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!