On Saturday 22nd February 2020,  Kent  hosted a  4 Way Inter County  Competition at  Sittingbourne Community College. Archers from Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex congregated to undertake a Portsmouth Round, each County fielding a team of 4 archers in each of the  bow styles Compound, Recurve, Barebow and Longbow.

Due to clashes with other Archery commitments the Sussex team was missing several of their regular members which meant that  there were several new faces on the team. Having been encouraged by  their Worthing Club mates to submit  their  Competition scores to the County Rankings officer, it was with much surprise and trepidation that Jen Diplock and Nicky McDowell accepted their invitations to join the County Team. Together with seasoned County team Pro Gavin Sutherland, Worthing Archery Club was well represented.

At the midway point, the Recurve quartet were placed 4th and  the Compounders  were placed 2nd, Gavin having obtained the highest individual compound score. The Sussex Longbow archers were 3rd with an individual 2nd place and the Barebow team 4th also with an individual 2nd place, meaning that  the whole Sussex team finished in 3rd place overall.

Shooting alongside so many accomplished archers was quite awe inspiring, and maybe a little daunting, which despite their best efforts may have slightly affected Jen and Nicky on their debut performance, but as Jen said afterwards 'I met  lots of nice people, got some good advice,  and  got a nice new Archery Shirt!'

On Sunday 22nd September, three Worthing archers and one Associate member set off in the pre-dawn darkness, heading for the far rural outskirts of the county, to take part in The High Weald 1440 WRS shoot. The forecast was for heavy rain and thunder storms, and the early heavy rain showers threatened to be prolonged, but that did not deter Dan Mitchell, Trevor Little, Nicky McDowell and Petra Ginman as they settled into 3 dozen rounds at each of the 4 distances (90m,70m 50m and 30m for gents and 70m,60m,50m and 30m for the ladies)

The early rain was challenging but the team persevered. Waterproof clothing went on, came off, went on and came off again as they wavered between staying dry and not being hampered by jackets. Trevor Little's bow took exception to the wet weather and blew up in his hand, shattering his arrow into three pieces. In true Champion-style, Trevor scooted inside, put his bow in the press, restrung it and returned to the shooting line. shaken but not stirred. At the half way mark Dan Mitchell, Trevor Little and Petra Ginman were leading their respective categories and Nicky McDowell was in 3rd Place. The rain abated and there was a short glimpse of sun. It was then time for the shorter distances on the smaller faces. Dan and Petra continued to lead the way, Trevor struggled on valiantly, and Nicky started to gain ground on her opponents.

It certainly wasnt a day for World Records, but all of our archers came away with a medal and a claim for a Fita Star badge.

Final Results:

Dan Mitchell 1st Gents Recurve
Petra Ginman 1st Ladies Recurve
Trevor Little 2nd Gents Compound, a very poorly bow and a dead arrow (but still smiling!)
Nicky McDowell 2nd Ladies Recurve

Full results and some very good Photographs from the day can be found at www.thwac.co.uk

On Saturday 14th September 2019, The Worshipful Company of Fletchers held their Disability Championships at the home of Archery GB, National Sports Centre, Lilleshall, in Shropshire.

The Fletchers Trust is a charity which supports archers with both physical and mental disabilities and includes the visually impaired. They financially assist archers, from newcomers to Paralympic athletes.
In 2017 they organised the first Disability Championships, to enable Elite archers to compete at a World Record Status event on the same basis as the Paralympic games.
The competition is now open to all disabled archers making the event more inclusive and participants are able to gain scores to be used in selection for international competitions.

Worthing’s very own Trevor Little made the journey up to Lilleshall, to test his skills and nerve in this National Competition.
The Disability Compound Division comprised both male and female archers creating a competitive category for all, shooting a WA720 (50m) round.
In the first round, Trevor showed them how it was done, despite the increasing wind, qualifying in first place. With a score of 654 he was 34 points in front of his nearest rival and earnt himself a Bye, putting himself straight into the final.
In that final, Trevor was up against Andrew Woodger from Laleham Archery Club. Each archer shot 15 arrows in 5 x 3 arrow ends in a head to head competition.
Trevor beat his opponent on every end, only missing the Gold twice, and scoring 138 against Andrew Woodger’s 130.
Winning a Gold medal, at a National event, when you have only been shooting 3 years is a tremendous achievement.
Congratulations and Well done Trevor.