Spring 2009 - Mole Valley Bowmen

TABS Newsletter Spring 2009

Welcome to the Spring 2009 edition of TABS, the newsletter for Mole Valley Bowmen. In this issue you’ll find all the news from the 2008-9 indoor season, as well as the calendar of events and shooting program for the forthcoming outdoor season.

Junior National Indoor Championships Gareth Trimble shooting to victory at the Junior National Indoor Championships in December. He won the the boys’ under 16 longbow trophy. Well done Gareth!

GNAS Target Archery Rankings 2008

The GNAS Target Archery Rankings are published in Archery UK and on the GNAS website every year. They are based on the sum of an archer’s best scores for 3 ladies/gents FITAs, 2 FITA 720s and 2 12arrow Olympic head-to-head matches shot at different events. All scores have to be shot between 1st January and 30th September at World Record Status competitions, and separate ranking lists are compiled for ladies and gents recurve, and ladies and gents compound. In 2008, four MVB archers completed the requirements of the rankings and obtained the following positions: 2008 Score 2007 Ladies Recurve: 19th Louise Colville 4895 19th (4834) Ladies Compound

41st

Julie Hill

5028

Gents Recurve:

66th

James Suckling

4814

61st (4808)

Gents Compound:

57th

Tony Hill

5406

46th (5464)

The MVB Christmas fun shoot is an annual event (funnily enough!), and this year it was organised by Rob Smith, the “lucky” winner of last year’s fun shoot. Each target had a different scoring system, and a mystery target of a christmas tree with secret point values for baubles etc mixed things up a bit. As usual everyone shoots with the club jelly bows, which are normally reserved for have-a-go events, so it pays to get there early to lay claim to one of the better bows. In fact, a certain young member was spotted testing the bows at the Cow Pie Rally recently!

Photos by Andrew Trimble

By James Suckling

Southern Counties Archery Society Indoor Championships 15th March 2009 This is the annual competition for the Southern Counties region. SCAS is a large region covering 15 counties as far apart as Kent, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. The competition was shot in the impressive K2 sports centre in Crawley for the first time. The pre-event organisation was slick with archers being thoughtfully arranged not only into gender, but also bow style and handedness groups! Louise Colville managed to lift the trophy in the ladies recurve scoring 571. The gents recurve was won by Jamie Adams from Clophill with an impressive 582. James Suckling came 6th with 564, Rob Smith 16th with 539 and Mark Peters 24th with 509. The gents compound was won by Gary Kinghorn with 588 and MVB's Tony Hill managing 5th with 570. In this morning round they also divide up the archers into counties and take the best scorers from each county to make up a "county team". In this informal ranking Sussex came first with 1704 whilst Surrey (Louise Colville, James Suckling and Gary Harder of Surrey Bowmen) came 2nd with 1694. In the compound Sussex came first again with 1168, and Surrey (Tony Hill and Andrea Beddard of Warlingham AC) came 5th with 1127.

Sussex County Archery Association 15th March 2009 On the same day as the SCAS indoors, but in the second session, this shoot gives clubs a chance to compete on a more formal team basis. This means that the archers are named for the team before the first arrow is shot (no pressure then!). In contrast to the morning, the team shoot is based around a FITA 18 round. Mole Valley entered one team consisting of Louise Colville, Tony Hill, Mark Peters and James Suckling. As this is a team event the individual scores do not matter, what is important is the total! With a score of 2084 Mole Valley Bowmen managed to come 1st, narrowly edging out the next team (Abbey Bowmen, Hertfordshire) by a single hit (240 to 239)! In third place was Chichester Bowmen A from Sussex with 2076 making up a tightly fought top three.

The winning team in action!

Competitions One of the first shoots in the season that Team MVB traditionally attends is Arundown Archery Club’s Portsmouth shoot held in West Sussex in mid November. In past years we have done very well at this shoot but this year decided to let the locals recover some of their pride – only for one season mind you! Nevertheless, Natalie was second in the Junior Girl’s under 18. In the Gent’s competition Paul Day was 10th and Mark Leddin, Mark Peters and John Wright could barely be separated, finishing in 18th, 19th and 20th places respectively. This was one of John’s first competitions and the pressure clearly did not get to him since he shot a personal best. Team MVB were 7th. The 30th Surrey County Indoor Championships were held at Woking Leisure centre at the end of November and once again MVB were successful, very successful. I am delighted to report that Louise Colville retained her Ladies County Recurve title and that this year she was joined on the winner’s podium by James Suckling who is the Gent’s County Recurve champion. So much shooting talent under one roof! In addition, Natalie Trussler was second in the County Junior Girl’s competition. Finally, Gareth Trimble won the County Junior Boy’s trophy in the Longbow class and Richard White was second in the Junior Boy’s Recurve category with a score of 571. In his second round Richard scored an excellent 579, which was the highest recurve score of the day ahead of all of us - adults, juniors, ladies and gents. Richard and Gareth were both shooting for Chessington Bowmen rather than MVB, but we know who they train with don’t we! In the team competition MVB finished fourth overall and were the third county team. This event consists of three sessions held over the day, and in addition to the overall places, session awards are also awarded. Most of MVB shot in the first session of the day and we stayed to see Natalie be awarded the top Junior Girl in her session with a score of 479 as well as Louise winning her session. James was a close second in the Gent’s Recurve with a score of 571 (won with 572), but clearly had the top County score. In mid January Guildford AC held a FITA 25 tournament which only Tony Hill entered for this year, finishing 9th with a score of 545. We returned to Arundown in February to shoot in their Worcester round competition. However, not being content with a single round, some shot not one, not two but all three rounds on the day, 180 arrows in total. Paul Day finished 12th in the single round competition, 5th in the double and 2nd in the triple; Mark Leddin was 21st, 10th and 3rd; and Natalie Trussler was 9th, 5th and 1st shooting in the Ladies competition rather than the Junior Girls. The three of them also made 6th team. Sussex seems to a popular county for us since we returned in March to shoot at an event which combined the Sussex County Championships, the Sussex Team shoot and the Southern Counties (SCAS) Indoor Championships over 3 sessions on the same day. In the Sussex team competition, which was shot as a FITA 18 round, Mole Valley (James Suckling, Tony Hill, Louise Colville and Mark Peters) won the competition by beating all of the other 23 teams from Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire. OK we only won on total number of golds 68 to 56, having tied on a team total score of 2084, but a win is a win! The results are here for those that would like to look more closely: http://www.sussex-archery.org.uk/sussex_team_2009_results.htm. In respect of the SCAS tournament, which covers about a dozen counties in the South of England, it is great to be able to report that Louise Colville is the SCAS Ladies Champion. She scored a very respectable Portsmouth score of 571 to win by 9 which is good margin at this level. James Suckling was 6th in the gent’s recurve competition with a score of 564, Rob Smith was 16th and Mark Peters was 24th. Tony Hill was 5th in the gent’s compound with a score of 570. Tony made the county compound team who were 5th and James and Louise made the Surrey recurve team who were second. Full results are here: http://www.sussex-archery.org.uk/scas_indoor_2009_results.htm

Archers’ Progress In the outdoor season we formally recognise the progress individual archers have made in the season in terms of handicap improvement and class achieved but this does not tend to happen so readily for the Indoor season. In an attempt to partially address this, here are some of the season’s highpoints. Handicap improvements. We have seen a number improve their indoor handicaps this season, and often by a sizable margin including Louise Colville who has improved by 4, from 27 to 23, Thomas Ball (7, 64 to 57), Joseph Milner (11, 68 to 57), John Wright (12, 53 to 41) but the most improved archer this season has been Helen Ball who has improved her handicap by a huge 18 points from 76 to 58. Well done Helen. Also worthy of mention is Joanne Easton who did not have a handicap at the start of the season and thus her improvement can’t be measured in the same way but now has a handicap of 57.

Records Louise has been the only one to trouble me on the records front this season and I am glad I have been able to pass some of this work onto the county records officer. These are shown with the * below. Louise Colville Ladies Recurve

FITA 18 Worcester FITA 25 Portsmouth

543 286 * 552 * 583 *

Club Competitions We have a number of club competition rounds over the season - Portsmouth, FITA 18, FITA 25 and Frostbite – with the Portsmouth and Frostbite rounds each being shot 5 times with each Archer’s 4 best scores making up their overall total; 3 from 4 in the case of the FITA 18 and 25 rounds. The total scores are as per below and as you can see it’s a clean sweep for Louise!

Portsmouth

FITA 18

FITA 25

Frostbite

Louise Colville

2275

Louise Colville

1566

Louise Colville

1648

Louise Colville

1314

Richard White

2254

Rob Smith

1461

Mark Peters

1453

James Suckling

1227

James Suckling

2206

Mark Peters

1425

John Wright

1391

Paul Day

1212

Paul Day

2174

Paul Grinham

1394

Paul Day

1245

Paul Grinham

1174

Rob Smith

2124

John Wright

1337

James Suckling

1051

John Wright

1103

Paul Grinham

2111

John Tipping

1268

Rob Smith

1030

Richard Hollamby

997

Mark Leddin

2063

James Suckling

1005

Mark Leddin

937

Mark Leddin

817

John Wright

2039

Mark Leddin

884

Paul Grinham

885

Natalie Trussler

660

John Tipping

1985

Andrew Trimble

797

Andrew Trimble

470

Jenny Gordon

626

Natalie Trussler

1692

Helen Ball

622

John Tipping

428

Joanne Eaton

476

Mark Peters

1563

Richard White

526

Hannah Poulsom

297

Andrew Trimble

431

Andrew Trimble

1449

Paul Day

503

Natalie Trussler

254

Richard White

307

Joanne Eaton

1225

Hannah Poulsom

486

Helen Ball

254

Mark Peters

306

Helen Ball

1161

Thomas Ball

460

Rob Smith

304

Hannah Poulsom

997

Joss Tantram

408

George Lee

235

Dave Wholey

886

Natalie Trussler

389

Joe Milner

214

Thomas Ball

846

Joanne Easton

343

This season also saw the second running of the new indoor handicap shoot. As a reminder, it covers the same indoor shoots as the competitions above with an archer’s 7 best handicap adjusted scores counting towards their overall total score (there are a couple of other rules: at least one FITA 18, Portsmouth and FITA 25 round must be included and it’s only open to those who have a handicap at the start of the season). The format is nevertheless a handicap based competition that rewards the improving archer and this year’s results are as below with John retaining the trophy that he won last year.

Ranking

Archer

Total Score

Rounds shot

1

John Wright

10102

7

2

Louise Colville

10067

7

3

Paul Day

10027

7

4

John Tipping

9942

7

4

Mark Peters

9942

7

6

Paul Grinham

9911

7

7

James Suckling

9897

7

8

Mark Leddin

9883

7

9

Rob Smith

9856

7

10

Helen Ball

8728

6

11

Andrew Trimble

8509

6

12

Natalie Trussler

7911

6

13

Hannah Poulsom

5388

4

As you can see some of the places were closely fought, but John was our clear winner! A number of others shot rounds but not one of each type and hence have not been included. Trophies for all of the above competitions will be awarded at the annual club shoot at the start of September as will the Longbow Challenge cup, a trophy shot for over the winter with scores being measured in a very traditional way for longbow, namely hits rather than points scored.

Postals As you may well know we enter a number of postal leagues over the indoor season – a national Portsmouth league, into which we enter 2 teams, a national Frostbite league (1 team) and a Surrey Frostbite league (3 teams). All are shot over 5 months – November to March – with the teams ‘self-selecting’ on the day based on who has the highest score! Before we get to the results may I once again sincerely thank all those who have turned up and shot for the club – more again next year please- especially for the Frostbites! We have completed all of our shooting and the scores are below, but as yet I do not have all of our opponents’ scores. So far, the results and details of who made Team MVB are:

Portsmouth Run by British Archer magazine, this is a national league with around 270 teams of five archers.

“A” Team - Division 4 Our average score of 2745 was around 15 down on last year which at this level is big difference so after a storming year in 2007/08 we struggled this year. Team

MVB

Rst

Score

Opponents

Nov

Richard White

566

Louise Colville

559

Paul Day

552

James Suckling

533

Mark Peters

530

2740

Lose

2781

Royal Leamington Spa AS B

Dec

Richard White

561

Louise Colville

558

James Suckling

554

Paul Day

535

Paul Grinham

531

2739

Lose

2790

Holbrook Archers A

Jan

Richard White

559

Louise Colville

554

Paul Day

557

Rob Smith

536

Paul Grinham

532

2738

Lose

2792

Savile Archers

Feb

Louise Colville

575

Richard White

552

James Suckling

551

Paul Grinham

525

Paul Day

522

2725

Lose

2757

Archers of the West

Mar

Louise Colville

583

Richard White

568

James Suckling

568

Rob Smith

535

John Wright

531

2785

Lose

2821

Bowmen of Burleigh A

MVB

Rst

Score

Opponents

“B” Team - Division 27 Our average score of 2528 was down on last year and so our results were mixed. Team Nov

Rob Smith

525

Paul Grinham

523

Mark Leddin

521

Hannah Poulsom

505

John Wright

498

2572

Lose

2619

CMO Bowmen

Dec

Rob Smith

528

Mark Leddin

515

John Wright

493

John Tipping

490

Andrew Trimble

465

2491

Lose

2591

Bowmen of Burleigh B

Jan

James Suckling

532

Mark Peters

513

John Tipping

502

John Wright

499

Andrew Trimble

498

2544

Win

2446

Pastures C of A B

Feb

Mark Peters

520

Rob Smith

514

Mark Leddin

511

John Wright

511

John Tipping

496

2552

Win

2320

Netherall Archers

Mar

Paul Day

530

Mark Leddin

516

Paul Grinham

480

John Tipping

479

Natalie Trussler

478

2483

Bannockburn B’men B

Frostbite Also run by British Archer magazine and again a national league comprising around 170 teams of five archers.

“A” Team - Division 4 Our average score of 1499 was nearly 40 down on last year and hence we have not done as well at this level. Remember this is in the top 24 clubs in the country. MVB

Rst

Score

Oppon.

Nov

Team Richard White

307

Paul Day

306

Rob Smith

304

Paul Grinham

293

Mark Leddin

287

1497

Win

1427

Newport Pagnell Archers

Dec

Louise Colville

326

James Suckling

310

Paul Grinham

278

John Wright

277

Mark Leddin

273

1464

Los e

1555

Woking AC A

Jan

Louise Colville

328

Paul Day

306

Paul Grinham

304

James Suckling

303

John Wright

279

1520

Win

1414

Pastures C of A

Feb

Louise Colville

333

Paul Day

307

Mark Peters

306

James Suckling

302

Paul Grinham

292

1540

Mar

Louise Colville

327

James Suckling

312

Paul Day

293

Paul Grinham

285

John Wright

258

1475

Greenwood Archers Win

1398

Pendle and Samlesbury A

Frostbite Run by Surrey County Archery Association. Teams of 4 Archers.

“A” Team - Division 1 Our average score has been 1221 compared with 1255 last year. MVB

Rst

Score

Oppon.

Nov

Team Richard White

307

Paul Day

306

Rob Smith

304

Paul Grinham

293

1210

Lose

1222

Rivernook A

Dec

Louise Colville

326

James Suckling

310

Paul Grinham

278

John Wright

277

1191

Lose

1265

Surrey Bowmen A

Jan

Louise Colville

328

Paul Day

306

Paul Grinham

304

James Suckling

303

1241

Lose

1242

Guildford A

Feb

Louise Colville

333

Paul Day

307

Mark Peters

306

James Suckling

302

1248

Win

1237

Warlingham A

Mar

Louise Colville

327

James Suckling

312

Paul Day

293

Paul Grinham

285

1217

Win

1207

CMO

“B” Team - Division 4 Team

MVB

Rst

Score

Oppon.

Nov

Mark Leddin

287

John Wright

267

Natalie Trussler

247

Richard Hollamby

207

1008

Win

902

Atkins B

Dec

Mark Leddin

273

Richard Hollamby

234

Jenny Gordon

197

Andrew Trimble

194

898

Win

-

Bye

Jan

John Wright

279

Richard Hollamby

260

Andrew Trimble

237

Joanne Eaton

231

1007

Lose

1016

Nonsuch B

Feb

Paul Grinham

292

John Wright

280

Richard Hollamby

262

Mark Leddin

257

1091

Lose

1130

Guildford C

Mar

John Wright

258

Joanne Eaton

245

Natalie Trussler

242

Richard Hollamby

241

986

Lose

1153

Surrey Bowmen B

Longbow Team - Division 2 The only team to improve their average score 299 vs. 246. This year we won two matches and were a lot closer in the others. This is great progress.

Team

MVB

Rst

Score

Oppon.

Nov

John Wright

119

Pat Finn

85

Mark Peters

85

289

Win

288

Nonsuch

Dec

John Wright

198

Bob Barley

71

Richard Hollamby

49

318

Lose

331

Reigate

Jan

Pat Finn

113

John Wright

103

Mark Peters

79

295

Win

250

Guildford B

Feb

John Wright

108

Mark Peters

95

Pat Finn

53

256

Lose

369

Malden Bowmen B

Mar

John Wright

172

Mark Peters

102

Richard Hollamby

63

337

Lose

372

Atkins

Order Awarded------------------------------------->

Hits

Total Score

Vegas

FITA 22.5

FITA 18

Worcester

Portsmouth

Andrew Trimble

57

374

83

72

76

39

104

Bob Burford

48

262

27

47

79

28

81

Gareth Trimble

30

125

0

27

24

23

51

Hannah Poulsom

35

177

13

35

22

20

87

James Suckling

60

470

107

102

97

57

107

Joe Milner

56

342

69

61

89

24

99

John Tipping

59

397

99

80

81

43

94

John Wright

56

402

66

96

91

44

105

Louise Colville

60

478

105

100

110

50

113

Mark Peters

60

448

101

90

98

49

110

Natalie Trussler

47

230

28

67

58

23

54

Paul Day

60

462

101

105

100

51

105

Paul Grinham

57

422

75

95

91

50

111

Richard White

59

472

97

101

102

56

116

Rob Smith

59

464

97

94

106

55

112

Roy Willcock

57

323

69

69

56

34

95

Simon Buchanan

60

487

109

106

104

56

112

Archer

More Years as a Bowman by John Wright It is now 4 years since my first article on being a Bowman was published in the Spring 2005 edition of TABS, (copies of the original article are available at very reasonable rates from myself), so I thought it was time to do a follow up. So what has happened in those 4 years? Firstly and most importantly, in the summer of 2005, I joined the bent stick brigade, by buying a Longbow. Once again I experienced the joy of hitting the target for the first time, and then after only a few sessions hitting a perfect gold on my first attempt at 100 yards. Rob Smith witnessed this and took a picture. Fortunately he didn't take any pictures of me picking up all of the other arrows from the grass. Some how the picture was passed to Ted Bradford who included it in the Winter 2005/2006 issue of the Glade magazine. Did my head grow? Of course not, I just had to use wider doors for a while. Shooting with my recurve bow has really come on in leaps and bounds (perhaps that explains a few of my shots) in the last 4 years. The wonder of scoring a Portsmouth round without any misses, and then a Fita 18 and a 25. All of this helped me win my first Cup. The inaugural Indoor Handicap Cup. Ah I still remember the comments of congratulation. “You Bandit”, “It‘s a fix”, “How much did you pay Paul?” and many more too rude to print. One of the things that I really enjoy is helping out at club events like the Wand (even when it rained all day), the Sheila Brown, and the Beginners Courses etc. It might be hard work but it’s always fun and you get the chance to meet archers from other clubs and find out that not all archers in competions are better than yourself. I think that the most defining thing that has happened to me in the last 4 years was in February last year when I was made redundant. This gave me the opportunity to become a man of leisure. To make the most of this, I decide to join another club which offers the opportunity to shoot every day of the week. This means that I have been able to practise a lot more with both recurve and longbow. Resulting in winning the 2008 Longbow Challenge and the 2008 Short Metric Cups, plus getting quite a few club records for the Longbow (sorry Paul for the extra work). 2008 also saw another first. Me entering an Open Competion at Angmerring, and getting a personnal best score. It’s given me the bug and so far I've entered another 5 competions in 2009. Maybe I might win one. Stranger things have happened (but not often). So where to next? Obviously to continue trying to improve my scores and support the club in anyway that I can. But most important is to continue enjoying myself and not get too serious about this strange habit of firing pointed sticks at a bit of woven straw. And lastly, maybe try the DARK SIDE (compound bows for the uninitiated) just to give Tony and Julie a scare.

A Night to Remember

T’was a dark and chilly February night when four intrepid archers huddled together by the Lych Gate of the ancient church of St Mary in the shadowy grounds of the Parkside School, hard by the sleepy hamlet of Stoke d’Abernon. Our little party, consisting of Hannah P, Mark L, Paul D and myself, had accepted an intriguing invitation from Jenny Gordon in lieu of the usual Monday evening practice which had been cancelled. Jenny met us by the gate and led us through the dimly lit grave yard, the trees softly moaning with the breeze. We entered the church tower and were taken up a flight of narrow spiral stairs: up, up we went, until we entered a small chamber high above. From the ceiling hung a number of ropes, each with a sinister loop dangling from the end. Suddenly the door, our only exit, slammed shut, we were trapped and there was no way out! Was that a mad glint in our hostess’s eye? Who were the mysterious strangers already waiting for us? What did it all mean? What was to become of us? Was this the end...? No! In fact, Jenny was about to introduce us to the ancient art of Bell Ringing. Jenny and her fellow Ringers made us most welcome; not only did they explain and demonstrate Bell Ringing, but also let us have a go (since we had behaved ourselves quite well). We were also introduced to the many terms such as “Ringing Up”, “Hunting”, “Methods”... It was both informative and entertaining – so much to take in; there was even a delightful little model of a bell to show us exactly what all those many hundred weight of metal and wood above our heads were doing. Personally I love the sound of church bells and after that evening have learnt to appreciate them and the hard work of the ringers all the more. This may seem strange, but there is a similarity between archery and bell ringing in that there is a certain “feel” to it which is necessary to master and takes years to achieve: indeed, one of Jenny’s companions was a former archer. It was a truly splendid and enlightening evening and our many thanks go to Jenny and her fellow ringers for making it so. Richard H.

Inter Club Matches Over the summer we have friendly shoots against Surrey Bowmen and Malden Bowen. These are relaxed affairs with tea afterwards, and all are welcome to take part. We have one home match and two away matches. These are: 3rd May – Away to Surrey. 1pm for 1:30pm at their ground on Epsom Downs. The round will be an American, which comprises 2 ½ dozen arrows at each distance of 60/50/40 yards. 26th July – Home to both clubs. 12:30pm for a 1:30pm start. Western Round – 4 dozen arrows at each distance of 60/50 yards. Short and junior versions are an option. This also an internal club competition. 9th August – Away to Malden. Details to be confirmed. Normally 2pm for a 2:30pm start. I hope to see you there. Let me know if you want to come. Good shooting! Mark L

Archery Pro A local online dealer offering a competitive service. The site is well worth a visit and can be found at www.archerypro.co.uk

Pirate Ship at St Martins School As you may have seen a pirate ship has arrived on the playground recently. Due to health and safety reasons the school has asked us not to use the ship at the current time. However, this may change in the future. So for now you will all have to wait, then providing that you have adult supervision you can play pirates!

St Martins School Fete 11th July 3pm to 5pm (provisional) Help is needed to run a have-a-go stall. This is a very important event for us and allows us to maintain a good relationship with the school PTA. So if you fancy an entertaining afternoon please let any of the committee know.

I hope that you have enjoyed this issue of Tabs. If you have any comments or suggestions or would like to share news, articles, photos etc with the rest of the club please contact me (Louise) and I will be happy to include it in the next issue of Tabs due September 2009. Either see me on Sunday, Monday or Thursday at the shooting field or email me ([email protected]).

Message from the Ambulance Service We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As mobile phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency). The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents there were always mobile phones with patients but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognised name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as 'ICE'. Please forward this. It won't take too many 'forwards' before everybody will know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. PLEASE PASS THIS AROUND AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AS THIS CAN HELP IN AN EMERGENCY

CHILD PROTECTION - YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU! You may remember the Club adopted our Child Protection Policy at last year's AGM in September. As part of this, committee members have applied for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks. However, there are only a few of us and we would like to increase the number of members who have been checked. This would mean that the same small group of people are not always under pressure to be in attendance at Beginners Courses, Have-a-Go, and other events where children and young people will be present. If you regularly help at any of these type of activities, or even if you just shoot on a regular basis, and are willing to undergo a CRB check please let me or Jacky Casson (our Club Child Protection Officer) know and we can supply you with a form. It isn't a difficult process, just a bit bureaucratic! Thanking you in anticipation. Jenny Gordon Deputy Child Protection Officer

Your Club Needs You! As suggested at the AGM please see below a list of the typical jobs that need ‘bodies’. As you can see it is not all coaching! There are two event types – the shoots we host for fellow archers and the ‘Have a go’ session for the public. So when I ask for your help please use the list below as a guide. Even a couple of hours of your time would help.

At Competition Shoots FOR EXAMPLE: THE WAND and SHEILA BROWN TOURNAMENTS SETTING UP THE FIELD
Loading the van at St Martins School with the kit needed for the shoot e.g. bosses, stands, tents. This takes less than hour and normally takes place after shooting on Thursday evening.
Unloading the van at Therfield School on the morning of the shoot. Less than an hour – even less if we have half a dozen or so.
Marking out the field – If you can remember your 3/4/5 triangle from school you can help! It takes about 2 to 3 hours on the Saturday before the Sheila Brown. The Wand is done on the day.
Holding the tape during marking out – anyone can do this!
Squaring up – does need a trained eye but watch and learn!
Lifting bosses onto the stands etc.
Fencing off the shooting area – needs some muscles for the mallet but it is not difficult!
Moving bosses/stands at change of distance.
Field Party – collecting arrows/looking for lost arrows, moving bosses at change of distance and changing target faces during the shoot. ADMINISTRATION
Helping to set up the tent. Our new super gazebos can be erected in minutes.
Registering archers on arrival – normally the organiser does this but an pair of hands is helpful.
‘Runners’ for collecting and checking/adding scores during the Sheila Brown – it would seem that some archers cannot add, so if you can add up six numbers you’ve got the job! CATERING/REFRESHMENTS
Making cakes to sell in the refreshment tent (people do enjoy homemade cakes!). Jenny Gordon is our catering manager, so please let her know if you can help out.
2 hour stint selling refreshments (drinks/cakes)
Helping set up the catering tent (filling water container, boiling water in the urn, plating up cakes)
Helping clear away at the end of the day
Washing/drying up crockery during and after the shoot. FUNDRAISING
Selling raffle tickets on the day
Providing raffle prizes (e.g. archery related goods, bottles of wine, unwanted presents?)

At Fundraising ‘Have a Go’ Sessions FOR EXAMPLE: COWPIE RALLY and ST. MARTINS SCHOOL FETE
Load the van – normally at St Martins on the Thursday night before.
Help set up – setting up a few targets, roping off the area and putting up a back net.
Help people have a go – you need to be comfortable with some hands-on coaching.
Crowd/queue control – this is for health and safety reasons and also helps those coaching.
Collect arrows – from the bosses and all over the field.
Take the money – It’s £1:50 for six. No hard maths I promise!
Help tidy up at end of day – loading the van.
Unload the van
The Cowpie Rally can be very busy and requires lots of people who can help out even if only for a couple of hours to ensure that everyone gets to take comfort and food breaks!! Last year was very hot and did clash with a Surrey match that some of our archers shot at so we were low on numbers. However, we can take a lot of money in just a few hours, so it helps to keep your subs lower! St Martins School Fete is on a much smaller scale and is takes place at the field.

Shooting Program - Summer 2009 April

May

June

Sun

12

Easter Sunday (Practice)

Mon

13

Bank Holiday (Practice)

Thu

16

Practice (Imperial)

Sun

19

Mon

July

Thu

02

NATIONALS #3 (Comp)

Sun

05

St George/Albion/Windsor

Mon

06

Practice (Metric)

Westerns

Thu

09

Fita 70m

20

Practice (Imperial)

Sun

12

Half Fita

Thu

23

Practice (Metric)

Mon

13

Practice (Metric)

Sun

26

Fita 70m

Thu

16

METRICS #3 (Comp)

Mon

27

Practice (Metric)

Sun

19

Westerns

Thu

30

Practice (Imperial)

Mon

20

Practice (Imperial)

Sun

03

Match - Away to Surrey (1pm)

Thu

23

Nationals

Mon

04

Bank Holiday (Practice)

Sun

26

Home Match (12:30pm)

Thu

07

NATIONALS #1 (Comp)

Mon

27

Practice (Metric)

Sun

10

Cowpie (9am onwards)

Thu

30

Fita 70m

Mon

11

Practice (Imperial)

Sat

01

Container Clear out (tbc)

Thu

14

Nationals

Sun

02

Westerns

Sun

17

Wand (10am onwards)

Mon

03

NATIONALS #4 (Comp)

Mon

18

Practice (Metric)

Thu

06

Practice (Imperial)

Thu

21

METRICS #1 (Comp)

Sun

09

Match - Away to Malden

Sun

24

All Day Fita (time tbc)

Mon

10

Practice (Metric)

Mon

25

Bank Holiday (Practice)

Thu

13

Fita 70m

Thu

28

Practice (Imperial)

Sun

16

All day York (time tbc)

Sun

31

Westerns

Mon

17

METRICS #4 (Comp)

Mon

01

NATIONALS #2 (Comp)

Thu

20

Practice (Metric)

Thu

04

Practice (Imperial)

Sun

23

Half Fita

Sun

07

Ted's shoot (11:30am onwards)

Mon

24

Practice (Metric)

Mon

08

Practice (Metric)

Thu

27

Practice (Imperial)

Thu

11

Fita 70m

Sun

30

St George/Albion/Windsor

Sun

14

Metrics

Mon

31

Bank Holiday

Mon

15

Practice (Metric)

Thu

03

Practice (Imperial)

Thu

18

METRICS #2 (Comp)

Sun

06

Club Champs (12:30pm tbc)

Sun

21

American

Mon

07

Indoor Shooting

Mon

22

Practice (Imperial)

Key

Thu

25

Nationals

Event

Sat

27

Marking out for Sheila Brown

Club Competition

Sun

28

Shelia Brown (7:30am onwards!)

Match

Mon

29

Practice (Imperial)

Improver Session @ 12:00pm

August

September

Shooting Times Shooting will start at 2.00pm every Sunday and at 6.30pm every Monday and Thursday unless stated otherwise. Please try to be there if possible to help set up the field. The shooting program is not set in stone but please set up the field for Metric or Imperial as stated. If possible please leave two or three bosses on the trolley for those who may arrive later. In order not to scare horses next door please shoot on the school side of the big trees. Club competitions These are marked in the shooting programme as (comp). National and Metric - Best 3 out of 4 scores over the season. As these are adjusted for handicap you may shoot whichever variant of the round you wish (i.e.: Long, Short, New, etc) Western - A one-off match run at the same time as the home match (July 26th) - 1:30 sighters 12:30 for setting up the field. Inter-Club matches Matches with other clubs are marked on the shooting programme as either home or away. These matches are friendly contests with other local clubs and anyone is welcome to come along and shoot - the standard is extremely variable! The rounds are usually Nationals or Westerns at 80 yards maximum. On days where there are away matches the St Martin's field is still available for those not wishing to "go away". Please see Mark L for more details. Cow Pie Rally We attend this during the summer to promote the sport and raise some extra income for the club. Money raised at this event helps to keep club subscriptions down so it is a worthwhile exercise. We are always looking for helpers to set up the field, take the money or guide the "have-a-goers" through the basics. Fetes are not all hard work and club members have been spotted lying on deckchairs in the sun eating ice-creams, so if you feel that you can spare an hour or two on the 10th May please let us know. Other Events We host two shoots a year at Therfield School - The Wand in May and the Shelia Brown in June. Please help out on the day and before the day if you can. Bank holidays These are recognised shooting days for the club so any archer wishing to take advantage of some extra practice may do so as long as they follow GNAS rules of shooting e.g. set out the field safely and always shoot with another archer. Improver Sessions These are held on the first or last Sunday of each month at 12pm for those that are interested. Please see Paul D for details if you want to attend one (or all) of these to help with your shooting. Dates will be 26th April, 31st May, 5th July, 2nd and 30th August. Parking Please use the main car park at all times. If full please use the side road leading down to the school. Please don't tread mud over the playground! Lost Arrows Lost Arrows are not allowed. All arrows must be found since these are children's playing fields. However, please remember to notify both the School and the club secretary (Paul Day) if you lose an arrow on the field and have been unable to find it as we have to minute these for insurance purposes. We need to roughly where it was lost and have a description of the arrow (long sharp pointy thing will not do apparently!) Forms are in the container and a copy should be dropped through the door of the school and the other sent to Paul. If you see the caretaker (William) you can hand the form to him. Please let us know if the arrow is found at a later date. HAPPY SHOOTING!