7th December - British Indoor Champs Success

I must first of all pay tribute to the entire Senior team for braving what were challenging travelling conditions to attend this event. Their efforts were not in vain.

The event took place at a new venue within the International Centre, Telford. The event was held over a single day on Sunday 5th December with both recurve and compound championships taking place at the same time. This differs from past years when the respective championships were held on separate days. The competitors gave the arena the thumbs up which was very impressive with over 60 bosses in the one hall.

The home internationals were held on Sunday afternoon. The recurve team consisting of Matt Nowicki, Erik Rowbotham, Kyshiea George and Lizzie Bell were creditable runners up scoring a combined total of 2168 to England's combined total 2194. Lizzie then went on to the H2H rounds where she finished in 4th place.

The compound team consisting of Alistair Whittingham, Tim Keppie, Claudine Jennings and Tracey McGowan finished in first place and beat England into second by a margin of three points. Both teams were level going into the last dozen with Scotland holding their nerve with a combined score of 2282 to England's combined score of 2279. All archers went though into the H2H phase where the highest placed was Claudine who finished in 4th place.

In addition to this, the Recurve team trophy for best club performance was won by Edinburgh University with the equivalent compound team trophy being won by Edinburgh Uni Alumni. Jenny Jeppsson of Edinburgh Uni finished in 2nd place after the conclusion of the H2H round. Full results available on the ArcheryGB website

Norrie McLean
Senior Team Manager

18th November - National Series 2011 - Scottish Leg

Archery GB's National Series has announced dates for the 2011 campaign with Penicuik Archers hosting Stage 2 on June 18/19.

8th November - Level 1 WEST

The next Level 1 Coaching course for the WoSAA will be held as a residential course at the National Centre, Inverclyde in Largs.

The schedule for the course is:

Friday evening 25.02.2011 - arrival (at about 19:30)
Saturday 26.02.2011 - 1st day of the course
Sunday 27.02.2011 - 2nd day of the course

Friday evening 25.03.2011 - arrival
Saturday 26.03.2011 - 3rd day of the course

Friday evening 22.04.2011 - arrival
Saturday 23.04.2011 - Assessment whole day

In addition we will hold a Pre-Course meeting on the 12.02.2011 in Renton. If a candidate can not travel to Renton for this meeting on a single day (because of the distance) we will try to arrange a remote session to help you fill out important paperwork (including CRBS)and give you an overview of the course.

The total cost of the course (including the residential costs) per candidate will be £320. We would require you to pay us a non-refundable deposit of £100 by the end of December to cover your course fees to GNAS.

Any possible candidate should check for available grants towards their course fees.

Please contact the course administrator Kerstin Elmendorff - kelmendorff at hotmail dot com or 01475 521105 (evenings and weekends) if you are interested or need additional information.

25th August - Derek Hangs Up His Jacket

After a judging career spanning 15 years Derek Sangster bowed out at this year's Scottish Championships; a fitting competition to finish on with perfect shooting and judging weather over the whole weekend. Derek started in archery in 1977, helped to form the current Lasswade club in 1980 and became a judge in 1995 with promotion to National Judge in 2001. His contribution to Judging, especially in SAA, is so well known that his attendance as a judge at shoots will be sorely missed. Indeed his efforts have been so recognised at GNAS level with the GNAS Judge Committee awarding him Judge Emeritus status which was presented by Alistair Paton.. Derek will still be involved with the judges in SAA and his opinons will always be much sought after, and we all wish him a very happy retirement.

25th August - Greyhound Rescue benefit from shoot

Bannockburn Juniors ended their charity fundraisers for this year on a high on Friday 20th August when Bannockburn Bowmen held their Open Short Metrics at Stirling RFC.

An amazing 36 entries were received, sending Connor Thomson (14) into a baking frenzy to provide enough cakes for all the archers and supporters. Approx 50 people came to the event.

As well as Connor's cakes, tea/coffee and juice were for sale, and the juniors sold raffle tickets for a wide variety of prizes.

The event raised £262.45 for Greyhound Rescue, Fife. This brings the total raised by the juniors in this membership year to £1493.32

Thanks to everyone who supported the event, who turned up early to set the field out and who packed away, to the "grown ups" for dealing with the hot water etc and to Asda Distribution Falkirk for sponsoring the ingredients, and special thanks to "Woodie" the greyhound for being so patient waiting for Norma and who became our unofficial mascot for the evening!

Connor was presented with a special badge and a box of chocolates for thanks for all his baking over the summer.

The charities that have benefitted this year are:
Children in Need
Multiple Schlerosis Society
Childrens Hospice Association Scotland
and Greyhound Rescue Fife.

15th August - Kate and John Medal again

Once again Kate Murray and John Murray have brought home medals for team Archery GB, this time at the European Para Archery Championships, in Vichy, France. It was a team Silver for John - Top ranked John Stubbs, John Murray and Eric Thomas saw off Italy and Sweden before missing out on the gold by just a point, as the Swiss came through 213-212; and a team Silver for Kate in the mixed recurve competition paired up with Kenny Allen. Kate just missed out on an individual bronze after her match went to a tie-break today. Full stories on Archery GB website

15th August - County win at British Champs

At the British Champs on 14/15th August the Mixed County Compound Team Hoyt Challenge Cup was won by the Eastern Area team of Alistair Whittingham, Tim Keppie, Susan Maitland and Tracey McGowan. Full results on Archery GB website

3rd August - Commonwealth Games Team announced

A bit earlier than expected Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) have issued a press release announcing the team from Scottish Archery. Many Congratulations to everyone.

I would like to say what fantastic news it is for Scottish Target Archery for us to have a 10 strong team going to the Commonwealth Games. It is 28 years since the last opportunity for Scottish Archery to take part and this is a very exciting time for us all. The archers have given a huge amount of dedication, commitment and determination over the last two years to make this achievement and I would like to thank them for what all their hard work will do for the future of our sport. I would also like to thank all the other volunteers who have been involved and given their considerable time and effort time towards making this great achievement happen. I am sure that we all wish the team all the best in the games and we are very proud of them all.
Tina James

2nd August - World Records for Simon

FITA have ratified several WORLD records for Simon Needham. Simon shot a 1326 for the new Masters Round and 340 for the 60m distance at the Banchory Fita Star on the 18th July. This is great news - Many Congratulations Simon.

 

Bannockburn fundraiser success

Bannockburn Bowmen held their Open Nationals tournament on Friday 16th July in Stirling. The tournament was one of the junior sections fundraising evenings - this time to raise money for Rachel House Children’s Hospice in Kinross.

The evening went very well, and the juniors worked their usual magic getting the adults to part with their cash ! There were cakes (courtesy of Connor's Gran, Andrea, who stepped in at the last minute and baked under Connor's expert eye !!) and coffee after the shoot along with a raffle.

The evening raised £169.95 for Rachel House. Many thanks to everyone who helped, competed, or just turned up for the cakes and, of course, to Asda Distribution in Falkirk for sponsoring the baking ingredients.

1st July - Euronations Team ready for the off

Congratulations to the following archers who are going off to represent Scotland at the Euronations Tournament hosted this year by Ireland in Dublin on 3rd & 4th July

Gents Recurve James Laing,Mark Forrester,Matt Nowicki and David Lange
Gents Compound Alistair Whittingham ,Tim Keppie,Kyle Dods and David Herd
Ladies Recurve Emma Downie,Kysheia Steele and Kate Murray
Ladies Compound Susan Maitland, Elayne McLean,Claudine Jennings and Tracy McGowan

England are sending their full Commonwealth team, so it is sure to be a testing experience for our archers.

 

13th May - Bannockburn Cake Bake a fundraising sucess

The Bannockburn Open Warwick held on 30th April in aid of the MS Society "Cake Break" has raised a total of £510.50 for the charity.

Senior members of the Bowmen helped with the heavy work, while the Juniors worked on getting everyone's loose change into the collection pots!

14 yr old Bannockburn Junior, Connor Thomson, did most of the baking and ended up catering for almost 40 people - we had 27 of the available 30 shooting spaces booked and lots of other supporters turned up to try the cakes and coffee!

Depsite very heavy rain during setting up, the skies soon cleared and we were treated to good shooting conditions for the competition.

The Juniors not only served tea/coffee/juice and cakes after the shoot, but they also held a raffle, a "guess the weight of the cake" competition and they got sponsor maney for taking part in the shoot.

This brings the total raised for charity in this membership year to £1060.92. We have another 2 charity shoots being run during the summer on 16th July and 20th August.

Pics from left to right 1-the shooting line, 2- a happy chappy, 3-Connor with his guess the weight cake, 4-Dave keeping dry

10th May - CGS magazine has a feature on our archers in India

Commonwealth Games Scotland's magazine has a feature on the Scottish team out in India.

 

23rd April - Another European Masters Record for Simon

Scottish archer Simon Needham has taken the European Master Record for 70M Fita to 649 while shooting at the GB Team selection shoot at Lilleshall on 17th April. Congratulations Simon.

20th April - Toxophilus Trophy for Bannockburn Bowmen

At the GNAS AGM on Saturday 17th April Bannockburn Bowmen were awarded the Toxophilus Trophy for having the best Club newsletter. Jim Buchanan was awarded the Gussy Trophy for a wheelchair archer who has shown service to the sport.

20th April - Field up and running in SAA

After a successful Argyll Field Archers shoot on Saturday 17th April, Argyll's next shoot will be elegible for Record Status. Coupled with the earlier announcement on our judges who qualified in field at Dalmore , field shooting is set to grow in SAA.

Argyll Field Club offers an associate membership to any GNAS/SAA member, giving full access to the course and facilities for onlyf £20 per year (no additional shoot fees).

19th April - Arizona Para medal for Kate

Several archers from Scotland were part of the GB Paralympic team competing in a world ranking Paralympic Archery tournament at the Arizona Cup from the 8th to 11th April..

Kate Murray from Eastcote Archers claimed one of Team GB’s three individual gold medals, John Murray(Loreburn) and Alistair Hamilton (Broch) were also representing GB at this event; the story from ArcheryGB and Full Results.

4th April - Congratulations to our new Field Judges

SAA is delighted to announce that, after a very successful training course, the following SAA Target Judges have qualified as Field judges as well. Karen Henderson, Bob Provan and Norrie McLean have all achieved Regional Judge status and Frank Schallmoser County Judge status in Field Archery. Many congratulations are due to all four who have excelled themselves and greatly enhanced the standing of SAA within the judging community.- Alistair Paton, SAA Judge Liaison Officer

12th March - Dehli Test Event updates

Update Friday-am. No Medal for Tracy. Lucy O'Sullivan of Jersey won through over Tracy McGowan of Scotland to the Gold Medal Match where she defeated Gagandeep Kaur of India in 7 points to 2. This left Tracy shooting of against Nichola Simpson of England for the Bronze which Nichola won 6 points to 2. Interestingly the results have labelled all the Home Nation women as GBR and displayed the Union Jack - just an indication of the calibre of shooting of these world class archers at this event

Update Thursday pm - Recurve Men - Scotland beaten to Bronze by England, India - Gold, Malaysia - Silver. Recurve Women - India - Gold, Malaysia - Silver, Singapore - Bronze. Tracy goes for a medal on Friday in the individual Women Compound.

Full results are still available courtesy of FITA on the FITA website Folow links - Other Events -> Delhi-Test Event. Peter Jones is also keeping up to date on the GNAS News

Update Thursday am - Ladies Compound Team - England - Gold, India - Silver and Malaysia - Bronze. The Scottish Ladies got beaten 217 to 209 in the Bronze match. England also took Gold in the Gents Compound with Malaysia - Silver and India - Bronze, Wales 4th place.The Recuve Team Matches are later this morning our time.

10th March - Dehli Test Event update

Individual Matches were this Wednesday morning and team matches in the afternoon - briefly, Simon was seeded 10th in the Recurve Gents and the highest placed GB archer, he made it to the final 8 but then got nocked out by Banerjeer of India who seeded 2nd. James Laing was seeded 14th and Mark Forester 15th. The Scottish Gents team have made it through to the semi finals after beating Jersey and tomorrow shoot against Malysia with the winner of that match taking on whoever wins in the India versus England match. The Indian ladies - all 8 of them - dominate the Ladies Recurve where Emma Downie was also ranked a very creditable 10th after qualification.

In the Compound Gents, Alistair was highest seeded Scot at 8th with Kyle Dods 13th and Tim Keppie 21st. The team then got beaten by Wales so didn't make it to the semis finals. Our Compound ladies faired better with Claudine seeding 7th and Tracy 9th. Claudine got knocked out by top International Nichola Simpson of England. Tracy beat top seed Nicky Hunt from England to reach the semis and goes up against Lucy O'Sullivan from Jersey last year's ArcheryGB National Series winner. Whoever wins through will shoot off against the winner of the Simpson versus Kaur of India match. The Ladies team also shoot against India in the semis with England coming up against Malaysia.

Peter Jones is also keeping up to date on the GNAS News.

8th March - Eastern Area coaching day a success

On 20 February 30 archers from around Scotland (mainly from the East) attended the Eastern Area Coaching day at Beeslack High School in Penicuik. A variety of bows were in evidence: recurve, compound, barebow and longbow.

We had fourteen coaches, experienced in these disciplines in attendance. The programme for the day was relaxed and enabled the archers to move around various areas ie equipment maintenance ie string making, fletching, straightening; bow tuning; videoing to check body alignment and technique and shooting technique improvement. We also had a talk from Murray & Hazel Elliot and Ken Myles covering competition and mental preparation.

The archers had a very successful day with ideas being shared and improvements made - almost everyone asked for another day just like this one to be held.

Some comments from the feedback :
“Excellent day. I have learned so much. Very relaxed and everyone very helpful. I have plenty to work on.”
“Plenty of knowledge all in one place FAB!”

(click on images below for larger versions)

Moira C Taylor
County Coach

5th March - 2010 Squad Fly out to Test Event

The SAA Commonwealth Squad fly out this Friday to take part in the 2010 Commonwealth Games Test Event to be held in the Yamuna Stadium in Delhi. Teams from many of the Commonwealth countries are taking part including all the Home Nations. Hockey amd Badminton are also running a test so this will be excellent preparation for everyone.

Our athletes have trained and worked hard to prepare for this event and will be shooting in Individual and Team competitions, the following athletes make up the team :-
Gents Recurve Simon Needham, James Laing. Mark Forrester Ladies Recurve Emma Downie
Gents Compound Alistair Whittingham, Tim Keppie, Kyle Dods
Ladies Compound Tracy McGowan, Claudine Jennings, Elayne McLean, Susan Maitland
Team Management Lana Needham - High Performance Coach, Bob Provan - Team Manager, Norrie McLean - Assistant Team Manager Experts Lesley Dawson - Physiotherapist, Kris Dun - Physiologist

Never before has the SAA put together such a Team to compete under the name of Scotland in an international event. The SAA wish the Team every success. We will update the website with news about how our Team are faring, so please keep watching this space.

4th March - Team Win for Recurves

British Indoor Championships -20 & 21 February 2010

As with previous years the British Indoor Championship were held at Lilleshall, the National Sports Centre with the recurve competition being held on the Saturday and the compounds on the Sunday. 

The Scottish Teams’ comprised of Malcolm Alexander & James Laing, Kyshiea Steele and Naomi Jones in the Recurve championship with Alistair Whittingham Tim Keppie, Susan Maitland and Claudine Jennings in the Compound championships

This year it was a close run competition in both divisions between Scotland and England with Scotland taking the honours in the recurve division, winning by 21 points, and our compounders narrowly beaten into 2nd place on the Sunday, losing to England by 9 points.  Although the compounders were second it is worth noting that the combined score achieved by the compound team is one of the highest achieved by Scottish archers when participating in this event.  Both the recurve and compound teams shot exceptionally well with all the archers involved moving into the individual head to head rounds (which do not form part of the Home Nations Tournaments)

I think it is worth noting that the standard of competition this year was particularly high, that all team members shot well and have earned the congratulations of everyone within Scottish Archery in respect of the team and their own individual performances.

Norrie McLean - SAA Team Manager

5th January - Boxing Day Arrows in Shetland

Members of the Shetland Archery Club enjoyed the calm bright conditions at the annual Boxing day shoot held at Seafield in Lerwick.  Billy Finnie won the 70m compound competition with a score of 331.  Keith Lobban scored 279 to win the 70m recurve.  Two novice archers shot the 30m distance - Colin Gillie (Junior), shooting recurve, attained a commendable 252 and Janet Walton in her first year shooting compound scoring 275.

In the photo from left to right are:  David Williamson, Keith Lobban, Billy Finnie, Rosaleen Williamson, Sara Leith, Colin Gillie, Martin Krusche, Dylan Murphy, and Janet Walton.

Keith R Lobban - Shetland Archery Club