A total of seven club records were set/broken at the end of indoor season Worcester shoot on 27th April 2012 at John Ashby Sports Hall. Pam Joseph set a new Ladies Compound Record of 269, Robyn Stevens a Ladies Flatbow at 92, Susan Corless a Ladies Recurve of 277, Beryl Tabberner, a Ladies of Barebow 75, Oliver De Sousa a Junior Gents under 14 Flatbow of 73, Jacob Lovell a Junior Gents under 16 Recurve of 195 and Lizzie Lovell a Junior Ladies under 14 Recurve of 148. Paul Bond narrowly missed a Gents Recurve Record. He scored a great 291, the current record is a phenomenal 293 held by Ian Webb from 1984, the county record being 294 held by Dean Edwards. Well done – great shooting by NAC.
Latest News
252 Badges are up for grabs…
…with a slight revision in the rules. As we move outdoors from Saturday 4th May, archers can still receive personal achievement badges to encourage their progress. The 252 scheme returns and members can claim awards for scoring a minimum of 252 points at varying distances from 20 to 100 yards. The rules and framework can be found here.
With the success of the Portsmouth Badges over the winter season the committee has agreed that the rules for 252 awards should fall in line, and it will only be necessary to achieve the minimum score ONCE to qualify for the badge as from this summer season. Any questions – please contact the Records Officers.
Our Top Three Archery Moments
You will have to excuse this post as being a little more self-indulgent than usual, but we feel as we near the end of our term of office that we could get away with it. We thought we should tell you about our top three moments in archery over the last twelve months. The first two are from the Olympics – the last from our Club events.
Coming in at number 3 is the shoot-off between Ki Bo Bae of Korea and Rand Al-Mashhadani of Iraq in the women’s rounds at the London Olympics. Rand, just 17, and from a country known for reasons other than sport, and clearly 
overcome by where she was, failed to beat Ki Bo Bae. Despite this her joyous enthusiasm shone through. She thoroughly enjoyed herself and did her country proud. We were drawn to tears as she shot against the mechanical methodology of the Korean girl who seemed to show little emotion.
At No. 2 is the 15year old (ranked at No. 47) Dan Olaru’s (Moldova) challenge against Jake Kaminski (ranked at no 18) of the USA. Dan went down in the first two sets, equalled on the third and won the last two taking the pair to a one arrow shoot off. By this time Jake’s timing had failed whilst Dan’s apparent text book shooting and casual smiles paid off, taking him through to the next round. It was however Dan’s smiles and contentment that touched us, and made this a great moment.
And finally to Number 1. It has to be Grace Windram’s joy and happiness on Saturday 27th April at Moulton College when she received her medals for winning gold in her class in our last indoor tournament of the season. Once again we were drawn to tears as Grace overwhelmed us with her elation. A lesson to us all. Without smiles and happiness there is no sport. Thanks to Robyn for the photo.
David and Heather
Portsmouth Series Presentations 30th March 2013
Proud Trophy Winners of the NAC Portsmouth series 2012-13
The presentation of some great new trophies and medals took place on Saturday 30th March 2013 for the shooters with the best two scores in their classes for the 2012-13 NAC Portsmouth Series. Archers convened to the cafeteria at Moulton College for the ceremony, after shooting at John Ashby that morning; and clearly everyone was pleased with the stylish awards. Congratulations to not only those who received an award on the day, but to all those who have improved their own personal performances over the season. It would be fair to say that this year many archers have done extremely well with sharpening up their shooting skills; and our thanks go particularly to our regular coaches – Peter Bond, Paul Barrett and Leigh Masters who have guided us with our techniques, gently pointed out the errors of our ways and praised us when we get it right. We’re sure that things will only get better. Thanks to Neville for the photo.
NAC 1st Portsmouth Open Competition
NAC’s first Open Portsmouth Competition held on Sunday 24th March went smoothly after a very nervous start to the day. Overnight snow throughout the county had prompted a call from John Ashby Sports Hall management for consideration of cancellation. However conditions at Moulton were not nearly as bad as elsewhere within the County, and after negotiation it was agreed that it was safe to go ahead. NAC members joined College staff to clear and salt paths and roadways on site, and the event got under way without incident. One or two entrants, particularly from the west of Northants were unable to attend because of localised conditions, but the vast majority managed to get there. A great day was had by everyone, and there were no further hitches. It looks like at least one county record was broken and the Club Records Officers will be looking for club records set by members. (There will be no need to submit any NAC claims). Our thanks go to all who helped and supported the event in so many ways, along with our Judge for the day, Pete Mallard. Ed, the Duty Manager at Moulton, showed his usual enthusiasm towards NAC, and we appreciate his presence and work. Results for the competition can be found on our Tournaments page. Photographs should soon be available and when published will be on a Galleries page.
County Records shot at Portsmouth Series Round 4
On checking the NCAS web-site, it looks like Oliver de Sousa has set a new County record for the Junior Gents Barebow in the Portsmouth Round on Saturday 9th March. The existing record of 240 was set last year, but Oliver has smashed this with a score of 301 – fantastic. Get your claim in. Susan Corless also equalled the present Ladies Recurve County Record with a score of 572 – well done. Claims for County Records should be directed direct to NCAS. They can be done online here.