Reviewed May 2024
The following rules are intended as a guide to new and existing members regarding current arrangements and expected conduct.
General
1) Our usual outdoor club sessions are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays @ 5pm until dusk and Sundays are 10am. See our calendar for competition round start times. Please see the outdoor shooting rules for details regarding Frostbite shoots, which take place throughout the indoor season on Sundays, however they are weather dependent.
Our usual indoor club sessions are Mondays 4pm – 6pm and 6pm – 8pm and Wednesdays 6-10pm. Please refer to Schlott for specific session details and our website calendar for competitions.
2) Each archer is responsible for ensuring that their scores are given to the club records officer. Scoring can be electronically transferred, however hard copies completed in ink may be required for competition rounds. Similarly, if shooting at tournaments at other clubs, you are responsible for ensuring that the records officer receives a copy of any results sheet.
3) Occasionally the Committee may need to change shooting times or calendar events. Club members will be notified of these changes by text or email and a notice on the website and Facebook.
4) Coaching is available and should only be given by Wirral Archers’ club coaches. The current club coaches are Matthew Thomas, Tim Peers, Steve Croston, Dan Jones, Mal Hamer, Sean Higgin, and Dave Samuels. Please contact them directly to arrange coaching sessions.
5) Members should ensure that they take their litter home.
6) If members accidentally break other members’ equipment or arrows, it is expected that they offer to compensate their fellow archer for the loss incurred.
Junior Archers
1) All children (any person under 18 years of age) may only be present on the field when shooting is in progress, when accompanied by a parent or appointed guardian.
2) When junior archers are shooting individually or in groups, they must be supervised by an Archery GB affiliated member of the club.
3) We remind members that under Archery GB Safeguarding rules, adult members cannot befriend juniors on social media.
4) All junior coaching should only be provided by club coaches.
The Field – Target Shooting
1) Bosses and equipment should be transported onto the field using the hand pulled trolley.
2) Safety signs should be displayed on fencing at the entrance to the field whenever shooting is in progress, and the barrier and cones ,must be put out to prevent vehicles entering the range during shooting.
3) All members are expected to assist in getting bosses and archery equipment out of the container, setting up the field safely and putting everything away at the end of shooting. If a member arrives late, after the field is set up then every effort should be made to stay until the end to help put everything away. Similarly, if a member knows that they cannot stay until they end, they should arrive on time to help set the field up.
4) If a member notices any member of the public on the field, they must shout “FAST” and all archers must cease shooting, removing their arrow from the bow.
5) There must be no more than 4 people shooting on a boss at any one time.
6) Should an archer wish to shoot on a boss which is already occupied, the newcomer is expected to ask those already shooting on the boss if they can join them.
7) When pulling arrows from the boss, those on the outside of the group should be pulled first. This avoids the possibility of damage to arrows and member, whilst stretching for access to central hits.
8) In order to keep time searching for lost arrows to a reasonable level, members must abide by the Field Captain’s discretion as to when searching must cease and shooting continue.
9) All lost arrows must be entered in the Lost and Found equipment book, which is kept in the container, and a committee member informed, and reported to AGB via their website.
10) Under Current Archery GB rules, it is stated that when shooting in grounds where public have right of access, there must be two people present (over 18 years of age), one of which need not be an archer. One must act as a lookout whilst the other shoots. The club will not be responsible for any accident in situations where this rule is not followed.
Competition rules
1) Within the club calendar there are various club trophy competitions both indoors and outdoors. Please refer to the tournament section to see the requirements and eligibility for these.
2) Priority will be given to competition participants on allotted competition days, however, with notice, non-participants will be accommodated provided they fit in with competition timings and distance changes.
3) Likewise, should a member wish to shoot only part of the day on the day of a Trophy shoot, with notice, accommodations will be made to enable their shooting needs. Notice should be given in advance of the shoot to the Club Chair, Secretary or Records Officer.
4) Bosses will be made available for those wishing to start a round at 2 pm. The archer(s) concerned must be available at 1:00 pm to assist with setting up the bosses.
5) Archers not wishing to shoot longer distance rounds may, starting at the same time, shoot a round of shorter distance. Any boss distance change should coincide with the competition distance change. This will avoid delaying the competition.
6) Competition shooting starts promptly at the set times, especially on trophy shoots and all members should therefore be ready to start shooting on time. As usual, all archers should assemble at the field 45 minutes before sighters to assist with setting up the field.
7) Club Championships are the only shoot where we would expect all archers to be shooting the same round (depending on bow and archer classification). Accommodations for non-competitors may not be able to be made.