LASSWADE ARCHERY CLUB NEWSLETTER

 

ISSUE NO. 190 OCTOBER 2011

Dear Members,
Welcome to another action-packed edition of the newsletter!

CLUB NEWS

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
Just the usual seasonal warning about bad weather with the white stuff predicted for any time now. If you are un-sure of what to with regard to snow etc then contact the Sports Centre in the first instance. If you do not get an answer then it is most likely that they will have closed early or not opened at all.
The other option is to go to the Midlothian Council Website to check on any closures or hazardous driving conditions. You can find all the contact details in the New Members Information Pack that you all received when you joined the Club and I have the utmost confidence that you still have your packs.

AFFILIATION FEES FOR 2011/2012
By the time you are reading this newsletter all our fees and paperwork will be in the GNAS/SAA systems for processing. You may remember from last year that GNAS send your new card directly to your home address. The answer to your next question is no!
I do not know when you will receive them as our friends from Penicuik AC are still waiting for their cards and their paperwork went in long before ours did.
One of our junior members was not permitted to shoot at Penicuik as he did not have a valid GNAS card but Penicuik did exactly the right thing here. Don’t worry folks I will ask to see theirs!  Please see me and I will issue you with a fee receipt slip. This will allow you to shoot at other clubs and enter tournaments until your new card arrives.                                       There has been talk that the receipt is not valid at tournaments. This is crap!                                                                             When your new card does arrive check to see if it has your correct membership number on it and sign the back of it as well. You can then destroy the fee receipt slip and your card for 2010/2011 if you have not already done so. Remember, no receipt/card = shooting not permitted! As I took in all your fees myself I know you have paid so you do not need to show them at Lasswade  only visitors and non-affiliated members will be asked to produce one.

NEW TARGET STANDS
The Club recently had 14 new H-Frame target stands made and they will replace the current tripod stands used at tournaments. Whilst they are not especially heavy they will need 2 people to move them from the outside store to the hall. Therefore, at Saturday Club sessions the day before a tournament I will be asking some of you to assist me in getting them through. Please accept this as a minor inconvenience as you will not lose too much shooting time.
My thanks to David Herd of Balbardie Archers for building the stands for us and to David R who assisted me in collecting them from Livingston.

MISSING KEYS
I was recently advised by the Sports Centre that the spare bunch of keys for the outside store and cabinets have gone missing. They have assured me that apart from certain Club members they do not issue them to anyone else. If this is the case then any member who may have used them should check to see if they have taken them home by accident.
While on the subject of keys Phil asked the staff for the keys to the indoor cabinet and they said they could not find them. This proved to be in-correct as I found them. They are kept in the key box next to the photocopier in reception on Key Peg Number 1. As with the outdoor keys make sure you return them before you leave. If necessary I may have to ask the reception to ensure that they are signed for by the member using them and signed back again when they are returned.

LASSWADE OPEN INDOOR TOURNAMENT (UKRS) – NOVEMBER 13TH 2011
Our annual Portsmouth round will be taking place on the above date. Those of you who have been with us for some time will know that we will need some of you to help get the range set up after the Saturday afternoon Club session on the 12th.
In addition we would also appreciate some donations from yourselves for the raffle that takes place before the presentations.

OUTDOOR CLUB SESSIONS FOR 2012/2013
Some of you may not be aware that work is now under way on the construction of a new complex consisting of a School/Sports Centre/Library and Swimming Pool.
The new complex is due to be open for business by October 2013. Once this has happened the existing school, Sports Centre and Gymnastics hall will be demolished to make way for new football and rugby pitches. The completion date for the playing fields will be in December of the same year barring any problems. So it will be obvious that there will be no more outdoor sessions till 2014 at the earliest. So what are we going to do about it?         Don’t worry we have things in hand!                                                                                                                     The Committee has already looked at one venue at the Melville Golf  Club, Lasswade and although 2 National Archery Judges approved the venue for safety and other issues this potential area has been vetoed by the Golf Club. However, another piece of ground owned by the Golf Club has been proposed and this is currently being looked into and again subject to a favourable inspection by the judges. I will keep you up-dated as things progress.
Derek has to be thanked as well for his efforts in (hopefully) securing a suitable venue.

HANDICAP COMPETITION
David R. will be running an h/cap competition for all members starting in November after the beginners course which ends at the end of October. Until then, I would like to suggest that all members who want to participate return to me “David R” three scores for a twenty four arrow Portsmouth, four arrow ends, just to speed things up a wee bit. Please don’t score your own score sheet, have someone else mark your score, I can then give everyone taking part a handicap and hopefully we can compete once a month, actual dates will depend on what else may be happening. As your scores improve or otherwise your handicap will change to suit the system. The winner of each month’s competition will have their name put up on the notice board and a wee bag of sweeties, maybe! At the end of the indoor season I will determine the overall winner or we may need a shoot off to find a winner, and award a bigger bag of sweeties, if you’re lucky. This is for all members regardless of age or ability as the handicap system should make everyone almost equal.
Proper score sheets can be had from David R., some will be kept in the small cupboard.

 

NEW START TIME FOR INDOOR SATURDAY SESSIONS
A final reminder to you all. From Saturday the 29th of October our Saturday afternoon sessions will change to a new time slot of 1.30pm to 3.30pm.

INDOOR COACHING SESSIONS
I have spoken to Billy and Richard and they will carry on with their coaching sessions as usual. The same criteria will be used as in previous years in that the sessions will take place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month providing that one or both of them will be available. The first session will be on the 26th of this month and each session will normally last about an hour to allow them some shooting time as well unless they wish to spend more time with you. On coaching nights the 2 end bosses on the R/H/S of the range will be reserved for coaching. If one or both of them are not being used then they can be used as normal by any member or visitor.
In addition, I will be shortly handing out a coaching questionnaire for you to fill in and they should be returned to me by Saturday 29th of this month. Remember to put your name on your questionnaire. If you do not want to be coached then you do not have to fill a questionnaire in. Remember these sessions are not compulsory.
PS. If you ask him perhaps that nice man Mr.Sangster may want to give you a few   
      pointers as well!

RICHARD VALLIS
Has it come to this? An article about Richard? I‘m afraid so! Joking aside 2011 is Richard’s 150th Birthday and GNAS have also reached this landmark!
To mark this occasion GNAS had 150 special President’s Medals struck. They were to be awarded to any club, county, region or archer who could be nominated by their appropriate body for outstanding achievement in our sport. Earlier this year when we had locked Richard in a cupboard we had a meeting to discuss nominating him for one of these medals.
When you consider that about 30,000 people are involved in our sport in one way or another we thought it would be almost impossible that our nomination would be successful.
However, to our great surprise the nomination was successful and a medal was duly dispatched to Adelle.                                                                                                                The nomination stressed Richard’s involvement in the sport with particular emphasis to his work with disabled archers much of which he does outside the Club environment and this obviously impressed the decision makers.
Towards the end of last month we had another meal out at the Royal Hotel in Penicuik to present Richard with his medal. In a delightful coincidence it was also his wife Jo’s birthday on the same day so it was a double celebration with a cake and gift purchased for Jo.
In addition, certificates of achievement and medals were presented to Ian and Paul Shepherd.
I of course had to make a speech and present the awards but as far as I could see no-one fell asleep! So once again, well done Richard!

PS.  I am sure you have worked out by now that Richard is not really150. He just likes people
        to think he is!

 

TARGET FACES
If you are using a target face and it has been shot out in the middle then when you have finished shooting fold it up and put it in the nearest litter bin and not back into the storage cabinet. The cabinet is full enough as it is. Don’t panic! We have plenty more in stock

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY – 2011

 

OCTOBER

Saturday 22nd                    New Beginners’ Class Ends.
 
Wednesday 26th                Optional Coaching Session.

Saturday 29th                     New start time for Saturday afternoons commences.

 

NOVEMBER

Wednesday 9th                  Optional Coaching Session.

Sunday 13th                       Lasswade Indoor Open (UKRS). Round: PORTSMOUTH.

Wednesday 23rd                Optional Coaching Session.

Wednesday 30th                Lasswade  Archery Club 33rd Annual General Meeting.
                                         Time and Venue: 7.30pm in Room B4 of the High School.
                                         There will be NO archery that night.

Contribution by David R.

Finito!

Donald