Having laid my hands on the original SAA minutes book, and after having read through a fair bit of it, it occurred to me that it might also prove of interest to current day SAA members to learn how SAA came into being and just what changes and progress have been made during the years since the formation of the Association as we know it today.
It seems that in the latter half of the 1940’s there were a number of archery clubs operating in Scotland, purely on an individual basis. As a result of a meeting at the Kelvin Hall (Glasgow) Exhibition of 1947 between two members of the Troon club and a representative of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the possibility of setting up a National body for the development of Archery in Scotland was explored, culminating in a meeting of members of the various clubs in existence at that time.
This inaugural meeting took place in Edinburgh on 15th January 1949 under the chairmanship of a Mr. Dand of the Scottish Education Department. After some lengthy discussion the Chairman summed up the feelings of the meeting, saying that two points had arisen, (1) whether a Scottish branch of GNAS should be formed or (2) whether a Scottish Archery Association should be formed. After further discussion, during which letters from the GNAS secretary were read indicating that they (GNAS) did not feel it would be advisable to set up a Scottish branch, nor that any real benefits would be gained by affiliation of the Scottish clubs to GNAS, the meeting unanimously agreed that a Scottish Archery Association should be formed. An interim committee was formed and the meeting then considered points in a draft constitution which had been drawn up by the Troon club in conjunction with the CCPR. After some debate the objects on which the development of the Association should be based were agreed. The clubs present at that inaugural meeting were : Burntisland A.C. : Dundee A.C. : Edinburgh Ladies A.C. : Ettrick Bowmen : Glasgow Archers : Kilwinning Society of Archers : Royal Co. of Archers : Troon A.C.
The first meeting of SAA as such took place on 19th March 1949 in Edinburgh in the CCPR offices. The meeting was mainly concerned with the draft constitution and rules. One point of interest to emerge came in a letter from GNAS stating that their AGM had decided, to conform with other Nations customs, that in future all archery rounds in England would be shot one way only. Up to that time shooting had taken place in two directions, archers shooting at targets, retrieving their arrows, then shooting them back at targets at the end from which they had shot the previous ones. SAA agreed that they too would adopt the one way shooting system, except for clout. The meeting was concluded with the election of the first SAA Executive Committee consisting of a President, Secretary, Treasurer and two ordinary members.
Four further meetings were held in 1949 at which the following were the main points of interest. A letter to the Scottish Education Department applying for a grant in due course produced an offer of £75 to help get the SAA on a sound financial footing. The grant was used to purchase bows (£29), target bosses (£31.10/-) and a file for the secretary (£12). A proposal was put forward to hold a Scottish Championships, and to use the Edinburgh Open shoot for this purpose. The rounds agreed were a York for men and an American for ladies. Entry fee to be 5/- for SAA members and 10/- for others. It transpired that problems arose and it was eventually agreed that The Ladies Championships would be the Edinburgh Open and the Gents would be in Glasgow at a later date. As difficulties in getting any sponsors to provide trophies also arose, it was agreed to give each of the winners a bow and each of the runners up a set of six arrows. It was also agreed to give a plaque to the first Scottish Lady and Gent, ‘Scottish’ being defined as by birth. Subject to enquiries of H.M Customs and Excise, it was agreed to admit spectators on payment of gate money. After further problems with the Edinburgh Open, both the Ladies and Gents Championships took place in Glasgow in September 1949, but though a report of the Championships appears in the minutes of the November meeting, no mention is made of the winners.
The first meeting of 1950, in February, shows an offer from Slazenger to supply a silver arrow trophy for the Scottish Championships. It was agreed to accept this generous offer, but to see if they would consider awarding one for both Ladies and Gents. The date of the first AGM of the Association was also agreed, fixed for Saturday 28th March 1950 and to be held in Edinburgh.
The minutes of that first AGM show that there were seven clubs affiliated
to SAA, each club paying an affiliation fee of £1.1/- and the accounts
showed an income of £19 and an expenditure of £13.1/-, leaving
a balance of £5.19/-, minuted as being very satisfactory. The first
President, Mr. George Hamilton, stated that this first year had been extremely
difficult for the committee, with little progress being seen in the first
half of the year but encouraging signs showing in the last six months.
Perhaps the problems of that first committee can best be summed up by
the following quotes from Mr. Hamilton’s report .
“ The first Annual General Meeting of any new organisation is always something of an event in the history of that particular body, because the committee are looking back on a year of adventure with something like exhaustion, wishing wholeheartedly that they had never been elected to office, while the rest of the meeting are looking forward to the massacre of the laziest committee ever heard of. “
“ We forged ahead, bursting with inexperience, organised a Scottish Open Championships and Edinburgh shoot, and retired smarting from blows and also public, and private, abuse. “
The minutes of the AGM also report that SAA had received a letter from GNAS recognising SAA as the official body for archery in Scotland, and there appears as well the first mention of the need to set up a scheme of coaching in SAA. The new Executive Council was then elected to office, there now being a sixth member in the post of Match Secretary. For the record, there was an attendance of just ten at the meeting, representing five of the affiliated clubs.
Ray Masson. (1984/5)