Last Saturday saw 20 beginners and juniors line up for training. The beginners course is now in its second week with Archers being coached by World Class Archers in Pat Coghlan and Sherry Gale.

Beginners courses are a great way to start Archery as a sport. The course consists of four coached lessons on Saturday morning fortnightly.

Sherry Gale has just returned from success in the Pacific. She competed in the Oceania Archery Championships held in Tahiti. Sherry is now the 2008 Oceania Champion. Taking 1st place in that event.

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Adidas Adistar
Hard to believe. It’s virtually impossible to get your hands on a recurve bow in the United States without ordering through a catalog, but two competing companies are selling archery shoes. Both Nike and Adidas have a shoe for Olympic archery. Adidas has the “Adistar” archery shoe. It looks like a (very) high top cross training shoe. Nike’s contribution is more subdued with their Nike Akribis used by many archery teams. USA had a different design in mind however.
Nike Akribis

Team USA’s archery technique was so different from the rest of the competition that Nike designers built a custom shoe specifically for the Federation. The US asked for footwear that facilitates a more grounded stance, with the heel less elevated than that of the Nike Akribis. The answer was a modified version of the Nike Dunkesto, Nike’s hybrid between the iconic Dunk basketball shoe and the Nike Presto trainer. Taking the best of both shoes – Dunk’s flat sole and Nike Presto’s lightweight breathability – the Nike Dunkesto archery shoe adds customized abrasion-resistant leather vamps for each athlete, dependent upon where they rest the bow on their shoe. The colors and graphics used on the upper are also designed to compliment Team USA’s uniform. The style is Sport Red, White, and Obsidian Blue and the sockliners are decorated with tattoo-inspired detailing featuring a torch and the number “1776.”

Read more here about the Nike Akribis:
Nike Akribis (Greek for “Accurate”)

More about the Adidas Adistar:
adidas adistar Beijing Archery - Mens Cross Training Shoes

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It’s nice to hear about about our archery team getting recognized. Great job ladies!
Samantha Pruitte

Third place in the team voting went to the Team USA Compound Junior Women’s Archery Team, who won the team gold medal at the 2008 Youth World Championships in Antalya, Turkey, Oct. 7-12. The Compound Junior Women’s Team was made up of Seneca Francis (Smithfield, Utah), Kendal Nicely (Gorham, Maine), and Samantha Pruitte (Harlem, Ga.). Nicely and Pruitte also captured the gold and silver medals respectively in the individual competition of the Compound Junior Women’s category.

Read more here:
Robinson named USOC male athlete of the month; Martin third

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Here, at home, bhutanese archers shoot over a distance of 140m, different from the Olympics of only 70m.

Also quite different from the Olympics, archery competitions are a riot of colour and excitement. Team members yell accross the field to give directions or indicate how far the target was missed, often accompanied by howls and jokes. The opposing team may shout back and make ribald remarks while the successful shooter proudly tucks a coloured scarf into his belt. At major tournaments each team brings his chearleading party of girls in their colourful Kira dresses, they dance or shout provoking and disparaging comments about the opponents.

Read more here:
Bhutan Travels … with bow and arrow

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Sambadrome

The International Archery Federation has approved the Sambadrome, where the archery competition would be held should Rio de Janeiro be selected as host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

The venue hosts one of Brazils’ largest cultural festivals and is one of the city’s most famous facilities.

Over three days Tom Dielen, secretary general of FITA, visited the Sambadrome and attended technical meetings with the Rio 2016 bid team. He said “it was a profitable visit. The proposed facility is well prepared and it fulfills all the necessities of the sport, and it’s located in a central region of the city. The idea to mix samba with sport is fantastic”.

Read more here:
Rio 2016 Archery Venue Approved By Federation

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This is a very interesting video. It seems as if there is a “cut” in the video. The tip of the arrow is being raised, and then it jumps a bit higher. I was really interested in watching how the arrow would rise (slightly) or fall as the archer is aiming. The last aiming adjustment should be much smaller than it is just after the draw and anchoring. Very good video though.

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Tom Barber

THREE young sports stars in south Norfolk have been given cash by Norfolk County Council to help them in their careers.

London 2012 target archery hopeful Tom Barber, 16, from Alburgh has also been given the funding.

Tom was selected as a reserve for Great Britian’s archery team in Beijing this year and was also first in the UK Senior Indoor National Championships.

Read more here:
Funds provide a sporting chance

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I just received notification from the Georgia 4-H S.A.F.E. Coordinator, Mark Zeigler that some slight adjustments had been made to the S.A.F.E. competition. Most of the adjustments to the rules were minor and are shown in the Green font.

The interesting changes appear to be in conjunction with what is meant by a “Team”. I have heard some discussion on the Georgia 4-H rules in regards to team archery and I don’t believe that these changes will satisfy those people.

  • Members of the State Winning (First Place) Team are ineligible to compete as team members in future years. This applies whether or not they compete in a national 4-H SAFE event. Team members may compete as individuals in contests and may be recognized as State Winners as High Individuals.
  • State Winning High Individuals who are not members of the State Winning (First place) Team are permitted to compete in future years as either individuals or as team members.

On one hand, I understand that the rules appear to be preventative to keep one team from dominating year after year, however the other teams see this as punitive to the kids who have worked really hard to get to the level of archer that they are. I can see that this rule was created in the spirit of 4-H which is not exclusively in sport development, but in character development. However, I’m curious if this rule is in line with the rules of other states 4-H programs? I can see both sides of this argument.

Read information about the rules here:
4-H Archery Competition Rules

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Leigh Christie

WHEN Leigh Christie’s uncle introduced her to the world of archery when she was 13, she could never have foreseen the rollercoaster journey that would form the next six years.

In that time, she became entirely hooked on the sport and has worked her way through the ranks to become the best in the country at her age level – now knocking on the door of the senior classes. In between times, she has even found time to fall prey to an archer’s greatest fear – target panic – and beat it.

Read more here:
Don’t panic! Here’s Leigh’s hitchhiker’s guide to archery

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