Golden Globe Award

After just six sessions at an Archery Club, Declan blew everyone away by nailing the Bauble to the wand - in the first end!
(see the Xmas Wand Shoot report further down)
HERE's the nearest we got to a Group Christmas Photo...

BA Postal League DEC v Supermarine

December saw another postal shoot against Supermarine this time. This month we lost out by only 19 points. If Will's persists on scoring less that 580, I vote we kick him out if the team for not trying hard enough ;-)

Archer Hits / Score / Golds
Simon Bulley 60 / 562 / 26
Michael Vitties 60 / 556 / 24
James Robb 60 / 554 / 20
Graham Hobbs 60 / 551 / 22
John Prior 60 / 537 / 15

Total 300 / 2760 / 107


Arundown Team Total Score 2741
Russ 571
Will 567
Rod 539
Hamish 533
Graham 531

Festive wand shoot

Our archers braved the cold on Sunday for a Christmas wand shoot with extras. Baubles adorned each wand and the race was on to hit it first. It wasn't a long race though, with Declan getting a direct hit in the first end! Russ and Simon also hit the baubles. The overall winner was Russ with a score of 25 followed by Will with 16 and Emily and Liz tied on 12. A festive drink and christmas cake followed before retreating back into the warm again!!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. See you all in 2009!!!

BA Postal League - December

I was wrong last month about only getting another twenty points before our aggregate score would take a knock because it exceeded the 'threshold' - I'd used the Compound League allowance of 80 points over the Division Score, recurve teams get a 200 point allowance (in both cases it's 40 points per team member, but only two in a compound team). So... even though we got 30 more points this month than we did in November, our total score stands, and in fact we all have to average 570 before the score gets reduced - so no need to hold back!
Team Total Score 2741
made up of:
Russ 571
Will 567
Rod 539
Hamish 533
Graham 531
We did win our November match against Scorton Archers - Their scores were...

Archer Hits - Score - Golds

Mark Farrow 60 - 565 - 33

Steve Cook 60 - 536 - 18

Louise Farrow 60 - 533 - 16

Paul Scudamore 60 - 517 - 17

Mike Fielding 60 - 492 - 11

Totals 300 - 2643 - 95

Will's Big Score in Postal League

EXCELLENT PB Score by Will in the November Postal League Match - 580 for the Portsmouth.
Which looks like he's gone and overtaken Mike Ruby's Junior 'Club' Record of 30-year's standing.
RESPECT!!
The Team Score was 2711, that's 60 above the Threshold Score for the Division, we can afford to get 20 more points between us before our total gets penalised.
Will 580 - Russ 554 - Hamish 543 - Rod 537 - John 497

TOP TEAM

NATIONAL CLOUT CHAMPION RECURVE TEAM

At only our second visit to the National Clout Championships in Yorkshire on Saturday, our recurve archers all put in strong performances and came out on top as the National Champion Team. Not only was it the first time a Sussex club had won, it was also the first time a Southern Counties team had done it, it's been the preserve of Yorks, Lancs and Cheshire for years. Liz, Jon and Russ made up the team - shown looking wind-blown above in the stiff breeze.
Liz also won a personal medal by coming third in the Ladies' Recurve Division.
This was the largest ever Clout Championship, and had to be moved from Harrogate to a larger field in Bradford, and is one of the few tournaments when there are as many Ladies as Gents taking part. Unlike last year when the weather was balmy and sunny, it was bleak and very windy, but all the recurvers put in substantially higher scores this time, and just five points separated the three gents at the finish. Only Graham, our hero last year when he achieved second place, saw his Longbow score reduced by the weather. All Longbow scores were lower than last year and Graham's 50 was in touch with the winner, but not quite good enough to get a placing.
Scores: Liz 201, Jon 169, Russ 168, Rod 164, Graham 50.
On Sunday the recurve archers shot the East Midlands FITA Clout at Rutland Archers ground, Stamford. Once again a strong wind, and once again everybody equalled or bettered their performances last year, and once again County records were broken. Jon equalled his current county record for the single round, and improved his double round score, but was pipped with the slimmest margin on both by Russ who increased the single record by 2 points, and his current double record by 38 points, which included a Six-Clout-End. Rod shot barebow and increased his current single record by 21 points and took the double and increased it by 42.
SCORES: Liz 289 - Russ 288 - Jon 287 - Rod 234
Positions: Liz 1st, Russ 3rd, Rod 3rd, Jon 4th.
Liz exactly equalled her existing record, and was the top Lady Recurve archer. The picture below shows her making her last shot of the day - well wrapped against the cold.
(more pictures below...)


KEEP ON RUTTLING

Blame Eric Idle perhaps, but there's something about Rutland...

RENE AWAY

The other Sussex archer at Stamford (and Bradford) was Rene Le Bouedec - of course. He was shooting his Recurve at the Compound distance of 185 metres (202 yards)

ESKIMO LIZ

Spotted at Bradford, a thin-blooded Southerner

GRAHAM & RUSS COMMISERATE

Russ wasn't happy about his morning score, but got the bit between his teeth PM.

Liz wins Herts Clout

As well as being the highest scoring Lady Visitor (204) using a Recurve (and over-all highest-scoring Recurve Lady), Liz also scored the greatest number of Clouts by any recurve archer, and is shown receiving her Trophy. Liz' aggregate score for her best three rounds is now over 600, which would have put her in second place in the ratings last year - looking good for this year!

Arrow Thief Apprehended

Captured on Film by Jon, that notorious archer Courtney Acte is up to his old tricks again

Sarum Clout

WE HAD TO WAIT for the thick fog to clear enough to see the flags, from then on a beautiful day, only a slight breeze, wonderful chance for big scores - but for most of the entrants it didn't quite come together, the arrows must have been mixing it with air currents up in the sky that didn't show at all at ground level (maybe the four buzzards soaring up on a thermal overhead should have given us a clue). BUT - Liz proved her 225 last weekend wasn't a flash in the pan, she totalled 195 which is her second best ever score, holding off Roz Smith (who is certainly no slouch) to win by 21 points. After an excellent start, Graham had a slightly bumpy ride, finally scoring 68 to be the clear winner of the Longbow group, the 75-point Red award just eluding him again. And Jon also seemed to have to work hard to get his Recurve gold medal with a score of 151.
Some Pictures below....

League Match Result

A very pleasant day out at Firle against Newhaven, beautiful weather and setting.
Once again, beaten by Compounds 3206 to 3034 - Steve Chapman only missed the gold six times in the whole round. Good efforts by our archers though, and the senior team broke through the 3000 barrier (total 124 up on the previous match). Excellent performances from the juniors, but we won't hear how they fared in their league until later in the year when the results are published.
Team members...
JUNIORS
Joshua Cobden 106h - 23g - 642
Emily Cobden 107h - 43g - 795
SENIORS
Jon Stafford 108 - 43 - 786
Russ French 105 - 42 - 761
Will Martin 108 - 38 - 752
Graham Brown 107 - 34 - 735

Bowflights Clout Shoot, Birmingham

A very successful day was had in Birmingham yesterday by our Clout shooters. Although the field was rather wet under foot, and resembled more of a bog by the end of the day, the weather was kind to us.

The results saw a battle for the Gents trophy, with Jon Stafford coming out on top for recurve with a score of 159, with Russell French a very close third with 156. Liz Bowyer collected the Ladies trophy for recurve with a score of 225, which also earned her a gold tassel award, even though she was only going for the red one! The three shredded wheat for breakfast obviously worked!

Many thanks go to all at Bowflights Archery Club for a very enjoyable and well organised day.

Emily Features in Local Rag

Emily's Press Agent has managed to get the Club some high-profile (for the L.A. Guts-ache) Coverage - they have made a very nice job of it. Buy a Copy!
Click on the Link below to open the article in a new window....

Littlehampton Gazette Article 22nd August
2008

Trolley Smash

No more fast Cornering PLEASE!

Sussex County 38th Junior Shoot

Two of our young archers attended the Sussex County Junior Shoot last Saturday. As the title suggests this was the 38th shoot organized by Doreen Cannon for aspiring young archers in the Sussex area. Assisted by Ditchling AC, this was undoubtedly one of the most well run and enjoyable shoots I have attended to date. Although I am relatively new to the archery scene, I would like to say a special thanks to Doreen for her contribution to the juniors.

Olivia made her debut shooting in the “Very Short Junior Windsor”. Doreen devised a round shot at 10 yards with face changes, similar to a Burntwood FITA for the younger archers. Olivia scored an excellent 552 in her first ever tournament representing us. Well done Olivia and we hope to see you at another junior event!

Emily was able to shoot at her correct distance when she competed in the Short Junior Windsor. Funnily, she was quizzed at one point by a fellow junior as to why she was shooting under her distance. Emily regularly competes head-to-head with much older girls who had assumed she was much older! Emily easily took gold at her distance by scoring a very credible 834 whilst gaining two six-gold-ends. In addition, Emily and a fellow Sussex Junior achieved the highest overall score in girl recurve across all the age groups. However, in the event of a draw the highest number of golds wins and Emily missed out by three!

BA Portsmouth League Awards

We won our Division, now let's divide the Spoils!
There were five matches each with the five highest scores on the day to count, and eight of us got scores high enough to get into the teams...

Team Appearances:
4: Hamish - Graham - Jon
3: Will - Russ - Rod
2: Pip - Liz

The British Archer League provides six medals, and as everybody got into two or more matches it seems fairest to give the medals to the six highest individual scorers, who were...

Graham 554
Jon 553
Russ 547
Will 545
Hamish 539
Pip 538

That was a great result, and I think you'll agree it was fun doing it (probably because this year we always had more people shooting than the bare minimum). Now you'd think, wouldn't you, that if you win your league you'd move up a division - but it seems BA completely re-build the leagues each year. However, we do now have an actual figure for our average score, so next year we know we'll have to improve a little to win our new division - but not by too much, as there are penalties for going over the division threshold.

Arundown @ the SCAA Championship Weekend

Firstly, congratulations to Chris Dowdswell who took part in his first tournament on Saturday when he shot in the Burntwood FITA. Chris achieved a very respectable score of 1012. Despite the unpredictable wind, Chris managed to hold his game together throughout the day.

Emily was awarded her second County Gold for first place in the Burntwood FITA as an under 17 girl. I am always very proud of Emily, as she is often up against much older girls in these events. Unfortunately the day lost it’s lustre as Emily had problems which are presently being investigated by the SCAA. Regrettably this culminated in another archer being awarded the gold for a score of nearly 500 points less than Emily. Emily was awarded her gold by the organiser after the ceremony and the County Record will reflect her achievement.

Arundown AC Juniors v Worthing AC Juniors

I have been asked by Doreen if we would like to have another fun challenge match with Worthing. Some of you would have attended the Christmas event, which was held in sub-zero temperatures. This time, the weather should be much improved (let’s hope so).

We have not settled on a date yet, as I would like to know who are interested. It will be held on a weekend (likely Saturday) over the summer holiday.

If anyone is interested please email me, or talk to me at the club.

My email is cobdenrichard@googlemail.com

38th JUNIOR SHOOT - JULY 19th

On the 19th of July we have the 38th Sussex Junior Shoot to be held at Ditchling Archery Club – Lewes Road Sports Field, Lewes Road, Ditchling. This is a regular event run each year for the children by Doreen. It should prove to be a fun day for any juniors who wish to attend. It would be the ideal first tournament for those who have only shot at the club so far.

As well as individual entries, each club can enter a team of 3 archers. If anyone is interested please let me know ASAP. We need to get the entry form back by the 12th and preferably sooner.

If anyone is interested please can you email me. Rod has kindly has put a “Your first Tournament” guide together which explains how a shoot is run and what you need to do. I can send this to anyone interested and also talk it through with you at the club. The children are also welcome to talk to my daughter Emily, who has shot at a good few tournaments now and really enjoys them.

My email is cobdenrichard@googlemail.com

I hope you can join us there!


Details: -

ROUNDS: Albion (36 @ 80; 36 @ 60 and 36 @ 50 yards)
Windsor (36 @ 60; 36 @ 50 and 36 @ 40 yards)
Short Windsor (36 @ 50; 36 @ 40 and 36 @ 30 yards)
Junior Windsor (36 @ 40; 36 @ 30 and 36 @ 20 yards)
Short Junior Windsor (36 @ 30; 36 @ 20 and 36 @ 10 yards)

AGE GROUPS: Boys 16 - 18 Albion
Boys under 16, girls under 18 Windsor
Boys under 14, girls under 16 Short Windsor
Boys under 12, girls under 13 Junior Windsor
Boys under 9, girls under 9 Short Junior Windsor

AWARDS: Albion Round - Boys
All other rounds boys and girls
If sufficient entries received each group will also break down into
Fibreglass compound and long bows.

TEAM AWARD - three recurve archers from one club.
TEAM AWARD - Two compound archers from one club.
BEST GOLD OF MEETING
LONGBOW CUP
MOST GOLDS

COST: £2.00 for all rounds: Albion, Windsor, Short Windsor, Junior Windsor
Short Junior Windsor.

PLEASE INDICATE: Left or Right handed archer. Type of bow which will be used on the
day of the shoot.

CLOSING DATE: 12th July, (although entries will be taken on the day)

Selby May Results

Better late than never, please find the May Selby Results.

DIVISION 5
PRESTON GRASS. 1, 1, 0, 1702, 3
DERWENT 1, 1, 0, 1697, 3
HINXWORTH B 1, 1, 0, 1660, 3
LALEHAM A 1, 0, 1, 1516, 1
ARUNDOWN A 1, 0, 1, 1462, 1
BLUE ARROWS C 1 ,0, 1, 1177, 1

DIVISION 13
ADEL A 1, 1, 0, 1410, 3
BRIDLINGTON B 1, 1, 0, 1378, 3
ARUNDOWN B 1, 1, 0, 1342, 3
LEEK B 1, 0, 1, 1328, 1
WINNINGTON PARK B 1, 0, 1, 1295, 1
CLOPHILL B 1, 0, 1, 922, 1

DIVISION 15
MONKLANDS B 1, 1, 0, 1316, 3
BROMLEY A 1, 1, 0, 1308, 3
ARUNDOWN C 1, 1, 0, 1127, 3
ST.HELENS 1, 0, 1, 1120, 1
WINNINGTON PARK C 1, 0, 1, 1060, 1
RUTLAND B 1, 0, 1, 0, 1

L'BOW DIVISION 6
DERWENT B 1, 1, 0, 346, 3
GUILDFORD B 1, 1, 0, 339, 3
ADEL B 1, 1, 0, 332, 3
SUTTON COLDFIELD 1, 0, 1, 320, 1
ARUNDOWN 1, 0, 1, 306, 1
PRESTON GRASS. 1, 0, 1, 0, 1

2007~2008 BA Postal Results & Selby

Chris has handed over the management of the BA Postal and Selby Leagues. Rod has scheduled the Selby rounds on the Summer Calendar. If for whatever reason, you can see an issue with the dates please let me know and we can re-schedule in advance. I think we should do our best to stick with the scheduled dates (unless we don’t have sufficient archers present).

We have run past the dates for the Selby R/C and Longbow this month (I think compound is a no-go now that the Tucknotts are no longer with Arundown. I would like to hold the next R/C Selby on the Sunday the 22nd this month. We still need to firm-up a Longbow date, but this could happen on a Friday.

Back to the 2007~2008 results………

We performed very well in the Portsmouth coming top of league 31. This should allow us to jump a good few leagues for the 2008~2009 season. The Frostbit was not so good, but if I remember we missed a months shoot.

I believe you can download the full results from the BA site. If you want a copy, please drop me an email.


Portsmouth
Division 31
1 Arundown A.C. 5 15 0 0 13262 15
2 Harlequin B`men A 5 9 0 2 12871 11
3 Ayr Archery Club 5 9 0 2 11961 11
4 Nethermoss 4 9 0 1 10534 10
5 Stourbridge C of A 5 3 0 4 11755 7
6 Cranford A.C. B 5 0 0 5 10216 5
Feb Lady:MRS A WARD Ayr Archery Club 516
Man:MR J STAFFORD Arundown A.C. 553
Boy:W MARTIN Arundown A.C. 545
Mar Lady:MRS A WARD Ayr Archery Club 536
Man:MR D WRIGHT Nethermoss 575
Boy:P TUCKNOTT Arundown A.C. 538

Frostbite
Division 22
1 Thanet A.C. 5 12 0 1 7025 13
2 Malden B`men B 5 12 0 1 6422 13
3 Arundown A.C. 4 12 0 0 5632 12
4 Harlequin B`men 5 3 0 4 5722 7
5 Derbyshire A.C. B 5 3 0 4 5166 7
6 Rochdale C of A B 4 3 0 3 3281 6
Feb Lady:MRS J BATCHELOR Thanet A.C. 298
Man:MR J STAFFORD Arundown A.C. 323
Boy:S VARLEY Derbyshire A.C. B 104
Mar Lady:MRS L GAWLER Thanet A.C. 256
Man:MR A GLEDHILL Harlequin B`men 300
Boy:A BUCKEL Harlequin B`men 180
Girl:F BURLEY Derbyshire A.C. B 73

I have attached a link to the Arundown Summer Fixtures: -
http://www.arundown.org.uk/downloads/Fixtures%20May-Oct.pdf

Southern Counties Clout Championships 1st June

Four of us travelled to Dunstable, and Liz and Jon came back with silverware.

Liz is the new Southern Counties Lady Recurve Champion with the best score ever by a Sussex lady at this Championship - although seven points short of her County Record which she set at Midddlesex last year.
Last November Jon beat Dicky Summers' long-standing (1993) record for the double two-way round. The new record didn't last long, barely six months later two of our archers bettered it, Rod by one point, and Jon by twenty four! This was enough to get him 3rd place in SCAS Championships. He also received the Silver Salver for Most Clouts - he managed to score six.
Rod's 148 score was a personal best, his previous best (136) was set in October 1988, so this has taken nearly twenty years...
NEW RECORDS... Liz's Single Round Score of 82 is a new Sussex County Record; Jon's Single Round Score of 84 and his Double Round score of 171 are both new County Records.
CLASS PLACINGS... Liz 1st; Jon 3rd; Rod 4th; Russ 6th
Just to give you an idea of the size of the Southern Counties, it includes Bedfords, Berks, Bucks, Essex, Hants, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, London, Norfolk, Oxford, Surrey and Sussex.
There were 68 entrants.
MORE PICTURES BELOW....

Jon Shoots - Liz collects award



The Current British Clout Champion looks pensively at Rod's Arrow in the Clout, as it dawns on him he's being overhauled.
Both Rod and Jon scored more than he did...


We needed three Judges in day-glo jackets to keep us in order

Newhaven 2008 Western

The Newhaven shoot coincided with one of the best days so far this year, with blazing sunshine and very little in the way of wind. Arundown made it’s mark with John, Rebecca, Emily & Will taking medals. John held his place on the leader board during the day and came an impressive 3rd out of 25 archers. Gergo Deak took first place in the Gents Recurve scoring a stunning 818, which would have given him fourth place in compound! Liz managed to shatter her previous Western PB, scoring 655.

Emily chased fellow County Junior Rachel throughout the day. She managed to shorten the gap at the shorter distance, finishing 34 points behind her. Rebecca shot a respectable score in her first tournament since recently moving to compound. Poor Pip battled against a nasty bug during the day, but managed to complete his full round.

Will had a stunning performance during the day, showing his strength lies with outdoor rounds. With stamina to spare he competed in the traditional head-to-head and took out a Gents Compound in the first round. He managed to get through to the semi-final, when another Gents Compound knocked him out!

Gents Recurve
John Stafford Hits 96, Golds 51, Score 756, Position 3
Russell French Hits 96, Golds 41, Score 718, Position 6
Graham Brown Hits 96, Golds 27, Score 622, Position 14
Richard Cobden Hits 95, Golds 31, Score 613, Position 15

Ladies Recurve
Liz Bowyer Hits 95, Golds 29, Score 655, Position 4

Junior Ladies Recurve
Emily Cobden Hits 96, Golds 35, Score 696, Position 2

Junior Ladies Compound
Rebecca Tucknott Hits 95, Golds 18, Score 597, Position 2

Junior Gents Recurve
William Martin Hits 96, Golds 58, Score 790, Position 1
Philip Tucknott Hits 96, Golds 22, Score 668, Position 4

Selby Summer Postal League 2008

The fixtures for this season's Selby Summer Postal League have arrived.

The competition runs from May - September. We have entered teams in the Recurve, Compound and Longbow competitions.

A win is worth three points, a draw two and a loss one. Badges will be awarded to the winning team in each division.

Recurve Fixtures

We have entered three teams in the Recurve competition.

The round is a Short Metric, comprising 36 @ 50 metres and 36 @ 30 metres using an 80 cm target face.

On the date of the shoot, the A team score will comprise the top three archers' scores, the B team score the next three (i.e. scores 4, 5 and 6) and the C team score the next three (i.e. scores 7, 8 and 9).

Weather and other fixtures permitting, we will shoot the Recurve round on the first Sunday of each month. Assembly at 10 am, shooting starts 10.30 am.

Our opponents are as follows:

Division 5 (division score 1610, threshhold score 1730)

• May v. Derwent
• June v. Preston Grasshoppers
• July v. Blue Arrows C
• August v. Hinxworth B
• September v. Laleham A
  

Division 13 (division score 1300, threshhold score 1420)

• May v. Leek B
  
• June v. Winnington Park B
  
• July v. Bridlington B
  
• August v. Clophill B
  
• September v. Adel A

Division 15 (division score 1200, threshhold score 1320)

• May v. Winnington Park C
• June v. Bromley A
  
• July v. Rutland B
  
• August v. Monklands B
  
• September v. St Helens
  

Compound Fixtures

We have entered one team in the Compound competition.

The round is a Short Metric, comprising 36 @ 50 metres and 36 @ 30 metres using an 80 cm target face.

The team score will comprise the top two archers' scores.

Weather and other fixtures permitting, we will shoot the Recurve round on the first Sunday of each month. Assembly at 10 am, shooting starts 10.30 am.

Our opponents are as follows:

Division 10 (division score 950, threshhold score 1070)

• May v. Wilford
• June v. Selby B
  
• July v. Clophill B
  
• August v. Gravesend
• September v. Brampton/Wyton B
  

Longbow Fixtures

We have entered one team in the Longbow competition.

The round is a National, comprising 48 @ 60 yards and 24 @ 50 yards using a 122 cm target face.

The team score will comprise the top two archers' scores.

Weather and other fixtures permitting, we will shoot the Longbow round on the second Sunday of each month. Assembly at 10 am, shooting starts 10.30 am.

Our opponents are as follows:

Division 6 (division score 340, threshhold score 420)

• May v. Derwent B
  
• June v. Guildford B
  
• July v. Sutton Coldfield
  
• August v. Adel B
  
• September v. Preston Grasshoppers

Please do your best to support these fixtures. The BA Postal League certainly added some enjoyment and interest to the last indoor season, so there's every reason to suppose that the Selby League will do the same for the summer season. Here's hoping for some fine weather, good shooting and maybe a drink or two after each fixture.

Final Results from Southern Counties Indoor at Fareham, 30th March 2008

The final scores from the SCAS Indoor arrived this week.

Our success in the Junior Gents Recurve has already been reported, but anyway congratulations once again to Pip Tucknott (535) and Will Martin (533) for taking second and third place behind Robert Smith (553) of host club RN South Coast. From the other Sussex entrants, Daniel Phillips of Holbrook finished fourth with a score of 526.

Liz Bowyer's personal best of 527 left her five points out of the medals in fourth place in the Ladies Recurve, but that's worth another well-deserved well done.

And, finally, we finished fourth in the recurve team placings with 2,057, just 14 points behind third placed Portsdown. Another pretty good effort considering that we were missing three people who've shot 550 plus this year.

For the full results in Word format, click here.

Essex County Clout 13th April

Early start and long journey. Quite a breeze at times, but not a bad day on the whole apart from two heavy showers, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon (a real blast). Everyone fairly happy with their scores considering how early it is in the season, and the effect of the showers. There was the usual jockeying for position between Russ and Jon, with Jon finishing a few points in front. A long wait for the results with lots of errors and omissions - and judging by what the Essex County people were saying, it's probably always like this, so if you're thinking of going next year expect a long day (nearly 12-hours round trip).
Liz, Graham and Jon all came first in their respective classes as Visitors - well done

BA Postal League March 2008

A successful season in the BA Postal League was rounded off by a comprehensive victory in the Portsmouth League against March's opponents, Ayr Archery Club.

Arundown's score of 2648 against Ayr's 2470 has almost certainly secured first place in our division, so well done to everyone who has taken part over the last five months. Regardless of whether or not your scores have qualified for inclusion in the team total, it really has been a team effort (eight different archers featured in the team score over the five rounds) and has made one weekend each month a bit more competitive and a lot more enjoyable.

This month's score was made up by:

• Russell French 547
• Pip Tucknott 538
• Hamish Matheson 524
• Graham Brown 522
• Jon Stafford 517

We also finished the Frostbite League on a high note with a win against Thanet AC by 1353 - 1322. Contributing scores were:

• Hamish Matheson 298
• Russell French 287
• Jon Stafford 284
• Graham Brown 253
• John Nolan 231
  

But for the walkover conceded in November to Malden B, we would almost certainly have won this division as well. A hard lesson, but one learned for the future.

So a bright end to an indoor season that has seen more highs than lows. The Postal League has injected some much needed interest into the club's Winter calendar and there is now the Selby League to look forward to this Summer. The League starts in May and we have entered two recurve, one compound and one longbow team, so there is something there for just about everyone. Watch this space and check your e-mails for further information.

Alongside the Postal League, the club has once again run two successful indoor tournaments and played a major part in this season's Sussex Indoor Championships. As ever, Rod Brown has played a pivotal role in the organisation of all three shoots. All three tournaments have also seen Emily Cobden pick up medals and come to the fore as one the brightest prospects in Sussex archery. She can now look forward with confidence and justifiable pride to her first outing with the County team in the match with Hampshire on 20th April. Well done, Emily!

Another Arundown lady to collect a medal at the County Indoor was Liz Bowyer, who overcame a wretched run of form after Christmas to come good again at exactly the right moment. Second place at Worthing Leisure Centre followed by a personal best at the SCAS Indoor is a brilliant conclusion to the season. Congratulations, Liz!

Most of the male contingent also enjoyed some success this Winter. Graham Brown, John Stafford and Hamish Matheson spearheaded our efforts in the Postal League for most of the season, while Russell French rose like the phoenix from a trough of poor form to shoot some very useful scores in March. Almost last but never least, Rod Brown and John Nolan attended every fixture and chipped in with useful contributions when they were needed.

And, finally, mention must be made of two junior members of the male contingent, namely Will Martin and Pip Tucknott. Both started the indoor season with medals at the Meridian Junior Open in October, both have contributed to our success in the Postal League, both improved their Portsmouth round personal bests by considerable margins and both finished the indoor season in some style with second and third place medals at the SCAS Indoor yesterday.

Watching these two young men shoot almost shoulder to shoulder at HMS Collingwood was a compelling spectacle that really did have a bit of everything. Some very good scoring, lots of good sportsmanship and a few nerves - not to mention a final end that saw fortune stand on its head - added up to an exciting conclusion to Arundown's indoor season. Well done to both of you.

And now let's do it all again - but better - in the great outdoors.

Successes at Southern Counties Indoor Champs Meet

Record Status Portsmouth Round at HMS Collingwood, Fareham - 30th March
Notable Performances:
Pip Tucknott - 2nd Place Junior Recurve Class
Will Martin - 3rd Place Junior Recurve Class
Liz Bowyer - Personal Best

Archery News

If you've ever wondered where to find archery news on the net, take a look at the BBC website.

Forthcoming Events - Newhaven Western Tournament, Sunday 11th May

The annual Western tournament organised by Newhaven AC will take place on Sunday 11th May.

The field at Firle is a really nice place to shoot and the natives are among the friendliest archers you'll find on the South coast. Entry forms can be found here.

Forthcoming Events - Start the Season at Sedlescombe

Hastings and St Leonards Bowmen are holding a "Start the Season" soup shoot at the Sports Field in Sedlescombe on Sunday 13th April. Entry fee is £6, sighters are at 10.30 am.

Juniors are welcome but they must be accompanied by a responsible adult, a requirement that kills Pip Tucknott's chances before he picks up a bow.

John Nolan is entering the shoot with a friend from Worthing AC, while Pip is almost certain to find a responsible person to accompany him. If you'd like to join the party, entry forms can be obtained from Chris or the organiser, Kevin Doswell, on 07976 306059.

Sussex Indoor Championships

A round up and the results from this year's Sussex Indoor have been posted. There isn't much more to say than you'll find there, so off you go :-)

Sussex Indoor Championships Pictures III

Some pictures showing the hall layout

> CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO VIEW FULLSIZE

Sussex Indoor Championships Pictures II

WE WERE THERE - before, during and after!

> CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO VIEW FULLSIZE

Sussex Indoor Championships Pictures

Here's some pictures to be going on with

And here's some bodies spotted lurking in the background of bigger pictures....

Rankers!

Many congratulations to Graham Jon Liz and Russ for coming 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively in the National Clout Rankings for 2007.
Full details in the Spring issue of Archery UK

Sport Relief

Sunday 16th March sees the Sussex Indoor Championships coincide with Sport Relief.

While his main focus will be on representing Arundown in both the Team and Individual Championships, Pip Tucknott has also taken up the challenge of raising money for charity. You can help him towards his target of £100 by visiting his Sport Relief web page or you could even set one up for yourself and start to find sponsors. It isn't too late to support this worthwhile cause.

Sardinian Guest

Pio-Giorgio from Sardinia joined the hardier members on 2nd March for 30 metre practice. It may have been sunny outside, but most of our archers were inside in the hall.

Forthcoming Events - County of Surrey Championships, July 2008

The 2008 County of Surrey Championships will take place on Sunday 20th July at East Molesey.

This is a FITA Star event and has UK and World Record status. More information and entry forms can be found here.

BA Postal League February 2008

This month's Portsmouth round of the BA Postal League saw a convincing win for Arundown against Stourbridge Company of Archers by 2686 to 2447.

The Arundown team score comprised:

• Jon Stafford 553
• Will Martin 545
• Hamish Matheson 538
• Rod Brown 535
• Pip Tucknott 515

So with one round of this year's competition to shoot, we have three wins and one loss for a total of ten points. It looks as though we are tied in first place with Harlequin Bowmen A and Nethermoss, so final placings in our division could be decided by total scores from the five rounds. Please make every effort to turn out for the final round in March.

Following January's win in the Frostbite round against Harlequin Bowmen by 1425 to 1017, we scored 1416 in this month's round with the following contributions:

• Jon Stafford 323
• Rod Brown 286
• Russell French 285
• Graham Brown 271
• Liz Bowyer 251

This proved to be enough to record another win against Rochdale Company of Archers B, who scored 901.

This result leaves Arundown with three wins and a loss for a total of nine points in the Frostbite round. Due to the walkover conceded to Malden Bowmen in November, even a win against division leaders Thanet AC (four wins from four for 12 points) next month will probably leave us languishing in third place.

Our Worcester Tournament - 3rd Feb

We were there...
I dunno what Chris and Hamish have to laugh about, but here's six of our members on the waiting line in the first session (you have to count the person in the pea-green trousers between Chris and Hamish).
Our recurve team (Jon, Hamish and Pip) came fourth behind two strong teams from Chichester and one from Mole Valley. Emily won almost everything as both a Junior Lady and as a Lady (in the triple). Isaac won his Class. I'm sure everyone would have done even better if they hadn't used up all their energy carting the gear into the hall. Well done and Thanks!

BA Postal League, January 2008

This month's Portsmouth round in the BA Postal League was shot this morning.

An excellent turnout (albeit with some turning out later than others) ensured an excellent team score of 2716 (adjusted to 2678), which sets a real challenge for this month's opponents Nethermoss.

The team score comprised:

• Graham Brown 554
• Jon Stafford 552
• Will Martin 540
• Hamish Matheson 539
• Rod Brown 531

Also shooting on the day were Russell French (527), Richard Cobden (516), Liz Bowyer, Pip Tucknott, Emily Cobden, Rebecca Tucknott, Roger Withey, Josh Cobden and Isaac Rowlatt-Harrod. Thanks to everyone for attending.

Nethermoss's score will be posted when it has been received.

Update

The Nethermoss score was received on 29th January. This proved to be 2760, which left me regreting my published optimism from earlier in the month.

However, as you're aware, our team score of 2716 was above the threshold score for the division we're shooting in this year and was adjusted to 2678. I'm not going to attempt to describe the calculation used to arrive at this score, but instead will quote from the BA Postal League documentation.

"When scores are submitted that exceed the 'division' scores... the following procedure will be applied:

A threshold will be set equal to the 'division' score plus an allowance of 150 for the Frostbite Round and 200 for the Portsmouth Round... In the case of scores that do exceed this threshold, the excess points scored above the threshold will be deducted from the threshold to arrive at the ADJUSTED score. "

So, this season our 'division' score is 2497 and the threshold score is 2697 (division score + 200). This month our score of 2716 exceeded the threshold by 19, so our adjusted score is the threshold score minus the excess, i.e. 2697 - 19 = 2678.

Apply the same calculation to Nethermoss' score this month and you get an adjusted score of 2634, i.e.

2760 (Nethermoss' actual score) - 2697 (threshold score) = 63
2697 (threshold score) - 63 = 2634 (Nethermoss' adjusted score).

Until such time as someone points out that your correspondent's maths is incorrect (wait for it...), I'm happy to report that this means in the Portsmouth league we now have two wins and one loss for a total of seven points and a running total score of 7918.

This month's result could be significant. Harlequin Bowmen A, the club we lost to in December, were beaten by Nethermoss the previous month. That leaves the three clubs with 7 points each from the first three rounds. It's all to shoot for in the remaining two rounds of this year's Portsmouth league.