DNAA indoor archery · 2026–27 season
The Castles League
Keep shooting through the winter, track your progress and try something new. The Castles League welcomes DNAA archers of every experience level, from beginners to seasoned competitors.
The idea
How it works
Shoot at a club session, target day or suitable competition. Record each arrow, find your best run of 36 consecutive arrows from that session and send in your best score for the month. There is no need to shoot a full Portsmouth round: a session of exactly 36 arrows also counts.
- 1. ShootUse the permitted distance and target face at an eligible session.
- 2. ScoreRecord every arrow and calculate your best consecutive 36.
- 3. SubmitSend your best monthly score by the 10th of the following month.
Everyone welcome
Who can take part?
Any archer affiliated to DNAA can enter, including juniors and newcomers. The accepted bow styles are compound, longbow, Olympic recurve (with sight), barebow and American flatbow. Longbow includes traditional longbow and its derivatives; barebow includes one-piece bows, recurve without a sight and horse bows.
If you shoot more than one bow style, you may submit one score per bow style per month. Each entry can sit in a different division.
Standard distance
20 yards on a 60 cm target face.
Shorter venue?
40 feet on a 40 cm target face is also accepted.
Eligible sessions
Club sessions, target days and competitions at the correct distance and face size.
Scoring details
Finding your best 36 arrows
A 36-arrow session gives one possible score. With 42 arrows, you can compare arrows 1–36, 4–39 and 7–42. With 48 arrows, you can also compare 10–45 and 13–48. Continue in three-arrow steps if you shoot longer.
A double round shot on the same day counts as one session if the break between rounds is limited to a food break.
Find your level
The castle divisions
Divisions are based on your 36-arrow score, regardless of bow style. Published league tables show bow styles and categories separately. The ranges supplied for 2026–27 are:
| Division | 36-arrow score range |
|---|---|
| Bowes | 0–125 |
| Berwick | 126–185 |
| Alnwick | 186–205 |
| Warkworth | 206–225 |
| Durham | 226–250 |
| Bamburgh | 251–275 |
| Lindisfarne | 276–305 |
| Barnard | 306–330 |
| Raby | 331–360 |
For example, an archer in Alnwick scoring above 205 moves up to Warkworth; a score below 186 moves down to Berwick. See the season document for the organiser’s full division threshold table.
Send your score
Enter this month’s league
Send your best 36-consecutive-arrow score to your club co-ordinator or email it directly to Martin Fitzsimons, the tournament organiser. The deadline is the 10th of the following month.
Include: name, club, bow style, category and score. Use Open or Female for seniors, and Junior Open or Junior Female for under-18s.
Example: Martin Fitzsimons, Norton Archers, barebow, Open, 175.
Follow the league
2026–27 results
Monthly league tables will appear here as they are published. Scores for each month are due by the 10th of the following month.
Useful information
Calculator, certificates and rules
Norton Archers’ Castles League calculator can help you find your best score; scroll to the calculator near the bottom of their page. Their “How do I take part?” form is only for Norton Archers and does not send a score to the DNAA organiser.
At the end of the indoor season, certificates will show any promotions and each archer’s highest section score from the league months. Entries are held in a Castles League database accessible to the organiser and used solely for the league.