Face 2 face - the future?

[tel]

Just got this in an email from alternative :

A VISION OF THE FUTURE OF ARCHERY:

Anyone who logged in to the live webcam coverage of last weekend's highly successful Face 2 Face competition in Amsterdam (see http://www.face2face-archery.org) will realise that they have been privileged to have experienced what could easily be the future of the sport.

The highly professional nature of the competitors being displayed on a worldwide media in real time is what all minority sports crave for and if exploited to it's full could be the start of a truely professional aspect to the sport.

The newly formed European Professional Archery initiative was also present at this event testing the ground amongst the competitors and other interested parties resulting in an overwhelmingly positive response. The full web site at http://www.pro-archery.com is due to be launched very soon.

any comments?

tel

[Shirt]

Yes.


It's an advert.


And please don't type in white, it doesn't show up in the grey forum skin.

[tel]

umm...I didn't type in white - I pasted it.

The kind of (constructive) comment I was after was if anyone on AIUK agreed that this was indeed the future of the sport.

[grantwomack]

I particularly liked the Face-2-Face format of competition. Personally, I didn't feel as if I was actually shooting a matchplay round when I shot it but it was a very quick way to shoot a full FITA 18m.
I don't think it will be the future of archery competitions but I think that it will be an increasingly popular way to shoot tournaments in the future. I'd like to get the idea over into the UK and maybe host a tournament or two over here in that style.

[tel]

Someone did mention you were there - best way of avoiding the dodgy soundtrack!

Thanks for your input

[Furface]

The format sounds fun to take part in, but....
A lot of Alternatives wilder ideas presume that there is a cadre of top level archers with two qualities; a) They are excellent shooters, as good in our sport as, say, Federer is in Tennis b) Competition between them is so good that others will want to watch them. a) is true, and is what Alternative focus on. b) is the problem. Most watched sports are popular among non-participants when the contestants can actually affect each others performance (Golf is an exception, but I believe its "watchability" is closely related to the snobbery of the clubs - a subject for elsewhere perhaps!). Even watching perfection without this clash becomes boring very quickly. This has two effects. Firstly, even in this format, head to heads can and should not become the bread and butter level of competition, because they restrict participation without offering spectacle in return. Secondly, the sponsorship that Alternative are basing their dreams on will quickly become dissipated if there is a wider "pro" circuit. It is chiefly from archery suppliers, relatively small concerns with corresponding budgets. These are happy to sponsor a few top-level events, because that is where the archers most likely to spend lots of dosh on their products will be. The acid test is whether wider sponsorship will bring correspondingly wider sales. IMHO this will not happen when the format is not geared to watchers - the act of shooting is not actually competitive.
This is not to say that I would not like to watch more top archers. But I'm sorry to say that I would rather have a demonstration video to watch at my leisure. For competitive excitement, give me carpet bowls or snooker any time!

[wim]

i was also there and i found it a great concept hopefully i will go back in 2006 !!