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Colin Fairburn - 8 December 2008
Joe Fairburn (aged 7) of the Bowmen of Adel shot at the Junior National Indoor Archery Championships on Saturday 6th December and came 3rd in the Under 9s Junior Gentlemen Recurve category. He shot a round of 159 which, to be honest wasn't his best (but then again not his worst!). The most important thing is however, that thanks to kind and generous people Joe has raised in excess of £500 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Charity, and with gift aid the figure will be in excess of £600. Special mention has to go to the various archery clubs across the region who supported Joe with donations totaling over £200, as well as individual archers from a plethora of clubs.
Joe and I would like to thank everyone who donated to this worthwhile cause.
Colin Fairburn
Gwen Smith - 24 November 2008
Barnsley Archery Club are planning to hold a charity Open Western shoot on 1st March 2009!
All proceeds from the shoot will be donated to Cancer Research and the Macmillan Trust. These are two very hardworking charities who deserve all the support they can get. Cancer is becoming an all too common disease which touches too many people and can wreck the lives of sufferers and those of family members. I am sure most of you reading this will know someone who has been affected.
As most Yorkshire archers are already aware Barnsley Archery Club had one of its members diagnosed with cancer early this year and he has spent most of the year battling against both the disease and the treatment. Without the work of Cancer Research and the support of the Macmillan Trust, as well as the support of fellow archers, the year could have been far more difficult than it was. Iain is currently in remission and in addition to his personal thanks, as a club we would like to thank everyone who has passed on messages of support and good wishes.
As a thank you to all (although if the weather isn't kind, participating archers may not appreciate the thanks) we would like to host an open Western tournament at Barnsley Archery Club for all to enjoy.
The proposal was put forward by our junior club representative Rachael Smith, it has the unanimous support of the club and we would like to ask for the support of the wider Yorkshire archery community. The intention is to award medals for winners in individual categories plus engraved mementos for winning team members (Recurve, Compound, Longbow and Junior mixed). More importantly hot food will be available at the lunchtime break in addition to the usual breakfast butties produced by Barnsley Catering Corps. There will also be somewhere guaranteed to be warm and dry for the raffle and presentations at the end of the day. The entry fee will be a minimum donation amount of around £5 per archer, but everyone is invited to donate whatever they wish. Donations of other support and for any extra special raffle prizes would also be gratefully accepted. Full details and entry forms will be posted shortly on both the Barnsley and Yorkshire websites.
We appreciate that this is very early in the outdoor season, in fact before it really starts, but at least it will give everyone the opportunity to escape the indoor rounds briefly. We would hope that as many of you as possible would support the day and come along to join in the fun. Please feel free to pass on the invitation to others either from your club or not who would otherwise not see it.
Finally - we really do mean this as a THANK YOU!
Thanks
Gwen Smith, Barnsley Archery Club
Colin Fairburn - 14 November 2008
My son Joe (aged 7) of the Bowmen of Adel (Leeds) is shooting in the Junior National Championships at Lilleshall in December. He has taken it upon himself to use the event to help raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance through sponsorship at the rate of 2p per point for his Portsmouth round (or a fixed amount). It is envisaged that he will score around the 200 points mark.
Throughout the summer months Joe has attended many tournaments around the region and most people who have met him will remember him I am sure.
As I am sure you will agree it is a very worthwhile cause to support and the nature of archery (both target and field) is such that the Yorkshire Air Ambulance could well be called out to any event in our region at any time.
So far his own efforts have raised a minimum of £200 in fixed sponsorship plus sponsorship on the 'points' basis.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Any pledges of support can be emailed to me at colinfairburn at yahoo.com.
Colin Fairburn
Gwen Smith - 6 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!
Gwen Smith
Nick Beeson - 5 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.
Nick Beeson
Photo by Jeff Price.
Dave Phillips - 25 September 2008
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 10:00 AM. Invites, agenda and minutes will be issued to all clubs nearer to the date.
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.
13 September 2008
Danielle Brown of Aire Valley Archers today won gold at the Paralympics. The 20 year old law student, who is the reigning IPC World Champion, won the Women's Individual Compound Open with an arrow to spare.
Danielle faced team mate Mel Clarke in the semi finals. The match was tight and was undoubtedly Danielle's biggest test of the tournament, but she held her nerve to win by 117 points to 113. "It was pretty tough knocking out my team-mate, but you just have to go out and shoot," said Danielle. Mel went on to win the bronze medal.
In the final, Danielle took on Chieko Kamija of Japan. Danielle started with a pair of 10s, and never looked back. She won by 112 points to 98.
"This is a wonderful experience, and I am so pleased to be a Paralympic gold medallist," said Danielle.
Coach Tim Hazell said: "It's a fantastic performance from both Danielle and Mel, and I am so pleased for both of them. Obviously it was tough that they came up against each other in the semi-finals, but that's life. They have both shot fantastically well all week, and they should be as proud of themselves as I am of them!"
The Yorkshire Archery Association sends its congratulations to Dani on this outstanding achievement.
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11 September 2008
Danielle Brown is through to the semi finals of the Paralympic Women's Individual Compound Open, where she will face GB team mate Mel Clarke. The semi-finals will take place on Saturday in Beijing.
The 20 year old law student from Skipton has had an outstanding competition. She set a new IPC World Record of 676 during the qualifying round and has despatched her opponents convincingly in the elimination rounds.
The Yorkshire Archery Association sends its best wishes to Dani for Saturday.
Dave Phillips - 23 August 2008
Most clubs will have received their subscription renewal paperwork from the GNAS by now. We ask that you complete the subscription returns promptly. Please bear in mind that there is a timeline involved, and that the subscription returns and payments must be processed by the YAA, then the NCAS, then the GNAS. This involves a substantial chain of people, most of whom are doing the work in their spare time. Leaving the subscriptions until the last minute can result in a large backlog of work that may take months to clear. In particular, membership cards for new members can be delayed by a considerable time.
So, the sooner the better for everyone, especially your club's new members.
Kath Fitzpatrick - 22 July 2008
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.
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Kath Fitzpatrick
CCO/RCO
22 July 2008
Congratulations to Danielle Brown of Aire Valley Archers, who won gold and silver at the Stoke Mandeville Grand Prix on Sunday. She won Ladies Compound gold in the double 720 event, setting a provisional Paralympic world record in the process, and won silver in the head-to-head.
22 July 2008
Congratulations to Michelle Kiddy and Amy Oliver of Dearne Valley Archery Club, who have been selected to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the World Field Archery Championships in Wales in September.
Nick Beeson - 14 June 2008
Danielle Brown was joint winner in the category Outstanding Female Elite Athlete with a Disability at the Commonwealth Sports Awards Dinner tonight in Glasgow. The other winner was Karoline Pelendritou of Cyprus, a swimmer.
Each Commonwealth nation (in this case England) invited each sport representative body to supply nominations for each category. From these nominations, one was selected in each category as the national nomination, to compete against the other nations' candidates. So, to gain the award, Danielle was up against athletes from all sports from across the Commonwealth.
The nomination from the English Archery Federation reads:
Having represented Great Britain as an able-bodied junior archer (despite her disability) Danielle joined the GB Paralympic Archery team in 2006. In the Arizona Cup in April she achieved a team gold medal; this was followed by a gold medal and two world records in the individual and team events at the European Invitational Grand Prix at Stoke Mandeville in July. However, her outstanding achievement was to take Gold in the IPC World Championships in Korea in October, setting no fewer than seven world records in the process.
She has also represented GB seniors as an able-bodied archer.
Danielle, who is now studying law at The University of Leicester, suffers from a condition called RSD - reflex sympathetic dystrophy - which results in constant, chronic pain in her feet.
She used to take part in sports like fell running before her disability started and took up archery "because there was no running around involved". Initially shooting in a standing position, she has been forced to use a wheelchair as her condition dictated.
Tim Mason - 8 June 2008
Geoff Taylor of the Phoenix Bowmen of Halifax has become the first recipient of the new Yorkshire Award. The Yorkshire Award is intended as recognition of individuals and couples who have performed outstanding service to their clubs over many years. Geoff certainly fits that description.
The award was presented by Jim Routledge, Vice President of the YAA, at Phoenix's ground on Sunday the 8th of June 2008. The citation reads:
Geoff Taylor has been a member of the club continuously since its founding thirty years ago. He has taken on every task in the club at some point and performed it diligently and well. He is currently the club's treasurer, in addition to which he helps with the coaching, grounds maintenance, equipment management and just about everything else. At the age of 78 he shows no signs of slacking, and is an excellent example to the other members of the club.
Geoff has stuck with the club through some very rough patches, and has often been the only thing keeping the club alive.
Geoff has been crucial to maintaining good relations with our hosts, Halifax RUFC. He comes to the grounds every Monday morning to tidy up and maintain the premises, and works on the gate when home games are on. He sat on the rugby club's committee for many years, representing the archery section.
Geoff has consistently taken a progressive and clear-sighted approach to the archery club, bringing about changes when needed.
The Yorkshire Award would be fitting recognition for an archer who has worked long and hard for the club over three decades.
Geoff Taylor (centre right) receives the Yorkshire Award from Jim Routledge (centre left).
Do you have someone (or a couple) like Geoff in your club? If so, please consider nominating them for this award. Details can be found on the Administration page:
Details of the Yorkshire Award
Tim Mason - 7 June 2008
Martin Holtby of Hull Kingston Archers has been presented with the Yorkshire Sword for his services to archery in 2007 and over many previous years. The sword was presented at the YAA Championships on the 1st of June 2008 by the Lady Paramount, Nicole Allen.
The citation nominating Martin for the award reads:
Hull Kingston Archers would be proud to nominate Martin Holtby for the 2007 Yorkshire Sword. An archer of 28+ years, Martin has achieved just about every award the County & Region can offer. As a Coach for 10 years Martin finally achieved the rank of Senior Coach & Assessor for the Region & GNAS. He has raised the level of some already very good archers to achieve even more, often to MB status, often at the expenses of his own shooting/practice and valuable free time.
He is the sort of person who speaks quietly but achieves much for others. A YAA Committee man, Hull Kingston Archers Club Official, YAA CPO, Martin wears so many hats for Yorkshire he should walk with a stoop, but his back is straight and he is proud to work for YAA archers with no thought for himself.
I am proud to know Martin and offer his name for consideration for the Award.
John Gilroy, Secretary, Hull Kingston Archers
Martyn Spence - 24 April 2008
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 |
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| 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, the above subscriptions will take them through to 30th September 2009.
If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Martyn Spence, YAA Treasurer
Please note: Martyn is no longer the YAA Treasurer. Subscriptions and enquiries should be sent to the current Treasurer, Dave Phillips.
Tim Mason - 8 March 2008
The YAA Annual General Meeting 2008 took place today at Barnsley Archery Club.
28 archers attended. YAA President Stan Snow opened the meeting by welcoming the attendees and expressing disappointment that the turnout was not larger - the vast majority of YAA clubs sent no representative.
Mick Fitzpatrick stepped down from the role of Clout Officer (though he will stay on the case for the 2008 Clout Championships) and took his leave from the Committee. Many thanks to Mick for his long service to Yorkshire's archers in the various roles he has held on the Committee. Mark Hayes was elected as the new Clout Officer.
Maggie Gosling stepped down as Judges Liaison Officer. Thanks to Maggie for her excellent service in this role. Karen Winsett took up the post.
This left two vacant positions on the General Committee. Michelle Kiddy and Trish Castle were elected - we welcome them aboard.
Jim Routledge, Dave Phillips, Martyn Spence, Nick Beeson, Jean Clarkson, John Gilroy, Sean Gleeson, Martin Holtby and Danny Walsh were all re-elected.
The Executives and Officers presented their reports. These will be distributed to club secretaries soon, along with the minutes and other information. Kath Fitzpatrick's report as County Coaching Officer can be read at the link below:
CCO report to YAA AGM 2008
Dave Phillips - 1 February 2008
At the 2007 AGM it was agreed to establish THE YORKSHIRE AWARD. The YAA Committee considered the introduction, criteria and design of such an award during 2006 and 2007, and are now in a position to promote THE YORKSHIRE AWARD and to seek nominations for recipients from Yorkshire Clubs.
The rationale behind the development of such an award was that we have a need of an award on the same lines as the 'Award of Merit' to be aimed at club level. The 'Award of Merit' is a prestigious award for enduring dedication to the county but possibly out of reach of the majority of 'club level' archers.
It was decided to have 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. It was agreed that there would be no set deadline for submission of nominations, but that presentations of The Yorkshire Award should be made where possible at the Yorkshire AGM, or either the Indoor or Outdoor Championships.
The YAA Constitution now states:
Clause 28 - The Yorkshire Award
The Yorkshire Award shall be presented by the General Committee to a Yorkshire Archer, or couple (that is, who are affiliated member(s) of the Association) who has done exemplary work within or on behalf of their particular club, over a number of years. Nominations for The Yorkshire Award, from Clubs, should be sent in writing to the Association's Secretary, accompanied by a citation, for consideration by the General Committee.
The nomination and citation form can be downloaded by following the link below:
Yorkshire Award Nomination and Citation Form
On behalf of the YAA committee - 19 January 2008
There have been several cases where an archer has been selected to shoot for Yorkshire and has had to pull out. This is not a problem where the YAA has been informed of the archer's absence in time for a replacement to be arranged, but is a serious problem where the YAA is not informed and only finds out when the archer fails to turn up for the tournament.
The YAA has decided that any archer who lets us down in this way will not be considered for selection for the next 12 months. This will not apply where the archer has given advance notice of absence, or where there's a genuine reason why notice couldn't be given.
Ladies Recurve: Amy Oliver
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