Sunday afternoon saw the Annual Junior Outdoor Club Championships took place under the worst shooting conditions of the season.

The Championships are based on National rounds, shot over traditional yard distances according to age and gender. The forecast had promised that the heavy, blustery winds would drop by lunchtime which should have meant ideal conditions for the event scheduled for 2 o’clock. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was wrong. The wind remained heavy and gusting and the sunshine the Senior archers had enjoyed in the morning, disappeared behind threatening clouds. The Juniors therefore began their Championship in chilly temperatures with the wind buffeting them and their arrows. Thankfully the sun did put in an appearance halfway through the shoot and the archers could thaw out.

Two of the Juniors, Megan Noon and Toby Young, were competing in the Championships for the first time. In Megan’s case it was her first Club shoot of any kind. She did terrifically well in the u14 Ladies category, setting an excellent benchmark score which would have been even higher but for the handful of misses she had due to the wind. Toby had shot on a Sunday before a couple of times but it was his first attempt at the Short Junior National (4 dozen arrows at 30yds, 2 dozen at 20yds). He recorded a First Class score and was able to get all of his arrows on the target in spite of the poor conditions. Both children were the only competitors in their class and so carried off the trophies at their first attempt.

The only direct competition came in the u14 Gents category where Jack Tyrer faced off against Joseph Reaney. Their shooting distances were 40 and 30 yards. The boys were all square after 2 dozen arrows but in the next half dozen Joseph had two misses and although Jack also missed once the rest of his arrows were high scoring and he had opened up a lead of 13 at the end of the third dozen. Joseph had a further three misses which effectively handed Jack the competition since he found the target with all his remaining arrows. Both boys shot First Class scores with Joseph adding 61 points to his pb and Jack 1 point to his.

Josh Trafford and Charlotte Harris were the oldest of the Juniors to shoot on Sunday. They shot a Short National (50 and 40 yards) and neither of them suffered a miss. Josh who had not shot the round for almost a year showed how great his improvement has been by adding 106 points to his personal best. Charlotte Harris, struggling with a shoulder injury she picked up a couple of months ago, was not happy with her performance but she was only a handful of points off her best. She recorded a Junior Bowman score which is the highest possible for the distances shot to lift the trophy for the second year running.

The Seniors round of the day was a York/Hereford. Dave Moore was the only senior not to have a miss and given the wind conditions this was little short of a miracle.

Results: Junior Club Championships - U16 Gents: Josh Trafford 72 474 21pb. U16 Ladies: Charlotte Harris 72 530 27. U14 Gents: 1. Jack Tyrer 71 457 19pb, 2. Joseph Reaney 67 411 18pb. U14: Ladies Megan Noon 66 377 5pb. U12 Gents Toby Young 72 480 11.
Seniors Gents Compound York: 1. Dave Moore 144 1086 60, 2. Pete Mumford 143 1057 59. Gents Recurve York: Danny Cowin 131 665 17. Hereford Ladies Compound: Joy Gough 143 1065 61. Ladies Recurve: Barbara Harris 134 766 25. Long National Gents Recurve: 1. Thomas Bott 71 383 7, 2. Tony Hartley 65 365 8. National Gents Recurve: Rhys Moore 66 414 17pb.

The Senior Championships will be held on the 20th of July. Good Luck to everyone involved.