Club Founding & 2013/14 Season
The club was founded over the course of the 2012/13 academic year as the Archery Society, with Rebecca "Rebs" Packwood the founding President. During this time (amongst other things); the initial committee was formed, trial sessions were held at the Kingsdown Leisure Centre, admin work was carried out and the first club constitution was written.
2013/14 marked the first full season in the club's history and is thus taken as the first true year of the clubs existence.
The club received an equipment grant of £2,000 from Archery GB, various amounts from the Students' Union (SU) and Black Cat Archery lent the club some equipment to get going. As a result, the club was successfully able to hold 4 sessions over the course of the 2012/13 year; primarily in the Kingsdown Leisure Centre, but one session was held in the Richmond Building as a part of a (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to move into SU controlled buildings. Additionally to the 4 sessions, a beginners course was put on by local club Cleve Archers (who had also provided advice and support as the club found it's feet).
It was during this year that the club attended it's first competition, with committee members Miranda Timmerman and David Hewett attending the first leg of that years SWWU (South Wales and West Universities) league. However, due to not shooting at the other events, the club finished ranked 8th out of 8 in the experienced league.
On the social side of the club, the first social was held in the Robin Hood pub (where prospective members who wished to help get the club up and running were able to join the club for £2!) at the end of the 2012/13 year.
2013/14 marked the first full season in the club's history and is thus taken as the first true year of the clubs existence.
The club received an equipment grant of £2,000 from Archery GB, various amounts from the Students' Union (SU) and Black Cat Archery lent the club some equipment to get going. As a result, the club was successfully able to hold 4 sessions over the course of the 2012/13 year; primarily in the Kingsdown Leisure Centre, but one session was held in the Richmond Building as a part of a (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to move into SU controlled buildings. Additionally to the 4 sessions, a beginners course was put on by local club Cleve Archers (who had also provided advice and support as the club found it's feet).
It was during this year that the club attended it's first competition, with committee members Miranda Timmerman and David Hewett attending the first leg of that years SWWU (South Wales and West Universities) league. However, due to not shooting at the other events, the club finished ranked 8th out of 8 in the experienced league.
On the social side of the club, the first social was held in the Robin Hood pub (where prospective members who wished to help get the club up and running were able to join the club for £2!) at the end of the 2012/13 year.
2014/15 Season
The second full year in the clubs history saw David Hewett step up from the role of Treasurer to become the second society President.
The year started off a taster session that was extremely popular (perhaps too popular for it's own good) before things settled down. The year would turn into a slow burner, with sessions (held at Kingsdown Leisure Centre) starting as being every other Sunday before eventually increasing to every Sunday. It was towards the end of the year when big changes occurred however.
David Hewett proposed at an EGM that the club officially change from a society to a sports club. This would cause members to require sports passes, but would open up a much greater range of support within the University, that the club could apply for. Also at this EGM a new constitution was voted through unanimously and, amongst other things, saw the committee positions completely revamped & introduced a clearer structure to the way the club would operate.
During this year, David Hewett also organised a change in venue for the club, with the University agreeing to the club relocating up to Coombe Dingle Sports Complex. This move was seen as a vital turning point in the clubs development, as the club had been restricted on both shooting space and (perhaps even more critically) storage space.
At the end of the year, David Hewett (as Captain-elect) and Steve Williams (as Treasurer-elect) wrote the clubs application for the Performance Sport program. This application, saw the club successfully secure Kick Start status for the following year.
On the competitive side of things, the club increased the number of competitions it attended from 1 to 4; including both indoor and outdoor BUCS. As a result of attending more competitions, Bristol climbed from 8th the previous year to 6th (out of 9) in the experienced SWWU table. The biggest success of the year came courtesy of Miranda Timmerman, who finished 4th at BUCS, earning the club it's first BUCS points.
The year started off a taster session that was extremely popular (perhaps too popular for it's own good) before things settled down. The year would turn into a slow burner, with sessions (held at Kingsdown Leisure Centre) starting as being every other Sunday before eventually increasing to every Sunday. It was towards the end of the year when big changes occurred however.
David Hewett proposed at an EGM that the club officially change from a society to a sports club. This would cause members to require sports passes, but would open up a much greater range of support within the University, that the club could apply for. Also at this EGM a new constitution was voted through unanimously and, amongst other things, saw the committee positions completely revamped & introduced a clearer structure to the way the club would operate.
During this year, David Hewett also organised a change in venue for the club, with the University agreeing to the club relocating up to Coombe Dingle Sports Complex. This move was seen as a vital turning point in the clubs development, as the club had been restricted on both shooting space and (perhaps even more critically) storage space.
At the end of the year, David Hewett (as Captain-elect) and Steve Williams (as Treasurer-elect) wrote the clubs application for the Performance Sport program. This application, saw the club successfully secure Kick Start status for the following year.
On the competitive side of things, the club increased the number of competitions it attended from 1 to 4; including both indoor and outdoor BUCS. As a result of attending more competitions, Bristol climbed from 8th the previous year to 6th (out of 9) in the experienced SWWU table. The biggest success of the year came courtesy of Miranda Timmerman, who finished 4th at BUCS, earning the club it's first BUCS points.
2015/16 Season
The third full season of the club's existence saw David Hewett remain in the top role within the club; although this time as the newly formed position of Captain (following the implementation of the new constitution).
The year started off in a rocky fashion, with a large delay getting safety nets installed up at Coombe Dingle pushing back the start date by about a month. This, coupled with other things, meant member sign up was initially slow, and the planned first social of the year was a flop. During this delay however, the 5 new full-sized bosses arrived and were built by the committee (one of which suffered damage to the wood during the building process and was thus cannibalised for parts, leaving 4 working bosses). To tide over the delayed start, a give-it-a-go session was held outdoors; which was fully booked.
Once underway, the year saw successful Beginners Courses run, the establishment of the annual Christmas Charity Fun Shoot and, in the spring, the clubs first outdoor sessions. Toward the end of the year, an application was made to the SU and Sport, Exercise, and Health (SEH) to help purchase a right hand compound bow. This application was successful, and after some negotiation with the suppliers, both a right hand & left hand compound bow were purchased.
Over the course of the year, the club would aid 3 time Team GB Olympian Larry Godfrey in his training over the winter months. Larry used one of the club's bosses to shoot up at Coombe from corner-to-corner, by doing which he was able to get full 70m distance training in, away from the elements. Larry would go on to help GB win a team silver at the European Archery Championships (where the team only missed out on gold on the tie-breaker shoot-off).
At competitions, the club built on the previous years' successes. In the first leg of SWWU the club dominated the Ladies Recurve (Barebow & Freestyle) categories; winning 3 of them and coming 2nd in the other. Transport problems resulted in the club not attending the second leg of SWWU, but big success was achieved in the first of the outdoor legs where the experienced team finished 3rd, and the novice team tied for 1st. Transport and timing issues (due to exams) struck again for the final leg however, and partly as a result the experienced team finished 6th out of 8.
Over the year the club bounced back from it's social lull the previous year, and saw successful socials including bowling and Locked In a Room. Perhaps the most noteworthy social however was the very first "end of year social"; which first saw incoming Captain Steve Williams establish the annual awards ceremony & found the Hall of Fame.
The year started off in a rocky fashion, with a large delay getting safety nets installed up at Coombe Dingle pushing back the start date by about a month. This, coupled with other things, meant member sign up was initially slow, and the planned first social of the year was a flop. During this delay however, the 5 new full-sized bosses arrived and were built by the committee (one of which suffered damage to the wood during the building process and was thus cannibalised for parts, leaving 4 working bosses). To tide over the delayed start, a give-it-a-go session was held outdoors; which was fully booked.
Once underway, the year saw successful Beginners Courses run, the establishment of the annual Christmas Charity Fun Shoot and, in the spring, the clubs first outdoor sessions. Toward the end of the year, an application was made to the SU and Sport, Exercise, and Health (SEH) to help purchase a right hand compound bow. This application was successful, and after some negotiation with the suppliers, both a right hand & left hand compound bow were purchased.
Over the course of the year, the club would aid 3 time Team GB Olympian Larry Godfrey in his training over the winter months. Larry used one of the club's bosses to shoot up at Coombe from corner-to-corner, by doing which he was able to get full 70m distance training in, away from the elements. Larry would go on to help GB win a team silver at the European Archery Championships (where the team only missed out on gold on the tie-breaker shoot-off).
At competitions, the club built on the previous years' successes. In the first leg of SWWU the club dominated the Ladies Recurve (Barebow & Freestyle) categories; winning 3 of them and coming 2nd in the other. Transport problems resulted in the club not attending the second leg of SWWU, but big success was achieved in the first of the outdoor legs where the experienced team finished 3rd, and the novice team tied for 1st. Transport and timing issues (due to exams) struck again for the final leg however, and partly as a result the experienced team finished 6th out of 8.
Over the year the club bounced back from it's social lull the previous year, and saw successful socials including bowling and Locked In a Room. Perhaps the most noteworthy social however was the very first "end of year social"; which first saw incoming Captain Steve Williams establish the annual awards ceremony & found the Hall of Fame.
2016/17 Season
Year four of the club’s history saw Steve Williams move up from the role of Treasurer to lead the club as Captain.
From the word go it was obvious that this year was something special as the decision was made to grant Bristol the honour of hosting the inaugural BUCS Indoor National Final.
The club tackled the Freshers Fair with a bit more planning and structure than in previous years, with posters & leaflets ordered, and systems put in place to ensure emails were sent at as soon as possible. Combined with a new pricing strategy, this lead to record numbers signing up for beginner courses. These courses were soon underway, and yet another club record fell as a higher percentage (and thus also a higher absolute number) of archers passed the course and wanted to continue shooting. With only four working bosses the numbers far exceeded capacity post-beginners course; the club had become too successful too quickly. In the short term session sign-ups were introduced to manage the numbers, whilst the Captain and Treasurer (Richard Taylor) set about increasing the number of bosses. After working with the Student Union's Sport and Student Development Officer (John House) the club was successful in securing full funding for three additional bosses; almost doubling the clubs capacity.
As March rolled around, it was time for the club to play host to the inaugural BUCS Indoor National Final; with 250 of the best UK Student Archers descending on Coombe Dingle. After months of planning and preparation, the event went off almost without a hitch. High praise was received from the archery community across the country, with the way in which everything ran to time being highlighted in particular as something that was practically unheard of! As the shooting came to a close, Steve was asked (as Captain of the host club) to be the Guest of Honour for the competition; leading to him presenting the medals to all the victorious archers.
In addition to hosting BUCS, the club also co-hosted a SWWU match for the first time; working with Bath to establish the Bristol-Bath SWWU. The event organisation was split with Bath heading up the physical aspects (field preparation, boss movement, running the line, etc.) and Bristol heading up the admin aspects (boss list, scoring, etc.). Much like BUCS, the competition was highly praised, with it running to time (a novelty in the SWWU league) and the scores being announced very quickly after the conclusion of shooting; without the errors which are typical at SWWU fixtures.
2016/17 also saw the club establish regular coaching from level-2 coach Declan Ashworth, senior coach Richard Jones, and 3x Team GB Olympian Larry Godfrey. With a strong coaching plan, successful beginners course, and the addition of the external coaches, the club looked to make a mark in it's various competitions.
To ensure the clubs continued development within competitions, we acquired 9 new international fit bows to ensure the next generation of club members had good quality equipment to learn on. The purchase of a club camera capable of good quality 40x slow motion footage gave us a tool to tune equipment, inspect technique, and take really cool footage! We also launched the Performance Development Squad, an initiative designed to ensure the club gives all the support possible to the more competitive archers, whilst maintaining a social side to the club. It is hoped that these developments will pave the way for sustained, high levels of success for the club. Alongside these, the Captain also launched the club's Alumni Foundation to encourage lifetime association with, and support of, the club from it's members after they finish their time at the University of Bristol.
In BUCS it was night and day from last year's bounty-less ventures. At the new BUCS Southern Qualifying event, new member Becky Martin (in 2016 ranked 5th in the UK for female target recurve archery) set the 3rd highest ever Portsmouth score at BUCS for female recurvers, in doing so topping her category, whilst club novices Jess Randall and Claudia Tippett would both make the podium, finishing 1st and 3rd respectively in female novice barebow; the senior ladies team also finished in second place. 7 of the clubs archers, all experienced, made the cut for the Indoor National Final (more archers than the club had ever managed to take to a competition before, let alone one that required qualification from another event). There, both Will Armstrong (male barebow) and Becky Martin would go on to claim silver, with the ladies team finishing 6th; together earning 19 points and ranking a phenomenal 5th. At Outdoor BUCS, extreme winds caused problems for some, but the novices shone, with the novice team finishing just off the podium in 4th and Claudia Tippet & Jess Randall back on the podium after finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively within the novice female barebow category. Elsewhere Will Armstrong made it back-to-back silver when he came 2nd again in the senior male barebow category and the senior female team finished 6th; together earning 11 points, ranking 11th. Overall the club finished on 30 points, for a very impressive 8th overall, and just 2 points shy of the clubs in joint 6th.
In both the senior and novice SWWU (South Wales and West Universities) Leagues, the club once again displayed a huge turnaround from the previous year. As the season progressed, the two teams got stronger and more confident, with almost every result being better than the previous. Come the end of the season, the tables looked night and day from previous years. Whereas the club had languished near, or at, the bottom of the two SWWU tables every year since the club's formation, this year the club was extremely competitive and came second in the senior league, and were crowned Champions of the novice.
For the first time in the club’s history, it entered the E-League; where it quickly set about dominating the entry-level conference leagues (going on to secure the top two, promotion granting, positions for the senior conference, and also winning the novice conference) and claiming numerous top 3 finishes in the individual leagues.
At the climax of the 2016/17 season, the club received short-listing for both the SU Sports Awards' Club of The Year and the SU Awards' Sports Club Award. Whilst the club missed out on the former (to Men's and Mixed Lacrosse) it was successful in the second; with Captain Steve collecting the award at the SU Awards Night.
From the word go it was obvious that this year was something special as the decision was made to grant Bristol the honour of hosting the inaugural BUCS Indoor National Final.
The club tackled the Freshers Fair with a bit more planning and structure than in previous years, with posters & leaflets ordered, and systems put in place to ensure emails were sent at as soon as possible. Combined with a new pricing strategy, this lead to record numbers signing up for beginner courses. These courses were soon underway, and yet another club record fell as a higher percentage (and thus also a higher absolute number) of archers passed the course and wanted to continue shooting. With only four working bosses the numbers far exceeded capacity post-beginners course; the club had become too successful too quickly. In the short term session sign-ups were introduced to manage the numbers, whilst the Captain and Treasurer (Richard Taylor) set about increasing the number of bosses. After working with the Student Union's Sport and Student Development Officer (John House) the club was successful in securing full funding for three additional bosses; almost doubling the clubs capacity.
As March rolled around, it was time for the club to play host to the inaugural BUCS Indoor National Final; with 250 of the best UK Student Archers descending on Coombe Dingle. After months of planning and preparation, the event went off almost without a hitch. High praise was received from the archery community across the country, with the way in which everything ran to time being highlighted in particular as something that was practically unheard of! As the shooting came to a close, Steve was asked (as Captain of the host club) to be the Guest of Honour for the competition; leading to him presenting the medals to all the victorious archers.
In addition to hosting BUCS, the club also co-hosted a SWWU match for the first time; working with Bath to establish the Bristol-Bath SWWU. The event organisation was split with Bath heading up the physical aspects (field preparation, boss movement, running the line, etc.) and Bristol heading up the admin aspects (boss list, scoring, etc.). Much like BUCS, the competition was highly praised, with it running to time (a novelty in the SWWU league) and the scores being announced very quickly after the conclusion of shooting; without the errors which are typical at SWWU fixtures.
2016/17 also saw the club establish regular coaching from level-2 coach Declan Ashworth, senior coach Richard Jones, and 3x Team GB Olympian Larry Godfrey. With a strong coaching plan, successful beginners course, and the addition of the external coaches, the club looked to make a mark in it's various competitions.
To ensure the clubs continued development within competitions, we acquired 9 new international fit bows to ensure the next generation of club members had good quality equipment to learn on. The purchase of a club camera capable of good quality 40x slow motion footage gave us a tool to tune equipment, inspect technique, and take really cool footage! We also launched the Performance Development Squad, an initiative designed to ensure the club gives all the support possible to the more competitive archers, whilst maintaining a social side to the club. It is hoped that these developments will pave the way for sustained, high levels of success for the club. Alongside these, the Captain also launched the club's Alumni Foundation to encourage lifetime association with, and support of, the club from it's members after they finish their time at the University of Bristol.
In BUCS it was night and day from last year's bounty-less ventures. At the new BUCS Southern Qualifying event, new member Becky Martin (in 2016 ranked 5th in the UK for female target recurve archery) set the 3rd highest ever Portsmouth score at BUCS for female recurvers, in doing so topping her category, whilst club novices Jess Randall and Claudia Tippett would both make the podium, finishing 1st and 3rd respectively in female novice barebow; the senior ladies team also finished in second place. 7 of the clubs archers, all experienced, made the cut for the Indoor National Final (more archers than the club had ever managed to take to a competition before, let alone one that required qualification from another event). There, both Will Armstrong (male barebow) and Becky Martin would go on to claim silver, with the ladies team finishing 6th; together earning 19 points and ranking a phenomenal 5th. At Outdoor BUCS, extreme winds caused problems for some, but the novices shone, with the novice team finishing just off the podium in 4th and Claudia Tippet & Jess Randall back on the podium after finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively within the novice female barebow category. Elsewhere Will Armstrong made it back-to-back silver when he came 2nd again in the senior male barebow category and the senior female team finished 6th; together earning 11 points, ranking 11th. Overall the club finished on 30 points, for a very impressive 8th overall, and just 2 points shy of the clubs in joint 6th.
In both the senior and novice SWWU (South Wales and West Universities) Leagues, the club once again displayed a huge turnaround from the previous year. As the season progressed, the two teams got stronger and more confident, with almost every result being better than the previous. Come the end of the season, the tables looked night and day from previous years. Whereas the club had languished near, or at, the bottom of the two SWWU tables every year since the club's formation, this year the club was extremely competitive and came second in the senior league, and were crowned Champions of the novice.
For the first time in the club’s history, it entered the E-League; where it quickly set about dominating the entry-level conference leagues (going on to secure the top two, promotion granting, positions for the senior conference, and also winning the novice conference) and claiming numerous top 3 finishes in the individual leagues.
At the climax of the 2016/17 season, the club received short-listing for both the SU Sports Awards' Club of The Year and the SU Awards' Sports Club Award. Whilst the club missed out on the former (to Men's and Mixed Lacrosse) it was successful in the second; with Captain Steve collecting the award at the SU Awards Night.
2017/18 Season
The club’s fifth year began with Will Armstrong moving up from Development Officer to Captain. Early in the year, the club secured its second hosting of the BUCS Indoor National Final.
This year marked the first pre-season for the Performance Development Squad: members returned early, from far and wide to take part in training, team building, and nutrition sessions.
Beginner’s course ran smoothly, with a large amount of coaching from the committee, volunteers within the club, Level 3 coach Richard Jones, and Level 2 coach Declan Ashworth. While membership numbers were slightly smaller than the previous year, member retention at the end of the beginner’s course was greatly improved, perhaps as a higher number of total bosses meant we did not have to restrict numbers in each session. The club also ran a give it a go taster session in collaboration with the SU to allow potential members to try archery free of charge.
As October rolled around, uncertainty struck. Captain Will Armstrong resigned, and the role was briefly taken up by Treasurer (Bethany Addison). An EGM was called, and Secretary Hugo Hammond stepped up to role of Captain. Jamie Diep was elected the new Secretary, and Becky Martin was appointed Development Officer.
January kicked off with decisive plans to combat the slightly smaller membership numbers than the previous year. Another Give it a go taster session was held; this was a huge success, leading many new members to sign up to the club's second beginner’s course. This helped improve membership, and retention rates were high for these members.
Among this, Social Secretary Claudia Tippett was making leaps and bounds to ensure regular and diverse socials. Some socials hosted included mini golf, a ghost walk, laser tag, clubbing, and regular pub trips after our Sunday sessions. Our first social with another Sport’s club was also held; the club joined UoB Fencing Club for a fun afternoon playing games on the Downs.
March came, and the club hosted the BUCS Indoor National Final for a second time. The day ran smoothly thanks to planning and preparation by the committee, and the many volunteers from within the club who helped on the day. Three of our archers made the qualification scores for the BUCS Indoor Finals: Becky Martin, Will Armstrong, and Jamie Diep. Each made a valiant effort, finishing 7th/49, 8th/34, and 75th/81 respectively. BUCS Outdoors was a different story. Will Armstrong claimed a bronze medal on the 1440 day, and a silver medal in the Head-to-Heads leaving Bristol to finish the season with a total of 6 BUCS points.
In SWWU, our novices performed excellently; securing a 2nd place finish in the league (narrowly losing out on 1st place, as no novices were able to attend the final competition: BUCS Outdoors). Our experienced team claimed a 4th place finish overall. The club’s second year in the E-league ended with our senior A team topping division 4 and our B team securing a 3rd place finish. Our novice teams came 1st and 3rd respectively in division 3.
This year marked the club’s first entry into British University Team Championships (BUTC), hosted at the University of Birmingham, and comprised of a qualification round and then team Head-to-Head elimination on Beiter Hit-Miss targets. After a magnificent display of skill on all sides, Bristol were unluckily knocked out by Nottingham B team in the 1/16 round.
Notable purchases from this season included two club longbows, to be used to train and enter archers in these competition categories in future years. When they arrived, they were taken up with great excitement from several of our experienced members. Additionally, more netting was purchased to allow more room for extra bosses, making it easier to host future competitions and larger beginner’s courses.
This year, the club's Balloon Accreditation Scheme was headed up by Secretary (Jamie Diep). The club was awarded Gold Balloon Accreditation, which signifies a commitment to the SU's core values and ethos. The club also applied for Performance Sport status, with Captain Hugo Hammond and Captain-elect/Secretary Jamie Diep delivering the pitch. While unsuccessful, we retained kick-start status and continued to make a name for ourselves within Sport, Exercise, and Health (SEH).
With facilities for next year secured, equipment growing, the PDS developing, and our number of talented, dedicated members rising, UoB Archery will continue to make a name for itself.
This year marked the first pre-season for the Performance Development Squad: members returned early, from far and wide to take part in training, team building, and nutrition sessions.
Beginner’s course ran smoothly, with a large amount of coaching from the committee, volunteers within the club, Level 3 coach Richard Jones, and Level 2 coach Declan Ashworth. While membership numbers were slightly smaller than the previous year, member retention at the end of the beginner’s course was greatly improved, perhaps as a higher number of total bosses meant we did not have to restrict numbers in each session. The club also ran a give it a go taster session in collaboration with the SU to allow potential members to try archery free of charge.
As October rolled around, uncertainty struck. Captain Will Armstrong resigned, and the role was briefly taken up by Treasurer (Bethany Addison). An EGM was called, and Secretary Hugo Hammond stepped up to role of Captain. Jamie Diep was elected the new Secretary, and Becky Martin was appointed Development Officer.
January kicked off with decisive plans to combat the slightly smaller membership numbers than the previous year. Another Give it a go taster session was held; this was a huge success, leading many new members to sign up to the club's second beginner’s course. This helped improve membership, and retention rates were high for these members.
Among this, Social Secretary Claudia Tippett was making leaps and bounds to ensure regular and diverse socials. Some socials hosted included mini golf, a ghost walk, laser tag, clubbing, and regular pub trips after our Sunday sessions. Our first social with another Sport’s club was also held; the club joined UoB Fencing Club for a fun afternoon playing games on the Downs.
March came, and the club hosted the BUCS Indoor National Final for a second time. The day ran smoothly thanks to planning and preparation by the committee, and the many volunteers from within the club who helped on the day. Three of our archers made the qualification scores for the BUCS Indoor Finals: Becky Martin, Will Armstrong, and Jamie Diep. Each made a valiant effort, finishing 7th/49, 8th/34, and 75th/81 respectively. BUCS Outdoors was a different story. Will Armstrong claimed a bronze medal on the 1440 day, and a silver medal in the Head-to-Heads leaving Bristol to finish the season with a total of 6 BUCS points.
In SWWU, our novices performed excellently; securing a 2nd place finish in the league (narrowly losing out on 1st place, as no novices were able to attend the final competition: BUCS Outdoors). Our experienced team claimed a 4th place finish overall. The club’s second year in the E-league ended with our senior A team topping division 4 and our B team securing a 3rd place finish. Our novice teams came 1st and 3rd respectively in division 3.
This year marked the club’s first entry into British University Team Championships (BUTC), hosted at the University of Birmingham, and comprised of a qualification round and then team Head-to-Head elimination on Beiter Hit-Miss targets. After a magnificent display of skill on all sides, Bristol were unluckily knocked out by Nottingham B team in the 1/16 round.
Notable purchases from this season included two club longbows, to be used to train and enter archers in these competition categories in future years. When they arrived, they were taken up with great excitement from several of our experienced members. Additionally, more netting was purchased to allow more room for extra bosses, making it easier to host future competitions and larger beginner’s courses.
This year, the club's Balloon Accreditation Scheme was headed up by Secretary (Jamie Diep). The club was awarded Gold Balloon Accreditation, which signifies a commitment to the SU's core values and ethos. The club also applied for Performance Sport status, with Captain Hugo Hammond and Captain-elect/Secretary Jamie Diep delivering the pitch. While unsuccessful, we retained kick-start status and continued to make a name for ourselves within Sport, Exercise, and Health (SEH).
With facilities for next year secured, equipment growing, the PDS developing, and our number of talented, dedicated members rising, UoB Archery will continue to make a name for itself.
2018/19 Season
The sixth year of the club’s running kicked off with the secretary of 2017/18, Jamie Diep, leading the charge as the captain of University of Bristol Archery. All but one committee role was filled, with the then Social Media Officer being vacant.
The previously completed Balloon Accreditation Scheme brought in benefits from Bristol SU, which mainly included Give-it-a-Go session advertisement on their website, as well as online spotlight articles about the club and social media endorsement. A clue to what was to come, perhaps.
During the month of September, the club mainly worked on two key aspects. Preseason and the build up to the annual Welcome Fair and beginners’ course for new and prospective members. To begin with, preseason had some members return to shoot and attend training sessions put on by Sport, Exercise & Health (SEH). As with the recruitment phase, it goes without saying that no one in the club expected the mountain of attention that was to come (somehow the approximately 300 sign ups from the Welcome Fair went over everyone’s heads). Some context: the previous three years (2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18) had a membership count of 76-78 each. By the end of the first term, a grand total of 96 members had signed up, which was the largest ever membership count of the club at the time!
The beginners’ course ran with the same 5-week format as before, except Callum McDonnell had written up a more specific plan on what to coach beginners during the course. However, the beginners’ course ran rather slowly, with many attendees dropping out and not returning. This may have been due to many factors like ends taking 30 minutes to complete. The club carried on as normal after the course had finished. However, the end of November/early December came around and Claudia resigned as social secretary to focus more on her degree (which all worked out in the end as she got a first!).
By the first week of December, all indoor South Wales and West Universities (SWWU) legs in the first teaching block were completed. Bristol had started the season on 5th in the senior league and 3rd in the novice league, but continual improvement resulted in Bristol ending on joint 3rd with Swansea in the senior league and 3rd in the novice league. December also saw the club’s first head-to-head mini competition, with some taking part. The usual Christmas charity fun-shoot took place (raising £80 for Bristol’s homeless!) and the first alumni newsletter was rolled out in early January.
The new year saw a fair few events take place. The Refresher’s Fair hosted in Bristol SU revelled in 10 new members, bringing the new membership count to 106. Over the year, a couple more sign ups lead to the club’s membership count reach an all-time high of 108! Furthermore, an EGM in February brought in Will Black and Phoebe Noble as the new social secs and Jamie Stones as the first ever media officer, along with various other changes to the constitution, such as the introduction of a competitions officer by Jamie Diep.
Unlike before, Bristol was not chosen to host any BUCS events so instead hosted an indoor SWWU leg. Club funds were used to purchase 6 new straw bosses, bringing the total boss count from 7 to 13. The event was supposed to run across all of the Coombe Dingle indoor tennis courts, but a bookings mishap only saw SEH booking two courts for the requested time, hence the event was split over two days, using the regular Sunday booking and some extra hours to host the second day. This was the first indoor SWWU leg hosted by Bristol. Just a week later came the BUCS Southern Qualifiers and 8 archers qualified for the national finals – yet another new club record with the previous being 6 archers qualifying for the national finals!
March was the month of a numerous goings-on: the BUCS National Finals, which saw decent finishes from everyone, but especially a notable 5th place finish by female recurve and social sec, Phoebe Noble. Then just two weeks later was the British Universities Team Championships (BUTC). This was the second year Bristol attended the event, and had much success with both A and B teams attaining some of the highest hit rates in each round they shot in. But sandwiching these two competitions was the club’s first attendance in the 10-hour long university sports charity scheme known as Ignit10n, where the club managed to obtain space in the car park behind the indoor sports centre (thanks to Ed Hanton, sports network rep 2018/19) to set up a boss and some netting. Two handfuls of archers turned up to shoot a grand 2516 arrows over 10 hours, raising £216 for Bristol’s city centre hospitals!
The annual general meeting (AGM, 28th March 2019) of this season saw big changes in the club constitution. Equipment officer and social secretary were voted to have dual vacancies available – so two members in the role of each. Furthermore, the new competitions officer role in the constitution was finished by Jamie Diep, which enclosed the intention of absorbing responsibilities like competition logistics, finances and team selection, as well as provide news on competitions outside the university bubble; in hopes of pushing members to take the sport into their own hands. Every committee role was contested at this AGM with some roles proving popular to members of the club, such as treasurer and media officer. This meeting resulted in 10 committee members for the 2019/2020 season, with 8 roles filled, which is also the largest committee the club has ever seen.
Following the Easter break, another annual event for the club was to take place. The Performance Presentation to SEH. Suiting up was Jamie Diep (competitions officer-elect), Callum McDonnell (captain-elect) and Sophie Brain (development officer-elect). The committee and -elect decided it was best to apply for kickstart status again, due to the change in the tiering system (the new kickstart club status – as of this article – was somewhere between the old kickstart and old performance tier 3. To cut to the chase, the club was awarded with kickstart status for 2019/2020, as well as Matt Paine commenting on the presentation being the pinnacle of what it means to be a kickstart club. Thanks Matt.
The months of May and June saw both exams and the tail end of university archery. 11th May 2019 was UoB Archery’s first outdoor SWWU leg hosted solo than with another club (for example Bath in the 2016/17 season). The round was the imperial St. George/Albion/Windsor and the event went to great success with a beautifully sunny day and the schedule going fast (there ended up being 15-minute breaks between distances to pad out the day).
The final (official) university competition of the season was again at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire, which has held the BUCS Archery Outdoors Championships for many years. The Saturday was of course the day it rained with cold winds. A few Bristolians would suffer from the cold and even one was suggested to retire by a paramedic. Nevertheless, Bristol held off the pneumonia and persevered to finish shooting. Big congratulations to the female team of Phoebe Noble, Claudia Tippett and Lauren Manton for finishing 7th in the female non-compound team to earn UoB Archery a solid whole two BUCS points for the season!
Is this the end to this momentous year? No. We decided that enough was not enough by our standards and went on with archery. UoB Archery hosted a paid taster day for the Avon Federation of Womens’ Institutes in late June and outdoor shooting over the summer break in Bristol was negotiated with SEH. Members went on to shoot at world record status events across the country and the first ever SWWU Summer-Slam! was hosted at Coombe Dingle. This was a fun WA 70 with Head-to-Heads on 11th August 2019 for SWWU to reunite, and the first SWWU event to use the ianseo scorekeeping and head-to-head system to much success.
The last pointto mention is the club’s attendance at the annual Sports Awards on the night of 12th June 2019. The club did have a great year and was shortlisted for Most Improved Club. It unfortunately lost out to Pool & Snooker. Yet, Jamie Diep was shortlisted for Sportsman of the Year. Straight to the point: he ended up winning the award. Nice.
This is the real end to this article and as the captain of the 2018/19 season, a lot has certainly happened in the club and SWWU.
So. What’s next for University of Bristol Archery? The 2019/2020 year is set to have many advances in club coaching and presence with its 10 committee members. The BUCS National Finals is not returning to Bristol for 2019/2020. Nevertheless, BUCS is coming back to Bristol but in the form of the Southern Qualifiers, so we all have that one to look forward to, as well as a whole year of uncertainty and potential!
The previously completed Balloon Accreditation Scheme brought in benefits from Bristol SU, which mainly included Give-it-a-Go session advertisement on their website, as well as online spotlight articles about the club and social media endorsement. A clue to what was to come, perhaps.
During the month of September, the club mainly worked on two key aspects. Preseason and the build up to the annual Welcome Fair and beginners’ course for new and prospective members. To begin with, preseason had some members return to shoot and attend training sessions put on by Sport, Exercise & Health (SEH). As with the recruitment phase, it goes without saying that no one in the club expected the mountain of attention that was to come (somehow the approximately 300 sign ups from the Welcome Fair went over everyone’s heads). Some context: the previous three years (2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18) had a membership count of 76-78 each. By the end of the first term, a grand total of 96 members had signed up, which was the largest ever membership count of the club at the time!
The beginners’ course ran with the same 5-week format as before, except Callum McDonnell had written up a more specific plan on what to coach beginners during the course. However, the beginners’ course ran rather slowly, with many attendees dropping out and not returning. This may have been due to many factors like ends taking 30 minutes to complete. The club carried on as normal after the course had finished. However, the end of November/early December came around and Claudia resigned as social secretary to focus more on her degree (which all worked out in the end as she got a first!).
By the first week of December, all indoor South Wales and West Universities (SWWU) legs in the first teaching block were completed. Bristol had started the season on 5th in the senior league and 3rd in the novice league, but continual improvement resulted in Bristol ending on joint 3rd with Swansea in the senior league and 3rd in the novice league. December also saw the club’s first head-to-head mini competition, with some taking part. The usual Christmas charity fun-shoot took place (raising £80 for Bristol’s homeless!) and the first alumni newsletter was rolled out in early January.
The new year saw a fair few events take place. The Refresher’s Fair hosted in Bristol SU revelled in 10 new members, bringing the new membership count to 106. Over the year, a couple more sign ups lead to the club’s membership count reach an all-time high of 108! Furthermore, an EGM in February brought in Will Black and Phoebe Noble as the new social secs and Jamie Stones as the first ever media officer, along with various other changes to the constitution, such as the introduction of a competitions officer by Jamie Diep.
Unlike before, Bristol was not chosen to host any BUCS events so instead hosted an indoor SWWU leg. Club funds were used to purchase 6 new straw bosses, bringing the total boss count from 7 to 13. The event was supposed to run across all of the Coombe Dingle indoor tennis courts, but a bookings mishap only saw SEH booking two courts for the requested time, hence the event was split over two days, using the regular Sunday booking and some extra hours to host the second day. This was the first indoor SWWU leg hosted by Bristol. Just a week later came the BUCS Southern Qualifiers and 8 archers qualified for the national finals – yet another new club record with the previous being 6 archers qualifying for the national finals!
March was the month of a numerous goings-on: the BUCS National Finals, which saw decent finishes from everyone, but especially a notable 5th place finish by female recurve and social sec, Phoebe Noble. Then just two weeks later was the British Universities Team Championships (BUTC). This was the second year Bristol attended the event, and had much success with both A and B teams attaining some of the highest hit rates in each round they shot in. But sandwiching these two competitions was the club’s first attendance in the 10-hour long university sports charity scheme known as Ignit10n, where the club managed to obtain space in the car park behind the indoor sports centre (thanks to Ed Hanton, sports network rep 2018/19) to set up a boss and some netting. Two handfuls of archers turned up to shoot a grand 2516 arrows over 10 hours, raising £216 for Bristol’s city centre hospitals!
The annual general meeting (AGM, 28th March 2019) of this season saw big changes in the club constitution. Equipment officer and social secretary were voted to have dual vacancies available – so two members in the role of each. Furthermore, the new competitions officer role in the constitution was finished by Jamie Diep, which enclosed the intention of absorbing responsibilities like competition logistics, finances and team selection, as well as provide news on competitions outside the university bubble; in hopes of pushing members to take the sport into their own hands. Every committee role was contested at this AGM with some roles proving popular to members of the club, such as treasurer and media officer. This meeting resulted in 10 committee members for the 2019/2020 season, with 8 roles filled, which is also the largest committee the club has ever seen.
Following the Easter break, another annual event for the club was to take place. The Performance Presentation to SEH. Suiting up was Jamie Diep (competitions officer-elect), Callum McDonnell (captain-elect) and Sophie Brain (development officer-elect). The committee and -elect decided it was best to apply for kickstart status again, due to the change in the tiering system (the new kickstart club status – as of this article – was somewhere between the old kickstart and old performance tier 3. To cut to the chase, the club was awarded with kickstart status for 2019/2020, as well as Matt Paine commenting on the presentation being the pinnacle of what it means to be a kickstart club. Thanks Matt.
The months of May and June saw both exams and the tail end of university archery. 11th May 2019 was UoB Archery’s first outdoor SWWU leg hosted solo than with another club (for example Bath in the 2016/17 season). The round was the imperial St. George/Albion/Windsor and the event went to great success with a beautifully sunny day and the schedule going fast (there ended up being 15-minute breaks between distances to pad out the day).
The final (official) university competition of the season was again at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire, which has held the BUCS Archery Outdoors Championships for many years. The Saturday was of course the day it rained with cold winds. A few Bristolians would suffer from the cold and even one was suggested to retire by a paramedic. Nevertheless, Bristol held off the pneumonia and persevered to finish shooting. Big congratulations to the female team of Phoebe Noble, Claudia Tippett and Lauren Manton for finishing 7th in the female non-compound team to earn UoB Archery a solid whole two BUCS points for the season!
Is this the end to this momentous year? No. We decided that enough was not enough by our standards and went on with archery. UoB Archery hosted a paid taster day for the Avon Federation of Womens’ Institutes in late June and outdoor shooting over the summer break in Bristol was negotiated with SEH. Members went on to shoot at world record status events across the country and the first ever SWWU Summer-Slam! was hosted at Coombe Dingle. This was a fun WA 70 with Head-to-Heads on 11th August 2019 for SWWU to reunite, and the first SWWU event to use the ianseo scorekeeping and head-to-head system to much success.
The last pointto mention is the club’s attendance at the annual Sports Awards on the night of 12th June 2019. The club did have a great year and was shortlisted for Most Improved Club. It unfortunately lost out to Pool & Snooker. Yet, Jamie Diep was shortlisted for Sportsman of the Year. Straight to the point: he ended up winning the award. Nice.
This is the real end to this article and as the captain of the 2018/19 season, a lot has certainly happened in the club and SWWU.
So. What’s next for University of Bristol Archery? The 2019/2020 year is set to have many advances in club coaching and presence with its 10 committee members. The BUCS National Finals is not returning to Bristol for 2019/2020. Nevertheless, BUCS is coming back to Bristol but in the form of the Southern Qualifiers, so we all have that one to look forward to, as well as a whole year of uncertainty and potential!
2019 Onwards
We promise the club is very active and has been since 2019, however we may have forgotten to update this webpage - Oops!