Deer Park Archers

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Importantant Notice to all Members (Especially users of the Field course).

We have been informed by Cotswold DC that there has been a significant rise in the incidence of TICK bites. A sheet detailing action to be taken is posted on the Bubbs Hill Notice Board. Anyone doing the field course are strongly advised not to wear shorts etc and where possible stick to the cut grass areas and pathways.

Notice of AGM and General Meeting (Emailed to all members 7th August)
A meeting has been arranged for Tuesday 21^st September at Birdlip Village Hall starting at 7pm all members are welcome.There will be an open committee meeting, agenda to be issued later, a presentation on our submission for ClubMark status (will be complete by then).
At 8pm the AGM will begin, when the positions of Chairman and Club Secretary will be up for election. The current job holders are willing to be re-elected but would welcome members seeking to bring fresh ideas to the roles.
There will also be proposals to amend the Club Constitution in line with ClubMark requirements and recommendations to formally adopt other Archery GB policy recommendations including the latest Equity Policy, codes of conduct for club officials and volunteers etc.
Please make every effort to attend or at least share your views with a committee member, further details to follow.

Club Annual Membership Fees
You should have received a reminder from Janet to pay your annual Archery GB and club membership, if you have not then please speak to Janet. Those that have joined in the last 3 months or so, will not need to pay again. Fees should be paid before end of August if you want your membership card quickly. Renewal payments made between end of August and end of September will have to wait in the queue for their cards. Those not paying by the end of September will not be able to shoot. If in doubt speak to Janet.

Management Committee VacanciesVolunteers/nominations are sought for the following vacancies; Club Records Officer (Marnie is stepping down at the end of the summer Season).Club Field Captain

Volunteers to work to support the following events.
Gloucestershire Junior Championships – Saturday 11^th September – Field Crew, catering, tent pitching and also help on the Friday to work with Cheltenham Archers to set the field up. Group of volunteers to help organize the County Field Archery Championships which we will be running on Bubbs Hill. (Catering, field crew). Group of volunteers to help organize a County Clout Competition, date to be decided, help on day to lay field etc.

Important Dates
Club practice sessions as usual EXCEPT for THURSDAY 12^th AUGUST, evening session moved to Field 4 (Top gate – no parking in Green Dragon). Please note that we will be doing the field course, those that loan equipment are welcome to participate but MUST let me know beforehand so I can bring equipment.

Sunday 29^th August – Club evening shoot, members are welcome to camp over night (club sleepover) on Bubbs Hill. Please let us know by 25^th. BBQ, late night shoot.
Get your entries in for the County Junior Championships! Adults as well.

This competition is organized by ourselves and will take place at Cheltenham Archers Ground (Race Course) on Saturday 11^th September. ALL our juniors should enter. Get forms from the Gloucestershire Archery Society Website or at any of our practice sessions. Talk to a coach for advice on which round etc. They are short distances and only 72 arrows so please give it a go. Parents/Adults can do a Record Status National round in the afternoon so please support this event.

We have been awarded another £1000 !
We have just received confirmation from our CSP (Community Sports Partnership) that Archery GB/Sport England have awarded us a further thousand pound for our work with schools and in particular Balcarras School. Well done to Steph, Dan, Simon, Jim and Kate for their support.

Steph and Dan at National Development Conference!
Archery GB have asked Steph and Dan to run a workshop on teaching archery in schools as part of the conference.
Roger has been invited to be part of the Archery GB working party redesigning the Archery Leaders Course (and teacher training modules) which is planned to be relaunched by March 2011.

Ed passes Level 1 Coaching Course internal assessment
Well done to Ed, who was assessed on week 1 of the new 7 participants beginners course which started last week. Also thanks to Andy and Roger for supporting Ed.

Please take Care
3 pilot holes have been dug at Bubbs Hill to determine the specification for the foundation of the new Centenary Hall, unfortunately one of them hit a water pipe so could not be filled in until Roger blanks it off. So please take care, all members are precious!

Other Diary Dates Halloween Shoot – 30^th October at Bubbs HillClub Award Evening and Beetle Drive – 20^th December. Hessian Field Targets Thank you to all those that responded to paint some faces. John has now ordered extra Hessian and will be in touch. Roger has produced a prototype using left over, emulsion, gloss and enamel paints. Looks ok (although a survey suggested members are not sure what it actually is!) and it is being left out to weather to ensure it lasts.

Club Junior Longbow
  Any juniors that want to give it a try, should talk to Dan/Roger. The poundage is just 28lbs at 27 inches.

Bosses
Due to a national shortage of straw (bad harvest last year) the club will have to wait until January 2011 for the delivery of new bosses (indoor use).
John, Vanessa and Roger spent 2 evenings cutting foam strips and have made 2 new large bosses for the target range, enough material to repair the centre of the boss on wheels and make a further 2 or 3 for the field course. If there are any more volunteers to help cut foam then please let us know (no juniors).

Club Clothing
Steph is about to place another order, members wanting to purchase, polo shirts, T-Shirts, fleeces, hoodies etc should talk to Steph asap sjcrang@aol.com).

Club Attrition Day
We had an excellent day on Sunday with over 40 members enjoying a range of events. The catering for lunch and tea was fantastic, the fresh cream scones and chocolate sponge excellent! Thanks to all that helped throughout the day.
Full results will appear on the Club Website in the next few days.
Some highlights were: Longbow, John winning the Field Shoot, Martin H winning the Skills, Nikki winning the clout and Mavis the Warwick. Martin H and Roger tied for 1^st overall.

Compound, Alex won the clout, skills and field, James H the Warwick. Alex was the overall winner.
Recurve, Lawrence took the Warwick and Clout titles, Ed the field and Andrew the skills. Overall winner was Tom.
Well done to everyone, Steve (and James) took lots of excellent photos, will post them on the web in next few days. We are already planning a similar event next year.

Regional Champions
Congratulations to Callum, Alex, Sammy, James and Beckie who all became Regional Champions (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire) last weekend.

Cowley Village Fete
Karl, Ed and Roger ran a have-a-go stall at the Cowley Village Fete last Saturday, it proved to be the most popular activity! All the proceeds went to the local church.

Calling All Artists (or those aspiring to be).
Ed and John are working on producing our own hessian target faces for the field course. We need members who have skills to make a reasonable effort at painting the faces onto the hessian. We would like to create a special ‘Vegetarian Round’ to go with the normal animal rounds, so if you can paint a pumpkin, bunch of grapes, marrow etc please let us know.

LOCAL PAPER HEADLINES

National Archery Titles for James and Beckie

Cheltenham based Deer Park Archers sent 5 Juniors to this year’s
National Championships at Lilleshall and once again had great success.
10 year old James Howse competing in the Under 12 Compound category ,
is a pupil at Shurdington Primary School, followed up his Indoor
National Title won late last year, recording the highest score of any
competitor in all categories, this was achieved in appalling conditions
with a strong gusty wind and yet his score was just 2 points off the
National Record. Steph Crang, his coach was full of praise for his
achievement “James has worked extremely hard to earn this, both
mentally and physically. It is a product of team work with his parents
and 2 brothers, who are all good archers, supporting him. This,
together with the support of all the club members makes it truly a team
effort.”

Beckie Hutchings, 14, and a pupil at Bournside School had strong
competition in her category but managed to record victory by just 2
points, finishing ahead of a GB squad archer. Again Beckie has had the
support from her family, her dad Martin is the Club Child Welfare
Officer and an emerging Longbow archer.
Alex Fraser, a previous National Champion from Kingshill School
finished 4th in his category. In addition to the normal club practice
sessions, all 3 of these juniors support their respective after school
clubs, helping pupils who are trying the sport for the first time.

Deer Park Archers are currently running archery programmes in 10 local
schools and doing activity days at many others. As a result of their
efforts Gloucestershire has just been selected as a lead County by the
National Governing Body (Archery GB) and Sport England to introduce
this Olympic Sport to many more schools.
The club organizes a County Schools Championships each term,
Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School, are the current holders, recent
winners have been Balcarras and Kingshill. Deer Park Archers are
working with Archery GB to put a structure in place that can provide
coaching qualifications for interested teachers so that they can set up
sustainable archery clubs in their schools. These school clubs will
then feed the senior clubs and universities with well trained juniors.

Deer Park Archers, with a membership of over 200, are committed to
supporting both recreational and performance archers but they do want
to expand their elite squad and will shortly be commencing a selection
process to identify juniors with archery potential. Those selected will
be offered a FREE 8 week beginners course working with excellent
coaching staff, for further details anyone interested should visit the
website www.deerparkarchers.com. It is hoped that this initiative will
add to their growing list of junior National Champions!

Arron grabs more longbow records
Arron had a great week at Dunster breaking 9 County records including Metric 1 distance records, Albion, Western and Bristol 1 records. He followed this up with a 2 way Western record at coastal Archers. Arron has now broken more than 15 County Records, this year alone!

Social Evening – Club Jungle Rumble Crazy Golf
20 of us had a great evening in Bristol. Best scores were Martin – 42, Val – 43, Roger – 44, Dan – 46, Ness – 47, John – 49, Ed – 50
Whilst the Golf was excellent the meal was less so, with this standard of service and quality of food, Frankie and Bennies is clearly a place to avoid!
Full results and photos will be posted on the website.

Bourton on the Water Primary School win Summer Term Trophy

Bourton pipped Archway school by the narrowest of margins to take the Summer Term Trophy competed for by 10 teams and 116 archers. Go to the Archery in Schools page for further information and for full details.

Club Committee Meeting

28^th June at 8pm in the Deer House.

If members would like to attend then please let us know, you are more than welcome and your views/contributions will be welcome.

Newsletter Survey

Again thank you to all those that responded, 85% response within 1 week, excellent. Will continue to use it as the main communications method.

Club Newsletter Survey

Thank you to the over 60% of you that responded to the club newsletter survey within 4 days. It is proving to be a good communication medium. However the Notice boards at Bubbs Hill are also useful and John has been wouking on those. The website is our other main way of communicating and the website is getting a lot of hits on a daily basis, when I have the time we do have the tools to analyse the usage, so will report on that at a later date.

Archery GB
New Web Site is now working.
Thanks to the work we do in schools Gloucestershire has been selected to be a lead County for the National Schools Initiative. Members of Archery GB, the Community Sports Partnership, representatives from other clubs and teachers will be meeting at Deer Park on the 21^st.

As a lead County we will be able to attract additional support and funding to build on the work we are already doing.

Club Firework, BBQ and Target Evening ETC

The weather is again not making life easy for us, so the following arrangements will apply;

We will go ahead with the fireworks tonight providing it is dry, if it rains anytime after 5:30 then it will be off (they are due to start at 9pm).

We will call the BBQ off anyway as we do not want to be left with the food.

The archery remains on, both Saturday evening as usual and the field course Sunday morning regardless of the weather, although again if wet will leave the fita faces up on the field course as the 2D Animal faces are plain paper and would fall apart.

Sunday 25^th April (This Sunday!) Field Course – Starts at 10am so get there before!
Club members shoot, £3 per head. Course laid out (Fita faces) for seniors and juniors. 4 New targets. Club beginners welcome if they require the loan of equipment they MUST let me know in advance.

Saturday 1^st May – Club Shoot and Firework Night
Having had 2 postponements for our firework night we are hoping for better weather this time!For those that want to shoot the evening will begin from 6:30, we will be organize a club target day (eligible for County Records!)Warwick Round (2 doz at 60y and 2doz at 50y for adults, Short, Junior and Short Junior rounds will also be available (50/40, 40/30, 30/20 and 20/10).Please note that to help cover the costs of BBQ and fireworks a payment of £3 per head will be made.The competition will be followed by a firework display on Bubbs Hill starting at 9pm. You are welcome to bring family etc.

Sunday 2^nd May – 2D Animal Face Field Course Round – STARTS at 9:45am so get there for 9:30
24 target round, archers from Minchinhampton and Cheltenham will be joining us. Course laid out for seniors and juniors. Club beginners welcome if they require the loan of equipment they MUST let me know in advance.

Club Safety Officer
Following last Fridays Committee Meeting Karl Schneider is confirmed in the post.

Child Welfare Officers
In line with Club Standards Regulations, which requires both genders to be represented, Martin Hutchings is confirmed in post and in addition to her current role as Club Treasurer Lynn Benfield is appointed as Assistant Child Welfare Officer.

Thanks and Congratulations
At a reception hosted by Lord and Lady Vestey the Chairman of Cotswold District Council Ben Jeffrey asked that their thanks be passed on to all club members for the clubs support in working with juniors, especially with the work being carried out with local schools.

Archery GB Development Club
The newly appointed Archery GB Club Development Officer Aaron Coggan visited the club on Monday, we will be used as a model for other clubs to aspire to! Archery GB will be appointing a Club Development Officer in each County, clubs identified as ‘Develop Clubs’ will be eligible for additional funding to support coach and archer development, facility improvement etc.

Records Officer
Marnie now has software to help with recording scores, calculating handicaps etc. Can we please insure that when we do competitions we forward the results sheets to Marnie asap. It is helpful if all the results from a competition can be forwarded as that may also include results of other club members.

Competitions
Martin is continuing to develop the competitions folder and also to produce a completion schedule which will also be published on the club website. We are also looking to encourage members who have entered competitions to write their names on the schedule (Bubbs Hill Notice Board) so that others may be encouraged to also enter.

Club Shooting Times
All members should note the following; · Archery GB Insurance is not valid if an archer shoots on their own, if they are accompanied by another person who is not shooting then that is acceptable.· As we are guests of Girlguiding Gloucestershire (and therefore the area can be used for a host of other activities) archery members may ONLY use the facilities within the prescribed times or if outside of those times with the prior approval of the Guider in Charge (Mary). Unauthorised use of the grounds will be deemed a club disciplinary matter and appropriate action will be taken.

Carbon Arrows
There seems to be some confusion on the use of carbon arrows for outdoor shooting, pure carbon arrows are NOT acceptable, combinations of metals and carbons are fine, so for example ACC’s and ACE’s are ok.

Club Equipment hire
This statement does not affect members who use club equipment which is provided on the night and not taken away. Following last weeks committee meeting notice is given that a charge of £5 per month will be charged from 1^st May for those that borrow a bow and arrows, those borrowing one or other item will be charged £3 per month.

County team Selection
Members should note that the criteria and processes for selection to both the senior and Junior teams have changed, they can get more information by visiting the county website or talking to Steph.

Club Accounts
Members should note that the fully audited accounts are available for inspection, copies of the accounts are available from Lynn Benfield. Thank you to Lynn for her time and excellent work in keeping our accounts in order..

Equipment for Sale
Could all members please review their own equipment and let me know if they have any items they would like to sell, please provide details, price etc and we will publish the info to members.

Socials
Following last Fridays Committee Meeting, at last we will get on and organize some of the socials! Indoor Crazy Golf TournamentSteph will announce details in next week. Further information on the venue can be found at Junglerumble.co.uk. Date will be either 11^th, 18^th or 25^th June with the later being the preferred date. Greyhound RacingWill be at the Swindon Track on 21^st May a Friday Evening. Roger to circulate information. For those that want to share transport we will meet at Deer Park, details to follow.

Coaching
Please remember that only those wearing arm bands to be approached for assistance during practice sessions. Thank you to Rosie Benfield for producing the bands.

Equipment MOT
Bow set up and tuning; over the next few weeks we will set up a target on Bubbs Hill which will be supported by a coach(s) who will help members to check that their bows are correctly set up and also advise on tuning processes etc.

Good Friday BBQ, Firework Display and Shoot - POSTPONED

Bad news I am afraid, we have consulted on the local weather predictions for Friday evening and it has been decided to postpone the event. We will announce an alternative asap.
The AGM will also need to be rescheduled.
I know many want to get their sight marks for the Easter Bunny on Monday, so you can still turn up and shoot on Friday evening (Only those with own equipment though). You will also be able to shoot on Saturday evening (let me know if you need to loan equipment) and there will also be shooting from 10 -12noon on Sunday morning (own equipment only).

New Committee Appointment to be made - Club Safety Officer - Vacancy

OTHER NEWS

Junior County Team make up for the Inter-Counties
The proposal is to expand the existing squad size from 8 to 12, adding an extra compound and recurve but most importantly a longbow and a Barebow archer. The details will be confirmed following a meeting in April.

Archery Leaders
Roger will be attending a consultancy group meeting in April at Lilleshall National Sports Centre to make recommendations about the future format of the Archery Leaders Training Programme.

Grand Western Indoor Championships
A belated well done to Alex and Callum Fraser and Aaron Pearce for all becoming Regional Indoor Champions earlier this year!

Club Practice Session Information - Indoor to Outdoor Programme.

Over 60's Mid Week Club Proposal

We already have a Monday morning club where members working flexible time, part time, school teachers, retired or just taking a day off can shoot! Strictly junior free!
Likewise there is no coaching available on these sessions.

We are looking at starting an over 60's club on a separate morning, starting with a beginners course and then providing follow up coaching. Watch this space.

3 more Level 2's complete their External assessments

Mothers Day Field Shoot

Club Registers 12 County Records between 15 Oct and end February!

The following members have had County records ratified, well done to everyone!

A. Pearce, C Fraser, A Fraser, S. Howse, T. Howse, J. Howse, R. Crang, S. Crang, R. Hutchings and J. Wilmott. Thanks to Marnie our Records Officer for registering them.

Match agaist Cheltenham Archers - Report and Results

Monthly League Update - 7th March

Directions to Shurdington (Tuesday evenings until end of March).

Results 28th February Club Target day

Notice of Club AGM

GOOD FRIDAY 2^nd APRIL @ Bubbs Hill

Fun shoot, BBQ, Fireworks and the Club AGM (no more than 15mins) starting from 6pm.

AGM will start 7pm.

Everyone welcome, why not bring the whole family and enjoy the firework display and good food?

Inter Club Friendly Match with Cheltenham Archers

Next Club Target Day - Feb 28 Portsmouth

New Field Course Proving a hit

Coaching News - Level 2 Progress

New Indoor Venue
We are pleased to announce that we have secured an additional Tuesday Evening venue at Bishop Road, SHURDINGTON, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 4TB.

http://www.shurdington.org/SocCtr/SocialCtr.htm

We will continue to use Birdlip for individual and specialist coaching on Tuesday evenings however the popularity of Tuesday evening sessions means until now we have not been able to comfortably accommodate all the members that want to attend.

Field Course
This is to confirm that we will be holding our first Field course shoot at Bubbs Hill this Sunday (14^th February).
Everyone with their own equipment is welcome (However NO Senior Compounds for this event), please arrive 10am for 10:15 start.
Course designed to minimize arrow loss, pegs for all ages and abilities, so why not give it a shot. Mixture of animal, Fita and cardboard 3D’s.
Cost just £3 per head. 18 targets taking about 2 hours. For those that want to, a swift drink in the Green Dragon to finish!
PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE COMING, however if you make a late decision that is fine.

Sport Unlimited Contracts
Great news, our club has just been awarded 18 Sport Unlimited Contracts to run from March 2010 to March 2011.
The 8 week programmes will operate across a range of new and existing schools and different venues. Well done to our Schools Archery team.

Beginners Courses
2 Courses both fully subscribed will start at Birdlip Village Hall on the 8^th February. Simon will lead the programme and be supported by Karl, Ed and Mark.

Club Trailer
It has recently been refurbished and last week we had the club details/logo professionally added to the sides, pictures on website in next few days.

Longbow making course
In the past some of our members have attended a longbow making course and have been very pleased with the result. The same organization is planning a further 2 courses to be held locally in Nailsworth. Options and therefore costs range from a basic longbow (2 laminates) to the more exciting 3 laminate bows of bamboo and/or rosewood etc with prices for the course and materials ranging from £135 to about £165. The 2 course dates are February 26th to 27th and March 19th to 20^th. If any members are interested then you need to let me know by no later than Tuesday 2^nd February.

Gloucestershire Archery Society Meeting
It was announced that Archery GB are withdrawing their proposal to introduce a 50% of adult membership fee for juniors, we sent a detailed response as to why this should not happen, we were the only club in the county to do so! Introduction of County Rankings, it was agreed at the meeting to introduce and publish a County Ranking List for all disciplines, this information will be used to help select the adult Inter-Counties Team. There will be a new venue for the County Outdoor Championships this year, it will probably be held at Maiden Hill School in Stonehouse. It was agreed to remind all clubs of the rules/format that should apply for club target days, we already comply and therefore any County records achieved are valid.

County Indoor Championships Sunday 17^th Jan 2010

A day to remember!
What a fantastic day for the club, 28 entries, winning 13 of the 17 County titles awarded and 4 other members winning silver or bronze medals! The club won the team Trophy, 5 members broke County Records (Becky, Joe Wilmott, Callum, Rosemarie and Aaron and 2 broke Regional Records (Joe, Callum). This was an outstanding club performance, pictures and a full report will appear on the website shortly.Our Indoor County Champions for 2010 are; Nick, Vanessa, Steph, Rosie, Tom, Aaron, Matt, James, Callum, Alex, Beckie, Alex & Joe. Well done to all these and to all the other Club members who represented us so well.
The winning team comprised Ed, Tom and Steph.

Most of our successful team at the Indoor County Championships

Our County Indoor Champions - 2010

Deer Park - Top Team!

James gets his first Robin Hood!

James not only won his County Title to add to the National title but recorded his first 'Robin Hood'. Well done keep up the good work.

James - Robin Hood

Kingshill Practice Session Wednesday January 13th - OFF

Sorry to say the session is off! At Deer Park we had a further 6 inches of snow overnight (still snowing this morning) and that is on top of roads that have not improved over the last few days and were/still are only just passable with 4 wheel drive.
Unfortunately we cannot get the Transit or the trailer out of the car park so we cannot transport the equipment to Kingshill.
Hope to see you all for final practice on Saturday at Balcarras.

Club Coaching Survey Results January 2010

Members were surveyed by questionnaire on what their views were on current coaching activity, format of practice sessions and preferences for workshops. The summarised results can be viewed via the link. The club coaches will meet to discuss the results further and make recommendations to the full committee.

click here to download file

Guide for Archers and Parents buying a first bow

Please see the link on the coaching page to download the guide. Remember to ask club coaches for further help and advice.

Deer Park Archers Register response to Latest ArcheryGB Consultation Paper on Annual Fees

Members of the Club Committee have registered our views on the proposal to significantly increase junior membership fees and give a 50% concession to the over 65's.

Click on the link below to read the details and also visit the GNAS Website for further details of the proposal.

click here to download file

Club Firework Night Postponed until the NEW Year!!

Deer Park Archers Junior match with Cheltenham Archers
Sunday 13^th Dec.

Eleven Junior archers from Cheltenham and 18 from Deer Park had an excellent competition. Shooting a 3 dozen Portsmouth round with the MEDIAN score being counted as the team score. This resulted in a narrow 6 point victory for our visitors who became the first winners of a perpetual trophy!

Head 2 Head Competition
The bottom 16 ranked archers were put in group 2 and the top ranked archers into group 1.

Group 1 Results
Gold = Ashe Silver = Alex Bronze = Tom & Callum

Group 2 Results
Gold = Lauren Silver = Harry Bronze = George & Luke

Well done to all those that competed.

Full results on the competition page.

Cheltenham Archers Juniors - Winners Team Challenge trophy

H2H Medal Winners

Practice Sessions
We had a record turn out last Saturday evening at Balcarras, this very much impressed the visiting coaches from Meriden Archery Club!
15^th December – Birdlip open coaching sessions.
16^th December- Kingshill School.
Saturday 19^th December – Balcarras Christmas Shoot.

Monday 21^st December – Club Family Firework Night and BBQ. At Deer Park 6:30 start.

New Club Committee Appointments

Congratulations go to Martin Hutchings on being appointed Club Child Protection Officer and to John Craigie and Edward Paddy on being appointed to club Equipment Officers.

NEWS FLASH !

We have been awarded £3,609 by Archery GB and Sport England to pursue our work with schools archery!
Following the work we do in schools and the Sport England drive to encourage more juniors into sport, as part of the Archery GB Sport Development Group we were invited to submit an application for funding to help us make archery more sustainable in schools and the club, with the objective of retaining more juniors in the sport. Roger submitted a 7 page proposal and the result was that we were awarded the £3,609 to buy more equipment to allow us continue our Nationally recognized work in schools. Having already secured funding to run programmes until the end of this academic year, we have also applied for significant funding to support us running beginners courses and after-school clubs in the 2010/11 academic year. If you visit the club website www.deerparkarchers.com and look on the schools archery page and the link displayed on that page you will see some of the activities we are supporting. The long term benefits to the club are significant with improved shooting venues, lower costs and a constant supply of new junior members. We are also applying for funding to train teachers/parents in the schools we are working in to gain qualifications to enable them to support the after-school clubs to ensure they are sustainable.

Club Firework Night & Family BBQ
As you already know this event has now been re-scheduled for the Monday 21^st December, it will now have a Christmas Theme. As well as a nice BBQ, we will have hot chestnuts, non alcoholic mulled wine, an excellent firework display and Bonfire. The firework display will start at 7 o’clock. All members and their families are welcome, £3 per head or £6 for a family! Let us hope that the weather improves.

Club Equipment Officer Vacancy(s)
Thank you to all those that enquired, we will be making an announcement after the next committee meeting.

Bubbs Hill Tree Planting - Guiness World record attempt – More volunteers needed!
Thank you to all of those that have contacted me to confirm their support, however we still need more volunteers. From 11 -12 Noon on Saturday 5^th December we are taking part in a World record attempt organized by the BBC to plant a million trees in one hour across the country! We will be attempting to plant 2000, Adam Henson from Country File will be on site filming the event for the programme and conducting interviews with those involved. Radio Gloucestershire will also be on-site. Would any members and their families who would like to be involved please let me know asap, those taking part will need to bring a spade and be here from about 10 til 1:00. It will be assumed that all those involved have given permission to be filmed/photographed. We will also need a site team to distribute trees, stakes, guards etc, a car parking group, refreshment team, first Aid etc

Calling ALL junior members
We have arranged a friendly match with Cheltenham Archers Juniors on Sunday 13^th December from 9:45until 1.00 at Balcarras School Recreation Centre. This is an ideal opportunity for all junior members to represent the club and enjoy a bit of competition! The entry requirements are;·        You will do your best and enjoy the morning!·        That you will have shot at least twice at either Balcarras or Kingshill prior to the competition to ensure you have sight marks.If you need to borrow a bow that is fine. There will be no dress requirements, wear what you want.Shooting distance will be 20yds or 15yds on various size faces according to ability.Please let Roger know if you are available.

Club Annual Awards and Beetle Drive – Monday 14^th December
This annual family event, with beetle drive action, plenty of food a raffle for a Christmas Hamper and the annual awards (see website for previous winners) will take place at Birdlip Village Hall. Entry is free and it is a family event and starts from 6:30. Everyone is welcome.

Records Officer
Congratulations to all those who gained classifications during the Summer/Outdoor season 2009, enamel pins will be awarded at the Club Annual Awards.And to those who broke County Records : Ian Pearce - 6 County RecordsStephanie Crang - 2 County RecordsAlex Fraser - 2 County RecordsCallum Fraser - 2 County RecordsArron Pearce - 8 County Records AND had a 13 point Handicap Improvement! PLEASE ensure you keep Marnie informed of all your indoor scores.

Sunday 29^th November – County Coaching Group Meeting & GAS AGM.
All coaches invited (CPD points towards your renewal process), report from the National Coaching Conference etc. 11 am for 2 hours at the Civil Service Ground (Black and Gold).Gloucestershire Archery Society AGM, same venue from 2pm.

Good Luck at the National Junior Indoor Championships!
On Saturday 5^th and Sunday 6^th December the National Junior Indoor championships take place at Lilleshall. All our best wishes go to Alex, Tom, Callum and James.

Coaching Questionnaire
At the Club Coaching Group Meeting last Monday it was agreed to circulate a questionnaire aimed at identifying our coaching priorities within the club. Members will be asked to prioritise their coaching requirements so that we can best organize ourselves. When you get a copy would you please take the time to respond, nil response will be taken as nil requirement.

Club Firework Display and BBQ Postponed
Due to an unpredictable weather forecast with heavy showers and a strong gusty wind, we have decided to postpone the event until Monday December 21st. Apologies for any convenience caused.

Calling ALL junior members

We have arranged a friendly match with Cheltenham Archers Juniors on Sunday 13^th December from 9:45until 1.00 at Balcarras School Recreation Centre. This is an ideal opportunity for all junior members to represent the club and enjoy a bit of competition! The entry requirements are;· You will do your best and enjoy the morning!· That you will have shot at least twice at either Balcarras or Kingshill prior to the competition to ensure you have sight marks.If you need to borrow a bow that is fine. There will be no dress requirements, wear what you want.Shooting distance will be 20yds on various size faces according to ability.Please let Roger know if you are available.

Club Firework and BBQ evening

Thursday 5th November from 6 o'clock

Club Firework Night & BBQ on the Deer Park Main Site, again open to everyone! Further details in next newsletter for this family event.

Club Annual Awards and Beetle Drive – Monday 14^th December

Further details to be issued in November Newsletter but get the date in your diaries for this fun family event.

Gloucestershire Indoor County Championships
Just a reminder to get your entries in asap.

Kingshill and Balcarras After-School Clubs
Just a reminder that members who attend these schools can attend their after school clubs. Talk to Steph/Dan or your school to arrange.

Halloween Shoot at Bubbs Hill

Thursay 29th October

Try to get there for 6:30, usual rate for subs, included will be the shoot and a BBQ. Please try to bring a carved Pumpkin (prize for best one). Also would juniors (or seniors) please feel free to make appropriate target faces (bats, broom sticks, ghosts etc), luminous if possible. This is a family event, so immediate family more than welcome.

Level 1

Good luck to Ed who has just started a Level 1 coaching course, out of Region.

Congratulations to Deer Park

Well done to GirlGuiding Gloucestershire for achieving Planning Permission for their Multi-Sports Barn on Bubbs Hill. Some significant funds need to raised to support the project which will now cost around 1/3 of a million pounds! ANY members who have any ideas for sponsorship, access to funding grants, fund raising events etc then please let Roger or Mary know your ideas.

Club Trailer

Is currently being refurbished by Honeyfield Trailers, it will also have a ‘professional’ quality club logo added to the sides!

Summary of Winter Practice Days upto Christmas (Check below or latest Club Newsletters for specifics).

Mondays - Birdlip Village Hall - Coach Development Workshops (not 1st Mondays of month). Agenda issued for each session.

Tuesdays - Birdlip Village Hall - Improvers sessions, 1 to 1 coaching. Members need to arrange with coaches before attanding.

Wednesdays - Birdlip - Beginners courses (all full) & Kingshill School - open shooting from 7-9pm.

Fridays - Birdlip Village Hall - Beginners Courses (all full).

Saturdays - Mornings at Bubbs Hill for individual coaching & Balcarras School - open shooting from 7-9pm.

Sundays - Adhoc bookings (1/2 and whole day) for club competitions at Balcarras School & Field shoots at Deer Park.

National Record

Congratulations to Aaron Pearce who achieved a National record at 40m, shooting longbow at the Cleve Archers Fita star event.

Cheltenham FITA

Well done to Joe, Becky, Alex and Callum for all completing the event in difficult blustery and wet conditions last Sunday and for all winning! Congratulations also go to Cheltenham Archers for organizing the event.

Grand Master Bowman

Congratulations to Steph who recorded her 3^rd consecutive GMB score to earn that status for the next 12 months. She also got a new 70m County record with a score of 339/360 as part of her 1362 in the Ladies FITA at Andover.

Bows for Sale

The club is selling off some higher poundage recurve bows (Junior and Senior) for prices between £10 and £35’s. Of the 12 for sale, 4 were sold on Monday (and one has been reserved).

Free to good home

If anyone would like an Epson 2480 Perfection Scanner, as new condition with software, cables etc for free, then contact Roger.

Competition Scores

Please make sure that all competition scores or those achieved at Deer Park are sent to Marnie our Club Records Officer.

Visit of David Reader the newly appointed GNAS National Development Manager

David will be spending much of the day on Monday 3^rd of August at Deer Park reviewing how the club is run as part of a review of best practice.

Sport Unlimited Funding Bid

The application for funding to run archery programmes in 6 local schools over the winter has now been submitted and we should get an answer in the next 2 weeks.

Black and Gold Tournament this Sunday

Takes place this Sunday 2^nd August, still not to late to enter.

Venue. Cheltenham area Civil Service Club Assoc

Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham.

Rounds. York, Hereford & Bristol Assemble 9.45am

National Assemble 1.45pm

Entry Fee. York, Hereford & Bristols £7.50

National £5.00

Entries To. Mrs C. Williams

19 Springbank Grove

Cheltenham

GL51 0PQ

Tel. No. (01242) 582356

Coaching Help

Thank you to Mike Addis (Cheltenham) and Barbara Webb (B & G) who have been coming along to some of the recent training sessions to help with coaching.

County Junior Championships – Saturday 12^th September

As you all know Deer Park Archers are running this competition at Cheltenham Archers ground. As well as help on the day we are hoping for ALL members support by entering the competition. Adults and developing archers by entering the afternoon section at the shorter distances and for the more experienced juniors the all day competition.

Ask any of the coaches for help on which rounds etc.

Archery GB Progress Awards

Would all those juniors wanting to complete one of these Nationally recognized awards please contact Dan at dgill_im@hotmail.com to arrange a date and give Dan a chance to prepare the paperwork, assessment etc.

Noticeboards

Thank you to Brian and Marnie for updating the Noticeboard system at Bubbs Hill, make sure you check it out.

Lost Items

Found at Bubbs Hill, blue ground quiver, 2 coates, umbrella. Collect from Roger.

County Records

Following our pressure on the Gloucestershire Archery Society (thanks to Ian etc) they have now updated the records and made the system easier for the WebMaster to maintain. We have been asked to check the newly published records and let the County Records Officer know of any inaccuracies / omissions, so if you think you hold a record then check it out and let me know if they need updating. They can be found at http://www.glosarchery.co.uk/pages/records.htm

Bad Weather

Has not been kind to us at Bubbs Hill, let us hope for an improvement next week!

July 16th Newsletter

Competition – Why not enter???

Sunday 26^th July at Cheltenham Archers – FITA Competition. Suitable for adults and juniors and you can do whole or ½ day. Adults must be able to shoot 50m and 30m for afternoon competition, juniors shoot distances appropriate to their age. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENTER THEN LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (no later than Wednesday) and I will do the entry forms for you!

Extra Winter Club Training Venue

Thanks to the work we have been doing with Kingshill School (Cirencester) we are pleased to announce that we have secured Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9pm throughout the winter. The hall is 34m by 17m. The usual Wednesday evenings at Birdlip may still continue depending on demand.

Kingshill School Archery Club

A number of our members attend/will be attending Kingshill School. We will be running an after school club on Tuesday evenings. 3:15 to 4:15 for beginners and 4:15 to 5:15 for improvers. Talk to Roger for further information on how to enroll. One of the School teachers will be joining Deer Park Archers to consolidate the link between the club and the school.

Balcarras School

A similar arrangement is being made with Balcarras School and the after school club will meet at 3:30 on a Wednesday evening for 1 hour.

Training

Congratulations to Vanessa who has been selected to attend a fully funded weekend course at Lilleshall with the theme of Disability Awareness and Best Practice. Four coaches have been selected from each region. Coaches from the Archery GB Performance Unit and the Paralympic Squad will be attending.

Andy, Steph, Dan and myself will be attending an afternoon workshop (today) at the University of Gloucestershire on Positive Behaviour Mangement in Sports Coaching. Again the attendance is funded as we take part in a number of schools programmes.

Clothes Orders

Another order going in this week, talk to Steph or email her at sjcrang@aol.com Anyone who has not collected/paid for their kit previously ordered should note that they have until the end of the week to do so or it will go on general sale.

Bows for Sale

We will have sorted all the equipment for sale by the end of this week, there are likely to be 7 adult bows and 5 junior bows for sale from £20 - £45. We can also help with arrow purchase.

Birthday Parties/B-B-Q’s/Business Corporate events etc.

Steph and Dan have now set up their own company www.xperiencearchery.co.uk so if members would like to book, talk to them for a good rate as members of Deer Park Archers!

Arrow Wrap

As many of you will have found, it is difficult to rely on vanes sticking to aluminium shafts, buying arrow wrap from archery shops is very expensive. We have been experimenting with using ‘Fablon’and the initial results are excellent! The vanes stick really well, the arrows have been soaked in water for 24 hours and then dried, left out overnight in damp grass etc. We will now fletch a couple of dozen club arrows for further trials, if it works, the cost of fablon is around 100 times cheaper and there is a good choice of colours!

Sustainable Archery

The latest members to benefit from our Club policy of recycling bows/limbs etc are Michael, Louise Dan, Molly, James and Amy. Lets keep up the good work, if you are not using something, upgrading etc then please let Dan know so we can find a buyer.

Thank you to Nick for donating 3 sets of Junior Aluminium Arrows to the club.

Cleve Archers Premier Event

Congratulation to Alex who completed his second Premier 720 event and to Steph who won Bronze at the same event, defeating Andrea Gales ranked 33 in the world in the Bronze Medal match, she also beat Lucy O’Sullivan and Sheila Harris in earlier round, this was Steph’s first victories over both archers. Her score was a Commonwealth Games Qualification score.

Club Practice Sessions

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings from 6:30 at Bubbs Hill. Remember with the exception of Beginners who have just completed the Beginners courses all other members who borrow bows need to let me know that they are attending to ensure the appropriate bow is brought along for them.

July 1st Newsletter

Alex & Callum Triumph at Regional Junior Championships

Saturday 27^th June was a great day for Alex & Callum at the Regional Junior Championships, both not just winning but recording outstanding scores!

Alex, shooting a Bristol 2 (60yds) recorded 1280 with 136 Golds and 8 reds to break the existing County & Regional records held our own Rob Gruar which was 1248 recorded in 2002.

Callum recorded 1274 on a Bristol 3, with 133 golds and 11 reds, fantastic shooting and hopefully a good sign for this weekends National Championships at Lilleshall.

Becky shooting in the Bristol Jnr Ladies Recurve, finished second with a solid mid 900 score. Good luck to all of them for the Nationals.

Club Kit has been delivered!

All the ordered club kit has been delivered, whilst the club has settled the bill it represents a large amount of money, so all those that have ordered, should collect and pay for their clothing as soon as possible please.

Anyone who has not ordered and now wants something should let Roger know by the end of the week as we are going to place another order in the next few days.

Appropriate Footwear and Clothing

Following a concern registered at the last committee meeting, would ALL members please note that for H&S reasons you are requested to wear appropriate footwear (no sandals, open shoes, high heels etc), if you choose to ignore this advice you do so at your own risk. You should also note that we have adders in the area and the recent hot weather has encouraged them to bask in the cut grass areas, so please wear appropriate footwear! It is also advised that you tie back long hair and remove jewelry etc. and that appropriate clothing is worn.

Steph gets another County Record and second Grand Master Score

At the team event at Lilleshall last weekend, Steph recorded 339 for 3 dozen arrows at 70m to break her own County record and then followed that up on the Sunday with her second Grand Master Score 1344 on a Ladies FITA.

County Junior Championships – Why not enter?

The entry forms will be out this weekend for the County Junior Championships (which we are organizing) which will take place on Saturday 12^th September. We are hoping that most members in the club (both senior and Junior) will enter this competition, which will take place on Cheltenham RaceCourse.

Coaching News- Congratulations to our successful Level 1 Coaches.

Karl, Simon, Mark, Steph and Dan have all successfully completed their second and final Level 1 external assessments, so Dan and Steph have completed the requirements and with Karl, Simon and Mark attending a Child Protection Course next week so will they. Well done to all of them. Sharon will be externally assessed over the Summer break. Vanessa has completed the 9 classroom days towards her Level 2 and awaits internal and external assessments. Steph and Dan have been accepted onto a Level 2 Coaching Programme starting in September and run by East Midlands archery association.

3 week Club National Challenge Begins NOW!

ALL club members are encouraged to record National scores on club practice sessions throughout July. A National is a 6 dozen round, 4 dozen at the longer distance and 2 dozen at the shorter distance. Experienced adult archers (and juniors that want to) shoot at 60yds and 50yds. In –experienced adults at 50yds and 40yds. Juniors shoot 50/40 or 30/20 or 20/15 depending on age. Record as many scores as you want during July and let Roger/Marnie(new club records officer) have them.

This is a great chance to establish an outdoor benchmark for yourself. National scores shot at formal competitions are also eligible as are those shot earlier in the month.

Alex & Roger on Corinium Radio this week

A pre-recorded interview with Alex and Roger on Archery will be broadcast on Corinium Radio Cirencester this Saturday between 5 and 6pm. They broadcast on 87.7FM and it can also be heard on www.coriniumradio.co.uk

Club Committee reorganization

Following a committee meeting, it has been agreed that Sharon will move to the position of Club Child Protection Officer and Lynne will swop positions with Sharon and take up the post of Club Treasurer. We would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their contribution in their current roles and wish them luck in their new ones!

Any members who would like to join the committee should talk to Mary/Janet to register their interest.

Marnie will be taking over the Club Records Officer from Andrea with immediate effect and again may we thank Andrea for all her efforts and support over many years in this position. All scores should now be emailed etc to Marnie .

Archery in Schools

As you will be aware we are currently completing 8 week courses in a number of schools including, Kingshill, Archway, Birdlip, Coberley and shorter programmes in Balcarras, Sir William Romney, Whitminster Centre etc. We have made a small number of offers of club memberships to pupils who have demonstrated the right attitude, enthusiasm and aptitude. We are now receiving requests for Autumn and Winter programmes in many of these senior schools with a view to them setting up their own archery clubs. This can only be an excellent development for the sport

Club Training Courses

Some of us will be attending a course to allow us to teach GCSE Archery (PE Module) and to become external assessors for GCSE.

Four of the coaches will be attending a ‘Positive Behaviour Management in Sport’ workshop funded by Active Gloucestershire for clubs that take part in the Sport Unlimited Programme.

As already mentioned some members will be attending the child Protection course in the next week.

We are organizing some more equipment maintenance courses and these will take place over the next couple of months. Anyone else interested should let Roger /Andy know.

Beginners Courses

The four programmes currently running will complete next week. Indications are that the majority of participants will join the club! We have decided that the Mondays and Wednesdays will then continue as open sessions, starting FROM 6:30 and continuing to 8:30. The coaches currently taking the beginners courses will provide the leadership for those evenings which will become a single session, so everyone can attend at anytime during the evening and shoot for the full 2 hours if they want to. New members can attend either/both sessions on the Mondays and Wednesdays. As the sessions are open, existing club members can attend on those evenings and this will help with new members’ integration. Roger will continue to bring the equipment on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

October Beginners Courses

We have decided to only run 2 programmes on a single evening at Birdlip, towards the end of October. The other evening planned for Beginners will now be used for coach training and equipment workshops.

June 5th Newsletter

Members Field Course at BUBBS HILL – Thursday 11^th June

We are putting a mini-field course together at Bubbs Hill for this Thursday. We know a number of you would like to try field archery but are worried about losing your arrows at High Cross. The course will be made up of 2D and 3D targets at markers suitable for everyone and there will be cut grass/banks behind each target. Every thing else will be explained on the evening and groups of 4/5 will make their way around from 6:00pm (last starting time will be 7:30). This is a great chance to try field archery, so why not give it a go!

(Anyone wanting to shoot as usual will still be able to).

Club Kit

Has been ordered, will let you know as soon as we have a delivery date. The good news is that prices are the same or in some cases lower than the last time we ordered!

Broken Bones

They say things go in 3’s, well Victoria(arm), Phil (hand) and Tom (collar bone) have all had accidents in the last few weeks (not at archery), so we hope they all get well soon.

Club Web Site

We are making good progress, and it should be re-launched in next few days. The revised site will include links/information on competitions and also links to archery shop web sites selling offering low cost equipment etc.

Club Instant Gazebo!

We tested the clubs new instant gazebo, excellent once we got it up, however we will need a few more practice sessions if it is to become ‘instant’.

Introduction to Compound bow shooting – Coaching

Vanessa and Mike Addis (Cheltenham Archers Coach) will start next Thursday. The club has purchased some excellent equipment to support this activity.

Archery in Schools

We currently have 6 programmes(72 participants) running in senior and junior schools, on completion of the 8 week programmes, unfortunately we will only be able to offer membership to a small number of the participants.

Club Beginners Programmes

4 programmes started last week, we limited the participants to less than 30, and we can accommodate all of these should they want to join. Working with the Level 1 trainee coaches they all made excellent progress.

Club Equipment

Most members have now bought their own equipment since completion of the last beginners courses, please note that whilst equipment will still be available in a months time, priority will be given to those who complete the current beginners programmes and who join the club.

Donations

Thank you to Nick for donating 20 new ‘pigs tail’ metal fencing rods and to Lynn for the donation of a new light weight gazebo. Also to Mavis Reynolds for donating some equipment for the field course (targets, signs, faces etc) and to Brian for distance marker boards for bubbs Hill.

Old/outgrown bows/arrows/quivers etc are always welcome for the club to use/members to loan, so if you have anything please do not hesitate to donate it!

Wanted – Someone to make some more ground quivers.

We need some more ground quivers, please ask Roger for current designs, the club will pay for materials if anyone has the skill/equipment to make them.

Field Course – High Cross

Thanks to Paul for laying out the 3D course last week, it was great fun.

Competitions

Good luck to all our members that are shooting this weekend at Minchinhampton (a number in their first competition) and to Steph at the UK Masters.

The Gloucestershire County Junior Championships in September (we are organizing it) will in addition to offering a National Round (for adults shooting 60/50 yds) will also offer a short National Round (for Adults) shooting 40/30 yds. This will give an end of season chance for those that are not yet confident at 60/50 the chance to experience a competition shooting at 40/30 yds. We will be circulating the entry forms next week.

More Equipment Left at Bubbs Hill.

This week the following equipment has been left;

Red Bow Stand

Black Finger sling

Black bow stringer

Black/Red longbow arrow.

Monday Morning Practice session at Bubbs Hill

This session continues to increase in popularity, 9:30 to 1:00 if you would like to join us!

Just a reminder

The club has a range of equipment to help archers to develop their own technique/try different shooting aids, for example low poundage (20 – 30lb) universal fitting limbs, long rods, bow/finger slings, arrow rests etc, talk to any of the coaches if you want to try something. Low poundage, variable draw length compound bow, various release aids etc.

Click Here for Directions to: Balcarras School Sports Centre. Charlton Kings, East End Road, Cheltenham GL53 8QF