On Saturday 16 March Belvoir Archers assembled for the third Founders Shoot.  It was an excellent turnout despite the unpleasant weather, after a briefing in the shelter of the Country Club the field party set to and soon got the targets out.

When the original members set up Belvoir Archers there were only 7 of us and the only way we could have a competition (and we all enjoyed shooting tournaments…) was to use the handicap system.   As the club has grown from 7 to 38, a new Junior Shield has been introduced and as we have some juniors that can’t beyond  20 yards yet, and don’t have a handicap, separate medals were awarded for the juniors.

The handicap system gives archers allowances to add to their raw score in the round; the allowances are based on the archer’s current handicap and the round to be shot, allowing archers shooting different distances and bowstyles to compete against one another.  Any club member who has gained a handicap in time is eligible to compete for the trophy, whatever round they shoot on the day.

The round was a National, 4 dozen arrows at the longer distance and 2 dozen at the shorter.  It quickly became clear that this year’s shoot would go down as “a bit trying” and we moved from shooting the traditional “3 and 3” to “shoot all 6 and try to take shelter”.  A couple of the juniors showed more sense than their elders by retiring partway through the first distance.  Those determined archers who battled on were rewarded as the rain slowly stopped and we even saw a little sunshine by the end of the round.

The field was quickly cleared and we gathered in the Country Club for sausage and bacon cobs and presentations.

The Winners of this years Founders Shoot trophies were:
Senior = Richard Dixon-Teasdale (Recurve – 1^st year of shooting)

Junior = Peter Emery (Longbow)

Junior Non Handicap 40/30 – Joe Slater (Recurve – 1^st year of shooting)

Junior Non Handicap 30/20 – Sam Shaw (barebow  – 1^st year of shooting)

Junior Non Handicap 15/10 – Alana Evans-Mark (Recurve – 1^st year of shooting)