Archery offers many opportunities across age ranges and abilities.
It is a very social sport and provides the opportunity to shoot in a social setting and participate, in friendly club and inter-club competitions (indoor in winter, outdoor in summer). It is an environment where you find seniors and juniors, young and old and able and disabled all shooting and competing together. Also, it is very family oriented and where parents and their children can enjoy sport together.
Archery is a sport for all. It helps to build muscle endurance and flexibility, develop hand eye coordination and body strength. Archery teaches discipline, respect and self-control – something that carries over into a person’s attitude, work habits and other activities. Archery can also give a strong sense of personal achievement and development. It is a great option for non-sporty and semi-sporty people, as well as those who wish to try something new.
Archery is a fun, educational and a non-traditional activity for all people to take part in. There are four disciplines where the shooting format differs:
Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances and is practiced indoor and outdoor
Field archery involves shooting at targets of varying distance, often in woodland and rough terrain
Clout is a form where archers shoot at a flag (the Clout) from a very long distance and score points depending on how close each arrow lands
Flight archery where the aim is to shoot the greatest distance and requires a large flat area.
Archery has a history going back thousands of years but yet has evolved into a modern technically advanced sport that has featured permanently in the Olympics since 1972. Currently there are over 1000 clubs in the UK with a combined membership in excess of 45,000 people. Worldwide the number of people enjoying archery totals 8,000,000 across 150 countries.