It was an early (7:30) start on Sunday morning, however the journey took less than 5 minutes by bicycle. All of the fifty bosses were already in place from there previous day, but new faces had to be fixed in the correct position. The other vital job was to fill containers with water and place them along the shooting line. The forecast temperature was 29°C so they could be used by the competitors to wet towels or hats to keep them cool. By 9am the temperature had already reached 22°C.
Competitors were arriving at the same time as the field crew, but the bulk of them started arriving about 30 minutes later. I took a few minutes out to unload our car and help EA jnr set up his kit and have it checked by the judges. They noticed that not all of his arrows were labelled, so we did a quick job with stickers from the toolbox and had them rechecked - OK this time.
As this event was being run under FITA rules, there was a timed practice session and all shooting was electronically timed, with buzzers indicating the start and finish of each end. The other difference to the club sessions I am used to is that each shot must be marked on the face so that the judges can decide if a bouncer is genuine or not.
Mrs EA was shooting a Ladies FITA (70,60,50,30) while EA jnr was shooting a Metric III (50,40,30,20). The first two distances were shot on 122cm faces and the final two distances on small 6-ring faces, which only have scoring rings from 6-10.
Field crew duty during the shoot was confined mainly to locating arrows that had missed the boss and moving the bosses between distances. The Kingston University ground staff had done a brilliant job of marking-out the field, making moving bosses much easier than it could have been. At the lunchtime break, all of the bosses needed refacing, with small 6-ring faces being used on most bosses: four per boss for compounds and two per boss for recurve. The water containers were refreshed, too.
Scores were collected from the scoresheets on the line and entered into iPads by volunteers from the Metropolitan Police Cadets. This meant that the running scores for the first two distances could be posted shortly afterwards. EA jnr was pleased to find that after 50m and 40m he was in second place, with another junior from our club close behind. Lunch for the competitors was a picnic in the shade and my daughter joined us to eat and to watch the afternoon session.
After lunch the temperature soared to 32°C and lots of people took advantage of the water buckets to soak towels or hats. Thankfully there were much fewer misses at the shorter distances so the field crew got a bit of a break. However after the final distance we had to swing into action to remove the faces, take down the bosses and frames and take them to the waiting transport. Finally we took down the safety fencing. During this time the juniors decided to have a fun water fight - perfect for a hot afternoon.
Field crew duties over, I helped pack away kit into the car before joining the rest of the Nonsuch Bowmen team for the results and presentations. We also managed to get a team photo in our new club shirts. EA jnr's score qualified him for EAF green (700) and white (800) junior Cross awards and we were able to claim them there and then. It was whilst waiting for the results that my daughter made it known that she had enjoyed the afternoon so much that she would like to do a beginners course. Will this make her EA jnr snr?
The results and awards took quite some time, given the number of pounds and bow styles. Although Mrs EA was not placed, she was pleased with her performance and valued th experience. EA jnr, on the other hand, was was surprised to placed in Silver medal position for the boys Metric III having being overtaken by his club-mate in the afternoon. The boy who was leading throughout was in eligible for an award as he was from out of County. Unfortunately the organisers only had a Gold medal ready so EA jnr will get his in the post in due course.
Other members of the club were also placed or claimed trophies, and even those who didn't shot well.
Next year I intend to enter as a competitor rather than crew. Although I still won't be able to shoot 90m, I will have had another birthday ando become eligible for the Masters rounds at 70m. There are clearly some benefits to turning 50 other than Saga holidays or Sun Life funeral plans!
Postscript:
The club has an award for the best handicap-adjusted score by a member shooting in the Surrey Championships. EA jnr was gobsmacked to be awarded this shield after shooting yesterday!
