On Tuesday 25th October we will be holding a SPOOKTACULAR fun shoot for Halloween.

Fancy dress is optional – as some don’t need it ;P We do remind you that if you want to shoot in fancy dress, please make sure you don’t have loose items that may catch in your bow!

This shoot will be open to all members.

We’ll also run a raffle for the evening, with all proceeds to the club.

DCAS AGM is being held on 20th November 1400hrs at Yelverton memorial hall. They’re looking for some new members, please contact the DCAS secretary if you are interested.

It’s that time of year again….. sort of. With restrictions finally starting to relax we’re happy to let you all know that our AGM will be going ahead on Sunday 27th June at Widewell Primary.  This is a much later date than usual as we’ve had to hold off until it was safe for us to all meet together.

This year it’s really important for our members to attend. Not only will we be voting in the new committee but there will also be a review of our shooting venue and a vote on updates to our constitution.  More details and a full agenda will be emailed out to members closer to the date.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all there.

Welcome to the final League Report (and report in general) of the Indoor Season. This will also probably be the last report for a while (for obvious reasons).

March proved to be chaotic for shooting in general and the Postal Leagues in particular, with many clubs not being able to enter any scores at all. Fortunately, many Yelverton members managed to get in their Grand Prix and Portsmouth scores before the lockdown came into effect. Unfortunately though, only a few were able to shoot a Frostbite.

In the wider scheme of things, the indoor Postal Leagues are now finished, as is the inaugural Grand Prix and the Indoor Season in general. Below are the final results from those, as well as a couple of things that would normally be dealt with at the AGM.

DCAS Indoor Postals (Portsmouth) – March – Complete

For those unfamiliar with the format; Archers shoot a Portsmouth round under competition conditions and the top three scores for each bow type form a team (and the following archers form the ‘B team’, ‘C team’, etc if a club enters multiple teams). These scores are sent to DCAS and clubs compete against each other from November to March.

In March, we won two of our matches (Recurve A and B) and lost three (Recurve C, Compound and Longbow). Below are the final results tables from DCAS and a table that I keep myself for progress within the club.

As you can see, we had a mixed bag of results this year. I’m confident though that we will do well next year, as our Compound, Longbow and Recurve contingents all have either new talent or existing members have made great improvements this year (for example, at least three Recurve shooters have broken that magical 500 boundary this season).

DCAS Outdoor Postals (Frostbite) – March – Complete

The Frostbite teams are selected in the same way as the Portsmouth, with the top three scores forming each team. As with the Indoor Postal, archers shoot a Frostbite round and the top three scores form a team. Unlike the Portsmouth, teams are not bow specific (with the exception of the new Longbow team). Archers from any bow style can contribute to the teams, although there is a maximum of one Compound allowed per team.

In March, we won our Longbow match but lost the other two (technically we lost one and entered no scores for the other). This is unsurprising due to the lockdown hitting early in the month, so few people had a chance to score. Below are the final results tables from DCAS as well as the table that I keep myself.

As with the Portsmouth, we had a mixed bag. The lockdown (plus the terrible weather in February) really caused problems for people scoring. A lesson to take away from this (also applicable to the Portsmouth but especially for the Frostbite), is to get scores in early in the month. We can’t guarantee the weather or otherwise uninterrupted shooting. Another observation is that our Compound shooters (unsurprisingly) make a huge difference to the Frostbite teams. I would encourage more of them to put in scores next year.

AGM Items

The following sections would normally be announced and presented by me at the Annual General Meeting but given the current situation, I will report them here.

Yelverton Bowmen Grand Prix – March – Complete

I mentioned the Grand Prix results in last month’s League Report but I would have announced them at the AGM, so here’s the post again.

The Grand Prix has now concluded. Based on the popularity of the inaugural event, I shall look at running it again next season (assuming I’m re-elected at the AGM).

The use of handicaps has made it very interesting to watch the leader board change over the months, especially as the eventual winner was actually placed quite low after the first month but climbed ever higher as the rounds progressed.

Congratulations to Jamie and thank you to everybody who took part.

Yelverton Bowmen Tavistock Trophy – March – Complete

The Tavistock Trophy is an internal competition run using the scores entered in the Indoor Postal. The highest cumulative score for each category over the five months wins. In the event of a category only having a single participant, they are included in the most appropriate alternative (normally forming a unisex bow category).

The individual category winners are:
Compound – Darren Bennion,
Longbow – Alister Smith,
Ladies Barebow – Linda Wright,
Ladies Recurve – Sarah Watson,
Gentlemen Barebow – Pasty Cain,
Gentlemen Recurve – Darren Bennion,

Congratulations to all. The full scores and standings can be seen on the table below.

Handicap Improvement Medal

This is an award given to the person who has improved their handicap the most between two outdoor seasons (scores from the indoor season don’t count unfortunately). Your best three handicaps of the year are averaged and compared with the previous year (in this case the 2018 outdoor season compared to 2019). The winner receives an official medal (the one in the image). This must be returned to the club by the next AGM, as it actually belongs to Archery GB and is on ‘permanent loan’ to the club.

This year, the winner of the Handicap Improvement Medal, with an improvement of seven points is Linda Wright. Congratulations.

Indoor Handicap Improvement Award

As mentioned above, the official Handicap Improvement Medal doesn’t recognise scores and development indoors. I thought we’d rectify this and introduce an indoor specific handicap award.

Unbeknownst to everybody (well… most of you), I’ve been keeping an eye on the 2019/20 indoor handicaps and comparing them to 2018/19 in the same way as the outdoor handicaps work.

The inaugural winner of the Yelverton Bowmen Indoor Handicap Improvement Award (working title) is Sarah Watson with an improvement of 15. Congratulations. This was highly entertaining for me, as Sarah and Andy were unknowingly locked in battle for this award. They spent much of the season with equal improvements and only near the end of the season did Sarah enter the deciding score.

Finally

As a final note, I received 442 scores from all members this indoor season, compared to 347 last year and even less the year before. I’m glad that things are picking up and more people are choosing to pursue their handicaps and classifications. The introduction of the Grand Prix contributed to this total and also exposed members to rounds other than the Portsmouth (and occasional WA18). Thank you to everybody who supported the Grand Prix.

I also awarded in the region of 70 new club records and 23 new classification badges (some beating previous records and others filling previously empty spaces on the record tables). Congratulations to all the recipients. I hope there are many more to come.

Welcome to the (very late) March Report.

This will be the last Records Report for a while (for obvious reasons). I had a few scores come in before the lockdown and I was able to fill most of the Postal teams. Fortunately, March was the last month of the Postals and very close to being the end of the Indoor Season, so we haven’t lost much in that regard… although no Outdoor shooting for the foreseeable future.

Keep an eye out for a League Report in a couple of weeks, where I will present the final results from the Postal League.

If you are unsure about anything, feel free speak to me via records@yelvertonbowmen.co.uk or the club Facebook page.

Here’s what members achieved in March

Indoor Classifications

• Jinine Cox earned her ‘E’
• Jonathan Ingram regained his ‘D’ for Compound
• Iain Lees earned his ‘B’
• Heather Poole earned her ‘E’

Club Records

• James Baker (Gentleman Senior Longbow): Frostbite – 235
• Darren Bennion (Gentleman Master Recurve): Bray 2 – 251
• Bruce Cox (Gentleman Master Recurve): Bray 1 – 241, Bray Combined – 478
• Jonathan Ingram (Gentleman Senior Recurve): Bray Combined – 526
• Karen Ingram (Ladies Senior/Master Longbow): Bray 1 – 73, Bray 2 – 96, Bray Combined – 169
• Jenny Kerchey (Ladies Senior Recurve): Bray Combined – 417
• Alister Smith (Gentleman Senior Longbow): Bray 1 – 139, Bray 2 – 121, Bray Combined – 260
• Jim Start (Gentleman Senior/Master Barebow): Bray 1 – 198, Bray 2 – 186, Bray Combined – 384
• Linda Wright (Ladies Senior/Master Barebow): Bray 1 – 169, Bray 2 – 183, Bray Combined – 353, Portsmouth – 464

The most recent tables of club records can be found here.

Remember to keep training in whatever way you can to maintain your fitness and skill level. Please bear in mind though, that none of us are covered by the Archery GB insurance if we shoot at home (the club is insured at registered facilities). If you want to shoot at home, the responsibility is yours alone, so ensure that the area is safe.

Thus ends the Records Report for March. Please let me know if there are any errors, omissions, etc and I hope that you continue to provide me with material to put into these reports once the lockdown is lifted. If you don’t want to be mentioned in reports, please let me know.

The final month of the Winter Postals is here, the Grand Prix has finished and the January Challenge results are in, so this will be the penultimate League Report of the Indoor Season. DCAS normally runs a Summer Postal league, so if you’re interested, please let me know and I’ll look at entering teams for the club.

The majority of the material below focuses on results from February. However, because of the timing of the Grand Prix, I have also included the March final results from that

DCAS Indoor Postals (Portsmouth) – February

For those unfamiliar with the format; Archers shoot a Portsmouth round under competition conditions and the top three scores for each bow type form a team (and the following archers form the ‘B team’, ‘C team’, etc if a club enters multiple teams). These scores are sent to DCAS and clubs compete against each other from November to March.

In February, we won two of our matches (Recurve A and Compound) and lost three (Recurve B, C and Longbow). Below are the results tables from DCAS and a table that I keep myself for progress within the club. Take a look and see how you/we did.

Please continue to provide scores for the final month, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team (plus, it still counts towards the in-house Tavistock Trophy).

DCAS Outdoor Postals (Frostbite) – February

The Frostbite teams are selected in the same way as the Portsmouth, with the top three scores forming each team. As with the Indoor Postal, archers shoot a Frostbite round and the top three scores form a team. Unlike the Portsmouth, teams are not bow specific (with the exception of the new Longbow team). Archers from any bow style can contribute to the teams, although there is a maximum of one Compound allowed per team.

In January we lost all three of our matches (or more precisely, we entered no scores for two and lost the Longbow match). This was because of the combination of terrible weather for most of the month and the club hosting the DCAS Indoor Championships. This meant that only a couple of archers were able to get scores in. Below are the results tables from DCAS as well as the table that I keep myself.

Please continue to provide scores for the final month, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team.

Yelverton Bowmen Grand Prix – March – Complete

The Grand Prix has now concluded. Based on the popularity of the inaugural event, I shall look at running it again next season (assuming I’m re-elected at the AGM).

The use of handicaps has made it very interesting to watch the leader board change over the months, especially as the eventual winner was actually placed quite low after the first month but climbed ever higher as the rounds progressed.

Congratulations to Jamie and thank you to everybody who took part.

Yelverton Bowmen Tavistock Trophy – February

The Tavistock Trophy is an internal competition run using the scores entered in the Indoor Postal. The highest cumulative score for each category over the five months wins. In the event of a category only having a single participant, they will be included in the most appropriate alternative (normally forming a unisex bow category).

The categories remain as Gents Barebow, Ladies Barebow, Compound (unisex), Longbow (unisex), Gents Recurve and Ladies Recurve. The current standings can be seen on the table below.

January Challenge

We had 17 entries from the club in the nation-wide January Challenge and the following table shows how well they did. Well done to all.

The official full table of results can be found here (Assuming they don’t issue another version… This is the third I’ve been sent).

Welcome to the February Report.

The campaign to earn and regain outdoor classifications has begun! Albeit slowly, due to the horrendous weather in February.

The postal leagues are ongoing, with 17 Portsmouth and (unfortunately, due to the weather) only two Frostbite scores for February. Please continue to do so next month (the final month). Scores from additional members, regardless of perceived skill level, are welcome, as the teams are not fixed. The best scores form the team each month and in the event of illness or other absence, even the newest of members could contribute. Please try to get Frostbite scores in as early as possible, as the weather may not allow multiple shooting sessions again.

A separate report on the Grand Prix and Postal leagues was made on the website mid-February and another will be posted shortly.

If you are unsure about anything, feel free speak to me in person, via records@yelvertonbowmen.co.uk or the club Facebook page.

Here’s what members achieved in February:

Indoor Classifications

• Richard Fry earned his ‘F’
• Jenny Hutchinson earned her ‘F’
• Jonathan Ingram regained his ‘D’ for compound
• Jamie Pruden earned his ‘D’

Tables with the required scores for classifications can be found here.

Outdoor Classifications

• Oliver Pruden earned his 1st class

Tables with the required scores for classifications can be found here.

Club Records

• Darren Bennion (Gentleman Master Recurve): Vegas – 505
• Pasty Cain (Gentleman Barebow): Vegas – 407 (Senior+Master), WA18 – 404 (Master)
• Oliver Harris (Gentleman U14 AFB+Barebow): WA18 – 266
• Jonathan Ingram (Gentleman Senior Recurve): WA18 (Double) – 1036
• Karen Ingram (Ladies Senior+Master Longbow): Vegas – 158
• Oliver Pruden (Gentleman Recurve U12): Short Junior National – 401, WA18 – 155
• Alister Smith (Gentleman Senior Longbow): Vegas – 197
• Linda Wright (Ladies Senior+Master Barebow): Vegas – 296, WA18 – 394

The most recent tables of club records can be found here.

Competitions

As you all know, we hosted the DCAS Indoor Championships at the last month. 13 of our members took part, which was the highest attendance from any club and is certainly the best turnout I’ve seen from us in a long time!

We had a good result with a mixture of wins, PBs, club records and badges earned:

• Andrew Axworthy placed 14th in Gent’s Recurve
• Simon Bench placed 17th in Gent’s Recurve
• Darren Bennion shot both Gent’s Compound and Recurve. For Compound he placed 5th and later placed 11th for Recurve
• Rob ‘Pasty’ Cain placed 3rd in Gent’s Barebow and broke the Masters record
• Oliver Harris won the Gent’s Under 14s American Flatbow category, setting the record for both AFB and Barebow in the process
• Jonathan Ingram shot Gent’s Recurve in two sessions, placing 8th (with his two scores being 8th and 9th overall). He also set the club record for the Double WA18
• Iain Lees placed 4th in Gent’s Compound and also earned his Blue WA Target badge. This, despite the fact that he elbow-dropped a windowsill the night before (seriously). He also won a bottle in the raffle – “You can’t drink a medal”
• Jamie Pruden placed 19th in Gent’s Recurve
• Oliver Pruden won the Gent’s Under 12s Recurve and set the club record in doing so
• Alister Smith shot both Gent’s Longbow and Recurve, coming 22nd with Recurve and 5th with the Longbow
• Nick Tripp placed 23rd in Gent’s Recurve
• Sarah Watson placed 8th in Ladies Recurve and was also the very sparkly Lady Paramount for the day
• Linda Wright was 3rd in Ladies Barebow and set the club record for both Senior and Master WA18
• The Recurve team of Andrew, Simon, Darren and Jonathan came 2nd, while the Recurve team of Sarah, Jamie, Alister and Nick came 4th
• The Barebow team of Pasty and Linda came 2nd
• Andrew and Sarah placed 6th in the Jack and Jill Recurve

Congratulations to all! Full results can be found here.

Take a look at the DCAS events calendar and see if there are any competitions you fancy trying. Indoor season is a great opportunity to try a competition, as the distances are obviously a lot shorter. If in doubt, speak to the hosting club’s tournament organiser.

If you attend (or are planning to attend) a competition, please let me know (and add the round to your score card!). Also, let me know if you earn any badges (Roses, Stars, etc) or if you manage to attain the lofty ranks of Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman.

Thus ends the Records Report for February. Please let me know if there are any errors, omissions, etc and I hope that you continue to provide me with material to put into these reports. If you don’t want to be mentioned in reports, please let me know.

Well, we’ve passed the halfway mark of the 2019/20 Indoor Postals, so you should all know what this is about. But for those who don’t, this report focuses on the club’s progress in the County Postal Leagues as well as in-house competitions, such as the Tavistock Trophy and Grand Prix… and the January Challenge (sort of – see below).

The majority of the material below focuses on results from January. However, because of the timing of the Grand Prix, I have also included the February progress from that.

DCAS Indoor Postals (Portsmouth) – January

For those unfamiliar with the format; Archers shoot a Portsmouth round under competition conditions and the top three scores for each bow type form a team (and the following archers form the ‘B team’, ‘C team’, etc if a club enters multiple teams). These scores are sent to DCAS and clubs compete against each other from November to March.

In January, we won two of our matches (Recurve B and Compound) and lost three (Recurve A, C and Longbow). Below are the results tables from DCAS and a table that I keep myself for progress within the club. Take a look and see how you/we did.

Please continue to provide scores, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team.

DCAS Outdoor Postals (Frostbite) – January

The Frostbite teams are selected in the same way as the Portsmouth, with the top three scores forming each team. As with the Indoor Postal, archers shoot a Frostbite round and the top three scores form a team. Unlike the Portsmouth, teams are not bow specific (with the exception of the new Longbow team). Archers from any bow style can contribute to the teams, although there is a maximum of one Compound allowed per team.

In January we won all three of our matches. Below are the results tables from DCAS as well as the table that I keep myself. Take a look and see how you/we did.

Please continue to provide scores, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team.

Yelverton Bowmen Grand Prix – February

The Grand Prix is new this year and has been well received. Each month, a different round is shot, with the scores being adjusted by the members’ handicaps (November was a WA18, December a WA25, January a Worcester and February a Vegas). In the table below, the first column for each month is the actual score entered. The second column is the adjusted score. In theory, if a person shoots a score in keeping with their handicap, they will receive an adjusted score of 1440.

The nature of the competition means that nothing is set in stone. Somebody currently near the bottom of the rankings could leap towards the top if they score sufficiently better than their handicap in a future round.

Yelverton Bowmen Tavistock Trophy – January

The Tavistock Trophy is an internal competition run using the scores entered in the Indoor Postal. The highest cumulative score for each category over the five months wins. In the event of a category only having a single participant, they will be included in the most appropriate alternative (normally forming a unisex bow category).

At present the categories are Gents Barebow, Ladies Barebow, Compound (unisex), Longbow (unisex), Gents Recurve and Ladies Recurve. The current standings can be seen on the table below.

January Challenge

I have received the first draft results of the January Challenge. However, I won’t be publishing them this month. The organiser has been in touch to inform me that the results form was inaccurate and the ‘Novice’ category should have been for members who joined since January 2019 (not January 2018 as was stated on the form). This means that half of the novices I entered should actually be in the experienced category. I have sent the requested corrections and hope to have the finalised results in time for the next report.

Welcome to the January Report. The postal leagues are ongoing, with 18 Portsmouth and 14 Frostbite scores for January. Please continue to do so for the next two months. Scores from additional members, regardless of perceived skill level, are welcome, as the teams are not fixed. The best scores form the team each month and in the event of illness or other absence, even the newest of members could contribute.

The Grand Prix continues to be popular, with three rounds done and two to go. February (4th and 7th) will be a Vegas. This uses a special three-spot, triangular 40cm face. Each spot must be shot in order and targets must also be placed at the top and bottom of the boss, with half the round shot on each.

A separate report on the Grand Prix and Postal leagues was made on the website mid-January and another will be posted mid-February, once I have the postal results backs from DCAS.

I have entered 17 scores from the club in to the annual Archery GB January Challenge. I will publish the results in one of these reports (or the League report) when they are released. Hopefully, it won’t be as late as it was last year!

If you are unsure about anything, feel free speak to me in person, via records@yelvertonbowmen.co.uk or the club Facebook page.

Here’s what members achieved in January

Indoor Classifications

• Stan Axworthy earned his ‘E’
• Darren Bennion regained his ‘A’ for Compound
• Terry Harris earned his ‘G’
• Jenny Kerchey regained her ‘D’
• Karen Ingram earned her ‘G’ for Longbow
• Oliver Pruden earned his ‘F’
• Jim Start regained his ‘F’ for Longbow
• Nick Tripp earned his ‘E’

Tables with the required scores for classifications can be found here.

252 Scheme

• Karen Ingram earned her 20 yards for Longbow, having previously earned it for Barebow
• Gavin Lewarne earned his 50 yards

Details of the 252 scheme can be found here.

Club Records

• Darren Bennion (Gentleman Recurve Master): Frostbite – 355, Worcester – 269
• Pasty Cain (Gentleman Barebow Senior + Master): Worcester – 234
• Jenny Hutchinson (Ladies Master Recurve): Portsmouth – 357
• Karen Ingram (Ladies Senior+Master Longbow): Junior National – 234, Short Warwick – 102
• Ricky Munt (Gentleman Barebow Senior): Short Junior Warwick – 350
• Oliver Pruden (Gentleman Recurve U12): Bray 1 – 110
• Alister Smith (Gentleman Longbow Senior): Worcester – 144
• Linda Wright (Ladies Barebow Senior + Master):Junior Windsor – 844, Short National – 469, Short Windsor – 583, Worcester – 202

The most recent tables of club records can be found here.

Events

Take a look at the DCAS events calendar and see if there are any competitions you fancy trying. Indoor season is a great opportunity to try a competition, as the distances are obviously a lot shorter. If in doubt, speak to the hosting club’s tournament organiser.

The club will be hosting the DCAS Indoor Championships in late February, so this is a great option to look at. Please note that we will also be after volunteers to help run the day and set up the hall the night before.

If you attend (or are planning to attend) a competition, please let me know (and add the round to your score card!). Also, let me know if you earn any badges (Roses, Stars, etc) or if you manage to attain the lofty ranks of Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman.

Thus ends the Records Report for January. Please let me know if there are any errors, omissions, etc and I hope that you continue to provide me with material to put into these reports. If you don’t want to be mentioned in reports, please let me know.

Welcome to the first report of the New Year. This focuses on the club’s progress in the County Postal Leagues as well as in-house competitions, such as the Tavistock Trophy and Grand Prix.

The majority of the material below focuses on results from December. However, because of the timing of the Grand Prix, I have also included the January progress from that.

DCAS Indoor Postals (Portsmouth) – December

For those unfamiliar with the format; Archers shoot a Portsmouth round under competition conditions and the top three scores for each bow type form a team (and the following archers form the ‘B team’, ‘C team’, etc if a club enters multiple teams). These scores are sent to DCAS and clubs compete against each other from November to March.

This month, we won two of our matches and lost three. Below are the results tables from DCAS and a table that I keep myself for progress within the club. Take a look and see how you/we did.

Please continue to provide scores, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team.

DCAS Outdoor Postals (Frostbite) – December

The Frostbite teams are selected in the same way as the Portsmouth, with the top three scores forming each team. There is a restriction, however that a maximum of one compound archer may be in each team.

As with the Indoor Postal, archers shoot a Frostbite round and the top three scores form a team. Unlike the Portsmouth, teams are not bow specific (with the exception of the new Longbow team). Archers from any bow style can contribute to the teams, although there is a maximum of one Compound allowed per team.

In December we won all three of our matches. Below are the results tables from DCAS as well as the table that I keep myself. Take a look and see how you/we did.

Please continue to provide scores, even if you don’t feel that you will make the teams. A low score is better than a zero and if there is illness, etc then even the newest member could potentially make the team.

Yelverton Bowmen Tavistock Trophy – December

The Tavistock Trophy is an internal competition run using the scores entered in the Indoor Postal. The highest cumulative score for each category over the five months wins. In the event of a category only having a single participant, they will be included in the most appropriate alternative (normally forming a unisex bow category).

At present the categories are Gents Barebow, Ladies Barebow, Compound (unisex), Longbow (unisex), Gents Recurve and Ladies Recurve. The current standings can be seen on the table below.

Yelverton Bowmen Grand Prix – January

The Grand Prix is new this year and has been well received. Each month, a different round is shot, with the scores being adjusted by the members’ handicaps (November was a WA18, December a WA25 and January a Worcester). In the table below, the first column for each month is the actual score entered. The second column is the adjusted score. In theory, if a person shoots a score in keeping with their handicap, they will receive an adjusted score of 1440.

The nature of the competition means that nothing is set in stone. Somebody currently near the bottom of the rankings could leap towards the top if they score sufficiently better than their handicap in a future round.