Brief explanation
The idea behind the Castle Leagues is to keep archers interested in shooting during the winter months. This is the time to test out different poundage limb, new sight setup, experiment with your archery setup or try a new bow style The league is open to all archers & bow styles whether experienced or a novice and is a great way to see how you are progressing in the sport.
The league runs from 1st October 2025 to the 31st of March 2026
The Rules
The basic premise is that you are shooting a Portsmouth round as this is the normal indoor round, and noting down your arrow values on an app or a score sheet, then work out your best 36 CONSECUTIVE ARROWS (i.e., do not just pick the 36 highest arrow values out of 60 as this will not give a true picture) or if you don’t have time to shoot a full round in one session just shoot 36 arrows and send that score in.
Who is eligible?
Any archer affiliated to DNAA from beginner to experienced, from young to old.
Bow style
Compound, Longbow, ‘Olympic’ Recurve (sight), Barebow & American flatbow (New for 2025-2026).
Longbow covers traditional longbow and all the derivatives. Barebow covers one piece, recurve without a sight and Horse bows.
What constitutes a valid distance?
The league is designed around the ‘Portsmouth’ distance and target size (20 yards at a 60cm face) but for those clubs whose venue may not allow 20 yards to be shot, we allow scores where the distance is 40 feet, but the target face size must then be 40cm.
What constitutes a valid score?
ANY session, where you shoot thirty-six consecutive arrows or more in the month, while recording scores is valid for the league.
As the essence of the league is to encourage participation by all from a new club member to those who have high skill levels, to accommodate all standards counting may begin at the beginning of a normal indoor 3 arrow end.
EXAMPLE 1 – If you shoot only thirty-six consecutive arrows at the session you have one score chance.
EXAMPLE 2 – If you shoot forty-two consecutive arrows. You have three chances of a score. Arrows 1 to 36, OR arrows 4 to 39, OR arrows 7 to 42.
EXAMPLE 3 – If you shoot forty- eight consecutive arrows. You have five chances of a score. Arrows 1 to 36, OR arrows 4 to 39, OR arrows 7 to 42, OR arrows 10 to 45, OR arrows 13 to 48.
Valid days cover club session / target days but also any competitions that you may enter that are shooting the appropriate distance and target size. Shooting a ‘double’ round on the same day does count as one session provided that a break between rounds is limited to a food break.
What divisions exist?
The following Divisions are available for the League this year:
How does the structure work?
Suppose you are now part of the ‘Alnwick’ division. Bow Type is irrelevant as the division looks only at your skill level. The published tables organize all bow styles and genders separately.
Looking at ‘Alnwick’ the range for scores in this division will be between 186 and 205 for thirty-six CONSECUTIVE arrows scored.
If you score more than 205 you move up to Warkworth if you score less than 186 you move down to Berwick.
You may enter the league multiple times if you shoot different bow styles. For example, you may choose to shoot Recurve and Barebow, or Compound, Barebow and Longbow. You may enter one score for each bow type that you shoot that month, and these could feature in different divisions.
How to Enter
Send your best thirty-six consecutive arrow score for that month to your club co-ordinator (should you have one) or directly to me via email to dnaacastles@gmail.com.
Please use the following format when submitting scores
Name, Club, Bow Style (See above), Gender – Gent/Lady for Seniors and Boy/Girl for Juniors (Under 18s).
EXAMPLE – Martin Fitzsimons, Norton Archers, barebow, gent 175 .
If helpful, Norton Archers have very kindly allowed everyone access to their Castle League calculator, clink on the link – https://nortonarchers.co.uk/membership/castles-league/ and SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of the page “Looking to work out your Castles League score for the month? Try the calculator below!”
PLEASE DO NOT fill in the “How do I take part?” this is exclusively for Norton Archers and will not be sent to me.
By entering the Castle League, your data will enter a database used solely for the Castle Leagues that only I have access to.
Certificates will be issued at the end of the indoor season, detailing any promotions and highlighting each archer’s highest section score from the league months.
The certificates and the whole league participation is free to county archers.