SANAA, June Indoor Qualifier (WA), 2017
held at Bowtime Archery Club, Indoor Archery range
Monday 05 June 2017
Schedules to shoot are never perfect, but we can always make a plan. So when this traditionally Monday event rolled around, it was quickly clear that this was going to be a 2 session event for 2 reasons; 1. There was the promise of lots of entries and; 2. There is always a request to have an earlier session to accommodate school going archers and their parents. So 2 sessions were planned and announced.
I managed to leave a tad earlier than normal and missed the mad N1 traffic. The range was mostly set up with only the practice targets to go up. Quickly done. One archer was absent from the line due to no fault of his own. Next time Werner.
The pre event talk was a little darker than it should have been because it was announced that one of the local clubs, Bellville Archery Club, had an arson attack and lost their clubhouse with equipment, the previous evening. This event’s hosting club, Bowtime, decided to kick-off a restoration fund to start the repair road of Bellville. The archers of both sessions were merely told about the envelope, that was entrusted to me, and as they were moved – archers came up to me to add to the money collected. While it may not cover the extent of the loss, it was an indication that the archery family was ready to assist where they could. An amount of R1600.00 made their way into that envelope to be handed to Bellville Archery Club. Thank you Bowtime Archery Club for starting this initiative without being prompted. Well done and thank you. Thank you also to everyone that was able to contribute.
Both sessions went of smoothly with some archers pushing their boundaries and one or two archers recovering from injury and maybe below what they expected of themselves. One or two archers had been hiding away for awhile but it was nice to have them back.
The normal Bowtime gees was present and the ringing of the bell was a welcome sound that made all cheer at someone’s success in shooting 3 tens. It was also great to see that archers did not have to be begged to assist in the scoring of some of the younger ones, they just saw the need and jumped in. Nice!
There was one incident where an arrow popped off the rest just prior to release and it ended up where no arrow should end up. Otherwise no equipment issues spoiled the evening.
As usual at Bowtime, people made use of the coffee and hot chocolate on sale, and then the smell of the boerie rolls assured all that they would not go hungry that night. Stock went fast. Bowtime supplied the medals for this event and they will find their way to their owners as not all stayed till the end from the 1st session.
As with the start, all the packing up went speedily as many hands made light work. Karen was there to do the registration and collate the results. There was hints of what we might still do for Bellville, but the picture would be clearer after the club had their emergency meeting to discuss the arson attack. We have your back. It was a happy tired crowd that made their way home.
Till the next time we meet on the shooting line – Golden Arrows to all!
Alfredo
