Dusting it off ....

Over the last few weeks, I've pretty much been head down writing the governance review papers for the ArcheryGB/GNAS Board next weekend. There has been a huge amount of work involved, and the support from colleagues and from our external advisors, Standard Life Investments, has been outstanding. The Board does scrutinise papers pretty thoroughly, so I hope I have done a good job - might be a different story next weekend :-).

Muriel and I had a weeks holiday in France at the end of September (so I missed posting then as the Internet was nowhere to be found). The weather varied from glorious sunshine to hail showers but there was enough to see and to do, visiting Azincourt and the Somme for instance. We were driving through a small village to the south of St Omer and saw a sign for archery - following it led to a clubhouse (for beer/wine/coffee/chat no doubt), a huge field and two popinjay masts. The downside to going at that time of year is it is the start of the hunting season, so lots of men and dogs everywhere shooting birds and rabbits.

We were up seeing Simon and Lana this weekend and I dusted the bow off and took it up. I managed to shot some arrows and played with the back tension release that John M had given me - oops, sold to me :-) - resulting in one bust arrows and a different feel to the shooting.

If John is reading this, I'm just off to write the cheque now ...

The end of the month ...

August ends and September starts ... so begins the move to autumn and winter, and the cry of "the nights are fair drawing in" will be heard in Scotland.

There has been quite a lot going on since I last wrote. I been at some more, and better attended shoots. The Penicuik Premier is next weekend and that is usually "stowed out" to use another local phrase.

People should now be aware that there is another Director on the Board. I am glad to say that this now means the majority of Directors are "serious archers". Bev was at the Newcastle shoot last weekend looking for her last MB score which she sadly missed by a few points.

I have really had my head down over the last two months looking at the governance of the society, In this, I am part of a team with John Poyner (Director Finance) and Allison Kennedy from Standard Life Investments. Alison is on board due to the FTSE 100 initiative where the BOA paired up companies and governing bodies. I kind of knew that this was a big task, but I now feel that it is going to be something like a two year project rather than one that can be finished in a few months.

And it hit me like never before

It is the middle of the shooting season and the Scottish weather certainly is showing that. I was at Banchory this weekend with wet and cold on the Saturday, and warm (but not hot) on the Sunday. This is mid July, how can archers get any decent scores if the weather doesn't play ball.

Anyway, this short note is not about my angst at the weather, it's about something all together more worrying.

As long as I can remember, Banchory has been one of the jewels in the crown of Scottish archery. It's a good shooting field, right in the middle of town, with its only fickleness being a gap in the trees between 70m and 90m that can give the gents some issues sometimes.

It has informal, and well used, camping, lots of eateries and is even easily accessible by public transport. It has always been well run, with a raffle to boot. So, what's the beef?

Just 12 targets were filled at the weekend, and no junior ones at that. The field looked lonely, with the usually fence to fence line of bosses sadly depleted.

I won't even start to guess at the reasons for this, but I guess that you look at all sorts of things and see just a gradual change and then something like Banchory comes along and "it hit me like never before" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0as2GKhmuA)

Up the Pole

I promised a few words on crossbows.

These bows are all individually hand made by a local craftsman. From what I could gather, there are hundreds of crossbow guilds (clubs) across the eastern Netherlands and into Germany, and there are quite a number of local artisans who make the equipment.

The target is a 5cm disc on top of a hollow scaffold pole and it is attached to a rope that runs through the centre. The pole is on top of a wooden mast so that the disc is 12.5m off the ground. When you knock the disc off, you have scored and just pull the other end of the rope to get it back on the top.

Shooting consists of standing a little way out from the mast and shooting vertically up with a blunt. The round is a number of shots taken singly at one mast and then doing the same at another mast.

This whole episode takes about 20-30 minutes and then that is shooting finished for the night. The rest of the evening consist of drinking coffee or beer, and talking.

More information on the guild we visited can be found at http://www.schuttersgilde-eersel.nl/ and a directory of all guilds can be found at http://schuttersgilden.startpagina.nl/ (both in Dutch, but have pictures).

Also, if you want to hear a Guilds song, as well as see their uniforms, then visit http://stsebastiaanmierlo.spydar.com/. (thought, once we have chosen a new logo for the SAA, what about a song ...)

Colour, Beer and Tin Men ...

The debate we had about shooting colours seems to have died down and we, more or less, take for granted that we shoot in a rainbow line these days, and, perhaps feel this is all something new.


In the town we were staying in Holland, we came across the local crossbow guild (I'll have some words on that next weekend if I get the pictures out of the other camera). The guild is, of course, intimately tied up with giving men a reason to get together, blether and drink beer/coffee.

During the visit, we heard about the annual procession to commemorate a miracle from the middle ages and I came across this by chance. In the picture below, you can see the guild master and all of the silver on his cape.

The procession had different members of the guild there. In the picture below, you can see the colour of the silks of the flag bearers in contrast to the more sober black of the guild members.

Another bit of happenchance was on a visit to Ommen where I found the tin figure museum. Tin figures are two dimensional and rather easier to make than the ones we are used to. There was a diorama of Waterloo with more than 10,000 figures and well as some rather risque Greek and Roman ones.

However, I did come across this collection of the Royal Company, another reminder of the use of colour not being particularly modern.

It's the summer

Over the last two months, I have been very silent but things have been happening.

I had a three and a half week holiday, during which I did very little actual work (paid or not) - I think this is a sign of age since I was 60 this year. The periods on either side of that were flanked by some pretty intense work activity (the paid as well as the unpaid).

I've just come out of that and so have now the time to post again. I guess that over the next few weeks I'll be revisiting the immediate past, so, if you don't like flashbacks, you have been warned.

It is worth saying something about the SAA logo competition. There are 19 entries which alone is a good sign. We've set up a process to do two things: make sure that the logos are fit for purpose by asking people whether they can be used for badges, on letters, on the web site and so on; and we've also asked the membership for their input. The SAA National Council has asked for more opportunities to be given for people to vote and so a spreadsheet has gone out to all club secretaries in addition to the opportunity to vote through the web site. Pass the word on!

Well that is enough for this week. See you next.

Is that the time?

Have you ever got up from your seat and said "is that the time?". I worked in computing most of my working life, and done a fair amount of programming. In that, you are always saying, I just need this last little tweak, and, before you know it, you are stiff when you get to stand up and the time has just flown by. Perhaps that is just the male ego, meaning that us blokes can always beat the machine.

Over the last few weeks, it has been like that with me, and I am over a week late in posting this blog. There have been quite a few things got in the way.






The first is that I have moved the caravan over to Holland for three months, and you can see it in its resplendent glory above. The picture below is the view from the window, as it were.

The advantage (supposedly) is that I get a bit more free time and opportunity for archery practice. The practice hasn't emerged yet but I did get to compete at Boekel the other weekend. A dry day with a bitterly cold wind as it turned out, but I managed 1314 with a 350 for 30m. It was the usual civilised Dutch shooting for the early season with archers inside shooting through windows at targets outside. The wind was just in the wrong direction blowing though the windows, so we might as well have been outside. The day starts at 9am, finishes by 4ish and the prize giving is done by 5pm, so there is time for a beer or two after you have packed up.

There was a GNAS Board meeting the next weekend and the AGM. It was my first one and was quite an enjoyable event. The formal (dry) business is done in the morning and the afternoon is an open discussion session in which there was lively debate and frank, but polite, exchange of views. More attendance is required, and people would benefit from that.

The prize giving was the last order of the day and we saw many clubs stepping up to the Clubmark challenge. This seems a sensible way to help to raise standards through GNAS.

Lastly, and most deservedly, Derek Sangster was awarded a life membership for his many years of quiet and diligent work.

I am on my way back to Holland as I write this. First stop off on the way was to see my almost 6 month old grandson who is a robust type. There was much discussion of weaning, the merits of organic baby food and of the evils of mass produced baby food in bottles. When I was a nipper, it was at the tail end of rationing and I can just remember going with my Mum for the bottles of orange juice. The second stop was at Lilleshall for some meetings about IT and the like, and that is where I am writing this from.

We are fast approaching the end of an era with the Archery GB corporate re-branding coming into play. No more GeeNAS or G-NAS, it will be archery GB from now on - reminds me that I need to change the title for this blog.

Take care everyone and good shooting for the start of the season!

Is Spring here yet?

The question in the title is very relevant. I am now living in my caravan in Holland and sometimes I think that I just left Scotland too early, as the weather has been wet and windy since I arrived. But, of course, as soon as you write it down, then the weather improves and it has been sunny today.

I was along at the handicapped training camp at Boekel over the last couple of days. The archers get to stay inside and shoot where the mere mortals like me go to run up and down getting their arrows in the rain (OK, I have exaggerated about the running).

There were archers from the Netherlands, Germany, Israel and Ireland there. As well as getting practice and sight marks, they shot ranking rounds at 70 meters, individual head-to-head and also team head-to-head. Huge quantities of food, of course, were made available as well as the continuous coffee.

Everyone is getting ready for China now. The qualification scores seem very high to me (but what do I know!) with compound being 339 and recurve being 306. They seem to be set from the last year's world rankings and taking the sixth place as the level.

I have added a few pictures for interest.

Ready for the off ...

You may just have heard about the City of Edinburgh Council bidding to run the Archery World Cup in 2010 or 2011. It was reported in the Evening News (see http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Another-string-to-city39s-bow.3860349.jp) who did not quite get all the details correct.

It seems that FITA were not strong enough in their guidance to applicants that they should be in partnership with their local National Governing Bodies, and so it was vary late in the day that the Council hooked up with GNAS.

I won't bore you with the details, but there are procedures to be followed if funding is to be secured, and there was a lot of activity needed at the GNAS end to ensure that the Council could bid.

In the end, the bid went in, but that is just the start of the work involved. One of the venues being consider is Holyrood Park which will provide a spectacular backdrop if the Council is successful.

My personal archery activity has been in packing the caravan for my annual trip to the Netherlands. By stopping off in York, I get to visit my three month old grandson on the way over, so that is something to look forward to. Nearly everything is done now, so I am just about ready for the off ...

Policy and a new Chairperson

Most people will be unaware that the SAA is a member of the Scottish Sports Association (SSA), which represents the interests of Governing Bodies of sport. I was invited to become a Director on the SSA Board (with the backing of the SAA) early in 2007.

The SSA was directly involved in the consultation about the future of sportscotland which was reviewed at the end of last year. If you remember, the incoming SNP administration had said in its manifesto that it would look to abolish sportscotland, but the SSA, amongst others, said that they provided a valuable service in response to the review process. In the end, sportscotland survived, being merged with the Scottish Institute for Sport and having a more regional structure.

There are a number of reviews and policy matters they are currently involved in. The UK Government is looking to tighten up the immigration system and this may have some unwanted side effects on athletes coming to the UK from outside the European Community. The SAA is responding as are a number of UK wide bodies.

The legacy of the Commonwealth Games in 2014 is being consulted on by the Scottish Government and the SSA will be holding a consultation meeting towards the end of March. The last of the three pieces is a move to influence policy on sport participation in schools where the SSA, as part of the Scottish Sports Alliance are putting forward proposals to the Scottish Government.

Hefty pieces of work!

Today saw Tina chairing her first National Council where she steered through her first budget (always a nerve racking task). The meeting got through the business in a business like and timely fashion, finishing a shade before 3pm.

DVDs and shooting

I was at Lilleshall twice this week.

Early in the week, I was down for meetings and, during one of the breaks, went down to the Sutherland Hall (for those who don't know, this is where you can shoot 90m indoors all year round, and is used for squad training). There was a tremendous amount of activity where the Performance Unit were in the throws of making an Archery DVD which will go on sale later this year. High speed camera, professional film crews and sound men were all scurrying around.

Another sign of how far the Society has moved on.

The second trip was for the British Champs, packed out as usual. Her indoors was competing but had to pull out of the Scottish Team due to a bout of "woman flu" (well, if there is man flu, stands to reason there has to be a female variety) earlier on in the month. She seemed happy enough to be the most progressed native Scot in the compounds (oh dear, I hope I have got that right).

I get real bored by indoors, but may have to re-consider my position on this. Two of my Director colleagues were shooting (Jan and Ian) and, as well as me, another two Directors were at the Champs (David and Jean) - maybe others. Long gone the days when the Board was invisible.

It is reliably rumoured that CEO David was so terrified by the Welsh that he put his hand in his pocket, brought out £10 and bought two raffle tickets for the World Fields in Wales later this year. This will be shot at a smashing venue in the Museum of Welsh Life in Wales - well worth a visit if you are thinking of taking a holiday in the first week in September.

Teachers, Uncles and Beer

I spoke at a meeting of SLANOPE this week - I think it stands for the Scottish Network of PE Teachers. I did a short presentation on Archery and showed a short film about GB competing on the world stage. The idea was really to see if there was an interest in providing advice on the introduction into schools.

They were a great audience and nice people individually. However, they asked some searching questions about what was the educational rationale which I was not really prepared for. I guess that there is a lesson to be learned there.

I also had the pleasure of fixing the computer of the other half's Uncle Willie. Getting it working was straightforward, if not a little time consuming, as all I had to do was put in a few passwords correctly (which, of course, he swore he had done) and sort the configuration.

In gratitude, he took us out for lunch, which was very welcome, and made a special gesture of giving me three cans of Carlsberg. He remarked that he had bought them originally for the slugs, which had not been as many this year (hence the surplus), and that he was sure that being 4 months past their date would be OK.

It's nice to be appreciated!

Rotten Weather, Good News

It won't have escaped many people that many parts of the UK have been subjected to storms and snow - I guess I say this in the hope that this blog is being ready from sunny climes - which brings me to sunny Australia where I hear young Andy is shooting his socks off (read http://www.scottisharchery.org.uk/ for the details).

I'm not long back from the SAA's EGM caused by the lack of a quorum at the AGM, which seems a common problem these days. It was held in the lunch interval of the Scottish Indoor Champs, and the focus on getting matters concluded to be able to start the afternoon session meant that we rattled through a good 9 (?) votes in just over 30 minutes. Shows you what can be done when you put your mind to it.

Tina got elected as President and I'm sure that all of Scotland will be with her as she starts her first three year term.

I got the results back from sportsscotland on what their Active Schools database said about participation. It looks as if 300 primary and 250 secondary pupils get an archery session over twenty schools across the country. Here is a map ...

The red dots are the schools and the blue ones are the clubs. There are certainly some anomolies (as round Inverness) where there are schools without any local clubs. I guess we may have to write to the schools to get to the bottom of what is going on.

The helpful suggestion on involving Leaders by Michael Mather has certainly hit some spots, and I had a conference call with Ollie (Coaching Manager, GNAS) about it this week and he is certainly keen. With a following wind, we will see that kick off later this month after a few more folks have had the opportunity to input.

Two missing Sundays

It is my custom to write this blog on Sunday nights, but a couple of obstacles got in the way of that habit in the last two weeks.

The first was the pleasant reason that archery got in the way.

On the Sunday before last, we went to a new indoor shoot in Alloa, run by Bannockburn Bowmen. I shot well enough and the team of me & her indoors got team third place. There were a whole pile of people from the new Edinburgh Club - Fellowship of the Bow - and I shot with one of them and had a really nice morning. The scoring was again pleasant and done by someone with very nice handwriting and who could add up - juniors, please note.

The shoot did not require uniform and people were encouraged to turn up in something bright. The morning were a pretty plain lot really (my orange breeks were mysteriously in the wash) but I was glad to see the afternoon crowd being led by the big McAuley resplendent in kilt and hairy legs.

I then spent the rest of the week sorting myself out for the winter GNAS Board meeting, which was a two day affair, with some extra days tacked on for side meetings. I worked on the train on the way down on the Thursday morning, and spent the afternoon with Dave Sherratt and Lin Berry looking at their office systems.

Lin is a real stalwart, always rushing about getting things organised, on the phone to members, or sorting our suppliers out. She keeps smiling through all of this which is something that I would struggle with. The office are now getting ready for the AGM and all the papers that are needed for that. Before I started in this role, the AGM was just ticking a box to me, but that is certainly not the case.

On the Friday, we had guests from Standard Life Investments who we have been partnered with through the 2012 process of joining up the Olympic Sports to FTSE 100 companies. The idea is to enable a bridge between successful business and sport and members will read more of that in future issues of Archery UK.

As well as sitting in on part of the Board meeting, they also had a come-and-try. This was in the Sutherland Hall (where you can shoot 90m indoors) in the midst of the development and paralympic squad training. I can't be often that sports can offer this kind of experience to outsiders.

The Board meeting itself was a pretty energetic affair and there is certainly a buzz these days. We had a presentation from the Performance Unit and it should be obvious to all the members how that has moved on, but I get the feeling that the progress made in other areas is less obvious and, perhaps, not as appreciated.

I had a much delayed train journey back, not unpleasant but wearying and long, and so I missed writing last Sunday. I just about had time for a quick chat, cup of tea and unpacking the bag before it was time for bed.

I did come back to the news that her indoors was Eastern Area champion (561 Portsmouth I think). This was accompanied by a perhaps familiar tale of starting off with 60s, falling to the wayside and gallantly rallying at the end. Ho Hum!

Tom Williamson had been at the Board as well. He has had some shoulder issues of later and is using a 26lb recurve and shooting barebow. He shot, I think, 560 Portsmouth recently - cold feet in the back in bed was the response for using that story in reply to winning the area champs! Live & learn? Not at my age, it seems.

It's 2008 already!

I had two nice things arrive to start the year off. The first was a copy of the Winter 2007 news from London 2012. It contained a full page on one of GB's top archers, Noami Folkard, and it is good to see that extent of coverage. The second was an invitation to comment on Scottish facilities that had been put forward for 2012 pre-games training camps for archery. I shared these with National Council colleagues and fed back on the eight venues. It is good to see so much interest, given we are so far from London - I guess that commercial confidentiality will preclude me from sharing their names in this public place.

The first shoot of the year for me was today at the Penicuik frostbite. I started off well enough, fortified no doubt by Liz's own spicy lentil soup, with a 116 dozen and then the cold got the better of me. The wind chill certainly cut in and I dropped at least 6 point per dozen for the remaining two dozen. I was shooting with two delightful juniors (one of who scored and could add without a calculator, hurrah!) and the other managed to shoot two of my nocks off.

At the present exchange at the end, Alan got my donation of finger puppets which is grand as he has grandkids. I got a jar of damson jam, not just damson jam but home made damson jam (that sound like the Marks & Sparks ad?). There is just nothing so good as this kind of jam, so that made my day.

There was the traditional stovies (Scottish delicacy for the uninitiated) and curry at Elayne and Norrie's afterwards. Norrie (a life-long teetotaller) has a huge range of whiskies, so I helped out a little in draining his reserve before going off to domestic chores (her indoors being at squad this weekend and so having to fend for myself).

Scotland is just beginning to wake up after the holidays and I get the feeling that it is going to be a busy and eventful year both locally and nationally.

I am going to finish now and get off to a long soak in the bath to finish the thawing out. There is a new men in far-too-tight britches series on the box tonight, her indoors will be glued to that and it will just be me and the bubbles for an hour (unless, of course, I can find where she has hidden my duck).