Unfortunately due to the adverse weather forecast the Halloween shoot planned for Sun 29th Oct has been postponed. A new date for the shoot will be decided when the weather picture becomes clearer. Stay tuned.
On 24th September we held the Club outdoor championships. In a change to the round format of previous years all archers shot a 'Double 720' round, using the Archery GB National Ranking distances as the preferred round. The field saw a good mix of archers from differe
nt categories and it was great to see some of our beginners taking on a 12 dozen round for the first time.
Trophies and medals were awarded to our category winners shooting the required qualifying distances, 70m Recurve and Longbow, 50m Barebow, 50m-80cm face Compound, Junior distances as per AGB age categories.
There were also prizes awarded on handicap for Seniors, Juniors, Mixed Pairs, Couples and Parent and Child. We also gave out colour prizes and best golds. For a full list of the results and medal winners click here.
Jem Mason and Jodie Green shared the Lord Patron and Lady Paramount duties, with the Lord Patron prize being awarded to Ian Elcock. Well done Ian for being willing to stretch yourself, shoot the full 70m and put in a very creditable score at your first club champs.
All round it was great to see the hard practice of the summer season paying off and to recognise some different names will be added to the trophies this year.
Thank you to Amanda, Carl, Tamsin and team for providing hot food and drinks. A great day. We look forward to next year. You can see some photos in the gallery here.
On Sunday August 20th we held the Mushroom Shoot 2023, our largest tournament of the year and the 33rd time it has taken 
place. As an open shoot we were pleased to welcome archers from ten different clubs across Hampshire and neighboring counties. The full range of age and ability, we had new archers enjoying their first tournament experience, some new guests from other clubs and some die hard Mushroom Shoot addicts we love to see every year.
The weather was glorious, even for a summer shoot and the catering team and Tombola crew kept us entertained and fed. A superb day, with lots of prizes being won and some new names to be engraved on the trophies.
Full results of the shoot can be found here and some stunning images from the day are in the gallery here.
We were grateful to our officials for bringing glitz, glamour and good order to the event. Alison Innes (Bournemouth Archery Club) our Lady Paramount, Phil Collins (Waterside Archers) our Judge and Ian Mason (Sway Bowmen) our Field Captain, and to all the members and guest archers who contributed to make it such a great day.
We look forward to seeing you all again on Sun 18th August 2024 for the 34th Mushroom Shoot.
In June and July we held two tournaments in which the prizes go to archers in drawn pairs. 
Sat June 17th was the friendship shoot (archery darts), a re-fixture after the original event was rained off. We had a reduced field of archers, but still had a great afternoon in which eight pairs of archers went head to head in a knockout competition. Well done to Andrew Dunning and Chris Baigent who triumphed in the end. Congratulations also to the runners up Ian Ovenden and Clive Atkins for pushing them to the end.
Sunday 2nd of July was the White Rose tournament. We had twenty eight archers shooting and for some it was their very first tournament. In a change to previous years we exchanged the Portsmouth round for something a little further out. Archers were permitted to choose between a Metric 80-30 or a Metric 122-30, with archers shooting on the larger face having their scores adjusted.
In the end Nicola Danson shot her way to victory strongly assisted by Chris Baigent who celebrated doing the double across the two tournaments. As well as getting their name on the trophy, the winners are now the proud owners of a White Rose badge to remind them of the occasion. Yvonne John and Matt Cooper came in as runners up and not far behind. Well done to all who took part. A special mention to Matt Ware, shooting in his first tournament with the first outing for his new bow and banking his first six dozen at Archer 3rd Class, only six dozen more needed to secure a first step on the classification ladder. Full results for the tournament can be found here.
Thank you to Hannah and Jem for organising and undertaking field captain and judging duties. 
Next tournament on the calendar is the Mushroom Shoot on Sunday 20th August.
A sign-up sheet is in the clubhouse or see Hannah or Jem to find out more.
Photographs from recent events can be found in the website gallery here.
Are you interested in learning to shoot?
Sign up for one of our Archery Beginners Courses.
