[Archers] Archery Events

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Tournament archery in the Maryland area remains strong with some great
tournaments, but seems to be in serious decline elsewhere in the kingdom.
Many Virginia tournaments that I attended featuring archery have gone away
since I began playing. What has been offered at most remaining tournaments
is substandard. I blame this in part on tournament organizers who will not,
or cannot, allow us sufficient space for a safe and legal range (Ruby Joust
is a perfect example, with no space on the site for a legal range, and yes,
I measured it). Some blame falls upon us, since one marshal can't run a
major tournament by themselves, and often there seems to be little
contribution to set-up, targets or line/inspection help during the
tournament. Been there, done that, and it isn't fair or any fun.

WoW is a case in point. In the four years I have attended, we have never
had a safe and legal range. This past year was the worst, with the visible
range cut to just 67 yards, and an active path screened by trees within 100
yards of the shooting line. The range was isolated, and the trail there was
not easy, was impossible for the handicapped, and crossed an active
fighting field. The range area had no toilets (nearly a quarter mile away),
and lacked the space for a separate children's range. Some of us
contributed targets and a lot of range/inspection time, but it wasn't
enough and the few working marshals were trapped on the range for much of
the event. Or maybe it was enough considering the poor attendance we
had--each year the number of archers has declined, especially the number of
experienced archers who can inspire novices, and this year was the worst I
have seen. After the event, COG and Lorelei asked for suggestions and ideas
to save archery at WoW. I was one of the few who joined the conversation.
Lady Sarah and I will do what we can to help turn WoW archery around next
year, but I'm not sure if we can add to what we already do there, given our
small car and the distance we drive plus Lady Sarah's health
considerations. But if things don't improve next year, we probably won't be
back.

What I advocate is that we first do some serious talking about where
archery is going, why it is going down the tubes, and what we can do about
it. Everybody in the marshal community needs to be involved in this, since
we all have a stake. Then we actually need to do something.

Yours Aye,


Mungo
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