Winter '07
Danielle Brown - IPC World Champion
Danielle Brown of Aire Valley Archers won the Ladies Compound title at the IPC World Championships in Korea.
Danielle broke two world records during qualifying, then beat China's Wang Li by 114 points to 108 to win the final.
She was also part of the Great Britain Ladies Compound team that won gold and set a new team world record.
This triumph comes on top of an extremely successful 2007 for the 19-year-old law student. She won individual and team golds at the European Invitational Grand Prix, won gold at the Arizona Cup, and represented Great Britain in the World Cup and the World Junior Championships (finishing 4th).
Amy Oliver - European Field Champion
Amy Oliver of Dearne Valley Archery Club won individual gold and team silver at the European Field Archery Championships in Bjelovar, Croatia.
The individual Ladies Recurve final was held on Sunday 12th August. Amy beat Jessica Tomasi of Italy with her last arrow to claim the women's recurve title.
The Great Britain women's team, consisting of Amy, Jane Rees and Tracey Anderson, overcame a strong Italian side to reach Saturday's final but were narrowly beaten by Slovakia.
20-year-old Amy became the first British archer to capture the title for more than 20 years.
She approached the final target a point down to Tomasi. Tomasi shot first - and shot a 1.
Amy said: "I heard the commentator say 'Amy Oliver needs a 4 to win'. It was really nerve-wracking. We were shooting from 60 metres - the furthest distance in the sport."
Amy stepped up to the line and shot the arrow dead-centre for a 5.
"I don't know how I kept my nerve but I managed it."
Amy's aunt and fellow Dearne Valley archer, Michelle Kiddy, also represented Great Britain in the championships, reaching the elimination round.
John Gilroy - National Judge
Congratulations to John Gilroy, who passed his assessment at the NWAS weekend at Shotton and is now a National Judge for target archery.
This is fitting recognition for many years of hard work and sacrifice as a judge.
Martin Holtby - Senior Coach
Congratulations to Martin Holtby, who passed his Senior Coach assessment at Lilleshall on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of August.
We now have four senior coaches in the county, the others being Stan Snow, Tom Musgrove and Kath Fitzpatrick.
Norman Edwards' passing
Norman Edwards, a very well known figure in Yorkshire archery, passed away in September 2007. He'd been in poor health for many years, but was able to make an appearance as Lord Patron at the Bronte Double FITA in July.
Norman was a silversmith by trade. He made the Yorkshire Sword lapel pins, among many other things, and often repaired county and regional trophies.
People from all over the north of England have expressed their sadness at the passing of this quietly-spoken true gentleman who contributed so much to the sport through his shooting and coaching.
Inter-Counties October 2008
The YAA have agreed to modify, slightly, the selection criteria for ladies ONLY. It was agreed that the Double FITA 70m (720) would be accepted from 2008 onwards. The existing criteria for Gents and Juniors will remain. The 2008 Score Submission Form will be changed to reflect this.
For clarification: The scores to be submitted for selection to the Yorkshire Team at the Inter-Counties shoot are for rounds that include the longest distance (100 yards/90 metres for men and 80 yards/70 metres for women). As the Inter-Counties shoot is a York/Hereford it is necessary to show that archers can shoot well at these longest distances. Rounds of shorter distances (e.g. FITA 720 for men) will not be considered, but for women this is shot at their longest distance and in future will be allowed.
Mick FItzpatrick
Mrs & Mrs Winsett
Mick Winsett of Dearne Valley Archery Club and Karen Boucher of Adwalton Moor Archers, who tied the knot on Saturday the 20th of October.
We send them our heartiest congratulations and all our very best wishes for their future together.
National Flight
The 60th Anniversary National Flight Championships took place at RAF Church Fenton in North Yorkshire on Saturday the 18th of August 2007. 47 archers took part, a relatively large field for this minority form of archery.
The weather hardly seemed ideal for distance shooting - leaden skies, a tricky side wind, and a lot of moisture in the air. Yet nine world records and six national records were set!
By special arrangement with the National Archery Association of the USA, Simon Stanley shot for the American Longbow Broadhead Arrow world record. Broadhead is not recognised by the GNAS, but the NAA agreed to recognise whatever he achieved. He shot a superb 328.56 metres (359 yards 11 inches), surpassing the previous record by a long way.
Barry Groves won the Compound Flight Bow 60lb category. For the 15th time in 16 years, he won the Uncle Hat trophy (a centuries-old Janissary helmet) for the longest shot by a British-made bow. He then announced his retirement from flight shooting.
The rain, which had threatened all day, finally let rip during measuring and the presentations. We stuck it out though, and were presented with certificates to commemorate our participation in the 60th Anniversary shoot.
Tim Mason
YAA Coaching Clinic, November 2007
YAA Coaching ran a coaching clinic over the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of November 2007. Nine archers travelled to Wetherby for coaching from Kath Fitzpatrick, Mick Fitzpatrick, Michael Ward and (on Sunday) Mary Hannan.
The coaching staff were of a very high calibre - as good as you're likely to find. Kath's the County and Regional Coaching Officer, and a Senior GNAS Coach. Mick is a County Coach. Mary and Michael are candidate County Coaches. The archers were of various levels of ability, though no outright newbies. There was a good mix of personalities, experiences, problems and insights.
We were each given a pack containing the course handouts. This pack was thankfully slim, with the emphasis on quality of material rather than quantity. After an overview of the weekend and introductions of ourselves to each other, we got on with the shooting. Mick filmed us while Kath and Michael observed us.
Then we sat down for a workshop on the anatomy of a good shot, followed by some more observed shooting and an excellent lunch. Meanwhile Mick edited the footage...or tried to. When he came in for his lunch, he told us that there'd been a glitch and the edited material had evaporated in a puff of bytes! Fortunately we still had the unedited footage.
After lunch we watched the videos of ourselves. This was extremely revealing - I was shocked at what a mess my own shooting had become. I knew about the various problems with my bow hand and bow shoulder, but had no idea that I was squashing my chin down almost onto my chest when at full draw.
More shooting followed, and more discussion of technique and equipment. Then home.
The next day Mary Hannan joined the staff, bringing her valuable knowledge of field and traditional archery.
After a refresher of yesterday's session, we did some more observed shooting. The coaching staff gave us one-to-one advice and continued to film and photograph us. Already I was feeling the benefits in my own shooting, now that I knew what my problems really were and had received good advice on how to address them.
We moved on to the mental game - self-assessment, gap analysis between where we are and where we want to be, performance theory, goal setting, planning our own development, and putting it all together. We then listened to an inspirational Lanny Bassham audiobook which went a long way beyond the usual "I made a difference to that one starfish" stuff.
Finally we gave our evaluations of the Coaching Clinic, and watched footage of our shooting now. All of us had improved, with my own improvement being particularly dramatic. I gave a very high rating when filling in my evaluation sheet.
Most of us have heard horror stories about "that time we brought a coach in," or about how coaches just rip people to pieces and walk away. The coaching clinic was nothing like that - it was all about clarity, taking control of our own development, and building on what we did well. I went home with a challenging but very achievable vision of what I need to do to get where I want to be.
How often do we say, or hear others saying, "but I can't get any coaching"? In Yorkshire we're lucky to have some of the best coaches in the country. Keep an eye on the YAA website for notice of upcoming coaching clinics, and make use of them if you're serious about wanting to improve.
Tim Mason, Phoenix Bowmen
Five Counties Senior & Junior Championships
On the Saturday at the Junior Inter-Counties Championships the weather was glorious. It was so nice that quite a few people got sunburnt. Not quite the weather you would normally expect in October.
The Yorkshire boys fared well with the awards, winning the Thirsk Trophy for the boys recurve team and the YMCA Trophy for the boys longbow team; for the first time we did not have a boys compound team as those selected were unable to take part on the day. The girls compound team finished second to DNAA, the girls recurve team finishing second to Cheshire. We had no girls longbow team this year - hopefully next year.
Individually Thomas Powell, boys longbow, led the B3 field all day and was just pipped to first place on the last dozen, with Dominic Spencer finishing first in the B2 round. The recurve boys fared better with Tim Arnold taking the gold in the B3 round, Carl Grey taking the gold in the B1 round, followed by Michael Wallhead in second. The girls also did well individually with Ruby Hancock taking first place in the B2 round followed by Willow Jinks in third, Helena Beeson third in the B3. Georgina Brown took first place compound in the B1 round, Rachel Smith third in the B3 and Charlotte Render fourth.
They were a pleasure to be with all day, supporting each other well and even indulging the seniors in a group warm up.
Despite the miserable weather on the Sunday the seniors also had a good weekend.
The recurve team finished third overall, the longbow team finished third and the compound team first. Individually there were some very good performances, notably Amy Oliver in first place with an impressive 1174, followed by Michelle Kiddy with 1144 in second. In the compounds, Yorkshire took the first three ladies places - Renee Metcalfe in first, Tracey McGowan in second and Sarah Beamish third with a creditable first performance as a team member. In the gents recurve Dave Nordoff finished second with Steve Dixon second in the compound by just 4 points! Lewis Mitchell finished second in the gents longbow with Robert Powell standing in for Colin Hope who was injured.
Once again Yorkshire archers have shown that they can step up to the mark and show how well we can shoot in YAA!
Additional indoor shooting opportunities
The Wakefield Archers and HASSRA Leeds Archery Club have opened up their indoor ranges to GNAS members from other clubs.
The Wakefield Archers shoot Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.45 to 9.15 in an enormous school hall. 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 Parkin on 07975 638659 or targetarcher at hotmail.com. Please contact him BEFORE visiting.
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. The target fee of £3 includes free parking. Send an e-mail to lis.o’carroll at dh.gsi.gov.uk or ring 0113 254 6766.
Your club’s contact details
Do people know how to get in touch with your club? A good way of making sure people can find you is to have your details added to the YAA’s website. Send me your club contact’s name, phone number and/or email address and I’ll put the details on the "Clubs in Yorkshire" page.
My email address is yaa at phoenixbowmen.co.uk. My phone number is 07986 185882.
Caption competition
What’s being said or done here? Entries by email to Tim or Mick by 10th January 2008 please. Funniest wins a staggeringly cheap prize!
Tim: yaa at phoenixbowmen.co.uk
Mick: mick-f at blueyonder.co.uk
National Clout Championships
The Grand National Archery Society's clout championships took place at St George's Archery Club, Harrogate, on Saturday the 20th of October 2007 with a record entry of 126 archers.
The flags were difficult to see at first, as the sun was low and there was dew on the grass, but as the sun moved round it improved and became a very pleasant sunny day with little breeze to affect the arrows.
Some notable achievements by Yorkshire archers:
| 3rd Lady Recurve | Marina Rose | Barnsley AC |
| 4th Lady Recurve | Louise Smith | Sheffield University |
| 3rd Lady Compound | Katie Foster | Barnsley AC |
| 2nd Lady Longbow | Jean Horwood | Ebor Archers |
| 2nd Gent Barebow | Andrew Neal | Selby Archers |
| 2nd Gent Compound | Ian Foster | Barnsley AC |
| 1st Junior Girl Longbow | Sally Foster | Barnsley AC |
| 1st Junior Boy Longbow | Anthony Matthews | York Archers |
| 2nd Junior Boy Longbow | Thomas Powell | Aire Valley Archers |
NCAS Clout Championships
The Northern Counties Archery Society's clout championships took place at St George's Archery Club, Harrogate, on Sunday the 2nd of September 2007.
Notable achievements by Yorkshire archers were...
| 1st Lady Barebow | Carol Fairbrother | St George's AC |
| 1st Lady Compound | Katie Foster | Barnsley AC |
| 1st Lady Longbow | Jean Horwood | Ebor Archers |
| 3rd Lady Recurve | Barbara Stebbins | Bronte Archers |
| 2nd Gent Recurve | Lez Newsome | Bronte Archers |
| 1st Gent Barebow | Andrew Neal | Selby Archers |
| 2nd Gent Barebow | Doug Pattinson | St George's AC |
| 3rd Gent Barebow | Shaun Walsh | Adwalton Moor |
| 2nd Gent Longbow | Rod Spink | St George's AC |
| 140 yard Junior Girls 1st Recurve | Maria Pickard | Ebor Archers |
| 140 yard Junior Girls 1st Compound | Rachael Smith | Barnsley AC |
| 120 yard Junior Girls 1st Longbow | Emma Quigley | St George's AC |
| 100 yard Junior Girls 1st Recurve | Alex Falkingham | Bowmen of Leeds |
| 100 yard Junior Girls 1st Longbow | Sally Foster | Barnsley AC |
| Club Compound Team | Barnsley AC | |
| Regional County Team Compound | Yorkshire | |
| Regional County Team Longbow | Yorkshire | |
| Overall County Winners | Yorkshire | |
Yorkshire Sword
The nomination forms for the 2007 Yorkshire Sword were sent out with the Summer 07 edition of the Newsletter. The closing date for nominations is 31 December 2007. Please consider making a nomination. The nomination form is available to download from the YAA Website.
Yorkshire Longbow Championships 2007
The 21st Yorkshire Senior and Junior Longbow Championships took place on the 11th of August 2007.
The new venue for the champs this year was South Craven School in the small village of Cross Hills in the Yorkshire Dales.
The setting was beautiful with weather to match, the sun was out and hardly any wind in the morning, but with a slight breeze after lunch.
Forty one archers attended and shooting was under way after a short delay of 15 minutes giving the archers time to find the new venue.
Sherry & cake was served after two dozen with lunch after six dozen.
Raffle tickets were sold by our youngest archer Thomas Powell and made £74 towards the cost of the Tournament. Well done Thomas!
Shooting re-commenced at 1:15 and again there was sherry after two dozen. The shoot was soon over and all the scores gathered in.
Eighteen trophies and twenty three medals were awarded on the day and for anyone who didn’t win, well there is always the raffle.
My thanks go out to Aire Valley Archers who made it all possible and I hope they will invite us back next year. To Sean Gleeson and his assistant Keith who made the shoot so enjoyable, Freddie Fairfield for helping me to get the results out so quickly and last but not least thank you to Keith Morrison for being our Lord Patron.
Full results on the Yorkshire Web site.
Ann Shooter - Tournament organizer
GNAS Indoor Team Event
As you may have seen in Archery UK and on the GNAS site, the Indoor Team event, which was cancelled for 2007, has been scheduled for 27 January 2008. This is for Recurve and Longbow archers, with Compounds being scheduled for 2009. With the closing date for entries being 1st December, it was decided not to support a team for 2008, as there was insufficient time to prepare and circulate score submission sheets etc.
It was agreed to try to organise a Compound Team for 2009.
Precis of YAA Committee Meeting held 29 September 2007 at Barnsley Archery Club.
There were 17 members present with 8 apologies.
The YAA have been asked if they would host a Record Status FITA Clout. Support for idea in principle, but unable to identify a suitable and large enough ground.
Confirmed no Field Championships to be held in 2007 as unable to agree with a club to host event. Agreed to recall trophies awarded in 2006 ready for 2008 Championships. Lady Compound trophy not available in 2006, to locate. Host club to be agreed for 2008 Championships.
GNAS Indoor Team Event 27 January 2008. Due to limited time available, decided not to support a Recurve/Longbow team for 2008. Agreed to establish score submission and selection process for Compound in 2009.
Nomination to be made for Tom Musgrove for Jack Flinton Helping Hands Award.
Concern that Judges Liaison Officer is not being informed when judges booked for Club Tournaments. This has resulted in some near double bookings. Agreed to amend the Judges Expense Form to include a "tear off" strip to go to JLO.
Dates agreed for 2008 YAA Weekends.
| Single FITA | 31 May 2008 |
| Championships | 1 June 2008 |
| Double FITA | 5/6 July 2008 |
Date for 2008 Clout Championships 20 April 2008.
NCAS Inter-Counties. Team selection criteria discussed again (annual event!). Agreed criteria to remain as existing, other than allowing Double FITA 70m to be accepted from Ladies and Juniors.
Yorkshire Award. Updated design submitted for consideration, some further design changes suggested.
Events Calendar
| 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bridlington | Indoors | November 4th |
| Doncaster & District | Animal Field | November 11th |
| British Longbow Society at Chantry | Double 2 Way Worcester Longbow | November 17th |
| YAA Coaching | Youth Performance Squad | November 17th |
| NCAS | Indoor Championships | November 18th |
| Doncaster & District | Indoor | November 25th |
| Chantry Bowmen | Indoor Double Worcester | December 2nd |
| National | Junior Indoor Champs | December 1st and 2nd |
| Aire Valley | Christmas Cracker Shoot | December 9th |
| YAA Coaching | Squad Christmas Shoot | December 22nd |
| 2008 | ||
| Bowmen of Adel | Indoor Shoot | January 6th |
| NCAS | Committee meeting | January 12th |
| Wakefield Archers | Indoor | January 13th |
| YAA | Committee meeting | January 19th |
| GNAS | Indoor Team Event | January 27th |
| Savile Bowmen | Indoor | February 3rd |
| Bronte Archers | Spotlight 600 | February 9th |
| National | Indoor Championships | February 16th and 17th |
| YAA | AGM and Committee meeting | March 8th |
| YAA | Indoor championships | March 9th |
| NCAS | AGM and Committee meeting | March 15th |
| Panda Bowmen | Easter Clout (at St George's) | March 23rd to be confirmed |
| Dearne Valley | Easter Field Shoot | March 23rd and 24th |
| Panda Bowmen | Pandamonium - Longbow | April 6th to be confirmed |
| Abbeydale Archers | Longbow Western | April 7th |
| Abbeydale Archers | Western "Potato Shoot" | April 15th |