County of Warwick Archery Association
Affiliated to West Midlands Archery Association and Grand National Archery Society
News and Results
For and about Warwickshire Archers
Folkard Makes Excellent Start to Outdoor Season
After an excellent indoor season, both at home and abroad, during which she broke two national records, Leamington’s recurve archer Naomi Folkard, won her first two major outdoor shoots of the 2013 season: the Dearne Valley Field Tournament in Yorkshire and Meriden Archery Club’s world record status target archery tournament.
At the Dearne Valley Field Tournament Folkard shot 354 for the unmarked distances on the Day 1 course, and 356 for the marked distances on Day 2, giving her a combined total of 710. This put her well ahead of Caroline Baldry second with 612, and Michelle Kiddy third with 568. It also gave Folkard her final qualifying score (578) for this year’s international field archery events. On the basis of this, Folkard is hoping to be selected for the World Games to be held in Colombia at the end of July. (She earned the GB ladies’ recurve place in the Games when she won the bronze medal at last year’s World Field Archery Championships. )
Last weekend Folkard, turned to target archery, in which she is currently ranked 1st in GB, 3rd in Europe and 14th in the world. The Meriden FITA Star tournament as usual attracted many top GB archers. Folkard shot consistently well throughout to finish on 1312 for the ladies’ FITA round of 12 dozen arrows over 4 distances. This was an excellent score at the start of the season and significantly ahead of Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley) 1258 and Jeanetta Braun (Brent Valley) 1257.
Other local archers finishing in the top 10 at Meriden were: gents recurve - Jonathan Shales (‘V’) 3rd, 1270; and Bob Lowe (Meriden) 8th 1254
Gents compound - Chris White (Rugby) 2nd, 1397; Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham) 3rd, 1393; and Colin Geenes (Meriden) 7th, 1369.16 April 2013
Gold For Warwickshire Archers
Two Warwickshire archers excelled at the Senior West Midlands Indoor Championships last week. Leamington’s Naomi Folkard and Birmingham’s Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights) convincingly outshot the opposition to take the ladies’ recurve and the men’s compound championships respectively.
The well attended event was held at Evesham. Archers shot the 18 metre FITA round of 5 dozen arrows on a small 3 spot face.
Folkard shot consistently strongly to score a total of 582, which put her well ahead of Becky Lashley (Droitwich) second with 530, and Rachel Smith (Leamington) third with 488. Ravenscroft, with 583, also had a significant lead over Eric Thomas (Redditch) 569, and Andy Rikunenko (Redditch) and Chris Price (Droitwich), both on 566.
Also in the medals was Meriden’s Bob Lowe, who won the men’s recurve bronze with 544 (22 10s). John Nott (Saints and Sinners), who normally shoots compound took the championship with 554, and Manuel Gil (Warwick University) took second place with 544 (29 10s).
Juniors Matthew Ingram (Meriden) 559, Caitlin McCarthy (Leamington) 529 and Michael McCarthy (Leamington) 449, all took visitor medals in the County of Worcester Championships which were incorporated in the event.
12 March 2013
World Cup 4th Place for Folkard
Warwickshire archer Naomi Folkard (Leamington) finished 4th in the Indoor World Cup, narrowly missing out on a medal. After competitions in Singapore and Nimes, the third and last qualification leg of the World Cup, and a head to head final knock out competition, were held in Las Vegas last weekend.
In the third qualification round, a Vegas over 2 days, Folkard shot well to secure 5 place with 578. This earned her 13 ranking points which were added to 5 points for a 9th place finish in Nimes. She could not afford to attend the first leg in Singapore, but despite this disadvantage, she went into the final head to head competition for the top 8 qualifiers, ranked 5th with 18 points. Ranked above her for the final knock out were Sung Eun Jeon (Korea) with 34 points, Berangere Schuh (France) 33, Min Jong Kim (Korea) 29, and Celine Bezault (France) 25.
The individual matches were based on a points system for 5 sets of 3 arrows. Folkard’s first match against Bezault went well with Folkard dropping few points and winning 7 - 1. This brought her up against Korean number one, Jeon, who was on superb form. Despite excellent shooting by Folkard, and tying two sets, the Korean won 6 - 2. Folkard’s bronze medal match against Schuh was close, but although Folkard shot the only perfect set of three 10s, Schuh came out on top 6 - 2. Jeon went on to beat team mate Kim for gold.
12 February 2013
National Record for Folkard
Leamington’s Olympic archer, Naomi Folkard, yesterday shot a new national record (subject to ratification) at the Stourbridge Company of Archers annual FITA 25 tournament.
The well attended indoor shoot held at Waseley Hills High School in Rednal, involved 60 arrows, shot over 25 metres at a 60 cm target face. Folkard who has been shooting some terrific scores recently, shot 584 out of a possible 600, to put 3 points on the national record currently held by Athens Olympian, Helen Palmer (Welbeck). Sue Davis (Redditch) 546 was second.
Another Warwickshire archer, Adam Ravenscroft, shooting in the men’s compound section, secured 575 to finish second to Chris Bell (Saints and Sinners) 586. Jon Nott (Saints and Sinners) 574 was a close third.
Mackenzie Searl from the Junior Bowmen of Charnwood, (also one of the Warks junior ‘Performance’ squad) won the junior competition with a score of 358,
Both Folkard and Ravenscroft are off to Nimes later this week, totally at their own expense, to shoot in the Indoor Archery World Cup event.
14 January 2013
Folkard Up With Koreans In Berlin
Naomi Folkard at full draw
photo courtesy of Alexander Gilliland
Warwickshire’s Olympic archer Naomi Folkard (Leamington) put up an excellent showing at the Berlin Open International Archery Meeting last weekend to separate the Korean Ladies and finish in fourth place.
This indoor archery event attracted approximately 500 archers amongst whom were some of the world’s top competitors, including three top Korean ladies. It took the form of an 18 metre FITA ranking round (60 arrows at a small 3 spot face over 18 metres), followed by head to head knock out matches (5 sets of 3 arrows, with 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
Folkard scored a superb 587 out of 600 in the ranking round, which put her in 3rd place, very closely behind Jang (Korea) 588 and Chun (Korea) also 587. The top 32 qualifiers then went into elimination rounds, matches being determined by ranking. In her first match Folkard beat Katharina Freimann (Germany) 6 – 0. This brought her into a closer 1/8 round match against fellow Olympian, Pia Lionetti (Italy). Shooting consistently well Folkard won 6 – 4. Her quarter final match was against German Olympian, Elena Richter, fresh from her victory in the previous round over the great Natalia Valeeva (Italy). Again this was a close match with Folkard coming out on top 6 – 4. Folkard’s semi-final match was against Chun (Korea), but she could only take one set from Chun to lose 6 – 2. Her bronze medal match was against the top qualifying Korean Jang. Although Folkard shot well with ends of 29, 29, 28, Jang put in a storming finish with 3 perfect ends of 30.
The third Korean lady was knocked out by team mate Jang in the quarter final round, giving Unruh (Germany) an entry into a semi final match against Jang, which she narrowly won 6-4. The final result was therefore 1 Chun, 2 Unruh, 3 Jang and 4 Folkard.
Folkard, who has been training hard over the Autumn with Rio in view, said after the event: ‘I am really pleased with my performance in Berlin. I have made significant changes in technique since the Olympics, and it is now beginning to come together more consistently’.26 December 2012
12th Year as UK Number One
Warwickshire archers made an excellent showing in the recently published UK National rankings. Leamington’s Naomi Folkard topped the ladies’ recurve list for the twelfth time, and five other archers finished in the top 10 in their respective categories.
The rankings are based on best scores during the outdoor season: 3 ladies/gents FITA rounds and 2 FITA 70 rounds for the recurves; and 3 ladies/gents |FITA rounds, 2 FITA 70 rounds and best match score for the compounds. All archers are required to shoot an Olympic round to be eligible for ranking.
Folkard, who had limited opportunities to shoot the rounds required due to her preparations for the Olympics, produced some excellent scores over the season to accumulate 5257 points, ahead of Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley) 5229 and fellow Olympian Alison Williamson (Long Mynd) 5217. In this highly competitive sport it is a massive achievement for Folkard to have maintained her number one ranking for so many years.
Warwickshire men, both recurves and compounds made a superb showing. Meriden clubmates Bob Lowe (5062) and Lee Williams (5054) finished 6th and 8th respectively in the men’s recurve list, which was topped by Olympian Simon Terry (5326). Compounders Chris White (Rugby) 5736, Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights) 5722 and Colin Geenes (Meriden) 5668 finished 3rd, 4th and 7th respectively, behind the number one, Duncan Busby (Blackthorn) 5798.
28 October 2012
Warwickshire Duo Win Gold at Welsh Champs
Two Warwickshire recurve archers took the honours at the Welsh and Open Field Archery Championships held at Pentref, South Wales last week. Naomi Folkard (Leamington) and Jon Shales (‘V’), both bronze medallists in the World Field Championships at the end of August, convincingly won their respective classes.
The competition was held over two days in the mountains overlooking the Rhondda valley. There were 24 targets each day, over difficult hilly terrain. On Day 1 distances were unmarked, and on day 2 they were marked. Heavy rain on the second added to the difficulty of the course.
Folkard scored 362 for the unmarked and 356 for the marked to give a combined total of 718. This put her well ahead of Caroline Baldry, second with 601 and Penny Cox, third with 504.
Shales, with 363 and 337, finished on 700, ahead of Matthew Symonds and David Howells who totalled 630 and 594 respectively.
The photograph shows Naomi Folkard shooting at the World Field Archery Championships in the French Alps in August 2012.
8 October 2012
Gold and Bronze for Folkard at World Field Championships
Naomi Folkard, Tracey Anderson and Lizzy Rees,
all delighted at winning a gold medal for GB
at the World Field Archery Championships
Three Warwickshire archers last week represented Great Britain at the World Field Archery Championships in Val D’Isere (France): recurve archers Naomi Folkard (Leamington) and Jon Shales (‘V’ Archery), and compound archer Chris White (Rugby). They were among some 250 archers taking part in the event in a stunning location on lower slopes of the Alps. Both Folkard and Shales won individual bronze medals and Folkard was also a member of the 3 woman British team which won gold.
The event for all disciplines, recurve, compound and barebow followed the same format. On Day 1 archers shot 24 targets at unmarked distances, and on day 2, 24 targets at marked distances. These scores were then combined to rank the archers for the individual events, to select the archers who were to shoot for their country in the team events, and to rank the teams. Ladies and gents had separate team events of 3 archers - the highest ranked archer in each discipline (recurve, compound and barebow). In the individual events there were then two elimination rounds: the top 16 shot against each other, and then the top 8 shot, against each other. The top 4 then shot head to head matches in a semi final to determine the medal matches.
Folkard was fresh from representing GB in the Olympics. After her competition in London finished, she stayed three additional nights in the Olympic Village, during which time she was able to relax a little, watch athletics, cycling, triathlon and hockey events, and she enjoyed seeing Mo Farah win gold in the 5000 metres. She then left early to prepare for the World Field Championships and had four days to practise her shot sequence, get a sight tape and tune her bow for field distances. Although unable to compete or practice field archery in the long run up to the Olympics, Folkard is an experienced field archer and holds silver and bronze medals from previous world championship events.
In the ranking competition Folkard shot consistently well to finish in fourth place, behind Sophie Dodemont (France), Jessica Tomasi (Italy) and Marina Szendey (France). In the first elimination round she finished in third place with 168, behind Dodemont 172 and Yuki Hayashi (Japan) 169. The second elimination round saw a surprise with Elena Richter (Germany) and Zoe Gobbels (Belgium) shooting their way into first and second places respectively with 123 and 113. Szendey held on to third place with 113, and Folkard was 4th with 112. After leading the field up to this point Dodemont bowed out of the medal race, as did the much fancied Tomasi, world champion in 2008. In her semi final match Folkard came up against the suddenly on form Richter and although Folkard shot very well, she needed more golds (5s and 6s) to match Richter. She lost by 55 to 51. In her bronze medal match she met Szendey who was getting much support from the home crowd. Folkard took an early lead of 4 points on the first end, which by the end of the 12 arrow match was stretched to 10 points, Folkard taking bronze by 54 points to 44. Richter went on to take gold from Gobbels in a low scoring match 48 to 41.
As the highest qualifying GB lady, Folkard was in the team competition, together with Tracey Anderson (compound) and Lizzy Rees (barebow). The GB ladies’ team was ranked fifth, but shot really well. After victories against Sweden (98 to 94) and USA (52 to 51) they met France in the final. The British girls started with a 4 point lead after the first end, but the French girls (Dodemont, recurve; Sandrine Vandionant-Frangilli, compound; and Elliette Lalover, barebow), reduced this by 2 points in the second end. However, the GB girls fought back to win over four ends by 50 points to 46, and take the gold medal.
Team mate Shales, a former world field champion, also shot superbly. He qualified in fifth place with 700 points, just 18 points behind Sebastian Rohrberg (Germany). In the first elimination round he was fourth on 170, behind Valladont (France) 177. Kaminski (USA) 176 and Pigeaud (France) 174. After the second elimination round he was still fourth, but the competition was very tight: Valladont and Kaminski both on 117, with Rabanet (France) and Shales on 116. Shales put up an excellent fight against Valladont in his semi-final match, but lost by 59 to 55. However, he beat the other Frenchman Rabanet for the bronze medal, 50 to 44.
As the top-qualifying GB man, Shales made the GB team, but as the team was ranked in 10th place, it did not progress into the eliminations.
Compound archer, White, after the first two days was ranked fourth, with 808 points, behind Jesse Broadwater (USA) 830. Dave cousins (USA) 827 and Marcus Laube (Germany) 820. However, he finished 10th in the first elimination round and therefore proceeded no further. As the top ranking GB compound, he also made the GB men’s team which finished in 10th place.
Overall it was a good week for Warwickshire archers, who brought back 3 medals from the 2012 World Championships.
20 August 2012
Shirley Radburn Sadly Passed Away
Sadly Shirley Radburn passed away on Sunday 10th June after a brave battle against cancer.
Shirley had been involved in archery for many many years and alongside her late husband Ken were stalwart members of Meriden Archery club. Shirley loved to shoot at Meriden and was a keen supporter of club, league and county events and long after her retirement loved to be kept up to date with all the archery gossip. Shirley served for many years on Meriden`s committee and was a highly respected chairwoman – fair, knowledgeable and with a huge personality. A county judge for many years she always supported local shoots and in particular all Warwickshire events. Her enthusiasm was infectious and her advice was always much valued. Shirley was diagnosed with facial cancer last year and refused to go through painful and invasive treatment that was unlikely to help. She was active and positive until the very end, still taking out her beloved flat coats and getting around to gundog events. She never ever gave in and was the bravest lady I have been privileged to know. Rest peacefully now Shirley – you will be greatly missed.
Phlippa lowe – meriden.
Funeral arrangements: Wednesday 20th June – 1.45pm at Mid Warwickshire Crematoruim, Oakley Wood, Bishops Tatchbrook, Leamington Spa CV33 9QP and afterwards at Berkswell Church.
14 June 2012
Folkard & Ravenscroft Win UK Masters
Warwickshire archers, recurve Naomi Folkard (Leamington) and compound Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham) won their divisions of the UK Masters held last weekend at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire. A number of other Warwickshire archers shot well to take places in the top ten.
The competition was held over two days, with a FITA 70m for recurves and a FITA 50m for compounds, followed by a head to head knock out competition and a 12 dozen arrow ladies/gents FITA on Sunday. For each of the three elements of the event archers were given points according to their finishing position (1 point for first, 2 for second etc), and the archer with the least points was the overall winner.
Weather conditions were difficult - cold, wet and windy. Nevertheless there was some superb shooting.
Folkard, training hard for the Olympics and fresh back from winning a silver medal in the European Championships in Holland, was in top form. She scored 662 for the FITA 70m, an average of 9.1 per arrow, and just one point off her own national record. This put her well ahead of Jeanetta Braun (Brent Valley), second with 614. She stormed through all her head to head matches, beating Cherry Lyne (B of the Deans) in the gold medal match by 6 points to 2. In the traditional 12 dozen arrow FITA round over four distances, she finished on 1283, ahead of Lyne 1217 and Braun 1168. In the overall event she accumulated the minimum number of points, 3, to finish as UK Masters Champion. In addition she won all six of the ladies’ recurve trophies for the event, the Ogden trophy for the overall winner, four distance trophies together with the long metric trophy. All in all, a very successful weekend and another confidence booster for Folkard ahead of London 2012.
Ravenscroft, likewise put in a similar outstanding performance in the mens’ compound event. He finished second in the FITA 50m with 696 behind Duncan Busby (Blackthorn) 706, but went on to win all his head to head matches, beating Andrew Jackson (Fakenham) 147 to 145 in the gold medal match. He topped the score for the 12 dozen FITA round with an excellent 1351, ahead of Jake Bunce (Cleve) 1346. With a total of 4 points over the two days Ravenscroft finished as Masters Champion, ahead of Jackson on 15 and Nathan Cutler (Wolverhampton) 23. He also won two of the distance trophies.
Other Warwickshire archers making their presence felt were: Bob Lowe (Meriden) 30m distance award, 5th in the FITA 70m and 9th in the gents FITA; Philippa Lowe (Meriden) third in the head to head and 4th in the FITA 50m; Lee Williams (Meriden) 2nd in the FITA 70m and 7th in the head to head; Pete James (Meriden) 6th in the gents FITA and Jon Shales (‘V’ AC) 6th in the head to head. One of a few juniors shooting Jacob Vick (Meriden) put in a creditable performance shooting as a FITA cadet.6 June 2012
Folkard Takes Silver in European Champs
Amy Oliver, Naomi Folkard and Alison Williamson
- The GB Ladies’ Olympic Team for London
who together took silver
at the Commonwealth Games in India last year
Leamington’s Olympic recurve archer took the ladies’ individual silver medal at the European Outdoor target Championships held last week in Amsterdam, and Chris White (Rugby) was a member of the men’s compound team which also took silver.
The event, in the run up to the Olympics, was attended by archers from 40 countries, many of whom will be representing their nations in London. These included some of the world’s top lady recurves.
Folkard, for whom London will be her third Olympics, shot well all week. She began by qualifying in 8th place with a score of 640 for the FITA 70 qualification round of 6 dozen arrows. This placing was just high enough to give her byes for the first two head to head rounds, so that she entered the individual matches at 1/16 stage. Matches were on a sets system with 2 points for winning, or 1 point for drawing, each set of 3 arrows. Folkard easily won her first match against Leila Fazilova (Azerbaijan) 7 – 1. The next match against Anna Szukalska (Poland) who had qualified in 9th place with 639, just one point less than Folkard, was tougher, but Folkard came out on top 6 -4. Folkard’s ¼ final match brought her up against Natalia Lesniak (Poland), who storming through all her matches knocking out some big names, had just defeated the number one qualifier Inna Stepanova (Russia). However, Lesniak was to get no further, losing to Folkard 6 - 2. In the semi final Folkard Beat Carina Christiansen (Denmark) 7 - 3, which took her to the gold medal match against the number two qualifier Ksenia Perova (Russia), who had knocked GB’s Alison Williamson in the ¼ final. Naomi shot well in very tricky windy conditions, but Perova on this occasion shot better to win 6 – 0.
Archery GB Performance Director Sara Symington said “It’s been a great week for Naomi, she had a fantastic run to the final, and winning a silver medal at the European Championships is a great confidence boost for her”.
Chris White was a member of the 3 man compound team which fought through a series of matches, knocking out Serbia, Italy and Netherlands to reach the gold medal match against France. They put up a good fight, but despite a high score lost 227 to 22928 May 2012
Folkard On Target For Third Olympics
Folkard at full draw in her match against Williamson
Leamington archer Naomi Folkard maintained her sparkling form in the third and final stage of the Olympic selection process, which was completed at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre on Saturday 21st April. The archers who took the top two places in the women’s event, Amy Oliver and Naomi Folkard, can now start planning for the Olympic Games.
Of the seven lady archers who started in the selection process on 31st March, three had been eliminated in stages 1 and 2, and the remaining four shot round robin head to head matches on each of the three days of stage 3. Folkard entered the fray in second place behind GB teammate Amy Oliver, but ahead of long time colleagues Alison Williamson (hoping to shoot in her sixth Olympic Games) and Charlotte Burgess, both of whom had been with Folkard in Beijing four years ago. Folkard maintained her second place throughout the three days, winning seven of her 9 matches, one more than Oliver and four more than Williamson and Burgess.
Interviewed at the end of shooting on Saturday, she declared herself happy with her form, which had withstood strong blustery and very cold winds, near horizontal rain, and on the last day a terrific hailstorm. From time to time there was also some very welcome, but short lived sunshine.
The make-up of the team will be formally announced at a British Olympic Association press conference at Lords on May 9th. The third place is at the discretion of Archery GB’s Performance Director Sarah Symington and Head Coach Lloyd Brown.
22 April 2012
Folkard in Contention for Olympic Place
After the completion, last weekend, of the second stage of the selection process for the British archery team LONDON 2012, Leamington’s Naomi Folkard is lying in second place. This put her in a good position for the third and final stage now under way (19th to 21st April).
28 year old Folkard, a former pupil of Myton School in Warwick and a Birmingham University Music graduate, has been shooting since she was 7. A member of the Leamington club, she has been ranked as the UK’s top lady recurve archer for 11 of the last 12 years and has represented GB regularly for 16 years. She is now aiming for her third Olympics.
Seven ladies and 11 men were invited to take part in the Olympics selection process, which is in three stages with a total of seven days’ shooting. The competition for the Olympic places (3 ladies and 3 men) is intense. The first stage earlier this month involved shooting 4 FITA 70 rounds over 2 days with the top 6 archers in each category going on to stage 2. In the ladies’ competition Folkard finished stage 1 in 3rd place, behind Alison Williamson who is hoping to make London her sixth Olympic appearance, and Amy Oliver, but scores which are carried forward throughout the selection process, were close. Also going through to stage 2 were possible rising star 16 year old Rebecca Martin; Charlotte Burgess who with Folkard and Williamson narrowly lost out on the bronze medal in Beijing; and Nicky Hunt, a former World Cup winner with the compound bow.
Stage 2, held at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire, last weekend, involved 2 days of round robin matches. The scoring system was complicated with points for a five set match win being added to the archers’ total arrow score. Folkard shot consistently well throughout and won 13 of her 20 matches. Oliver also shot superbly to finish the weekend at the top of the leader board having amassed 5184 points. Folkard moved up to second place with 5140, while Williamson, with 5109, dropped back to third. Burgess secured 4th place with 4989 to keep in the running for the final selection stage. Hunt and Martin now bow out.
Stage 3 is now under way on the garden terraces of Lilleshall Hall, where there will be a round robin, on each of 3 days, in a series of individual matches. An invited audience will increase the pressure on the athletes, simulating to some extent the reality of the Olympic atmosphere. The Olympic team will be announced at a press conference at Lords, the venue for Olympic archery, on May 9th.20 April 2012
Jacob Vick completes Meriden Trio joining GB Squad
16 year old Jacob Vick joins his fellow club mates Matthew Ingram and Georgie Brown as part of the GB Junior team this year. Jacob has been shooting for 6 years and won outright the selection shoot at Lilleshall to secure his place. This will be Jacob`s first appearance in GB colours - a just reward for all his hard work. We wish him all the very best of luck.
20 April 2012
Warwickshire Juniors Selected for GB Team
Local Juniors Matthew Ingram and Georgie Brown have been selected to be part of this years Great Britain Team travelling to the Europa Cup in Croatia in May and to the European Champs in Denmark in July.
Matthew from Meriden has only been shooting less than two years and this time last year was getting ready to shoot the novices tournament. One year later he qualified to shoot at the GB trials at Lilleshall and finished in third place securing his place on the squad. This is an outstanding achievement given the short time he has been competing - we will be following his progress with great interest.
Georgie also now shooting for Meriden secured her place on the Great Britain team and is hoping to compete at both international events - depending on her University commitments.She already has international experience and will be able to build on this on tour this year - we wish her every success.
17 April 2012
Caitlin chosen to be a Lloyds TSB Local Hero
Leamington junior Caitlin McCarthy has been chosen to be part of the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes initiative. She is one of only 264 young athletes selected from across England and Wales and she will receive a cash injection of £1,000 towards training and competing.
“It’s so nice to get this recognition not just for myself but for my sport” said Caitlin “It’s such a fantastic feeling to be involved with the scheme and to know that people want to help you achieve your goals”
10 April 2012
Warwickshire Coaching Group
If you are involved in beginners' courses or a qualified coach, you are invited to find out "What goes on at the Performance Unit" on Wednesday 9th May at 7.30 in Meriden Village Hall. Wendy Baird has been working as a Technical Coach with the Archery GB Academy since August 2011 and will be providing an insight into performance pathways and training. Although you will not be shooting during the evening, you will learn the foundations of the biomechanically sound technique that is taught to all archers in the Development and Academy groups.
31 March 2012
June Farndon
June Farndon, who many will remember as a prominent Warwickshire coach, passed away on Friday, 9th March 2012.
Her funeral was held on Monday 19th March at the Heart of England Crematorium, Nuneaton.
27 March 2012
Wins and Records at the Junior National Championships
Several Warwickshire Junior Archers competed at the National championships on the weekend of 2nd and 3rd July, with a considerable degree of success.
On Saturday 2nd July a FITA Star, including Metric Rounds, was shot. This also included the Junior Home Nations match. In total 8 Warwickshire archers shot the round, two (Michael McCarthy and Jacob Vick) won their class.
Jacob was also a member of the victorious England team in the Junior Home Nations match. Isobel Roberts was a member of the Girls Recurve Regional (West Midlands) Team that came second, whilst Jacob aand Michael were in the Boys Recurve Regional Team that came 5th
| Full Warwickshire Results - Saturday | ||||
| Metric 5 (Girls Recurve) | 1289 | 2nd | Isobel Roberts | Leamington |
| Metric 4 (Boys Recurve) | 1237 | 1st | Michael McCarthy | Leamington |
| Metric 3 (Girls Recurve) | 1185 | 6th | Caitlin McCarthy | Leamington |
| Metric 2 (Boys Compound) | 1333 | 2nd | Matt Ingram | Meriden |
| Metric 2 (Boys Recurve) | 1240 | 1st | Jacob Vick | Meriden |
| Metric 1 (Boys Recurve) | 1012 | 22nd | Jamie Warner | Meriden |
| Ladies FITA | 974 | 3rd | Nancy Chen | Rugby |
| Gents FITA | 1126 | 5th | Jack Brookes | Sutton Coldfield |
On Sunday 3rd July the Junior National Championships were held with archers shooting age appropriate Bristol rounds. 6 Warwickshire archers competed. Three of them (Isobel, Michael and Jacob) won their class and are the National Champions for their Age Group. Isobel also shot a new national record.
Isobel was a member of the Regional Mixed Recurve team that won the Regional Championship, whilst Caitlin, Isobel, Jacob and Michael were the County Recurve Team that finished 5th in the County Championship
| Full Warwickshire Results - Sunday | |||
| Bristol 5 (Girls Recurve) | 1262 | 1st | Isobel Roberts |
| Bristol 4 (Boys Recurve) | 1113 | 1st | Michael McCarthy |
| Bristol 3 (Girls Recurve) | 1036 | 13th | Caitlin McCarthy |
| Bristol 2 (Boys Recurve) | 1189 | 1st | Jacob Vick |
| Bristol 1 (Boys Recurve) | 970 | 16th | Jamie Warner |
| York | 931 | 6th | Jack Brookes |
14 July 2011
Folkard Takes National Record
Leamington’s GB international archer Naomi Folkard last weekend broke the national record for the ladies’ long metric round, while competing in the World Record status FITA Star at Meriden’s Forest Ground.
The competition which attracted some of the country’s top archers, involved 3 dozen arrows at each of four distances (90, 70, 50 and 30 metres for the men and 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres for the ladies). The cold wet weather resulted in 12 archers not starting the event and a further 20 retiring before the end.
Folkard made an excellent start with 326 for 70m and 343 for 60m, giving her 669 for the long metric, to put 3 points on the national record set in 2003 by Alison Williamson. With 322 for 50m and 350 for 30m Folkard finished with an excellent 1341, well ahead of the rest of the field. Nicky Hunt (Deben) was second on 1248, and Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley) was third with 1230.
In the men’s compound event Warwickshire’s Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham) finished in a commendable fifth place with 1364. The winner was Duncan Busby (Blackthorne) on 1409.
Other Warwickshire archers finishing in top 10 positions were: (ladies recurve) Maria Law (Meriden) 5th 1097, Anna Tillman (Meriden) 7th 1050 and Wendy Baird (Meriden) 10th 1012: (ladies compound) Georgie Brown (Meriden) 6th 1350; (gents recurve) Craig Bowley (Meriden) 9th 1203; and (gents compound) Clive Jeacock (Meriden) 10th 1343. Junior recurve archer Jacob Vick (Meriden)put in a creditable 1011 for the full senior men’s distances.6 June 2011
Folkard and White Secure Selection for World Championships in Turin
After four days of intense competition over two weekends of Selection Shoots, two of the three Warwickshire archers invited to compete have secured their places in the team for the Archery World Championships in Italy in July: recurve archer Naomi Folkard from Leamington and compound archer Chris White from Rugby. A third Warwickshire man, Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham) narrowly missed out on a place.
Six archers in each discipline were invited to compete, but only the top four in the standings after Day 3 , continued to fight it out for the three available places. The format each weekend was a 12 dozen FITA round over 4 distances followed by a day of round robin head-to-head matches. On Day 4 recurve archers finished with an additional 36 arrows at 70metres. The scoring system was complex, with scores being adjusted and bonus points given for match wins and the achievement of high target scores.
In the ladies’ recurve competition relative newcomer Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) got off to a flying start and at the end of Day 2 had amassed 1673.47 points. Folkard lay in second place with 1598.37, not far ahead of her team mates in the Beijing Olympics, 5 times Olympian Alison Williamson (Long Mynd) on 1591.33, and Charlotte Burgess (Bruntwood) 1579.40. Day 3, despite the difficult windy conditions, saw Folkard put in a ladies’ FITA score of 1253 substantially higher than her rivals. She continued in good form on Day 4, but although she reduced Oliver’s lead she finished a good second. (Oliver 3539.80, Folkard 3500.73, Williamson 3445.57 and Burgess 3364.57).
The men’s compound competition was closer and positions changed throughout. After Day 2 the standings were James Bingham (Birstall) 2421, Liam Grimwood (Blackthorn) 2417, White and Ravenscroft both 2413 and Duncan Busby (Blackthorn) 2412. White shot consistently well throughout and maintained third place after Day 3. Bingham maintained his first place, but Busby jumped to second place and Grimwood, the World Championship silver medallist in 2009, dropped to fourth. Ravenscroft dropped to fifth place and, under the event rules, dropped out of the competition. On Day 4 both Busby and White shot superbly to finish in first and second places respectively with 4680.00 and 4667.00. Meanwhile Bingham narrowly took third place from Grimwood, 4658 to 4654.
It is a strong GB team of experienced international archers going to Turin. The recurve ladies team of Folkard, Williamson and Oliver won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year and are intending to do well.
23 May 2011
County Of Warwick Coaching Group
Any Archer up to and including 2nd class that is affiliated to the County of Warwick is invited to a Coaching session being held at Meriden Archery Club on Saturday 18th June 2011 from 9.30am - 1.30pm.
For more information contact Dave Redding at
Price: £5 per archer
20 May 2011
Success for Warwickshire in First County Match
Warwickshire won both the recurve and compound trophies in the first county match of the season against Lancashire and Cheshire, despite being short of some of its top archers. The home match was at Meriden’s Forest Ground, and despite the cool, breezy conditions, scores were good for the 12 dozen arrow FITA rounds (4 doz at each of 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres for the men and 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres for the ladies).
The Warwickshire recurve team comprising 4 men and two ladies amassed 8288 points. Lancashire making a gallant last ditch effort to win pulled back 15 points on the last distance, to finish on 8287 just one point behind Warwickshire. Cheshire were third on 6402.
The Warwickshire compounds, 3 men and 2 ladies, finished on 6724, ahead of Lancashire 6693 and Cheshire 6402.
The Warwickshire teams comprised:
Recurves - Craig Bowley (Meriden) 1256; Bob Lowe (Meriden) 1214; Pete James (Meriden) 1212; Brian Tustin (Leamington) 1150; Natalie Gee (Sutton Coldfield) 1165; Leah Innocent (Coventry) 1157 and Karen Atkins (Bowflights, Birmingham) 1134.
Compounds - John Robbins (Meriden) 1366; Brett Walker (Meriden) 1355, Gavin Shaw (Meriden) 135; Georgie Brown (Meriden) 1351 and Janette Ross (Meriden) 1297.
17 May 2011
Warwickshire Archers win First Major Shoot of the Outdoor Season
Folkard at the World Cup 2010, Ogden USA
Leamington GB international recurve archer Naomi Folkard and Birmingham compound Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights) made a spectacular start to the outdoor season last weekend at Meriden’s world record status FITA Star tournament, both winning their class. This first major event of the season attracted numerous top GB archers, making competition fierce.
All archers shot the 12 dozen FITA rounds (3 dozen arrows at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres for the ladies; and 90, 70, 60 and 50 metres for the men). Weather conditions were generally good, although there was a slight breeze with rain and hail towards the end.
In the ladies’ recurve event Folkard led throughout to finish with an excellent 1316, ahead of Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley) 1260 and Jeanetta McLean ( Brent Valley) 1246. As well as first place she took all four distance awards.
Ravenscroft had to fight harder for gold. After 90 metres he was lying in third place with 342 behind James Bingham (Birstall) 344 and Chris White (Rugby) 343. After 70 metre he pulled up to share second place with White, both on 695, behind Liam Grimwood (Blackthorne) who had spurted into the lead with 696. After 50 metres Ravenscroft was sharing first place with Grimwood (both 1048), with White and Bingham both hard on their heels with 1047 and 1045 respectively. The last distance produced a very close result in which Ravenscroft came out on top with 1408, ahead of Grimwood and White both 1407 and Bingham 1400. Ravenscroft beat White’s existing county record of 1405. (White still holds the national record with 1415.)
A number of other Warwickshire archers, all from Meriden) produced outstanding scores: recurves Pete James 1246 and Bob Lowe 1220; and compounds Brett Walker 1381, John Robbins 1376, Gavin Shaw 1344, Paul Taylor 1338 and Colin Geenes 1334. Warwickshire juniors Jack Brookes (Sutton Coldfield) and Jamie Warner (Meriden) both put in sound performances. Jack scored 1085 to be the top junior shooting the gents FITA, and Jamie scored 870 for the ladies round.
Folkard is currently in Antalya, Turkey where she hopes to do well in the first leg of the European Grand Prix.
11 April 2011
Folkard Misses Medal by Millimetres
Folkard taking aim
Leamington’s GB archer Naomi Folkard was distraught when she missed out on a medal by a matter of millimetres in a single arrow shoot-off at the European Indoor Championships in Spain last week.
In a field which included some of the world’s best recurve ladies Naomi shot 578 in the FITA 18 ranking round (5 dozen arrows at a small 3spot face over 18 metres.) She was not able to equal her national record of 588 set earlier this month, but nevertheless she qualified in third place behind Anna Bomboeva (Russia) 584 and veteran Natalia Valeeva (Italy) 584. This earned Folkard a bye in the first round of head to head matches.
Folkard’s first match was in the 1/8th elimination round against Natalia Lesniak (Poland). She won in 3 sets (of 3 arrows) 30-28, 29-28, and 29-20 which gave her a 6-0 point win. She then went into the ¼ final to meet former world number 1, Natalya Erdyniyeva (Russia), whom she again beat 6-0 in a close match (29-28,29-28 and 29-27). Folkard struggled a little in her semi final match against Valeeva who was shooting at her best and as a result lost this match 6-0 (27-30, 27-29 and 28-29).
This left Folkard to fight for the bronze medal against Coby Hurkmans (Netherlands), who had qualified in fourth place with 577, just one point behind her. It was a close, nail-biting match. Hurkmans shot 28 for her first 3 arrows against Folkard’s 27 to gain the first 2 points, and went on to gain another 2 points with 30 to 29in the second set. Folkard replied with 30 to 28 to bring the points score to 4 -2. The fourth set was tied 29-29 leaving Hurkmans with 5-3 lead, but in the final set Folkard responded with a perfect 30 to Hurkmans 27 so levelling the score at 5 points each. This meant a tie-break, a single arrow shoot-off in which the arrow closest to the centre of the target would win the bronze medal. Both archers shot a 9, but Hurkmans was judged to be the winner by millimetres.
Folkard who is a former silver medallist at the event and is the current national indoor champion was very disappointed to finish fourth. She said: “I am shooting well and should have won a medal. I was a bit unlucky with the sets system as I actually beat Coby on total arrow score in the bronze medal match by 154 points to 151 points, and I have to take some satisfaction from that. The system sometimes works for you, but not this time.”
Tatyana Boroday (Russia) won gold from Valeeva, and again this match went to a single arrow shoot off with Boroday’s 10 beating Valeeva’s 9.29 March 2011
National Record for Folkard
Folkard preparing to shoot in the
Commonwealth Games last year
Leamington’s Naomi Folkard used the West Midlands Indoor Archery Championships last week to warm up for the European Indoor Championships in Spain later this month. She won the ladies’ recurve event and put two points on to her own national record.
The tournament held at Evesham, and combined with the Worcestershire County and Open Championships, was well attended and attracted some top international archers to shoot the world record status FITA 18 round (5 dozen arrows at a 3 spot 40 cm face over 18 metres).
Folkard shot two rounds, one in each session. (Although both scores count for national record purposes only the first score counts for the championship.) Her first score of 577 was excellent, easily enough to earn her first place, ahead of Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley), a very promising Staffordshire junior 564 and Sue Davis (Redditch) 550. In her second round Folkard shot a superb 588, beating her own national record of 586 achieved at the World Championships in March 2007. She is now hoping to reproduce this form next week in Spain.
Another Warwickshire archer, Bob Lowe (Meriden) made his mark at Evesham. Finishing on 547, he won the men’s recurve championship, ahead of Pete Williams (Evesham) 536 and Kevin Gayton (Redditch) 530. Club mate Chris Trolan was not far behind on 525.
The ladies’ and men’s compound champions were both from Worcestershire, Sheila Harris (Redhill) 548 and Andy Rikunenko (Redditch) 585.
(The European Indoor Championships start on 21st March near Tarragona, Spain.)14 March 2011
Leamington & Meriden dominate County Field Championships
Folkard shooting in the 2009 World Games
on a wooded hillside in Chinese Taipei,
where she won the bronze medal
The County Field Championships were held at Meriden’s Forest Ground last Sunday. Despite the somewhat uninviting cold wet weather, there was a good turnout of archers with some excellent scores for the 24 target FITA round (a variety of target faces at distances up to 60m with maximum score 432). It was an interesting, largely wooded course, although fairly flat.
The ladies’ recurve championship was won by two-times Olympian Naomi Folkard (Leamington) with an excellent 352. Folkard is primarily a target archer, but nevertheless excels at field archery and last year won silver in the World Field Championships in Hungary. Second place went to Angela Cave (Leamington) 211, Anna Tillman (Meriden) was third 164.
Brian Tustin (Leamington) won the men’s recurve competition with an excellent 320. Meriden’s Bob Lowe and Stuart Wood-Edens came second and third respectively with 298 and 276.
Meriden dominated the compound championships. Janette Ross won the ladies’ event with 327, although Christie Westman (Birstall) shooting as a visitor amassed 353 points.
Competition in the men’s compound competition was fierce, and the top three places went to Meriden archers. Adam Ravenscroft (387) came out on top. John Robbins (377) was second and Paul Taylor (372) was third.
Other results were as follows:
| Gents Barebow | 1st John Williams (Meriden) | 229 |
| Girls Under15 Recurve | 1st Bethany Roberts (Leamington) | 124 |
| Boys Under 18 Recurve | 1st Jacob Vick (Meriden) | 255 |
| 2nd Jamie Warner (Meriden) | 212 | |
| 3rd Niall Joy (Leamington) | 138 | |
| Boys Under 15 Recurve | 1st Adam Williams (Meriden) | 62 |
| Boys Under 12 Recurve | 1st Jake Downs (Meriden) | 149 |
| 2nd Jack Coathup (Meriden) | 116 |
1 March 2011
Folkard Wins in Las Vegas
A number of Warwickshire archers entered the prestigious annual 3day indoor archery tournament in Las Vegas. A massive event which attracted over 1500 archers from all parts of the world, it involved a large number of competition categories covering all bow types. Archers shot just 2½ dozen arrows each day over 18 metres, at a special 40cm ‘Vegas’ face in the form of a 3 spot triangle.
Leamington’s Naomi Folkard and Rugby’s Chris White shot in the main championships (ladies recurve and gents compound respectively). Both shot well throughout.
Folkard scored very consistently, amassing 289 points each day (maximum 300). After the first day she was in second place behind Carina Christiansen (Denmark) who shot 292, the only day score during the event to top Folkard’s. On the second day Christiansen could only make 279 giving a total of 571, and dropped down to third position behind Folkard 578 and Jennifer Nichols (USA) 573. On the final day Folkard increased her lead finishing on 867. Christiansen pulled back into second place with 858 and Katuna Lorig (Russia) made third, also with 858 but fewer ‘X’s. Nichols with 857 ended up fourth. GB’s Athens bronze medallist Alison Williamson, with 850, pulled up from 6th to 5th place.
Competition in the men’s compound championship was fierce with an amazing 13 of the 185 contestants shooting perfect scores of 900. White was unlucky to drop a point on the first day which with 42 archers shooting the maximum 300 on the day, and others on 299 with more ‘x’s tham him, left him well down the standings. However he fought back and with no more arrows outside the ten ring, he pulled up to 27th on day 2, and with a final total of 899 and 84 ‘x’s finished 15th . The men’s compound champion was Reo Wilde (USA).
Other Warwickshire archers shooting in the non-championship classes were: recurves Pete James 832 and Chris Trolan 805, both from Meriden; and compounds Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham) 894, John Robbins (Meriden) 889 and Mark Cowburn (Meriden) 871.
Folkard is delighted with this result and will be working hard to further improve her indoor scores before the European Indoor Championships to be held in Spain next month.
15 February 2011
Good Shooting at County Championships
The Warwickshire County Indoor Archery Championships, held last Sunday at the Harry Mitchell Sports Centre in Warley, saw some excellent shooting. The well attended event incorporated both the County and West Midlands Junior Championships. All archers shot the Portsmouth round of 5 dozen arrows at a 60 cm face over 20 yards. The awards were presented by GB international and two time Olympian Naomi Folkard, who was the Lady Paramount for the day and also took part in the competition.
The senior championship awards were very much dominated by Meriden archers. However, Folkard, shooting for Leamington, took the ladies’ recurve championship with 587. Natalie Gee (Sutton Coldfield) was second with 555 and Anna Tillman (Meriden) third with 544.
Meriden archers took the top three places in the men’s recurve championship. Bob Lowe shot an excellent 583. Chris Trolan and Stuart Wood-Edens both finished on 563, but Trolan with 60 hits to Wood-Edens’ 59 was awarded silver. Leamington’s Malcolm Griffin finished fourth with 560, but was unlucky not to be in the medals as he was actually blown off the line when he failed to shoot an arrow within the permitted time.
The senior recurve team event went to Meriden, the team comprising Bob Lowe, Chris Trolan, Stuart Wood-Edens and Bob Watson (556).
The ladies’ compound champion was Janette Ross (Meriden) with 547. Because of the relatively small entry in this section no further medals were awarded.
The men’s compound event was won by John Robbins (Meriden) with 587. Club mate James Scott took silver with 568.
The gents’ longbow competition was won by Robert Blakemore (Sutton Coldfield) with 286.
The highest score of the day, 588, was attained by a visiting recurve, Jon Nott (Saints and Sinners, Worcs)
The junior championships also produced some fine scores. Jack Brookes (Sutton Coldfield) with 558 was the overall recurve boy champion in both the county and regional events. Rugby’s Nancy Chen was the Warwickshire Girl Champion, but Rebecca Martin (Trent Valley) who, still under 16, amassed a very creditable 571, was the West Midlands Girl Champion.
Medals were awarded as follows:
| Warwickshire | Girls Recurve Under 18 | 1st Nancy Chen (Rugby) | 535 |
| Girls Recurve Under 16 | 1st Caitlin McCarthy (Leamington) | 509 | |
| 2nd Bethany Roberts (Leamington) | 409 | ||
| Girls Recurve Under 14 | 1st Rafia Riaz (Quantum, B’ham) | 485 | |
| Girls Recurve Under 12 | 1st Isobel Roberts (Leamington) | 463 | |
| Girls Compound Under 18 | 1st Nicola Cuthbert (Quantum) | 537 | |
| Boys RecurveUnder 18 | 1st Jack Brookes (Sutton Coldfield) | 558 | |
| Boys Recurve Under 16 | 1st Jacob Vick (Meriden) | 555 | |
| Boys Recurve Under 12 | 1st Michael McCarthy (Leamington) | 493 | |
| Boys Compound Under 16 | 1st Matthew Ingram (Meriden) | 552 | |
| Junior Team Trophy | Leamington (Niall Joy 506, Isobel Roberts, Caitlin McCathy, Michael McCarthy) |
| West Midlands | Girls Recurve Under 18 | 1st Nancy Chen (Rugby) | 535 |
| Girls Recurve Under 16 | 1st Rebecca Martin (trent Valley) | 571 | |
| 2nd Lora Ankers (Chase Archers) | 542 | ||
| 3rd Sally Gilder (Evesham) | 530 | ||
| Girls Recurve Under 14 | 1st Rafia Riaz (Quantum, B’ham) | 485 | |
| 2nd Kathy Ankers | 427 | ||
| Girls Recurve Under 12 | 1st Isobel Roberts (Leamington) | 463 | |
| Girls Compound Under 18 | 1st Nicola Cuthbert (Quantum) | 537 | |
| Girls Compound Under 14 | 1st Lizzi Martel (Malvern) | 523 | |
| Boys RecurveUnder 18 | 1st Jack Brookes (Sutton Coldfield) | 558 | |
| Boys Recurve Under 16 | 1st Jacob Vick (Meriden) | 555 | |
| 2nd James Whittaker (Leek) | 524 | ||
| Boys Recurve Under 14 | 1st Jack Chambers-Young (Evesham) | 524 | |
| Boys Recurve Under 12 | 1st Michael McCarthy (Leamington) | 493 | |
| 2nd Jake Cooke (Severn) | 242 | ||
| Boys Compound Under 16 | 1st Andy Brookes (Trent valley) | 561 |
1 February 2011
