A good time was had by all at yesterday’s Easter Egg shoot. The targets were set up as in a competition, with numbers, flags  and there was a proper target list. The weather was kind – it was sunny and warm with just a slight breeze. And there was a good turnout, 26 members took part. Everyone contributed to the food table so there was a fantastic selection of savoury and sweet items, which gradually disappeared during the shoot. 

We all shot variants of the National round and as the awards were done on handicap adjusted scores, it was open to anyone. Well done to Lisa, who got the highest overall score, followed by Chris and Eleanor. There were also prizes for each round, so a good number of Easter Eggs were distributed. 
Thank you to everyone that took part.

We will be holding an Easter Egg shoot for club members on Sunday 20th March, arrive at 10.30 for a 11.00 start. Please let Sharon Sanchez know if you want to join in so that we can be organised and have a target list, and bring a small quantity of food, to share – we don’t want loads left over. Hot drinks will be available, but bring your own mug. 

Make a note 10.30 Sunday 20th March and let Sharon know (just reply to the notification email).

See you there.

Last week, we ran the first indoor coaching session for club members at the High School, this provides a good learning environment as there isn’t the competitive aspect of shooting a round and its a lot warmer than running a coaching session outdoors.

The next session will be on 10th February.

The entry form for our double 720 shoot in May is now available Wilford WA720 Entry 2016

We look forward to seeing you in May.

12 keen archers got the year off to a good start, by shooting on New Year’s Day. Conditions were good, although on the cool side, with frost underfoot. Several archers decided to challenge themselves by shooting longer distances than they’ve been used to. A good sign for later in the year, when we hope to have a very good presence at local shoots.

Despite today’s rain, there were several really keen members who turned up and shot. I stayed at home in the warm and kept dry.

Last Sunday there were 31 members of all ages shooting the second monthly frostbite shoot (3 dozen arrows at 30m, 80cm face). This means that we had plenty of scores to make up the teams for the winter league shoot that we have entered.

Of course the large turnout might also have had something to do with the opportunity to win a Christmas pudding. Instead of working on just the score for the 3 dozen arrows, Sharon came up with the devious idea of awarding the pudding to the person with the highest reverse score (i.e. an actual score of 123 would become
321). This produced some interesting results, with archers working out what they needed to score with the last three arrows, in order to have an actual score ending in 9.

One of the compound archers finished with 299 (992), the highest practical reverse score for the frostbite, but this was deemed too easy, another archer stopped shooting once he had got to 199 (991), which was deemed a little unsporting. In the end, Emma and Kevin tied on 289 (982), but it turns out that Emma doesn’t like Christmas pudding, so Kevin was the proud recipient. Eleanor was unanimously judged to have the best Christmas hat.

Members also brought along a fantastic spread of food, both savoury and sweet, most of which was homemade. Very little was left. Yum

A good time was had by all.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Last Sunday saw the club hold the first of this winter’s frostbite matches as part of the Winter League where we shoot 3 dozen arrows at a small (80cm target face) at 30 metres. The scores are then put in descending order and used to make up four teams of three archers. Once the teams are worked out the results get emailed to our opponents for the month. It was appropriately named as there was a good frost on the ground when we arrived and temperature wise it was probably one of the coldest days so far. 

Despite the cold there were 30 archers shooting on the day (a record in itself), including many of our newest members, and there were some good scores submitted.

Following a suggestion from Laura, afterwards quite a few of us adjourned to the Wheelhouse just opposite the ground where we took over a corner of the pub, partly in an attempt to get warm but also to socialise. I’ve never seen so many people drinking coffee or hot chocolate in a pub, and Mark didn’t want to move away from the radiator 🙂 Great idea and one that will be repeated.

Well, despite the strong winds and forecast rain (which held off until we’d finished shooting) there were ten people shooting at last Sunday morning’s session. There was one experienced club member, the rest were novices from this year’s beginners courses. Most, in fact, were from the course that has just finished. Fantastic. 

Last Sunday Mimi and Henry were shooting for Notts in the head to head challenge at Derwent Bowmen’s fantastic indoor venue. They both put in good qualifying scores, with Henry having the highest overall score. In the head to head matches Henry was narrowly defeated in the first round, but Mimi went on to win the bronze medal. Well done to both of you.

Also on Sunday Mike T, Mattia, Adam and Steve took part in the “pie and peas” shoot at Bassetlaw Bowmen. A good time was had by all. Steve was third, briefly, until a mistake was noted. As Steve was then out of the medals Mike handed over his raffle prize as a consolation. 

Meanwhile for those just starting out in archery, the main contingent on our late summer beginners course finished their sessions on Saturday afternoon under the guidance of Mike S, Sharon, Sallie and Charlotte. Those that needed a catch up session completed on Sunday afternoon with Mike and Sharon. Mike and Sharon were busy on Sunday morning as well, since they also started a course for a really keen family of four. 

Well done everyone.

Our coaching team gained further depth last weekend as Steve Attwood qualified as a County Coach at the end of an intensive day long assessment process. Steve is at the club regularly so if you want some help from Steve or any of the coaching team, then just ask. We will also be organising regularly coaching sessions over the winter months.