Winter 2008
Danielle Brown - Paralympic gold medallist
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Danielle Brown of Aire Valley Archers won gold at the Paralympics in Beijing. The 20 year old law student from Skipton set a new IPC world record during the ranking round, then won the elimination rounds convincingly. GB team mate Mel Clarke gave her a real test in the semi finals, but Danielle won through, and went on to win the gold medal by an emphatic 14-point margin over Chieko Kamija of Japan. The YAA sends its congratulations to Danielle on this outstanding achievement. Danielle has undoubtedly been Yorkshire's top archer over the last year, and is ranked 6th Ladies Compound archer in the recently-published national rankings. |
Nordy nails another
Determined to outdo his trashed arrow in the last newsletter, David Nordoff shot the somewhat over-engineered flag on top of his boss at the Barnsley Albion. The A/C/E snapped into two pieces and two long shards of carbon were stripped. Not surprisingly, he won the award for "Best Inanimate Object Shot".
Can't wait to see what he's got lined up for the indoor season!
Date of 2009 AGM
The date of the YAA AGM has been changed (brought forward by one week) from the date previously published. The time for the start of the AGM has also been brought forward to 10:30 AM. Invitations, agenda and minutes will be issued to all clubs nearer to the date. Note: time changed.
The AGM will now be held on Saturday 7 March 2009 at Barnsley Archery Club, starting at 10:30 AM. Note: time changed.
The YAA Indoor Championships will be held the following day, Sunday 8 March 2009, at QEGS Wakefield.
Dave Phillips
Special requirements at YAA shoots
The YAA has researched its obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act and considered its responsibilities to disabled and able-bodied archers. The frequent difficulty in obtaining volunteers for work parties has been factored into the considerations. The following policies have been adopted:
- For indoor YAA competitions, the disabled archer will be required to vacate the shooting line after shooting their arrows. If the disabled archer requires assistance in collecting and scoring their arrows this will be permitted, but it is up to the archer to arrange this assistance themselves.
- For outdoor YAA competitions, if the Organiser is notified that the disabled archer requires to stay on the shooting line after shooting their arrows, this will be arranged by only allocating 3 archers to that particular target. If the disabled archer requires assistance in collecting and scoring their arrows this will be permitted, but it is up to the archer to arrange this assistance themselves
D&DAA Field clashing with NCAS Indoor
For 2009, the Northern Counties Indoor Championships shoot at Wakefield clashes with the Doncaster & District Field Championships. This has occurred because the date of the NCAS Indoor had to be moved for reasons of venue availability. We commiserate with those archers (including this newsletter's editor) who had hoped to attend both shoots. This is expected to be a once-only clash and not to recur.
Missing addresses for club members
For better or worse, the GNAS has started using the name Archery GB for all purposes. They have also introduced a new style of membership card.
One advantage of the new style of card is that the carrying letter includes, or doesn't include, the archer's address. This means club secretaries can see which addresses the GNAS/AGB has and doesn't have.
When I received the cards for my club's members, I was shocked at how many were missing the addresses - I know with certainty that I filled in those pink forms correctly. Unfortunately, there are lots of opportunities for these forms to be mislaid. The only practical option for sorting out the problem is to complete another pink form for the missing addresses and send it directly to the GNAS/AGB office at Lilleshall. Club secretaries (or membership secretaries) are encouraged to do this as soon as possible.
Tim Mason
Precis of September 2008 Committee meeting
Key Items from YAA Committee Meeting held 20 September 2008 at Barnsley Archery Club.
There were 16 members present with 8 apologies.
- Peter Welbourne has tendered his resignation from the committee on health grounds. It was noted that Peter was also standing down as a Judge. Thanks were expressed to Peter for the work he has done as a judge and committee member over a number of years.
- The use of hired portable toilets at YAA shoots at Wetherby was discussed. It was agreed that even though these were expensive they were a better option. It was agreed to sell the YAA tents and portable toilets at the 2009 Championships weekends.
- Information has been received about the suspension by GNAS of an archer. It was agreed to provide all YAA clubs with details of the suspension.
- Discussed support for disabled archers at YAA-organised shoots. Advice has been sought from various sources. Agreement to do all we can to help disabled archers in respect of collecting arrows and remaining on the shooting line. Recognised that work party is usually very small and stretched to complete work tasks. Agreed for outdoor shoots to permit archer to remain on shooting line and to permit archer to arrange for someone to collect their arrows. This would mean restricting archers on target to maximum of 3. For indoor shoots it will be necessary for the archer to vacate the shooting line after shooting their arrows, but the archer can make arrangements for someone to collect their arrows.
- It was agreed to purchase further stocks of the YAA Representative bars and medals.
- It was agreed to replace the existing communication radios used by judges and work party.
- It was reported that the YAA Junior Compound Team consisting of Rachael Smith, Georgina Brown and Aaron Barnes had won the County Award at the GNAS Junior National Championships.
- A child protection training course is being planned for October/November. A new GNAS Child Protection Policy is currently being printed. We understand it will contain some significant changes.
- The YAA 2009 Indoor Championships will be held at Wakefield on Sunday 8 March.
- The YAA have agreed to host the Inter Regional Tournament again this year at the YAA Single FITA at Wetherby.
- The entry fees for the YAA Outdoor shoots is to be increased by £1 from £8 to £9 per day.
- Dearne Valley will host the 2009 YAA Field Championships on Saturday 18 April 2009.
- The 2009 YAA Clout Championships will be held at St Georges on Sunday 19 April 2009.
- It was agreed to fund the hire cost of a marquee for the YAA Longbow Championships.
- YAA Representative Medals and Bars are to be awarded to the 2 Team Managers at the 5 Counties.
- It was noted that NCAS were planning to include the NCAS Indoor Championships within the same 5 year county cycle, currently used with the 5 Counties and Grand Northern.
- A nomination for Cedric Abbott of Adel to receive The Yorkshire Award has been received. This was agreed. Arrangements to be made to make the presentation to Cedric.
- A brief resume of the UK Coaching Framework was given. The YAA agreed to sign up to the principles of the Framework.
- Following the article in AUK it was agreed to propose Nick Beeson for the GNAS Junior Committee Chairman and Andrew Neal for a member of the Rules Committee. Both proposals sent to NCAS for ratification.
- Three of our Judges have announced their intention to retire from the judge circuit. Stan Snow, Janet Wales and Peter Welbourne. It was agreed to present all 3 with a glass decanter suitably engraved.
- It was agreed to change the date of the YAA AGM in 2009 from the published date of the 14th March to Saturday 7th March 2009. In future years the AGM will be held on the same weekend as the Indoor Championships.
Dave Phillips
YAA Longbow Championships, 9th August 2008
The venue for the champs this year was South Craven School in the small village of Cross Hills in the Aire Valley.
The day started out dry and the field was already set up by the time we arrived at 8:30. Keith Morrison had managed to acquire a marquee and everyone helped to assemble it. As the archers started to arrive the weather changed and the rain started. By the time the shooting was under way the wind had also picked up.
Forty five archers attended and shooting started on time. Sherry & cake were due to be served after two dozen. With only 18 arrows shot everyone had had enough of the driving rain. After an early sherry break we said we would decide what round to do after four dozen. Quite a few archers had to be persuaded to carry on shooting. At four dozen we had another sherry break (this was going to be for the afternoon) and, plied with sherry, we managed to get the archers back out for another two dozen to complete a round. The ladies shot a National and the Gentlemen a New National.
Prizes were awarded on the above rounds.
Ladies Champion: Sue Blackwell
Gentlemen Champion: Lewis Mitchell.
Raffle tickets were sold by our youngest archer Tom Powell. He made £61 towards the cost of the tournament. Well done Tom!
My thanks go out to Aire Valley Archers who made it all possible under very difficult conditions. To Sean Gleeson and his assistant Keith who kept everyone going and to Freddie Fairfield our Lord Patron who also helped me to get the results out so quickly. Trying to separate the score sheets and read them was no easy task.
All the results and photographs are on the YAA website.
2008 results
2008 photos
Ann Shooter
Inter Counties Juniors, 4th October 2008
The day started well at Penrith on Saturday. Well, that is a relative term - what that means is that the sleet promised in the weather forecast did not materialise. Sadly, also, at that stage, neither had Michael Wallhead, whose satnav perversely sent his family to a housing estate. Also, sadly, Tanya Cogan's bow had decided to stay at home, and send her brother's in its place. A minor obstacle, as Chris Battersby, the TO, lent Tanya his wife's bow which was exactly the same setup.
At assembly, the judges declared inclement weather - which was just as well, because all the dry-weather gear was already soaked. And, joy of joys, our ray of sunshine (aka Michael) also appeared. So a full team was present, including, for the first time in many years, a Girl Longbow, Annarose Spencer.
It soon became apparent that the weather was worsening, with the wind whipping up, the rain becoming heavier, and, worst of all, the temperature dropping significantly. By 4-dozen, it was fairly obvious that there was strong danger of hypothermia, so the team managers conferred with the TO, and offered three options to the archers: stop shooting there and then; take lunch and move the targets to shoot Nationals (or Westerns if the weather improved); or carry on to the bitter end. To the surprise of everyone, including the archers, they voted to carry on, but, as the weather got even worse, the unilateral decision was taken to stop altogether at 6 dozen, and do the awards on those scores.
The Yorkshire Boys' Longbow were the only one of our teams to take their prize - congratulations to Tom Powell and Dominic Spencer. In the regional championships, Aaron Barnes became Compound Champion; Helena Beeson, Hannah Jones, Annarose Spencer, Tom Price, Dominic Spencer and Tom Powell won their sections; Rachael Smith, Michael Wallhead and Adam Kinghorn came second; Rebecca Smith and Carl Grey came third.
Congratulations to all those (and Steven Wilkinson and Daniel Baker, the only two not to have been mentioned so far). They all remained cheerful throughout, and took what the elements threw at them. As usual, they were a credit to Yorkshire, and we can be proud of them.
2008 results
2008 photos
Nick Beeson
Inter Counties Seniors, 5th October 2008
This was my first tournament as team manager and I was hoping for a good day with everything going smoothly. On the Saturday I was beginning to worry that my only task would be to agree to abandon the shoot on safety grounds. Fortunately Sunday dawned with a largely blue sky and a phenomenon which I believe should be referred to as the sun (even though its heat generating abilities seemed to be absent, it was very welcome).
In sharp contrast to the Juniors there were no catastrophes, or rain!! to dampen the spirits of the Senior Team.
The day was much drier than Saturday and there was even sufficient sunshine to turn the mud bath (occasionally called the gents line) into what the racing fraternity may describe as 'soft to distinctly dodgy'. There was even a tricky wind to add an additional challenge particularly for our Longbow archers whose sight marks appeared to change at every end.
Congratulations were well deserved by all, the whole team displayed a great spirit and sense of fun throughout the day while taking the task of beating the opposition very seriously. Everyone put in a good performance which was evident as the results were announced.
The day was a great success for the team with individual gold medals being earned by Gemma Breese and Mark Hayes in their respective disciplines. In addition there were team wins for Ladies Recurve, Ladies Compound, Gents Compound and overall team awards for both Recurve and Compound. A great haul of trophies to end a very good day!
2008 results
2008 photos
Gwen Smith
Junior classifications
In 2008, we introduced Classification Tables for Junior archers in Longbow and Barebow. Because we had not had sufficient data from which to construct full tables across all the age groups, we decided simply to have one table for all groups. This has meant that, for the younger groups, attaining the higher levels has been nigh impossible. Because of this, we are now inviting archers to submit their scores for a possible revision of these tables.
Please could you send as many outdoor scores as possible recorded by Junior Archers shooting Longbow and Barebow to the Chairman of the Junior Committee by December 1st. It is important that we have a full range of scores, so that we can get a true feel for the whole range of archers, so please do not feel that "poor" scores should not be submitted.
Scores can be submitted in any format. It would be easier, but not necessary, if they were in spreadsheet form. For each score, please give:
- Bow style
- Round
- Score
- Date
- Gender
- Age (at date of shooting)
Nick Beeson
Judging news
On the 18th of October 2008, Karen Winsett passed her assessment at the NWAS weekend at Shotton. She is now a National Judge for target archery. The YAA sends its congratulations to Karen on this achievement.
Stan Snow, Janet Wales and Peter Welbourne are stepping down from judging. Peter has developed health problems which have forced him to give up archery altogether. Janet bowed out at the National Clout Championships on the 18th of October. We thank all three sincerely for the work they have done for Yorkshire's archers over many years. Altogether now - "three cheers for the Field Captain, hip hip - "
Trish Castle and Pat Lightowler are candidate judges who have been performing their candidate work during the outdoor season. Sam Baker and Mark Hayes will begin their candidate work during the indoor season. More candidate judges are required - enquiries are welcomed by Karen Winsett, the Judges Liaison Officer, from anyone interested in training as a judge.
Youth Development squad
YAA coaching is recruiting for the Youth Development squad and can take new applications from interested juniors as several of last year's squad have moved up to the Performance group.
This squad is for juniors who are keen to improve and progress in archery, but who have not yet reached higher levels of shooting and may be quite novice. We usually suggest one season of competition, though if someone is keen and has shot for a year but not competed yet that's also fine.
The emphasis is on enjoying archery and developing good technique, preparing for competition and learning some basic goal setting and coping skills. There is also a lot of advice on equipment, understanding their own equipment and simple maintenance.
Applications are welcome from all bow styles.
Applications to be returned to me please. All applicants will be invited to the next squad.
Youth Development squad
Kath Fitzpatrick
Mal Burgin
It is with great sadness that we learned today that Malcolm Burgin, Coach, of Dearne Valley Archery Club passed away on Friday 18th July.
Malcolm actually started his archery career at my own club, Barnsley, moving later to DVAC where he settled for many years. He came into coaching with Level 1 in 2006. Malcolm was, in his way, very inspirational; despite having oesophageal cancer and a host of other illnesses including diabetes, he continued with his coach training course, having passed at Level 1 in 2007. He battled with his illness, turning up every month, keen to learn and develop new skills, always with a smile. Sometimes his medication made him sleepy, and at others he was in discomfort, but kept on to the end of the course, taking his exam just two days after surgery. He was treated with great sympathy by the examiners, but given no quarter in terms of the rigour of his exam - and neither would he have wanted it.
I was very proud of Malcolm's achievements, and I know his wife June was. I am very sorry he will not be around to inspire other people with his stubbornness, courage and humour.
June, our thoughts are with you - we all saw how devoted you were to each other and I know he will be missed by many people.
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| Malcolm Burgin (right) with friend and club mate Pam Hill. |
Kath Fitzpatrick
CCO/RCO
Coaching news
Michael Ward (University of York Archers and Selby Archers) has become Yorkshire's latest County Coach. The tall trampolinist passed his County Coach exam at Lilleshall on the 10th of August 2008, after a two-day examination. Congratulations to him!
Archery GB (the GNAS) has launched a coaching newsletter, Shooting Forward. For more details and to subscribe, go to the Society's coaching web page:
http://www.gnas.org/coaching/index.cfm
Shooting Forward is Archery GB's first online coaching magazine. It brings you the latest news, coaching guidance and grass roots reporting. Each edition of Shooting Forward carries regular features including C.A.S.E, Coaching Stars, and club and coach development updates.
Archery GB (the GNAS) is conducting surveys to assess the current state of archery coaching and obtain opinions on the future direction of coaching. We ask all current and former YAA coaches to participate in this audit by completing the survey. The survey can be completed at http://www.sportstructures.com/agb_coach. Alternatively, you can download and complete the survey form from the YAA website, then either email it to sarah.smith@sportstructures.com or post it to Sport Structures Ltd. PO Box 3949. Warwick. CV34 9AF.
New YAA Coaching website coming soon! Keep an eye on www.yaacoaching.co.uk.
New clubs
Mik Isaac has started a new club for employees of the West Yorkshire Police. It's called Blue Light Archers.
Mary and Brian Hannan have affiliated their Goole-based club Cobra Archers to the YAA. Cobra has been around for some time as an NFAS club, but now it's also one of ours.
NOVA Bowmen is a new club in Birkenshaw. Its members have been very active at recent tournaments. Chris Rose is the secretary.
The Yorkshire Award
THE YORKSHIRE AWARD is a prestigious award where clubs can nominate individuals or couples who, in the eyes of their club, deserve recognition for services to that particular club.
There is no set deadline for submission of nominations.
If you think someone in your club deserves such recognition, please download the nomination form from the website, complete it, and send it to the county secretary.
Yorkshire Award Nomination and Citation Form
Judges expenses form
The Judges Confirmation and Expense Form was designed following comments made by a number of judges, who have had to approach tournament organisers to seek re-imbursement for their various expenses, almost feeling that they have had to negotiate the matter or value of their expenses for the day. They have also not been sure of the arrangements being provided (or not provided) by the club for the judge's lunch.
The approach we're recommending is for the tournament organiser or club secretary to send the form to the judge well in advance of the event, and for the judge to return the confirmation of their attendance and expected expenses, such that these matters can be settled well before the day.
If you are responsible for organising such a tournament, or are the secretary of a club that runs such a tournament, we request that you use this form.
To prevent double booking of Judges, the Judges Confirmation and Expense Form includes a tear off slip to send to Karen Winsett, the Judges Liaison Officer, when the booking has been confirmed. The form can be downloaded as a Word document:
Judges confirmation and expense form (Word format)
Alternatively, write to me or phone me for a copy.
Many thanks for your anticipated support.
Dave Phillips, YAA Secretary
NCAS Postal League
I've taken over the running of the Senior NCAS Postal League from Sandra Vives-Lynch. The Junior NCAS Postal League is still being run by Peter Galbraith.
I'll be running it in the same way as in previous years, with rounds in November, December, January, February and March. Scores from Portsmouth rounds to be submitted to me via email at ncas_postal @ mw116.plus.com.
Michael Ward, NCAS Postal League organiser
Small Ads
The YAA website now has a page where YAA-affiliated archers can advertise equipment and services for sale. It's free to use. All items must be archery related.
Small ads page
Virtual Archery League
I organise a postal competition for individuals shooting Portsmouth rounds during the winter months called the Virtual Archery League. It's been running for eight years and many Yorkshire archers take part. There are also archers from Scotland to Jersey and New Zealand of all standards shooting in separate divisions for recurve, compound and longbow. It only costs £3 and there are medals for each division.
The site can be viewed (with last year's results) at www.virtualarchery.org.uk and entry can be made from the site or by e-mailing val@virtualarchery.org.uk.
David O'Carroll, Bowmen of Adel
Indoor shooting opportunities
Several clubs are offering members of other clubs the opportunity to shoot with them. Details and dates are still being finalised in each case, so check with the clubs before turning up.
Savile Bowmen have a special offer where you pay £60 for a full season of indoor shooting Mondays & Fridays at their indoor venue, Spen Valley Sports College. You can try their facilities for just a £3 target fee, refundable if you sign up for the full season. Limited spaces available. Please contact secretary@savile-bowmen.org.uk for more information on this offer.
The Wakefield Archers shoot indoors on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.45 to 9.15 at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. You only need to be a GNAS member, no associate memberships are needed. You just pay a flat rate shooting fee of £3 per evening. Regular visitors can arrange a "season ticket" or just pay as they go. If you're interested, contact the club chairman Chris Key via keylongbow @ hotmail.co.uk.
The HASSRA Leeds Archery Club shoot indoors at the Forum (that building with the weird spire on top) in central Leeds on Fridays from 7pm to 9pm. All GNAS members are welcome to shoot with them. Shooting at this venue will begin on the 5th of December, but there'll be no shooting on the 26th of December. The target fee of £3 includes free parking. Send an e-mail to lis.o’carroll @ dh.gsi.gov.uk or ring 0113 254 6766.
Contact
Newsletter produced by Tim Mason on behalf of the Yorkshire Archery Association.
The next newsletter will be produced towards the end of January 2009. If you have anything you'd like to be included, please contact me via yaa@phoenixbowmen.co.uk or 07986 185882.
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