 64

Barebow, Gentlemen

Alan Holder, Single Metric Clout 185m, 149 Alan Holder, Double Metric Clout 165m, 329 Mick White, Double Metric Clout 165m, 319 Alan Holder, Single Metric Clout 165m, 167 Mick White, Single Metric Clout 165m, 164

Longbow, Junior Gentlemen

Remy Lloyd, Double One-Way Clout 140 yds, 107 Remy Lloyd, Single One-Way Clout 140 yds, 52 Samuel Kellett, Double One-Way Clout 100 yds, 116 Charlie Medhurst, Single One-Way Clout 100 yds, 61 Samuel Kellett, Single One-Way Clout 100 yds, 58

Longbow, Ladies

Catriona Charters, Double One-Way Clout 140 yds, 174 Catriona Charters, Single One-Way Clout 140 yds, 93 Catriona Charters, Single One-Way Clout 140 yds, 91

Longbow, Gentlemen

Richard Summers, Double Metric Clout 165m, 277

UK records: Field

Recurve, Junior Ladies

Louisa Piper, National Animal, 425

Recurve, Junior Gentlemen

Joe Fairburn, WA Combined Red, 699 Joe Fairburn, WA Marked Red, 351 Joe Fairburn, WA Unmarked Red, 348 Joe Fairburn, WA Unmarked Red, 344

Compound Unlimited, Junior Ladies

Lara Saunderson, WA Double Mixed White, 593 Lara Saunderson, WA Mixed White, 313

Compound Limited, Ladies

A Beddard-Smith, National Animal, 390

Barebow, Junior Ladies

Phoebe Rose, WA Combined White, 602 Phoebe Rose, WA Unmarked White, 322 Phoebe Rose, WA Marked White, 280

Barebow, Junior Gentlemen

Jack Doherty, WA Double Mixed White, 568 Jack Doherty, WA Mixed White, 285

UK records: Target indoor

Recurve, Junior Ladies

Andrea Murray-Lopez, Portsmouth, 593

Recurve, Junior Gentlemen

Alex Wise, Bray II, 294

Compound, Junior Ladies

Lucy Mason, WA 18m, 584

Compound, Junior Gentlemen

Alex Wise, Bray II, 277 Dillon Crow, Bray II, 273

Barebow, Gentlemen

Mark Robertson, WA Combined, 1072

Longbow, Junior Ladies

Rosie Elliott, Portsmouth, 448 Rosie Elliott, Double Worcester, 321 Rosie Elliott, Worcester, 164

Rosie Elliott, Bray II, 160

Longbow, Junior Gentlemen

Matthew Foreman, Bray II, 142

Longbow, Ladies

Sheila Hudson, Bray II, 244

UK records: Target outdoor imperial

Compound, Junior Ladies

Holly Clifford Western 854

Barebow, Junior Ladies

Becky Chilcott, Double American, 1116 Elisa Ball, Albion, 450 Elisa Ball, Long National, 166

Barebow, Junior Gentlemen

Zeyd Ajraou, Short Junior Windsor, 904

Longbow, Junior Ladies

Rosie Elliott, Short Junior Windsor, 894 Rosie Elliott, Short Junior Western, 780 Rosie Elliott, American, 346

UK records: Target outdoor metric

Recurve, Junior Gentlemen

Jacob Reid, WA 60m, 677

Compound, Junior Ladies

Kerry Stringer, Long Metric V, 281

Compound, Junior Gentlemen

Nathan Thomas, Metric II, 1396

Barebow, Junior Ladies

Elisa Ball, Short Metric I, 263

Barebow, Junior Gentlemen

Zeyd Ajraou, 10m distance (80cm face), 337

Longbow, Ladies

Sheila Hudson, Short Metric I, 400

Achievements: Target Archery

Grand Master Bowman

Recurve

Johanna Meyer, Edinburgh Alumni Sarah Bettles, Deer Park

Compound

Rebecca Blewett, Hertford Jacquie Holmes, Evesham Isabelle Carpenter, Barnsley Adam Carpenter, Barnsley Daniel Tompkins, Yelverton Nat Merry, Oxford Neil Bridgewater, Hinxworth

Longbow

Barry Du-Crow, Southampton Cliff Gadd, Archery GB

Master Bowman

Recurve

Thea Rogers, Archery GB Ryan Pinder, Radnor Foresters David Phillips, Llantarnam Wendy Aubrey, Pendle and Samlesbury Kayleigh Ivanov, Balbardie Paul Tittensor, Eccles Petra Ginman, Ditchling Ian Colley, Supermarine Rachel Vines, Supermarine John Prior, Supermarine Anthony Wood, C M O Shelley Hurst, Bronte Stuart Barby, Pentland

Lisa Cooper, Pastures Sean Evans, Cheltenham Vlada Priestman, Nethermoss Thomas Cram, Paradox Arthur Coveney, Loughborough Students

Compound

Matthew Tuck, Woking Caroline Prime, Archery GB Neil Laszkowicz, Rutland Karen Jamieson, Balbardie Paul Pinder, Radnor Foresters Chris Groom, Supermarine Stewart Stanger, Orkney Stephen Newton, Bournemouth James King, Colchester and District Anna King, Colchester and District Chris Horan, Ashford David Wayman, Hinxworth Erin Prior, Supermarine Matthew Dale, Warfield Zoe Gray, Guernsey Grant Morris-Soper, Rivernook Alexander Taylor, Silver Spoon Marina Rose, Barnsley

Barebow

Glenn Studholme, Norton Steve Lancaster, Cleobury Brett Stringer, Andover Karen Grassie, Exeter Alan Holder, Forest of Bere

Longbow

Martin Jordan, Rotherham Roger Spellane, Aquarius Irene Crouch, Thanet

Junior Master Bowman U18

Recurve

Kieran Shirley, St Helens Lauryn Jewkes, Derbyshire

Junior Master Bowman U16

Recurve

Will Gore, Deer Park Jakob Barrett-Rees, Blandy Jenkins Jemima Baughan, Kingston Henry Mullock, Richmond

Compound

Iulia Petre, Corby Sophie Meyrick, Andover Finnlay Barrett-Rees, Blandy Jenkins Adam Carpenter, Barnsley

Junior Master Bowman U14

Recurve

Luke Davis, Tenzone Luca Jaques, Aardwolf Caitlyn Aiken, Broch Marco Costanza, Cleve

Compound

J Charlesworth, Minchinhampton Dru Ridding, Millom

Junior Master Bowman U12

Recurve

Finlay Heydon, Goldcrest Matthew Cannell, Cleve

WA Star

Recurve

Blue (1200)

Adam Reeks, Rayleigh, 1217

Black (1100)

Tim Twidale, Trkside, 1124 David Jones, Olde Colesdon, 1102

White (1000)

Jodie Green, Ditchling, 1096 Darran Lowe, Hart of Sherwood, 1043

Compound

Gold (1350)

Wayne Evans, Lichfield, 1361

Red (1300)

Alex Taylor, Sittingbourne College, 1321 Carlos Bolou, Allington, 1314

Blue (1200)

Jose Bolou, Allington, 1262 Larry Lewis, High Weald, 1240 David Lee, Leicester, 1238

White (1000)

G Humphreys, Castle, 1032

WA Target

Recurve

Blue

Adam Reeks, Rayleigh, 617 Chris Cooper, Loughborough Students, 609 Erik Rowbotham, Edinburgh Alumni, 565 Jack Miller, Loughborough Students, 552 Eleonore Cossade, Oxford, 552 Matthew Peers, Loughborough Students, 551

Black

Ralph Passey, Hillingdon, 537 Antony Kite, Darenteford, 537 Gary Lahiffe, Lichfield, 527

White

Dan Mitchell, Worthing, 522 Terry Meech, Ville, 521 Benjamin Evans, Loughborough Students, 519 Matthew David, Bradford University, 518 Gary Lahiffe, Lichfield, 516 Jack Miller, Loughborough Students, 512 Sarah Warner, Birstall, 511 Mark Cairns, Blackpool, 503 Matthew Bradford, Hillingdon, 503 Roger Smart, Thirsk, 502 Richie Bevan, Lichfield, 502 Daniel McArthur, Sellafield, 502

Compound

Gold

O Clayton-Smith, Fosse, 585

Blue

Tobias Beasley, Loughborough Students, 558 Lee Mitchell, Archery Fit, 557 Liana Perry, Oxford, 551

Black

Andy Clifford, Deer Park, 548 Jay Kevany, Archery GB, 548 Alison Hunter, Beacon, 548 Jamie Hunter, Beacon, 542 James Robinson, Blackburn, 541 Ellie Outram, Archery GB, 534 Stephen Ramdeen, Richmond, 528 M Bennett-Blacklock, Archery Fit, 528

White

Martin Tucker, Deer Park, 528 Stephen Ramdeen, Richmond, 523 Alexandra Bannister, Deans, 516 Oliver Robinson, Blackburn, 512 Liam Bussey, Dover, 503

Rose Awards

Recurve

Blue

Zoltan Olajos, Blue Arrows, 1008

White

James Jackson, Sussex University, 854

Compound

White

Judith Stolzenburg, Cambria, 860

6 Gold End: Senior

Recurve

Marc Rowley, Lutterworth Jackie Fisher, Balbardie Pete Hill, Wymondham Joanna Westley, Goldcrest

Compound

Simon Axon, Droitwich

6 Gold End Junior

Compound

Chloe Scott, Redruth Harry Bottle, Archery GB

Barebow

Cameron Trim, Yeo

3 Gold End

Longbow

Adrian Leach, Lizard Peninsula Wayne Hibberd, Derwent Michael Dwyer, Wyke Peter Hughes, Priory

Archery GB Arrow Award

Recurve

Charlie Medhurst, Redhill, Blue Will Gore, Deer Park, Red

Achievements: Field Archery

Grand Master Bowman

Recurve

Joe Fairburn, Wharfe

Barebow

Caoimhe Heaney, Ballyvally

Longbow

Alex Newnes, Aberystwyth University

American Flatbow

Emily Williams, Hingham

Master Bowman

Compound

Bernie Dicks, Bramcote

Recurve

Paul Tittensor, Eccles

WA Arrowhead

Recurve

Gold

Joe Fairburn, Wharfe Valley, 351

Black

Robert Prince, Dearne Valley, 305 Emma Davis, Warwick University, 292 Scott Price, Clacton, 291 Richard Parker, Crystal Palace, 291 Ben Quigg, Teesside University, 291

Grey

Callum Platt, Meriden, 288 Matthew Gardiner, Bradford University, 288 Andrew Hoyle, Exmouth, 283 Julian Piper, Andover, 275 Daniel Smith, Osprey, 268 Claire Morris, Colchester and District, 264

Brown

Matthew Gardiner, Bradford University, 261 Andrew Smith, Archery GB, 257 Tony Tideswell, Kendal, 245

Green

Yvonne Butler, Colchester and District, 208

Compound

Gold

Hannah Brown, Kent Police, 389

Silver

Stuart Wilson, Ballyvally Banbridge, 392 Joshua Moore, Hingham, 391

White

Richard Mill, Hingham, 385 Link Powell, Colchester and District, 378 Colin Fairburn, Wharfe Valley, 376

Black

Charles Mallion, West Essex, 369 Aaron Bainton, St Mary's, 359 Nigel Lane, Bramcote, 352

Grey

Oliver Bourne, Ashford, 350 Gordon Brown, Ashford, 333 Samuel Giles, C M O, 331 Lorraine Alcock, Hingham, 329 Louise Smith, Pennine, 325

Brown

Mark Saunderson, Belfast, 322 Aimee Davis, West Essex, 302

Green

Mark Saunderson, Belfast, 293

Barebow

Black

Stuart Ross, Deben, 292 Thomas McComb, Banbridge, 292

Grey

George Ferguson, Lough Cuan, 252 Caoimhe Heaney, Ballyvally, 230

Green

Wayne Henry, Ballyvally, 213 Mark Young, Lough Cuan, 194 Logan Williams, Aberystwyth University, 193

Achievements: Flight Archery

Master Flight

Barebow

Andrew Rees, Ballands

Handicap improvement medals

32 Point improvement

Kyle Denham, Derbyshire, 66 to 34

Ray Stevens, Ivanhoe, 74 to 42

29 Point improvement

Marcus Taylor, Forest of Bere, 80 to 51

26 Point improvement

Jason Billen, Darenteford, 84 to 58 Michael Parham, Leamington, 83 to 57

25 Point improvement

Ros Hopkins, Goldcrest, 72 to 47

24 Point improvement

Matthew Fury, Century, 54 to 30

21 Point improvement

Nick Sutton, Stafford, 66 to 45

20 Point improvement

Tristan Armes, Sherwood, Not given Phil Rowe, CMO, 78 to 58 Kataleeya Duffy, Richmond, 74 to 54

19 Point improvement

James O'Connor, Thomas Wall, 83 to 64

18 Point improvement

Paul Barton, Bognor Regis, 59 to 41 Katie Roadknight, Redhill, 60 to 42

17 Point improvement

William Thompson, Huddersfield, 60 to 43

16 Point improvement

Alex North, Abbey, 43 to 27 Poppy Bissell, Leamington, 88 to 72 Kate Slatter, West, 72 to 56 Ken Milloy, Teme, 75 to 59

15 Point improvement

Sarah Gibbs, Richmond, 65 to 50

14 Point improvement

Edward Darter, Harlequin, 56 to 42 Abbie Climpson, Harlequin, 64 to 50 Magda Esterhuyse, Old Basing, 59 to 45 Tom Pugh, North Cheshire, 73 to 59 Ben Babbs, Surrey, 74 to 60 Finlay Heydon, Goldcrest, 67 to 53

13 Point improvement

Ruairi Johnston, Aquarius, 47 to 34 Isaac Heywood, Stalybridge, 87 to 74

12 Point improvement

Richard Haydock, Belvoir, 20 to 8

11 Point improvement

Paul Ingram, Peacock, 66 to 55 David Fleet, Tonbridge, 59 to 48 Karen Bryan, Grimsby, 54 to 43 Lauren Rawlings, Bowbrook, 58 to 47 Edward Allsop, Teme, 75 to 64

10 Point improvement

Luke English, Phoenix, 64 to 54 Sam Gallagher, Thanet, 61 to 51 Harvey O'Malley, Welland, 69 to 59 Gloria Jenkins, Redhill, 54 to 44

9 Point improvement

Sam Philps, Nonsuch, 57 to 48 Jon Bouch, Redruth, 43 to 34 Abigail Batey, Hertford, 55 to 46 Megan Shaw, North Cheshire, 35 to 26 Trev McAll, Coventry, 39 to 30 Daisy Shaw, Burleigh, 70 to 61 David Lowe, Welland, 48 to 39 Rachael Sanders, East Riding, 45 to 36 Phil Clegg, Peak, 57 to 48 Andrew Massey, Stalybridge, 40 to 31

8 Point improvement

Sharon Parker, Fosse, 82 to 74 Larry Heywood (2016), Asseton, 55 to 47 Eric Cromack, ABBA, 56 to 48 Sean Hale, Mayflower, 51 to 43 Keith Keeping, Havant and Hayling, 83 to 75

7 Point improvement

John Carr, Selby, 64 to 57 Charlotte Fildes, Selby, 74 to 67 Andrew Clark, Whiteleaf, 37 to 307 Josh Smith, Cleve, 49 to 42 Jim Huggins, Crystal Palace, 59 to 52 Debbie Taml, Tockington, Not given

6 Point improvement

Lilia Boot, St. Mary's, 77 to 71 Phil Jesshope, Burleigh, 52 to 46 Pam Weston, Audco, 55 to 49 Robert Tucker, Berkhamsted, 55 to 49 Katrina Horton, Longbow Club, 70 to 64

5 Point improvement

Nick Royall, Eastbourne, 60 to 55 Claire Morris, Colchester, 39 to 34 Lucy Downie, Redruth, 61 to 56 Lynne Gibson, Abbey, 53 to 48 Oliver Salmon, Sherwood, Not given Terry Finnegan, Asseton, 59 to 55 Max Baker, Maidenhead, 64 to 59 Karen Brand, Maidenhead, 70 to 65 Eleonor Pinkney, Stafford, 67 to 62 Zara Green, Ditchling, 53 to 48 Elliot Reed, Ardleigh, 77 to 72

4 Point improvement

Aaron Bainton, St. Mary's, 17 to 13 Hilary Higgott, Bromyard, 75 to 71 Jack Fenton, Derbyshire, 75 to 71 Michelle Loxley, Osprey, 63 to 59 Trevor Spittle, Bowbrook, 49 to 45 Gerald (Ged) Laing, Ayr, 59 to 55 Caroline Buchanan, Bannockburn, 52 to 48

3 Point improvement

Michael Denn, High Elm, 60 to 57 Graham Burrows, High Elm, 63 to 60 Gail Burns, Corus Deeside, 62 to 59 Antonia Smillie, Falkirk, 67 to 64 Steve Nash, Kirby Muxloe, 40 to 37 Colin Vaughan, Ardleigh, 45 to 42

2 Point improvement

Malcolm Bath, Priory, 48 to 46 Connor Sharod, Priory, 52 to 50 Lizzie Warner, Kirby Muxloe, 27 to 25

1 Point improvement

Elisa Ball, CMO, 49 to 48 Joseph Griffiths, Abbey, 59 to 58 Susi Atkinson, Ascham Bowmen, 33 to 32 Rebecca Ashworth, Century, 34 to 33

And finally

We have had two big wins for the sport recently: we recovered our funding from UK Sport (£630,000 to 2020) and, from a very red dashboard in 2016, we received green accreditation; compliant with sport's new Code of Governance. Huge thanks to those whose hard work went into achieving both.

For many people reading, neither point will seem to have a lot of bearing on their day-to-day. But these wins, not unconnected, are important for you, too.

The first matters because a sprinkling of stardust always helps. Having our elite team supported, able to perform, and perhaps come back from Tokyo with a medal or two will give us all a boost. Not a person in UK archery won't get a kick out of it if we win something. Non-archers across our communities will celebrate with us and, perhaps, understand a little bit more about what we spend our leisure time doing and why.

The second often feels like a bind. We live in a world where apparently unnecessary rules proliferate endlessly and people just seem incapable of leaving untouched things that don't appear to be broken. But the Code is about making sport inclusive and equitable, and anyone who has ever felt excluded or treated unfairly in any walk of life should therefore welcome it. It's there as insurance; and it might protect you (and your children) when you need it.

And there's a third reason to be glad. Wherever you stand on the first two, the fact is that it has been the key priority for the Governing Body since I took the chair to get these things right in order to lay solid foundations on which to build. So the best news of all is we can now turn our full attention to doing just that.

Over the coming weeks, as agreed at our most recent Board meeting, you will see some changes. First, we will be putting live on to the website a pile of metrics about the sport for all to see. Whether we are on track to hit targets will now be visible to everyone, every day.

What will go up is not yet perfect. But with your input, we will iterate and reiterate to improve both it and what we are doing for the sport.

Second, we’re going to be acknowledging where there are problems and asking for your help in solving them. A planned new section of our website, How can I help?, will outline where we hit challenges with parts of our programmes, explain what makes them tricky to fix, and offer you the chance to suggest potential solutions.

And third, we will seek to explain how everything we do, far from being the product of ivory-tower thinking, is aimed at facilitating the sport, and in particular, its enjoyment by you, the members. We already ask ourselves this basic question of every initiative: 'will this help more people shoot more arrows more often?' Going forward we will make clear the link between what we are doing, and why it makes sense for you.

Steve Pinker, that beacon of progressive thinking, says that as long as bad things have not vanished from the face of the earth, there will always be enough to fill the news. Similarly, I imagine there will be enough mistakes to provide chat fodder for those who wish to focus on them. But there will be more and more to be positive about, too. One thing you won't be able to say any more is, 'what do those guys ever do for me?' Sorry.

Mark Davies

Chairman

Sponsors

We would like to thank the following sponsors and partners.

Long term support of our core programmes

Lottery Funded Sport England

Lottery funded UK sport

Excellence in Sports Coaching

Helping us raise standards

The Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport

Trading name

Archery GB is the trading name of the Grand National Archery Society, a company limited by guarantee number 1342150 Registered in England.