Iain Wilson, Archery GB’s Senior Coach has written an article about getting back to the sport after the lockdowns:

We are getting closer to the time when we can get back out on to the range, and I can imagine people have been champing at the bit to get back to their favourite sport. Rather than go at it like a bull in a china shop and head down to the range to shoot 6 dozen arrows at 70 metres, maybe we should sit back and have a think about what we have done in the last year.

What is your fitness level? Have you done any shooting practice at home? Have you been able to shoot in your garden? Have you been able to shoot at longer distances? Let’s assume you have had no chance to practise while you’ve been under lockdown…
To get back to shooting, you are going to have to build up progressively to your competition bow weight.

You can read the full article here.

To get warmed up again, and because there’s been next to no activity for 5 months, the Winter Leagues have been extended until the end of May. Frostbite AND Portsmouth Leagues, Senior AND Junior. Portsmouth (3-dozen Scores) may be shot outdoors. So what are you waiting for?

Details on >> the WINTER LEAGUE WEB PAGE

AND NOTE THAT THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES INDOOR LEAGUE HAS BEEN REVIVED – see…
http://www.sussex-archery.org.uk/scas-intercounties-indoor-league/

Social Distancing was no problem at the County Junior Championships held at Adur Valley’s grounds on 19th September, but the threat of Covid-19 did have an effect on the number of participants, which was mostly a result of difficulties getting the right kind of practice this Summer in the run-up to the Championships.
As with the Clout Championships, it was lovely and sunny, but with an added challenging wind all day. This is the second time the Junior Championships has taken this type of format, a 6-dozen-shot Round at a smaller venue, and it proved once again that separating the shoot from the senior championships is much more inclusive.

Many thanks to Adur Valley Archers for hosting the shoot and setting up the field, and thanks also to our Judge, David Strong and to the Lady Paramount Gemma Underwood.

Results: >>Please Click Here

Adur Valley Archers successfully hosted the Clout Championships, under the control of judge Warwick Drew. Numbers were limited in accordance with Covid-19 Control Guidelines, and Social Separation and special scoring and arrow gathering routines were followed, but there was little impact on the progress of the tournament.

The shoot was the first Clout Tournament in the UK to be carried out in accordance with Archery GB ‘Return to Competition’ Guidelines and Government Covid-19 control Guidelines. Numbers were restricted so that there were fewer than 30 people at the venue, however we were able accommodate all the Sussex Archers who wanted to attend, plus half a dozen guests. And after a stretch of poor weather, the shoot took place under almost perfect conditions.

Results are on the Clout Championships webpage<<Click Here

We are going run a County Clout Championship on September 5th AND the Junior Championships on 19th September.

The Clout Tassel Scheme has been dropped for all approved shoots apart from one that was held in February. But we will hold a smaller ‘County and Invitation’ shoot with a maximum of 30 people on the field (including officials and helpers). And we will be holding a similar sized Junior Championships in September.

County Clout Championships NOW TO BE ON SATURDAY 5 September
See County Clout Web page

County Junior Championships NOW TO BE ON SATURDAY 19 September
Adur Valley Archers, Dial Post
Click Here for Entry Form

UPDATE 1st July Because of Continuing Uncertainty and the possibility of re-imposition of restrictions, The High Weald Archery Club, who were to Host the 3-D Field Cahmpionships, have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel the shoot at the end of August.
SCAA was holding on to see if it would be feasible to host the Outdoor Archery Weekend on 19/20 July, but after adding up all the factors the Executive has reluctantly had to accept that it isn’t going to work, given the restrictions that will apply in July.
There are two ‘killer’ issues, ONE is the number of entrants – which the Guidelines say should not exceed one archer per target unless two are from the same household. So there would only be a third of the normal number of entrants, but the set-up would need much more effort because the usual number of targets would have to be laid out on a shooting line twice as long as usual. MAYBE we could come up with a routine to keep two people safe on the same target, but that would require at least one dedicated volunteer per target.
THE OTHER issue is the low number of volunteers who turn out to support County Shoots, and it doesn’t help that a high proportion is older members who are near, or above, the high-risk age threshold.

HOWEVER, the Clout Championships and the 3-D Field Championships, both in August, haven’t been cancelled yet. If they go ahead, they are likely to be smaller, but should still accommodate all the Sussex Archers who normally show up.

As this pandemic lockdown is on we thought we’d finish up a project we were working on in the Committee. We’ve created a managment interface for the Sussex Rankings pages so from now on it’s all digital, no PDFs are being generated and you’ll always see the latest revisions of our rankings at the following links:

Indoor rankings

Outdoor rankings

Read the rest of this entry »

When an archer calls out ‘FAST!’ it means ‘Hold Fast!’ and shooting must stop immediately, which is what we’ve had to do. All Archery Club and County Association activity has stopped as part of the national effort to bring the Coronavirus under control, and is likely to stay that way until June at the earliest. That also means all Beginners Lessons and Archery Tasters are on hold Nation-wide until the end of the crisis.

None of the planned County Tournaments have been cancelled yet as the first isn’t until mid July, but a number of earlier events have been wiped out:-  the County team-building day in April, the Match vs Hampshire in May and the Personal Development Workshops (which will be postponed until we get the all-clear).

Everything is subject to being changed, depending on how things develop. News will be posted here as it comes in. We hope you all keep well and we’re all looking forward to getting outdoors again before too long.