Wicklow Archers Newsletter for
May 2021
Hello everyone, it's been a while since we've had a newsletter. The sun is shining, people are getting vaccinated, Dargle Valley is open for training again, beginner courses are back and we're looking to run some club competitions again!
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Dargle Valley
Dargle Valley has been open now for a while on Wednesday evenings, from 7pm and Sunday mornings from 9.30am. Dargle Valley is our outdoor venue with an outdoor range, distances from 20m up to 70m, and our wonderful 16 target field course.
We are operating a pay as you go system this year, so it's currently €5 for Wicklow Archers and €10 for non-members. We are no longer accepting cash but you can pay by card when you arrive or using the SumUp link when you fill in the Covid 19 Return to Sports form.
If you wish to attend training, you must fill in the Covid 19 Return to Sports form no more than 24 hours before. You can then pay online.
Usual COVID-19 restrictions: please practice social distancing, do the field course in small groups, bring a hand sanitizer with you and regularly clean your hands, handle only your own equipment and pull your own arrows. As it is an outdoor venue, good boots are recommended as the ground can be slippy.
This is obviously weather permitting as it is an outdoor venue, so please keep an eye on Facebook Page, Facebook group if you're a member, website, or even twitter for the latest updates.
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Indoor: Shoreline and St. Gerards
Currently we don't know if and when we'll be back to shooting indoors. As many of you know Shoreline's main hall is currently being used as the Greystones vaccination centre. We're monitoring the situation before we can't give any estimate when we'll be back shooting indoors.
As for St. Gerards, we currently have no update. We have been in discussion with them access over the summer, so we shall see. As of now, Beginner courses are being run in Dargle Valley.
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Competitions
As we can resume with Competitions from June 7th, we are going set up some club league competitions, a Field League and a Target League. You will have to shoot at least 3 out of the 5 to qualify for a medal.
Our Field League will be 16 targets, with red, blue, yellow and white (beginner) pegs for all bow types: Compound, Longbow, Instinctive, Barebow and Olympic Recurve. If you haven't done field archery before, this is a great opportunity to try it.
June 20th - Field League
July 18th - Field League
August 15th - Field League
September 12th - Field League
October 31st - Field League Final
Our Target League will be a FITA 900 format, where you will shoot 30 arrows (6 per round) at three distances. See here for the rules and format details.
July 4th - Target League
August 1st - Target League
August 29th - Target League
September - 26th - Target League
October 10th - Target League Final
We are also looking at hosting the Irish Nationals 3D in Dargle Valley on October 16th/17th. So keep an eye on our feeds for the latest on that.
We do try to keep the Google Calendar up to date with latest dates but do keep an eye on the Facebook Page, Facebook group if you're a member, website, or even twitter for the latest updates.
The range will be available to use on the days when we have the field league for those who wish to just practice. This league is open to all AI members. Cost: €5 for members and €10 for non-members.
Additional, many of our members have already signed up for the Irish Open 3D Championships on 12th June, which is hosted by our newest neighboring club, Slaney Archers. It's a 2 day event, against 3D targets and promises to be a lot of fun.
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Beginner Courses
We've very excited to start the beginner courses again. Over the lockdown, we've had a huge amount of interest in trying archery and we've sadly had to turn them away. Now that we can start coaching again, we're started to reach out to those people and our first course has already begun.
The courses currently are a much more intense format of two half-days in Dargle Valley, where the coaches will bring new archers through safety, shooting etiquette, Olympic recurve, barebow, target and field. If you know someone who is interested in starting archery, they drop Jane, our Coaching Coordinator, an email at coaching@wicklowarchery.org.
There are no come and tries planned for the moment either due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Wicklow Archers wish Richard the best
All at Wicklow Archers would like to wish our friend, Richard Webb, and his wife Margaret, all the very best as they embark on a new adventure in the UK today after living in Bray for the past 40 years. Richard became a long-standing member of the club, and as such we are delighted to offer him honorary membership of Wicklow Archers. We welcome him back to shoot any time he finds himself in the Garden County in the future. We all look forward to seeing you again
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Wicklow Archers Wexford Road Trip
Several Wicklow Archers ventured down on a very wet Sunday to the Slaney Archer's field course, to get a sneak peak of the course and support our neighboring club. Slaney Archers were very welcoming, and even put out some of their 3D targets for us.
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