Are Kids Really The Future Of Archery??

[geoffretired]

I think it depends what we mean by future of archery. Are we talking archery as a competitive sport to the top level, or are we talking archery as a pastime? Our club invests much time on its juniors. They see archery as fun and that has been encouraged by the junior instructor/leader. I can't imagine many continuing when they are in their later teens with all that that implies.
I see the future of archery, at club level, in the younger thirty-year-olds.They are the ones who will have the inclination to learn about running a club in all its aspects. They are the group that will have the chance to continue in archery for an extended period. This group eventually becomes the experienced archers of any club and they pass on their experience to the up and coming thirty-year-olds, in their turn. Keeping that group in archery is what gives a club potential to grow or at least continue to be viable.
If that group is lost, the club ends up with children and grandparents, a generation is missing. Ten years down the line when the grandparents have dropped out, what is left?
I hope this doesn't sound like doom and gloom, but the future of archery lies with the clubs and their grass roots members, elite archers add spice to the mix in those clubs that have them.

[goa dan]

I can see what you mean as in a way some juniors just want to do it for a bit of a joke and fun. Sometimes you may just see a junior messing about and shooting and i have even seen it but there are many juniors who take archery seriosly and may want do it professionly

I personally am 13 and archery is the a great way for me to just forget everything and shoot. I love it and put in practice whenever i can and i think if i try as hard as i can maybe i can take it far. I never intend to quit although i can see your point

[Small Monkey]

I've always thought that a good place to start is with the student archers. If you are close to a big city and a bus route, why not see if you can forge links with one of the student clubs - give them somewhere to shoot over the summer for example.

Also, a lot of students seem to give up archery after Uni due to a lack of club to shoot with - if you have strong links with the student clubs then they will come to you if they stay in the same area after finishing (which a lot do).

Seeing student aged people around the club will also increase the appeal to juniors - it must cool if an 18yr old is doing it! They will also be open to the idea of carrying on with archery when they get to uni (if they go), as they've seen other people do it.

The benefits to the students could also be huge. A lot of student clubs don't have coaches - they teach each other through the years, and as many start at uni it often means the most experienced club member has only been shooting 3yrs.

Also, remember that they run their own clubs, so many will have the experience needed to take over in a few years at your club!

[Macbow]

Originally Posted by goa dan

I can see what you mean as in a way some juniors just want to do it for a bit of a joke and fun. Sometimes you may just see a junior messing about and shooting and i have even seen it but there are many juniors who take archery seriosly and may want do it professionly

I personally am 13 and archery is the a great way for me to just forget everything and shoot. I love it and put in practice whenever i can and i think if i try as hard as i can maybe i can take it far. I never intend to quit although i can see your point

Hey Daniel thanks for the post. Pity we don't have more like you up our way. If you have any thoughts about how our club can make archery more appealing to your age group I'd be glad to hear them. cheers Macbow

[Radar_UK]

That's an interesting point. My club has a high turnaround of beginners mainly because we are the only club in the area that runs courses all year round. I would say that around half the beginners are juniors but from what I gather from members in the club is that it tends to be the older people (25 or over) who are likely to stick with the sport after the first year and this is clearly shown on club nights where the majority of club members are in the older age bracket and we have precious few juniors.

The general concensus is that juniors soon lose interest as they find other things to do with their time and to some degree are restricted by the lack of money at that age - though personally I suspect the fact that we have no real junior orientated activities such as junior leagues, improvement schemes etc. in place has a big effect too. Do other clubs find this ?

One thing that I have noticed is that the majority of juniors at the club who have stuck with it ALL tend to have at least one other family member who has joined as well - I suspect this has a bearing.

[goa dan]

Originally Posted by Macbow

Hey Daniel thanks for the post. Pity we don't have more like you up our way. If you have any thoughts about how our club can make archery more appealing to your age group I'd be glad to hear them. cheers Macbow

When juniors start just try to get them invloved a lot and you should be able to see who is really serious from there. Although the thing that was great for me was after a few lessons i convinced my dad to join and i have been absouloutely hooked since then

[clickerati]

Originally Posted by goa dan

When juniors start just try to get them invloved a lot and you should be able to see who is really serious from there. Although the thing that was great for me was after a few lessons i convinced my dad to join and i have been absouloutely hooked since then

Dan and his dad are just lovely. I met them last weekend and I must say that Dan is a very mature, well behaved young person, as were all the juniors I met at GOA. They all had lots of fun, but were respectful on the shooting line. A pleasure shooting with them. All clubs should be so lucky.

[goa dan]

Originally Posted by clickerati

And Dan and his dad are just lovely. I met them last weekend and I must say that Dan is a very mature, well behaved young person, as were all the juniors I met at GOA. They all had lots of fun, but were respectful on the shooting line. A pleasure shooting with them. All clubs should be so lucky.

well thank you very much clicki once again you have made my day

[English Bowman]

Either I am caught in a scary time warp thing, or there's more than one of me. (Or someone just has a similar name)
I started when I was about 13, the club at that time was a juniors only club, (since opened up to adults as well) I was hooked, and went on to become a coach, county champion and record holder. (Who is responsible for at least one other archer on this board)
I have since taught juniors who have gone on to become coaches and or county (and in one case national) standard archers themselves.
I strongly believe that juniors are the future of the sport.
Oh, and it took me 20 years, but my Dad has also just taken up the sport, and it feels odd to be teaching him something

Daniel

[Random_guy]

I definately agree with the points small monkey made. University clubs are really an intermediate step between juniors and the 'more mature' members of the club. People at uni are much more open to trying something new, it's all part of the experience. The advantage uni archery clubs have over alot of other clubs is the social aspect. At my club we always go to the pub together after shooting, and meet up alot away from the field/ hall. It's yet another pull to get you out and shooting each club night, especially when you're archery's going through a rough patch, you don't mind going anyway, as you'll see all your friends, go to the pub afterwards and have a laugh.

From what i've seen this sometimes gets lost at 'real' club level, which means that you only have one factor keeping people there. We have very good links with London Archers, our local club. We shoot with them at their field in the summer, and many of us join as student associate members to get more practice in outside of term time or before a competition (as they have different indoor nights). This large proportion of students are now responsible for voting the club champs to be a gents and ladies FITA instead of a york/ hereford for the first time in the clubs history! and the chairman, treasurer and secretary all shot as student.

Juniors are probably the way to make top archers, but i think students are the way to keep a club ticking over...