May-June-July 2008
Ann Shooter - British Longbow Champion
Congratulations to Ann Shooter of White Rose Archers, who is the number one Ladies Longbow archer in the country. She won the British Longbow Society championships at the Royal Toxophilite Society ground at Burnham in Buckinghamshire.
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
Scorton Open Albion rearranged
Owing to problems with ground availability, the Scorton Open Albion will be held on Sunday 13th July 2008, not on the 20th as previously shown in YAA Events Calendar.
The shoot should revert to the 3rd Sunday for 2009.
Trophy found
The trophy for the Ladies Recurve Field Champion has been found, and was presented to new champion Amy Oliver at the YAA Field Championships 2008.
GNAS direct members and county championships
Please note that people who are affiliated directly to the GNAS are only eligible for county awards at YAA Championship shoots if they are also affiliated to the YAA. GNAS direct members who are NOT affiliated to the YAA are eligible for open awards only.
GNAS direct members who wish to affiliate to the YAA can obtain the necessary information by contacting the county secretary Dave Phillips.
GNAS direct members and YAA membership
New GNAS subscription fees for 2008/9
At the recent G.N.A.S. Annual General Meeting another increase in fees was agreed, taking effect from 1st May 2008 and applying to all new members joining from that date. There have been no increases in NCAS and YAA fees. With these increases the total fees are now due as follows:
| GNAS | NCAS | YAA | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior club member | £33.00 | £1.50 | £4.00 | £38.50 |
| Junior member of senior club | £20.00 | £0.75 | £2.00 | £22.75 |
There was no change to the Junior Club bloc fee which remains at £50.00 with individual juniors paying £0.75 to NCAS and £2.00 to YAA.
The University Club bloc fee was increased from £100.00 to £110.00.
All subscription fee cheques should be made payable to Yorkshire Archery Association or YAA and sent along with the forms direct to me at:
Martyn Spence
Tamaline
Garthends Lane
Hemingbrough
North Yorkshire
YO8 6QW
Please remember that for all new members joining from 1st May 2008, the above subscriptions will take them through to 30th September 2009.
If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Martyn Spence, YAA Treasurer
Inter-Counties score submission
The Inter-Counties Junior Tournament is an annual event held on the Saturday immediately before the first Sunday in October, moving around the 5 Northern Counties on a rota basis. For 2008 the event will be hosted by Cumbria, and will be held on Saturday 4 October 2008.
The Bristol rounds will be shot in the Tournament, appropriate to age group.
Score submission form for NCAS Inter-Counties Junior Tournament on Saturday 4 October 2008 (Word format)
Closing date for submissions: 31st August 2008.
The Inter-Counties Tournament is an annual event held on the first Sunday in October, moving around the Northern Counties on a rota basis. For 2008 the event will be hosted by Cumbria on Sunday 5 October 2008
The rounds to be shot in the Tournament are the York for Gentlemen and the Hereford for Ladies.
Score submission form for NCAS Inter-Counties Tournament on Sunday 5 October 2008 (Word format)
Closing date for submissions: 31st August 2008.
Please note: sufficient scores of the correct rounds must be submitted in time! Less or late won't do.
Notes from meetings
Key Items from YAA Committee Meeting held 8 March 2008 at Barnsley Archery Club.
There were 18 members present with 7 apologies.
- One nomination has been received for the newly instigated "The Yorkshire Award". The committee fully endorsed the nomination and in due course the award will be presented to Geoff Taylor of Phoenix Bowmen.
- Only Hangingwood Junior Archers have failed to re-affiliate for 2008/9.
- A record number of YAA Coaches attended the GNAS Coaching Conference this year.
- 15 new Level 1 coaches achieved in 2007. This includes 5 juniors. Martin Holtby has passed his Senior Coach Assessment. Andy Arnold has passed his County Coach. Also 6 more County Coach candidates.
- It was agreed to provide a donation of £300 from the YAA funds to support squad training sessions.
- The Lady Recurve trophy is still not located for the YAA Field Championships.
- Karen Winsett is on with organising a YAA Judges Conference.
- Lincolnshire has been approached to compete in a junior representative match against the YAA juniors at the YAA single FITA.
- It was agreed to hire portable toilets for the YAA single FITA and Championships weekend at Wetherby.
- It was agreed that the YAA Committee would make decisions about who to invite to be Lady Paramount for all YAA Championships shoots.
Key Items from YAA AGM held 8 March 2008 at Barnsley Archery Club
There were 31 members present with 14 apologies.
- Stan Snow as YAA President welcomed everyone to the meeting. He expressed his disappointment that so few non-committee members had turned up.
- Dennis Heritage as Chairman thanked the committee for their work over the last 12 months. He commented on the success of the tournaments and the unusual occurrence of having to abandon the YAA double FITA because of the weather conditions.
- Five new clubs joined the YAA this year: Bowmen of St Marys, senior and junior; Wolds Archery Club; Barnsley YMCA; NOVA Archers; and Huddersfield University. Two Clubs closed or did not re-join: Pindar Community Archers and Hangingwood Junior Archers.
- The Yorkshire Sword was presented to Tim Mason at the YAA Championships.
- The final designs have been agreed for the newly introduced "The Yorkshire Award", and an order placed for the brooches.
- All YAA Tournaments now have a standard format of Entry Form.
- The Treasurer reported a healthy balance, even though some significant expenditure had taken place during the year. Extra stocks of tournament medals were purchased. The horse trailer used at the outdoor weekends had been purchased. The system of financially rewarding successful coaches and judges has been implemented. The system of boss rotation will continue with 15 new bosses ordered and 15 second hand bosses sold. A laser printer was also obtained for use by the secretary.
- The Treasurer's recommendation that there should be no increase in YAA Affiliation fees was accepted.
- Each of the Officers presented a report on their field of responsibility.
| The elections of the Officers and General Committee took place. Mick Fitzpatrick had already indicated he would not stand for re-election as Clout Officer. After a closed ballot Mark Hayes was elected. Maggie Gosling had also indicated she would not stand again as Judge Liaison Officer. Karen Winsett was subsequently elected. Thanks to Mick and Maggie for their services to archery in Yorkshire. The following members were elected or re-elected to the Committee to serve until 2010. | |
| Vice President | Jim Routledge |
|---|---|
| Secretary | Dave Phillips |
| Treasurer | Martyn Spence |
| Clout Officer | Mark Hayes |
| Judges Liaison | Karen Winsett |
| Junior Officer | Nick Beeson |
| One of the seven people elected to the General Committee will only stand for 1 year. This will be determined at the April Committee meeting. | |
| General Committee | Trish Castle |
| Jean Clarkson | |
| John Gilroy | |
| Sean Gleeson | |
| Martin Holtby | |
| Michelle Kiddy | |
| Danny Walsh. | |
| The following members still have until 2009 to serve of their present term of office. | |
| President | Stan Snow |
| Vice President | Christine Morgan |
| Chairman | Dennis Heritage |
| Target Tournament Organiser | Andrew Neal |
| Coaching Officer | Kath Fitzpatrick |
| Field Officer | Peter Welbourn |
| PRO | Tim Mason |
| General Committee | Harry Drake |
| Susan Heritage | |
| Carl Morgan | |
| Keith Shooter | |
| Michael Ward | |
Martin Holtby was again approved as Child Protection Officer and Christine Morgan as the Deputy Child Protection Officer.
Key items from the GNAS AGM held Saturday 19 April at Lilleshall.
The proposal to increase the GNAS Affiliation fees was agreed by a relatively close margin of 1601 to 1050 votes.
The rates which apply directly to YAA members are:
| Senior Club Member | £33.00 (from £32.00) |
|---|---|
| Junior Club Member | £20.00 (from £18.00) |
| University Club | £110.00 per club (from £100.00) |
Junior Club block fee of £50.00 remains unchanged.
Clubs for archers with disabilities remains unchanged at Nil.
Clubs and individuals will start to see changes in the name being used in all correspondence. Archery GB is now being used as the trading name of GNAS. We will still remain members of GNAS.
Concerns about serious delays in all correspondence (membership, coaching and records etc) with the GNAS Office were recognised and steps are being made to address the issues.
Tom Musgrove was awarded the Jack Flinton Helping Hands Award.
Danielle Brown was awarded the Hartwell Trophy.
YAA Coaching Clinic January 2008
Another YAA coaching clinic was held in Wetherby on the 26th and 27th of January 2008. 12 archers from Yorkshire and Lancashire took part - seniors, juniors, recurve and compound - and a longbow too.
All evaluations were extremely positive with archers feeling they had benefited from the high level of one-to-one input from the coaches.
Staff from the weekend were Kath Fitzpatrick, Mick Fitzpatrick, Harry Drake, Jean Clarkson, Michael Ward and Mary Hannan.
Some of the comments:
"good value for money!"
"not just for Yorkshire archers"
"good support from coaches who knew what they were doing"
"best things about this were - a coach who knew their stuff, didn't try to change too much, used to working with archers at a high level."
"now I know what I need to do to make progress"
"confirmed some of my thoughts and reminded me of how to shoot properly!"
The next coaching clinic will be held in the autumn after the close of the outdoor season.
Kath Fitzpatrick, County Coaching Officer
 |  |
Coaches able to coach in schools
I'm trying to put a data base together of any coaches interested in going into schools to provide archery coaching, normally after school, 4pm-ish. Possibly with their own training equipment.
Please contact me on email via mary.skeet at btinternet.com, or phone 01405 765347.
Mary Hannan, YAA Coaching Schools Liaison
YAA Coaching: Report to YAA Committee 26-4-2008
Firstly, apologies for not attending but I am away at Lilleshall with the Commonwealth England Compound Squad. It’s good to see that 3 of our ex-junior squad archers are among the squad - Steve Dixon, Matt Arnold and Danielle Brown.
Since the AGM there has not been a lot of additional activity. The final squad sessions have taken place, with a few intrepid archers braving the hail and snow for an outdoor session at Barnsley. Special mention must go to Maddy Bourne (aged 9) who got her 40 yard sight mark for the first time in driving hail!
Details for next year’s squad should be on the website in June. It is a little difficult to forward plan as the venue at Wetherby cannot be confirmed in advance. We are planning a look at a venue offered by Dennis in the near future.
The two Level 1 courses are progressing with first internal assessments due in June. We have 36 candidates in total. Applications for Level 2 are coming in steadily and we have not advertised it yet.
GNAS have now decided that we can no longer deliver our own Child Protection courses due to the introduction of rigorous licensing fees and processes by ScUK and NSPCC. Candidates will now have to fund a course separately or have it built into course costs. This means that we can no longer provide them to judges or club CPOs. We have an issue with this year’s courses as the ruling applies from January and we were not informed when courses were registered and have already delivered the CP module. We have appealed to NCC.
The new coaching officer at GNAS is beginning to work her way through past/missing paperwork and we are providing information to redress any issues about renewals and certificates.
The coaching exam fees have now been reimbursed by GNAS so the account appears healthy; however, as yet we have had no assessment expenses for the two level 1 courses, which will balance out. The donation from YAA has helped with this - thank you.
The coaching group are once again doing the refreshments at the two YAA weekends to raise funds - any donations of cakes would be very welcome and will boost the coffers.
Kath Fitzpatrick, County Coaching Officer
 |
| The Wetherby Duck |
|---|
Yorkshire junior rankings
YAA have decided to use the GNAS national junior rankings to form their county ranking list. To get a place on the national list, archers should send in their three best scores shot at record status 12-dozen rounds through the year (usually by mid-October). These are then given a handicap rating, and the archer with the lowest total handicap rating comes first (The numbers in brackets in the list after archers’ names are the totals). It is worth submitting scores even if you only have two or only one. Apart from simply seeing where you come, positions in ranking lists can be useful if you apply for grants or sponsorship.
| Yorkshire Junior Rankings 2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Ladies Compound | ||||
| Rank | Name | Club | GNAS age group | FITA age group |
| 1 | Georgina Brown(98) | Aire Valley Archers | Under 16 | Cadet |
| 2 | Rachael Smith(106) | Barnsley | Under 16 | Cadet |
| 3 | Hannah Jones(111) | Barnsley | Under 18 | Cadet |
| 4 | Charlotte Render(145) | Selby Archers | Under 16 | Cadet |
| Junior Ladies Recurve | ||||
| Rank | Name | Club | GNAS age group | FITA age group |
| 1 | Nicole Allan(88) | Selby Archers | Under 18 | Junior |
| 2 | Ruby Hancock(143) | Dearne Valley | Under 18 | Cadet |
| 3 | Helena Beeson(160) | Bowmen of Adel | Under 18 | Cadet |
| 4 | Willow Jinks(203) | Selby Archers | Under 18 | Junior |
| Junior Gentlemen Compound | ||||
| Rank | Name | Club | GNAS age group | FITA age group |
| 1 | Aaron Barnes(135) | Barnsley | Under 16 | Cadet |
| 2 | Adam Kinghorn(162) | Barnsley | Under 12 | Cadet |
| Junior Gentlemen Longbow | ||||
| Rank | Name | Club | GNAS age group | FITA age group |
| 1 | Tom Powell(221) | Aire Valley Archers | Under 14 | Cadet |
| Junior Gentlemen Recurve | ||||
| Rank | Name | Club | GNAS age group | FITA age group |
| 1 | Michael Wallhead(113) | Spen Valley Bowmen | Under 18 | Cadet |
| 2 | Stephen Wilkinson(163) | Bowmen of Leeds | Under 16 | Cadet |
Nick Beeson, YAA Juniors Officer
YAA Indoor Championships 2008
The YAA Indoor Championships were hosted by Wakefield Archers on Sunday 9th March 2008, at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield.
The champions are shown below:
| Seniors | |
|---|---|
| Lady Champion: Naomi Faulkner | Gent Champion: Stephen Shaw |
| Lady Compound Champion: Tracey McGowan | Gent Compound Champion: Stephen Dixon |
| Lady Longbow Champion: Elaine Baker | Gent Longbow Champion: Colin Hope |
| Recurve Team: Dearne Valley | Longbow Team: Selby |
| Compound Team: Savile | Jack & Jill (Recurve): Mr & Mrs P Henty |
| Juniors | |
| Girl Champion: Nicole Allan | 1st Sect.1 Boys U.18: Michael Wallhead |
| Girl Compound Champion: Georgina Brown | 1st Sect.1 Boys U.18 Compound: Phillip |
| Girl Longbow Champion: Not awarded | 1st Sect.1 Boys U.18 Longbow: Daniel Pearson |
| Boy Champion: Michael Wallhead | 1st Sect.3 Boys U.16: Stephen Wilkinson |
| Boy Compound Champion: Aaron Barnes | 1st Sect.3 Boys U.16 Barebow: Daniel Blaney |
| Boy Longbow Champion: Daniel Pearson | 1st Sect.3 Boys U.16 Compound: Aaron Barnes |
| 1st Sect.2 Girls U.18: Nicole Allan | 1st Sect.3 Boys U.16 Longbow: Dominic Spencer |
| 1st Sect.2 Girls U.18 Compound: Hannah Jones | 1st Sect.5 Boys U.14: Tommy Price |
| 1st Sect.4 Girls U.16: Jessica Smith | 1st Sect.5 Boys U.14 Compound: Nathan Watts |
| 1st Sect.4 Girls U.16 Compound: Georgina Brown | 1st Sect.6 Boys U.12: Matthew Binks |
| Junior Recurve Team: Selby | 1st Sect.6 Boys U.12 Compound: Michael Lambourne |
| Junior Compound Team: Barnsley | |
Full results:
Results of YAA indoor championships 2008Many thanks to Wakefield Archers for hosting the championships again and providing the field party, score management (especially Jeff Price) and the much-appreciated catering.
Thanks also to tournament organiser Andrew Neal, Lady Paramount Elaine Baker, and the judges: Karen Winsett (Judge in Charge), Dennis Heritage, Amanda Bartram and George Bowring.
YAA Field Championships 2008
The YAA Field Championships 2008 were held on Sunday 30th of March at Dearne Valley Archery Club. A marked FITA 24 round was shot. The weather forecast had been pretty miserable, but happily the weather ignored the weathermen and we enjoyed glorious sunshine for most of the day.
43 archers took part. Interestingly, 16 of these - more than a third - were longbow shooters. Longbow was the most popular bow type on the day.
The senior YAA champions are:
Ladies Recurve: Amy Oliver
Ladies Longbow: Mary Hannan
Ladies Compound: no Yorkshire participant in this category
Gents Recurve: John Yates
Gents Compound: Mark Hayes
Gents Longbow: Steve Day
The junior YAA champions are:
Ladies U18 Recurve (red peg): Ruby Hancock
Gents U18 Recurve (red peg): Stephen Wilkinson
Gents U15 Recurve (blue peg): Tommy Price
Gents U12 Longbow (white peg): Christopher Holmes
Full results:
Results of YAA field championships 2008
Photos:
Photos of YAA field championships 2008
Thanks to Janice Hancock for performing the duties of Lady Paramount.
The YAA expresses its grateful thanks to Dearne Valley Archery Club for hosting the event and providing such an excellent shoot. Special mention must go to Neil and Linda Oliver for organising the tournament, and to John Seddon for acting as the one-man field party.
 |  |
FITA Field - change to scoring
The YAA Field Championships 2008 was one of the last shoots in the world to use five-zone scoring for FITA field rounds. On the 1st of April 2008, the scoring changed to six zones. The inner gold, which had previously scored as an X with a value of 5 points, now scores 6 points.
The YAA has archived the five-zone records as they stood on the 31st of March 2008. These will remain available for reference from the YAA website. These form the basis of the current field records. But as the six-zone scores come in, they will supersede the five-zone records.
Archived five-zone field records
Current field records
YAA Clout Championships 2008
St John Fisher School in Harrogate was the venue for the YAA Clout Championships 2008. St George's Archery Club hosted the event on Sunday 20th April 2008.
89 archers took part. This was a very large field for this event, helped by a welcome influx of visitors from Durham & Northumberland. The weather was pretty dull, with a heavy shower during the break, but it wasn't too bad at all. The ground was fairly solid, much better than the Somme-like conditions for the Ebor clout at the same venue the week before.
This was Mick Fitzpatrick's last clout as YAA Clout Officer - he's handed the baton to Mark Hayes of Savile Bowmen. You'll be seeing Mick on the shooting line of course. He's done a great job as Clout Officer, and we're sure Mark will continue this.
Mick and the YAA express their sincere thanks to St George's Archery Club for hosting this event. Without their generosity, there wouldn't have been much clout at all in Yorkshire this year.
| Lady Recurve | Louise Smith | Gent Recurve | Lez Newsome |
| Lady Longbow | Jean Horwood | Gent Longbow | Rod Spink |
| Lady Compound | Tracey McGowan | Gent Compound | Adrian Hayes |
| Lady Barebow | Carol Fairbrother | Gent Barebow | Mick Winsett |
| Jun Girl U18 Compound | Rachael Smith | 1st Gent Compound Ltd. | Steve Bielby |
| Jun Girl Longbow at 100 yds. | Sally Foster | ||
| Jun Boy U 18 Recurve | Stephen Wilkinson | Best Clout by a Lady | Mary Hannan |
| Jun Boy U12 Recurve | Daniel Shuker | Best Clout by a Gent | Adrian Hayes |
| Recurve Team | Adwalton Moor | Best Clout by a Junior Girl | Victoria Mara |
| Longbow Team | St. Georges | Best Clout by a Junior Boy | Chris Todd |
| Compound Team | Savile Bowmen | Best Clout of the Meeting | Mary Hannan |
 |  |
 |  |
Full results:
Results of YAA clout championships 2008Photos:
Photos of YAA clout championships 2008Whanging 'em - flight archery
After the last newsletter's pieces about field archery and clout archery, almost several people have asked for an article about flight archery.
Flight is unique in being the only form of archery where the archer is not trying to hit an object (other than the planet Earth). Flight is about shooting for sheer distance.
Flight archery dates back thousands of years, and there are many stories of ancient achievements in Turkey, Sumeria and other Middle Eastern countries. The British and World records (and British records are very often World records) are well into four figures of metres. But this form of archery is also very accessible to the average target archer.
RAF Church Fenton near Tadcaster in North Yorkshire is one of the few places in the world that hosts regular flight archery tournaments. The GNAS National Flight Championships and the NCAS Flight Championships are both held here. The only other venue that hosts flight with similar regularity is on the salt flats of Utah. RAF Church Fenton is handier for most Yorkshire archers.
There used to be a Yorkshire Flight Championships. I'm told this was held at Burton Constable and was restricted to longbows and target recurves. It hasn't run for some years.
Seventeen classes are recognised at the national championships:
| Class A: recurve target bow | Under 35lb | Under 50 lb | Unlimited |
| Class B: conventional flight bow | Under 35lb | Under 50 lb | Unlimited |
| Class C: compound target bow | Under 45 lb | Under 60 lb | |
| Class D: English longbow | Under 35lb | Under 50 lb | Unlimited |
| Class E: crossbow | Under 95 lb | ||
| Class F: compound flight bow | Under 45 lb | Under 60 lb | |
| American flat longbow | Under 35lb | Under 50 lb | Unlimited |
American flat longbow is not recognised by the GNAS, but awards are given at the national flight.
The target bows should be the same as you use for target shooting, and you should use your normal arrows.
The draw weights of all bows are measured before shooting commences and the arrows are checked and recorded. You can shoot several bows - a different bow for each end if you want, but only one within an end.
Not many arrows are shot - only four ends of six arrows. There are no sighters - you should be able to hit the planet, after all! 45 degrees is about the best angle for the arrow. You're allowed a helper who tells you when you're at the correct angle - it's a good idea to pair up with another archer so each can act as the other's helper.
After each end, you set off looking for your arrows. When you've found them, you mark your furthest one with a flag and then collect your arrows. On subsequent ends, you can move this marker flag if you've shot an arrow further with the same bow type. You use a different marker flag for each bow type you're using.
At the end of shooting, the position of each marker flag is measured and recorded. This takes ages.
Flight is well worth trying at least once, especially since it can give you a definite answer about how far your bow will shoot. But you should bring a chair and a decent book to while away the long spells of inactivity.
 Target recurve |  Compound flight bow |  Target compound, and helper |
|---|
Events in the next few months
| Thirsk | Western | May 11th |
| D&DAA | Target championships (followed by AGM) | May 11th |
| The Society of Archers | Gents Antient Scorton Silver Arrow | May 17th |
| Selby | Open Westerns | May 18th |
| Whitby | Field shoot | May 18th |
| National | All British Field Championships | May 24th & 25th |
| Wakefield Archers | 1834 Longbow Tournament | May 25th |
| Harvester Archers | Western | May 25th |
| YAA | Single FITA | May 31st |
| YAA | YAA Senior & Junior Championships | June 1st |
| National | UK Masters | June 7th & 8th |
| Ebor | Sydney Bond | June 8th |
| St Georges | Open Western | June 15th |
| NCAS | Committee meeting | June 21st |
| National | GNAM | June 25th, 26th & 27th |
| Chantry | The Chantry Sword Longbow Tournament | June 28th |
| National | GNAS premier event | June 28th & 29th |
| YAA | Double FITA | July 5th & 6th |
| Burton Constable | Open Longbow & Recurve Albion | July 5th |
| National | Junior Outdoor Championships | July 5th & 6th |
| Bronte | FITA Star | July 12th & 13th |
| Wakefield | Open Albion/Windsor | July 20th |
| Bronte | Western longbow | July 19th |
| Scorton Archers | Open Albion | July 13th |
| NCAS | Grand Northern double York/Hereford | July 26th & 27th |
| Savile | FITA 70 | July 27th |
| Panda | Babes - American | July 27th |
| Burton Constable | East Riding Championships | August 3rd |
| Harvester Archers | Open Western | August 3rd |
| YAA | Longbow Championships | August 9th |
| National | British Target Championships | August 9th & 10th |
| D&DAA | Top Town Albion/Windsors | August 10th |
| National | National Flight Championships | August 16th |
| Abbeydale | Open York/Hereford | August 17th |
Contact
Newsletter produced by Tim Mason, public relations officer of the Yorkshire Archery Association.
The next newsletter will be produced towards the end of July 2008. If you have anything you'd like to be included, please contact me via yaa@phoenixbowmen.co.uk or 07986 185882.