We appreciate what it’s like to be a junior archer – it’s great that it’s one of the few sports where families can participate together, but sometimes clubs just aren’t big enough to have a lot of other young people to chat to. So our top tips on this page are not just about how you can get better at archery but also how you can meet other junior archers and enjoy the sport even more!
DNAA Junior Development Programme
This is our county coaching programme for archers up to the age of 21, which takes place across four dates throughout the indoor season each year. And the best part is it’s completely free! Well, that and that we take around 30-40 archers per session so there’s plenty of chance to meet young people from other clubs while shooting and taking part in archery games and challenges. Over the course of the programme, our team of friendly and knowledgeable coaches take you through each aspect of the shot sequence, and you’ll have the same coach each time (unless someone is ill!) so that they can check in with how everything has been going with you and make a plan with you for what you want to work on next.
In the outdoor season, we have a junior fun shoot so that you can check back in with your coaches and see everyone from the indoor season again. And it’s not a one-time programme – please do come back year after year!
Parents/guardians need to stay with juniors aged under 16, please, and you are more than welcome to chat with the coaches about any aspect of your child’s archery. Club coaches are also very welcome to attend and coordinate with the programme coaches about the development of the juniors at their clubs – it would be great to see you!
To sign up for the junior development programme, please contact our County Coach Organiser Ian at dnaacoaching@gmail.com. Dates and venues for the indoor sessions are usually announced in October each year, and each session is 10am-3pm.
Junior Competitions
As a county, we aim to hold two junior-specific competitions each summer. These are great if you’re aiming to get on the county team (see below) or smash a county record, but as any archer will tell you, competitions are also a brilliant way to meet and get chatting with other people. After all, if you have a bow in your hand you probably have something in common with everyone else there! And please don’t worry about your score in comparison with other people – it’s great to do well but your goal should always be something within your control like getting a certain score or badge. Or to go and have fun, and hopefully it will be sunny.
Parents/guardians, competitions are also an excellent opportunity for you to meet other archery parents/guardians, along with knowledgeable folk like the tournament organiser and judges. If you have any questions at all, please do ask – we’re all keen to help. And if you’d like to know more about competitions and scoring, please see the Guidance pages of this website.
Please keep an eye on the Events page for the dates and entry forms for the junior competitions. If it’s your first competition or you’re nervous, don’t forget you can always put a note on an entry form to say so and the team will look after you even better than they look after everyone else!
(And finally, do remember you’re certainly not restricted to only shooting in the junior competitions and you would be more than welcome to enter other competitions, too!)
Badges!
There are many progression schemes in archery to help you see how much better you’re getting, and most of them have badges to collect along the way. Take a look at our Lambton Worm page, for instance, or ask your club if you can take part in the Archery GB Progress Awards scheme. There are plenty of badges to be had in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, so do ask a coach or experienced archer how you can get your hands on some for your quiver.
County Team
Shooting for the county team is something that our juniors consistently find fun and rewarding. As part of the team, the rounds you’ll shoot are usually 12-dozen rounds like Bristols and Metrics, and there are spots available for all four bowstyles: recurve, compound, longbow and barebow. The team is selected based on scores and there are usually one or two competitions per year, with a selection process for each separate competition. If you’re interested in getting a county date badge on your quiver and helping DNAA triumph over the rest of the counties in our region, please keep an eye on the county website for announcements and do plan to shoot some 12-dozen rounds during the outdoor season so that you have scores ready to submit. You can use the Events page of this website to help you plan the competitions you want to attend – the junior competitions might be a good start. Best of luck!
