Hertfordshire Archery Association
(Patron: The Marchioness of Salisbury)
the association of target archery clubs in Hertfordshire, England
the association of target archery clubs in Hertfordshire, England
The Association provides support and services to archery clubs and individuals in Hertfordshire. It is affiliated to GNAS and SCAS.
With best wishes to you all for a very Happy Christmas and an accurate New Year. Many thanks to all those who have worked so hard throughout the year both at club and County to ensure we all get to enjoy our archery. For the rest of us, don't forget your resolutions for 2012, we can always do with more volunteers. And finally, to those of you who will be representing us all at the Olympic games in the summer, have a restful Christmas and a successful 2012. . . . Now where did I put those sprouts?
After the last County Committee meeting an e-mail was sent out to all club secretarys asking them to do two things. The first was to confirm receipt of the e-mailand the second to distribute the contents to all their club members. What we needed was someone to come forward who was prepared to run the 2012 County Indoor Championships. We had a deadline after which this tournament would just not happen. Well I can tell you that there were several clubs who did not respond to confirm receipt of the e-mail and because of this we can only assume that you as club members are not being informed what your County organisation is doing for archery in Hertfordshire. If you are one of these people, please ask your club committee to tell you what is happening. As a result of the second request I can tell you that at the eleventh hour someone did come forward and many thanks to John Postoyko for agreeing to organise this tournament for us. The entry form can be downloaded from the usual place, or by clicking on the hyperlink HERE. You should all be in no doubt that if organisers are not forthcoming the County can no longer just fall back on the few who already do so much to ensure things happen. We still need an organiser for the County outdoor championships in July. Without a volunteer the shoot will not happen. The same applies to other County tournaments. No one is left to just get on with it and there is plenty of support from previous organisers but we do need more people to get involved. 2012 will be an interesting year for our sport let's hope it will not be just at the Olympics that we get new volunteers.
Indoor Club Team Championship photos are now available on the Gallery page.
The RESULTS of the County Indoor Club Team Championships are now available by following the hyperlink. All in all it was a good shoot though I must admit I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t left myself enough time to try all the cake! It was said on the day but I will repeat the comments here, many thanks to the organisers, Peter and Carol the results were ready before the raffle had finished, something we have now come to expect from this tournament, so well done for that. The judges were available when needed, inconspicuous when not and their smooth running of the day was very much appreciated. There will be some photographs from the day available on the gallery page but they might not get there for a day or so as it is going to be more difficult to whittle them down to a respectable number than at an X-Factor audition. More thanks to Aim4Sport for their sponsorship of the event, to the working party and finally to our Lady Paramount Carol Clark.
If you enjoyed the shoot and want to see these County-run tournaments continue then why not consider helping with the organisation of one in the future, you could decide as a club to run one of the shoots, or contribute as an individual. It is not necessary to have the facilities at your own club if a suitable venue can be found elsewhere, this weekend being a prime example. If the County does not get more people willing to get involved and help then tournaments like this will not happen. Currently we are still looking for an organiser for the County Indoor Championships in February, I think you would agree that as a County we should be able to organise something as straightforward as this? Please give it some thought, you do not need to be on the County committee, or even your own club committee, just willing to give it a go. There is a lot of support available for anyone willing to give it a try but now is not the time to sit back and rely on the few who keep doing these things each year. If you want to find out more then drop me a line and we can have a chat about it or contact any of the current tournament organisers.
Just a reminder for anyone who is looking for a bit of help with their archery, be it equipment maintenance, developing a coaching plan or simply help with some aspect of your shooting. You can get this on alternate Monday evenings at St. Michaels hall in St Albans. For dates, times and the full address have a look on the diary page. This is open to all archers in the County at what ever level and with what ever bowstyle. Bruce and Dave will be happy to see you and help if they can.
I had a very enjoyable day on Sunday helping out with the current Level 2 Coach course being run by Tony Ferguson. The photograph below shows the students enjoying one of Tony's explanations of how the shoulder works. I was pleasantly reassured that they had already learned a lot about nutrition and conditioning and were taking it to heart continually through the day! With many months ahead of them we wish them all the best with their endeavours and on behalf of the County much appreciation for all the effort and time you are putting in to this course Tony, I know it will result in some excellent Level 2 Coaches.
If you look at the GNAS/ArcheryGB website, you may have seen recently that GNAS were, “able to fund a number of places for young people aged 15 – 19 years to become qualified coaches or leaders in England. (Funding sourced from Sport England).”
Clubs in the County were asked for names of possible juniors and the Hertfordshire County Coaching Officer forwarded the names of 3 interested Juniors who met the conditions and could start a course before the end of March 2012. We are pleased to announce that they were selected by GNAS and Adam Freeman Lea, aged 16 from Berkhamsted Bowmen, Philippa Martin, aged 15 from Royston Heath Archery Club and Jonty Edgar aged17 from Abbey Bowmen, will receive £100 each towards the cost of a Level 1 coaching course. Watch out for the next Archery UK where there will be an article about the Junior coach support scheme and quotes from the Hertfordshire juniors as to what the grant means for them. We will keep you updated as to their progress once their courses get underway.
Attention all juniors, (and those who know of any juniors). There are still some places available for the Abbey - Edge Grove Junior Tournament on Sunday 30th October, which is held at STAGS in St Albans. Please see the Diary page for an entry form and further details. There are lots of trophies to be won as well as spot prizes for all sorts of things. Why not give it a go? And don't forget to ask the Lord Patron to do a bit of juggling for you while you are waiting for the results.
Results of the 46th County Clout are now available via the tournaments page. It was an interesting day to shoot a clout, as the organiser put it, a blustery day! But even with the difficult conditions there were still several tassell claims. Well done to all the archers who shot, for those who tried clout for the first time, I look forward to seeing you all again next year. And to those archers who found the wind brought their arrows up short every end, thank you for your persistence and good humour through the day. After all, it's the taking part that counts, isn't it?
The September scores and final points table for the Senior Summer League are now available. This year sees a sharing of the various titles showing a greater interest and participation in the league matches which is always good to see. Maybe next year we will get entries from all the Hertfordshire clubs, after all it is the archers who loose out if they don't get a chance to compete. Anyway, congratulations to Hinxworth who were clear winners of the Recurve league. The other clubs had a good tussle through the year changing places almost every month. Compound saw a win for Hertford by a mere 28 points, this had been a bit of a two horse race from the start but they managed to keep their noses in front at the end. The Longbow league saw the top 3 teams all on 8 points but with a much higher score the honours go to Silver Arrow. The next three teams were all within 100 points of each other, so with a little bit of work this winter, who knows.
The August scores for the Senior Summer League are now available. I am sorry for the delay and thank you for your patience. Please take time to look through the tables, there were some very close matches in August as you will see.
Good luck to all of you who have entered this years County Clout Championships. If you have forgotten to enter then drop the organiser an e-mail and see if there is still room, who knows, you might even come away with that elusive purple tassel.
After the success of the recurve team at Saturdays Tri-Counties match, Herts were able to send full teams for Recurve, Compound and Longbow seniors as well as Junior Compound and a reduced Junior Recurve team to the SCAS Inter-Counties Team Championships (The first time for Longbow archers to show what they can do at this event). Many thanks to Adrian Charman for acting as Team Manager for the day and for the following summary of the day's shooting.
The day started out sunny but windy, a theme that would stay for the day, with a couple of brief showers, although these were blown over very quickly. Herts had teams in all the categories for the shoot which this year included Junior Recurve, compound & Senior Longbow. Most of the counties within the region were present for the championships, and with the added categories the field was quite large. The general census from the archers was that it wasn’t a good day, as the majority of their score were quite a bit lower than they would have liked, again this was mainly due to the exceedingly blustery conditions. Herts heroine of the day was Mary Perrott, who was back shooting for the first time after an operation, and feeling uncomfortable from the start reduced her bow poundage at lunchtime to allow her to finish the shoot, and many thanks to her target companions for allowing her to rest during the afternoon. Herts only success was with the Senior Compound team, who won the gold medal by 6 points. This was all very nerve racking as earlier in the shoot David Saunders had an arrow break in the target and was originally told the score for that arrow did not count as there was no visible part of the arrow on the target face. After an appeal to the chairman of judges the decision was reversed and David was allowed the 9 points for the arrow (with the agreement of his target companions). Had this decision not been reversed Herts would have been second by 3 points. Despite the weather the majority of the archers at the tournament had an enjoyable day, but would say their score was bad. Full results can be found HERE
Many congratulations to the Hertfordshire recurve team for bringing home the Trophy in the Tri-Counties tournament today. Despite a very windy day, in fact so windy that the York Hereford rounds were shortened to Westerns the Hertfordshire team of Samantha Meadows, Jenny Charman, Joyce Balaam, Robert Shirley, Luca Bosatta and Adrian Charman kept ahead of the teams from Berkshire and Hosts Buckinghamshire. Well done and good luck to the County teams for tomorrow's SCAS inter-counties match.
Did you enjoy yourselves on Sunday? The County Western was this year hosted be Hinxworth Archery Club. Normally a Western round, with shorter distances for juniors, this year saw something slightly different. The Western is open to all archers in the County but especially those below Bowman level. Run as a classification shoot it means that whatever your ability you have a chance of winning a medal as you are up against other archers of the same classification. Always a friendly atmosphere, it is often an archer’s first tournament and what a day we had. The forecast predicted some rain during the afternoon an unfortunately on this occasion it proved right. There was drizzle in the air for Assembly and by the time we had shot 2 dozen arrows the heavens had opened with a vengeance. At that point the shooting was put on hold to let the heaviest of the rain pass over but it was decided by the Judges and organiser, after consulting with most of the archers that the round would be shortened to a Warwick. The more experienced archers knew to prepare for all eventualities, this is an English summer after all. But some had not expected the heavy or persistent rain that fell. The good news however, was that by the time the archers had finished shooting we were able to have the awards presented outside and in the dry. Full results can be found HERE Also why not have a look at some photos of the day on the Gallery page. More can be found courtesy of Mr Andrew Hyde and his lot more waterproof camera than mine, Click Here. Once the rain set in common sense prevailed and my instamatic went back in its case. By the time we went home there were a lot more smiling faces, I hope you the archers enjoyed yourselves, and not too many of you have had to take the day off work today with foot rot or rising damp. Maybe next time put a few emergency provisions in the boot with you before leaving home, Kendal mint cake, distress flares, inflatable dinghy or even a change of cloths and a flask of something hot. Be warned though, if you do, please put a bottle of sunscreen in there as well, you never do know when you might need it.
July Summer League scores are now available in the usual place, enjoy.
Congratulations to the various County teams today. Despite the variable and quite unpredictable wind, we managed to Win all three senior categories in the annual Bedfordshire versus Herts match. It was Beds' turn to host this event, and as usual it takes place alongside the host county's Championships. Full details will be available shortly but in the mean time, here are the bottom lines. The recurve team won by 207 points with Jenny Charman as our top scorer with 954 (yes it was very windy). Compounds also won with a lead of 297 well done to Neil Bridgewater with 1200 dead. And the longbows lead the way by 97 points, Derek Bridgewater being out top scorer with 244. It was a close thing for the juniors but on the day they couldn't quite match the Beds team 119 points behind a very strong team. Well done to all, details to follow and many thanks to our hosts for an enjoyable, frustrating, difficult, interesting day (other terms were also used but they will not be repeated on this website)
Full (corrected) results are now available from the County Weekend, apologies to those archers who were not credited for their achievements when I posted the draft results too soon. Just click on the LINK to find your copy.
Having been wrapped up in all things archery over the last few weeks there is one bit of news I overlooked. Sorry to all those concerned but here it is, better late than never.
"On the 4th June, Herts county squad get together took place and Howard Bowmen happily hosted the event. It gave the archers a chance to meet up, and see new squad members. The weather though warm and sunny, brought with it the inevitable wind, and did make it challenging for the archers. Various clubs throughout the County were represented, which included, Chiltern, Green Dragon, Abbey, Berkhamsted, Hinxworth and Howard. The plan for the day was a Fita 720 which was shot in the morning, and in the afternoon a round-robin head to head was included compound and recurve alike. A great day was had by all and I wanted to thank Gaynor Hutchison for coordinating the day, and all at Howard Bowmen for the use of their ground" - Dave Leader
At last weekend's County Championships all entrants were given a commemorative pin badge to celebrate the fact that it was the 50th County Weekend according to current records. A limited number of these badges are now available to buy while stocks last. Priced to sell at only £2, if anyone is interested in one of the badges then the best way is to give your County Rep your order complete with correct money and ask them to pick up the badges at the next County committee meeting on 25th July. If there are any left after that then come along to the County Western in September where they will be on sale together with other County memorabilia.
What a difference from last year, the 50th County weekend, incorporating the 60th County Championships was held on probably the best weekend this year weather wise. With blue skys and light breeze (sometimes) the archers were treated to the best of conditions for the premier event in the County calendar. There was an excellent mix of regular faces, new faces and even a fair number of returning archers not seen for a while. Where I was shooting several of the archers were fighting their own private battles with form and I must say, in my case coming off as David Haye on Saturday night empty handed. Not able even to win the worst white when a clubmate of all people claimed that dubious honour with a linecutter I would have been proud of. I must say, I did not have a broken toe, nor any other legitimate excuse why other archers shot better than I did, maybe next time. There were quite a few successes throughout the weekend, a mention must go to Matt Prior from Abbey Bowmen who shot a personal best on the Saturday to claim his black rose only to up that on Sunday by claiming his Blue rose. Was it something to do with the coaching he had been getting from this years President’s Cup winner Tony Ferguson? Chosen by Steve Dutch for his outstanding contribution to the County over the last 12 months.
As usual we must say a huge thank you to our Judges for the weekend to Paula, Kevin, Geoff, Brian, and William! I thought their judgement was impeccable I hope they enjoyed the weekend as much as the archers. The working party had again started work on the Friday to ensure that everything would be ready and many thanks go to them along with the Silver Arrow members who kept things running through the two days. I think I’m right in saying that more archers responded to the request for help with moving targets and clearing the field this year, whether it was as a result of the sunshine or just an understanding that many hands make light work it was nice to see. And finally Sue, thank you for the organisation we all look forward to next year.
With the 50th County weekend fast approaching, the organiser tells me everything is in hand. The reason we are all getting wet and windy weather now is so that we won’t have any for this tournament. If your County reps haven’t told you, we have unique medals for those lucky enough to win any of the eligible categories. These will be presented at this event only. But even if you feel you are not going to be one of the top archers on the day, every entrant will receive a commemorative pin badge when they sign in whether it be just for one day, or for the double event. You still have time to enter and if 100yds is too far for you gents, or 80yds for the Ladies, you can always enter for the shorter distance round just to be part of the event. And if you have already entered, find out who hasn’t got round to it in your club and give them a prompt with an X10. (juniors please ignore the last bit)
At the last County committee meeting, the Leagues organiser stated that in future entries for both the Summer and Winter Leagues would be sought from clubs a lot earlier than in the past. It has in recent years become an administrative nightmare sorting out fixtures, even virtual ones, when not in possession of all the club entries. The matter has come to a head this summer with the disappointing withdrawal of Chiltern A.C.’s summer entry for all three bow types after having done so well in the recent past. Archers who are not sure about how the Leagues actually work or even if they are eligible, should speak to members of their club committee in the first instance or raise it with their County Representatives. If you don’t know who this is then why not contact the Leagues organiser direct who will be more than happy to point you in the right direction (just click on the contacts page). In the past we have had archers who would have liked to take part, the Summer Recurve League in particular is an opportunity to socialise with archers from other clubs, in semi formal competition conditions. Don’t take the excuse “We don’t do those things” if you know enough archers in your club who would like to take part, then tell your officials, it’s your club after all. Have a look at the Results tables, I know they only show the names of those archers who made their teams on the day, but look at the scores, can you do better? Sometimes it only takes one score. So why not talk to your fellow archers and start thinking about entering the Winter Leagues when the entries get sent out, we will let you know via this page. Better still, find a club near you who is hosting a match against another club and ask them if you can go along and shoot as a visitor, just to see what it’s all about. If they can’t accommodate you they will say, but if they can, you might even enjoy it.
Well the first month's results have now been received and tabulated. Go to the Leagues page for all the results, it looks like it might be an interesting year for the Summer short metrics with some excellent scores already being posted.
The March results for the senior winter leagues can now be viewed via the Leagues pages. The Frostbite league saw Hinxworth taking Recurve and Compound Titles with Hertford the Longbow. The Portsmouth Leagues are a bit more complicated so why not have a look for yourselves and see how your club did.
Updated selection criteria and procedure have now been added to the Selection Policy, please read it as this will now provide information to the squad organisers as well as the team selectors. There may be some fine tuning of the process so bear with us and let us know your comments so that we can continue to develop the process. Don't forget, all score submissions now go to selection@hertsarchery.org.uk
More news, a little late so my apologies to all those concerned but here goes, Congratulations to the successful Coaches who passed their County Coach Assessment on Sunday 20th March. Many of you will know our own Gaynor Hutchison and Stan and Shirley Seymour from Aim4Sport, along with them Gary Critchlow-Smith from Berkshire. They have been studying since November 2009 toward this qualification, so although somewhat stressful at times they succeded in demonstrating the acquired skills to meet the standard. Thanks must go to tutors Malcolm Penn and Tony Ferguson for their efforts and support for the Fab 4 over the past 16 months.
Also pictured are the assessors Barry Molsom and Steve Ellison, who also had a busy weekend interviewing the 4 coaches on a number of subjects. Well done to all concerned.
At the last County Committee meeting we had the pleasure of being introduced to two new faces. Well at least new to the committee. Stuart Barber has joined us as Junior Representative, he currently shoots at Stortford Archery Club and can be contacted via juniors@hertsarchery.org.uk he is keen to hear your ideas especially if you are still a junior. We wish him the best of luck in this important and challenging role. The second new face shoots over at Green Dragon Bowmen, Dave Leader is to take on the role of coordinating score submissions for the selectors and squad organisers. We are splitting the current responsibilities of the Records officer in an attempt to clarify the situation for archers. All county record claims should still be submitted to the county records officer who has a new e-mail address records@hertsarchery.org.uk the forms and information pages are being updated as we speak so please be patient. The selectors are widening the score criteria in an attempt to get a better idea of who is doing what out there and Dave will be coordinating this information. Again, the selection pages are being updated so keep an eye on things there. Dave can be contacted at selection@hertsarchery.org.uk So that’s two volunteers at once, these things usually happen in threes so do we have a budding tournament coordinator or SCAS representative out there just waiting for the right moment?
It is my sad duty to inform you that Marjorie Ely passed away in her sleep on Monday. Without the hard work and dedication that she and Guy for many years put into the Hertfordshire Archery Association it would not be what it is today. Her funeral will be held at the West Herts Crematorium on Thursday 31st March at 15:20 Our thoughts are for her family at this time.
Well they do say every point counts, and they couldn't have been more right on Sunday morning. The annual Hertfordshire versus Middlesex indoor fixture saw one of the closes matches for many years. I realise that the Compound team were comfortable winners led by a 594 from Neil Bridgewater and the Longbows also showed Middlesex a clean pair of heels with leading scorer Jon Morrice with 487. But it was the 4 points difference between the recurves that meant that Hertfordshire with a total score of 4492 took the trophy from a gallant Middlesex with a score of 4488. Definitly one for the if onlys. Many congratulations to all the archers who were chosen but don't let it get so close next time please. Full results and some photograph will be available here in the next couple of days.
Many congratulations to Tony Ferguson who at the recent Herts Group of Archery Coaches meeting was presented with the Coach of the Year Award for 2010. Nominations are invited each year from clubs and an example of the comments received was this; "Someone who is a visible coach within the county someone who is always ready to help others someone who is enthusiastic about archery someone who understands all bow styles someone who is good enough to be on the squad but chooses to support the group as a coach" Tony has certainly shown that coaching doesn't always destroy ones ability to shoot. Congratulations Tony it was well deserved.
Attention all archers, to be considered for County Selection you must fill in a Declaration Form. This must be renewed each calender year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming receipt of your form WE HAVE NOT HAD IT. Forms can be found on the Selection Policy page, or by clicking HERE
An excellent turnout for the Indoor Championships this weekend meant that while in some categories the scores were almost too good to be true in others, they were closer than we have seen for many years. Well done to allour Champion Archers. Thanks should go as always to our Judges who many of us take for granted. The working parties who ensure that everything runs smoothly and especially the organiser for all the hard work that goes into putting on a weekend like this, before, during, and for days afterwards while the rest of us are looking forward to the next shoot. Our sponsors for the weekend Aim4Sport also kindly donated a special raffle prize which they won! I hope you don't mind Stan but I put the ticket back in and drew again. Please find a copy of the results by following the LINK. Photographs from the second day can be found HERE
Junior Winter League The Herts Junior Winter League this year is now almost half way through, and despite starting in a strong first place in the recurve league, Abbey juniors have been pushed down into second place by the Chiltern 'A' team. Hinxworth recurve juniors are holding onto third place, closely followed by Howard. In the compound league, Chiltern juniors started the season in first place, but were outscored by Abbey the following month, who then took over the lead. However the difference in the total scores to date is only three points, and so positions may well change again. Hinxworth compound juniors are in third place, with Stortford fourth.
Herts Indoor Champs 2011 Once again, this tournament is proving popular with the D session now fully booked. The C session is full apart from one compound space. If you want a place on the Saturday sessions there are a limited number of places on A with more on the B session so get your entries in quickly to avoid disappointment.