Latest News

Featured

GWAS Senior Inter-Counties format change

A poll of the Senior County Teams resulted in a preference for changing the format of the Senior Inter-Counties event from York / Hereford to WA 1440 rounds.  Following a discussion and vote at the GWAS Council meeting in October 2016, it was agreed the format will be changed from 2017 to become a WA1440, World Record Status / Star event.

It is planned to shoot in ends of 6 arrows at each distance, with Long Bow archers shooting at a full size 80cm faces at the shorter distances.

The venue for the event remains at Exeter School, and will revert to the usual weekend on 17th September 2017

 

Latest News

Archery GB Lose Appeal

Archery GB has been told their appeal against the decision by UK Sport to stop its funding of their World Class Programme, amounting to a loss of income of £2.95m, has been unsuccessful. Archery GB are obviously disappointed with this decision, but intend to find ways to continue the programme and deliver medals for the sport, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  However, it means a review is required of the current organisation structure and may mean a loss of some jobs, according to Neil Armitage, Archery GB Chief Executive.

Other sports which have lost their appeal against the cuts include:

Badmington: £5.74m
Fencing: £4.23
Wheelchair Rugby: £3.04m
Weightlifting: £1.71m

The chairman of UK Athletics is demanding a fundamental review of the way in which UK Sport invest the £137.5m a year budget.

Latest News

New Range Registration

Archery GB have introduced a new Range Registration and Assessment Procedure, that will be formally introduced on 1st April 2017.

The new procedure requires every archery club to register their indoor and outdoor shooting ranges and complete a short survey.  Initially, clubs are expected to self certify and register all shooting ranges detailing:

  • Location
  • Shooting Capacity
  • Access Arrangements
  • Rules of Shooting Compliance

Registration is mandatory and will be renewed every 3 years, which will have to be done online.  Clubs and ranges which do not comply with the rules of shooting will be able to request dispensations from Archery GB, and for a flat fee plus travel expenses, Archery GB Assessors will be available to inspect and decide if the shooting arrangements are safe.

Clubs will have 6 months to register their shooting ranges, and failure to register will mean that the ground will not be covered by Archery GB Insurance.

 

 

Latest News

A Popular Sport

Every year the news seems to suggest that fewer people are taking part in Sport.  But is that true?

According to Sport England, year ending September 2016, Archery is one of the top 30 sports by weekly participation.

Weekly participants aged 16 years and above: 32,400

Change from 10 years ago: +38.46%

The top 5 sports, by weekly participation, are Swimming, Athletics, Cycling, Football and Golf.

Featured

New State of the Art Archery Facility

It’s a great time to be an archer.

Beginners today have access to more coaches, ranges and shops than ever. People on every continent are enjoying archery as the sport grows exponentially, sparking even more demand for places to shoot, train and host tournaments.

Among archery’s newest venues is the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, which held its grand opening in December. World Archery is target archery’s global governing body. It’s responsible for international competitions like the Olympics and world championships. The Excellence Centre took nearly seven years to plan and build, and World Archery hopes it will become the epicenter of target archery. Read more

Featured

Compound Confirmed for 2019 Pan American Games

The Pan American Games follow the Asian Games in adding compound competition to the programme.

For the first time since archery was introduced to the Pan American Games in 1979, the multisport event programme will include a compound competition for the 2019 edition set to be held in Lima, Peru from 26 July to 11 August.

The continental games will be the second to include the compound bow after the 2014 Asian Games. read more

Featured

GWAS 2017 AGM – 2nd April at 2:30pm

The venue for this year will be the Worlds End Pub Bradford on Tone, Taunton Somerset TA4 1ET and being a pub venue those attending may wish to arrive earlier and enjoy a lunch and a drink.

All Council positions are required to be elected annually at the AGM.  This year there are a number of Council positions that will be vacated and specifically need to be filled, namely:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • EAF Representative(s)
  • Junior Representative
  • Communications and Web Content Officer
Election of Officers (President and Secretary) require a formal proposer and a seconder, with the written consent of the nominee.  Nominations should be sent to the GWAS Secretary, 7 days before the Annual General Meeting.
For the election of the Specialist Members and Officers (EAF Representative(s), Junior Representative and Communications / Web Content Officer), nominations may be in writing, with the written consent of the nominee, or may be accepted from the floor at the Annual General Meeting, in which case the nominee must be present to signify consent.

The Communications / Web Content Officer is  a new role created to replace the historic Webmaster role, but without the need for specific HTML skills and with an increased focus on developing, communicating and managing important regional information on the new GWAS website, which will be launched in March 2017.

Coaching, Latest News

Coaching AGM Guest Speaker

The 2017 Coaching AGM will include a Workshop event with Guest Speaker Richard Cheetham MSc, MBE.  The event will be held on Sunday 2nd April as part of the Coaching AGM and is open to all members of GWAS.
Richard is a Senior Fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Winchester where he has worked since 2005. Since May 2014 he has worked with the UCI World Cycling Elite Coach Education Programme in Aigle, Switzerland. Richard’s research focusses on a more holistic approach to coaching with time spent since 2013 at Saracens RFC within the Academy programme, Fulham Football Club, and more recently with British Triathlon with their skills school initiative. He has gained recognition nationally and internationally within coach education and has been an invited speaker for World Rugby, British Cycling, Cycling Ireland, Rugby Canada, England Handball and the England Cricket Coaches Association. Richard is also an experienced Rugby Union Coach Educator for London South region and Hampshire RFU as well as a Tutor for SCUK on the Fundamentals, Coaching Children and Talent Foundation workshops.

 

Whilst the Workshop is targeted at Coaches, as part of their Continuing Professional Development, it is open to all GWAS members.  Spaces may be limited so booking a place early is recommended.  If interested in attending please contact Lizzy Rees, Regional Coaching Organiser.

Featured, Latest News

BBC West Unsung Hero

Congratulations to Dave Jones of Chippenham Archers who has been voted BBC West’s Unsung Hero of the Year!

Dave, who has dedicated the last 20 years to the club, has coached more than 600 archers, including internationals like Jo Frith who won gold and silver medals in Rio.

Jo said: “He was the first person I thought of when I looked down at my medal. I thought, ‘this is not my medal – this is mine and Dave’s medal.’ He helped me get this and I am so proud to be associated with him.” watch the BBC video