smaller 'regional' shoots - on the way out ?

[pHz]

prompted by a couple of things recently ...

do you think that we are seeing diminishing numbers of entries for the smaller shorter local shoots put on by clubs like westerns / windsors / etc ?

if so why ? - archers want the 'bigger' rounds (york / st. george / hereford / etc) ? - archers want more FITA rounds ? - saturation (on a given weekend you can choose - depending on where you are i guess - from 3 up to maybe 7 or 8 easily reachable shoots) ? - falling numbers of active archers ? - is this maybe a regional thing with some areas still 'busy' ?

slainte : rob

[Munsterman]

Hi Rob,

Locally the shorter rounds are still quite popular and the 2 or 3 prominent ones in the CAA area are usually well attended.

[clickerati]

The Pagoda Shoot (albion/windsor) has never been so popular and is one of the biggest shoots in the region!!!

So I would say no.

[WhitehartFB]

Most local shoots in Essex are well attended and if anything the shorter rounds seem more popular with the majority of archers. With the exception of 3 Yorks and 1 FITA those that want to shoot longer 12 doz rounds (WRS or STAR) have to travel further a field.

[Little Miss Purple]

I think the current weather climate & cost of diesel has an influence... also the level of archer in the area. If you are after BM or GMB then you need to do the longer rounds.. as many as you can in the hope to hit good weather & good form (preferably on the same day)

[grimsby archer]

Originally Posted by pHz

prompted by a couple of things recently ...

do you think that we are seeing diminishing numbers of entries for the smaller shorter local shoots put on by clubs like westerns / windsors / etc ?

if so why ? - archers want the 'bigger' rounds (york / st. george / hereford / etc) ? - archers want more FITA rounds ? - saturation (on a given weekend you can choose - depending on where you are i guess - from 3 up to maybe 7 or 8 easily reachable shoots) ? - falling numbers of active archers ? - is this maybe a regional thing with some areas still 'busy' ?

slainte : rob

In previous years archers have typically fought over everything on the Lincolnshire calendar upto the county champs in late June and then interest has always dropped right off.
This year seems to be less active with under 40 competitors at most shoots including the county windsor and silverspoon's shoot at the weekend.
As I've already commented elsewhere, the EMAS champs is well undersupported yet, but I guess there is still time.
Saturation is certainly a big thing. Many archers can only attend so many shoots in the year (apart from Recurve_Paul who seems to manage every one) so I guess archers have to pick and choose.There are certainly plenty of shoots for lincolnshire archers to choose from. Some might say too many. Watch_Man has already commented elsewhere on Friskney's 18(?) shoots this year. As for archers wanting more FITAs we have a good range/mix of club shoots available and rose award/fita stars too. Interestingly EMAS argued hard that we should change our double fita star to a head2head as that was what "the" archers wanted.

[Trunkles]

30 bosses up at Selby at the weekend for the Westerns

[Watch_Man]

We are finding that our target shoots are harder to fill than the last couple of years. Perhaps as LMP stated this is partly due to the cost of fuel and therefore archers are being more selective about which shoots they participate in and how far they travel.

AS G_A said in his post, the Lincs County Windsor and Silver Spoon of Spaldings FITA 900 were not fully subscribed. I wonder if it would be better to organise a smaller number of RS tournaments rather than the current number of non-RS. For Lincolnshire we do have a good choice of shoots but most are non-RS and if someone has a choice to go to an RS I believe they would choose it over the non-RS.

I think RS Windsors, Westerns, Nationals and FITA 900's would still be popular as local shoots.

[The Meggy]

I think you do weigh up a number of factors when planning your calendar for the year - fuel costs, travelling time, number of arrows shot, record status or not etc. I do enter quite a lot of shoots, and must admit to a preference for the record status York Rose and FITA stars, and I still harbor hopes of getting my 1200 rose badge at some stage. I also just like the atmosphere at these events. HOWEVER, there are also times when I welcome a nice relaxed shoot, perhaps with shorter distances and not too many arrows to get through, especially if it's close by (therefore don't have to get up at the crack of dawn!). This is often the case after several weeks of bigger tournaments when I perhaps have a slight case of "tournament fatigue" - the smaller shoots seem to recharge my batteries. I can also see the value of these shoots for archers just starting out on their competitive career.

Fuel cost is definately an issue for me this year though, and I guess it must be for others too. I do hope that all the shoots on the calendar survive as perhaps this is what the reduced entry scenario is down to.

[not dead yet]

Originally Posted by pHz

prompted by a couple of things recently ...

do you think that we are seeing diminishing numbers of entries for the smaller shorter local shoots put on by clubs like westerns / windsors / etc ?

if so why ? - archers want the 'bigger' rounds (york / st. george / hereford / etc) ? - archers want more FITA rounds ? - saturation (on a given weekend you can choose - depending on where you are i guess - from 3 up to maybe 7 or 8 easily reachable shoots) ? - falling numbers of active archers ? - is this maybe a regional thing with some areas still 'busy' ?

slainte : rob

GNAS will not put on 2 record status shoots within 50 miles of each other on the same weekend. there are more archers in theUK than there has ever been at the moment.

so i think alot of it boils down to fuel.
or too many social archers.