ArcheryGB National Director Scotland

New coaching website

2009-01-19T08:28:00.002Z

I've just been looking at the new SAA coaching web site and wonder if others have had the chance to visit (see http://www.scottisharchery.org.uk/coaching/index.php).

It has the same clean look and feel as the main SAA site and, although fairly young, has some valuable content already. In particular, I had a look at the presentations from the November 2008 National Coaching Conference (they don't seem to be at the GNAS web site?).

A really full presentation about the last Olympics and four presentations on the coaching structure are there. There is also a very, very complete presentation on shooting from Kim Hyung Tak, that is worth spending some time on.

There is also an intriguing presentation from Bill Mackay called "100% ME" but the link unfortunately doesn't go anywhere - so we will just have to imagine what that is about!

New Year Resolutions

2009-01-12T11:31:00.003Z

This is the time of year that many of us make New Year resolutions. A few years ago, quirkology did a study that revealed some interesting facts - perhaps there are some archery goal-setting lessons here, particularly in the difference of the sexes.

They found that, at the start, 52% of participants were confident of success, but one year later, only 12% actually achieved their goal. Men were significantly more likely to succeed when asked to engage in either goal setting, or focusing on the rewards associated with achieving their goal. Women were more successful when they told their friends and family about their resolution, or were encouraged to be especially resilient and not to give up because they had reverted to the old habits.

Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, and so simple goal setting helps them achieve more. Likewise, women might be reluctant to tell others about their resolutions, and so benefit more from the social support provided by friends and family once they have made their goals public.

Hints for achieving New Year’s Resolutions

Both Sexes: Make Only One Resolution, Plan ahead, Avoid previous resolutions, Be specific
For men: Set S.M.A.R.T goals, Carrot not stick
For women: Go public, Be persistent

Dusting it off ....

2008-10-13T16:49:00.003+01:00

Over the last few weeks, I've pretty much been head down writing the governance review papers for the ArcheryGB/GNAS Board next weekend. There has been a huge amount of work involved, and the support from colleagues and from our external advisors, Standard Life Investments, has been outstanding. The Board does scrutinise papers pretty thoroughly, so I hope I have done a good job - might be a different story next weekend :-).

Muriel and I had a weeks holiday in France at the end of September (so I missed posting then as the Internet was nowhere to be found). The weather varied from glorious sunshine to hail showers but there was enough to see and to do, visiting Azincourt and the Somme for instance. We were driving through a small village to the south of St Omer and saw a sign for archery - following it led to a clubhouse (for beer/wine/coffee/chat no doubt), a huge field and two popinjay masts. The downside to going at that time of year is it is the start of the hunting season, so lots of men and dogs everywhere shooting birds and rabbits.

We were up seeing Simon and Lana this weekend and I dusted the bow off and took it up. I managed to shot some arrows and played with the back tension release that John M had given me - oops, sold to me :-) - resulting in one bust arrows and a different feel to the shooting.

If John is reading this, I'm just off to write the cheque now ...

The end of the month ...

2008-08-31T19:32:00.002+01:00

August ends and September starts ... so begins the move to autumn and winter, and the cry of "the nights are fair drawing in" will be heard in Scotland.

There has been quite a lot going on since I last wrote. I been at some more, and better attended shoots. The Penicuik Premier is next weekend and that is usually "stowed out" to use another local phrase.

People should now be aware that there is another Director on the Board. I am glad to say that this now means the majority of Directors are "serious archers". Bev was at the Newcastle shoot last weekend looking for her last MB score which she sadly missed by a few points.

I have really had my head down over the last two months looking at the governance of the society, In this, I am part of a team with John Poyner (Director Finance) and Allison Kennedy from Standard Life Investments. Alison is on board due to the FTSE 100 initiative where the BOA paired up companies and governing bodies. I kind of knew that this was a big task, but I now feel that it is going to be something like a two year project rather than one that can be finished in a few months.

And it hit me like never before

2008-07-14T18:11:00.003+01:00

It is the middle of the shooting season and the Scottish weather certainly is showing that. I was at Banchory this weekend with wet and cold on the Saturday, and warm (but not hot) on the Sunday. This is mid July, how can archers get any decent scores if the weather doesn't play ball.

Anyway, this short note is not about my angst at the weather, it's about something all together more worrying.

As long as I can remember, Banchory has been one of the jewels in the crown of Scottish archery. It's a good shooting field, right in the middle of town, with its only fickleness being a gap in the trees between 70m and 90m that can give the gents some issues sometimes.

It has informal, and well used, camping, lots of eateries and is even easily accessible by public transport. It has always been well run, with a raffle to boot. So, what's the beef?

Just 12 targets were filled at the weekend, and no junior ones at that. The field looked lonely, with the usually fence to fence line of bosses sadly depleted.

I won't even start to guess at the reasons for this, but I guess that you look at all sorts of things and see just a gradual change and then something like Banchory comes along and "it hit me like never before" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0as2GKhmuA)

Up the Pole

2008-07-06T21:28:00.008+01:00

I promised a few words on crossbows.

These bows are all individually hand made by a local craftsman. From what I could gather, there are hundreds of crossbow guilds (clubs) across the eastern Netherlands and into Germany, and there are quite a number of local artisans who make the equipment.

The target is a 5cm disc on top of a hollow scaffold pole and it is attached to a rope that runs through the centre. The pole is on top of a wooden mast so that the disc is 12.5m off the ground. When you knock the disc off, you have scored and just pull the other end of the rope to get it back on the top.

Shooting consists of standing a little way out from the mast and shooting vertically up with a blunt. The round is a number of shots taken singly at one mast and then doing the same at another mast.

This whole episode takes about 20-30 minutes and then that is shooting finished for the night. The rest of the evening consist of drinking coffee or beer, and talking.

More information on the guild we visited can be found at http://www.schuttersgilde-eersel.nl/ and a directory of all guilds can be found at http://schuttersgilden.startpagina.nl/ (both in Dutch, but have pictures).

Also, if you want to hear a Guilds song, as well as see their uniforms, then visit http://stsebastiaanmierlo.spydar.com/. (thought, once we have chosen a new logo for the SAA, what about a song ...)

Colour, Beer and Tin Men ...

2008-06-30T20:49:00.009+01:00

The debate we had about shooting colours seems to have died down and we, more or less, take for granted that we shoot in a rainbow line these days, and, perhaps feel this is all something new.

In the town we were staying in Holland, we came across the local crossbow guild (I'll have some words on that next weekend if I get the pictures out of the other camera). The guild is, of course, intimately tied up with giving men a reason to get together, blether and drink beer/coffee.

During the visit, we heard about the annual procession to commemorate a miracle from the middle ages and I came across this by chance. In the picture below, you can see the guild master and all of the silver on his cape.

The procession had different members of the guild there. In the picture below, you can see the colour of the silks of the flag bearers in contrast to the more sober black of the guild members.

Another bit of happenchance was on a visit to Ommen where I found the tin figure museum. Tin figures are two dimensional and rather easier to make than the ones we are used to. There was a diorama of Waterloo with more than 10,000 figures and well as some rather risque Greek and Roman ones.

However, I did come across this collection of the Royal Company, another reminder of the use of colour not being particularly modern.

It's the summer

2008-06-22T19:17:00.003+01:00

Over the last two months, I have been very silent but things have been happening.

I had a three and a half week holiday, during which I did very little actual work (paid or not) - I think this is a sign of age since I was 60 this year. The periods on either side of that were flanked by some pretty intense work activity (the paid as well as the unpaid).

I've just come out of that and so have now the time to post again. I guess that over the next few weeks I'll be revisiting the immediate past, so, if you don't like flashbacks, you have been warned.

It is worth saying something about the SAA logo competition. There are 19 entries which alone is a good sign. We've set up a process to do two things: make sure that the logos are fit for purpose by asking people whether they can be used for badges, on letters, on the web site and so on; and we've also asked the membership for their input. The SAA National Council has asked for more opportunities to be given for people to vote and so a spreadsheet has gone out to all club secretaries in addition to the opportunity to vote through the web site. Pass the word on!

Well that is enough for this week. See you next.

Is that the time?

2008-04-28T19:26:00.005+01:00

Have you ever got up from your seat and said "is that the time?". I worked in computing most of my working life, and done a fair amount of programming. In that, you are always saying, I just need this last little tweak, and, before you know it, you are stiff when you get to stand up and the time has just flown by. Perhaps that is just the male ego, meaning that us blokes can always beat the machine.

Over the last few weeks, it has been like that with me, and I am over a week late in posting this blog. There have been quite a few things got in the way.

The first is that I have moved the caravan over to Holland for three months, and you can see it in its resplendent glory above. The picture below is the view from the window, as it were.

The advantage (supposedly) is that I get a bit more free time and opportunity for archery practice. The practice hasn't emerged yet but I did get to compete at Boekel the other weekend. A dry day with a bitterly cold wind as it turned out, but I managed 1314 with a 350 for 30m. It was the usual civilised Dutch shooting for the early season with archers inside shooting through windows at targets outside. The wind was just in the wrong direction blowing though the windows, so we might as well have been outside. The day starts at 9am, finishes by 4ish and the prize giving is done by 5pm, so there is time for a beer or two after you have packed up.

There was a GNAS Board meeting the next weekend and the AGM. It was my first one and was quite an enjoyable event. The formal (dry) business is done in the morning and the afternoon is an open discussion session in which there was lively debate and frank, but polite, exchange of views. More attendance is required, and people would benefit from that.

The prize giving was the last order of the day and we saw many clubs stepping up to the Clubmark challenge. This seems a sensible way to help to raise standards through GNAS.

Lastly, and most deservedly, Derek Sangster was awarded a life membership for his many years of quiet and diligent work.

I am on my way back to Holland as I write this. First stop off on the way was to see my almost 6 month old grandson who is a robust type. There was much discussion of weaning, the merits of organic baby food and of the evils of mass produced baby food in bottles. When I was a nipper, it was at the tail end of rationing and I can just remember going with my Mum for the bottles of orange juice. The second stop was at Lilleshall for some meetings about IT and the like, and that is where I am writing this from.

We are fast approaching the end of an era with the Archery GB corporate re-branding coming into play. No more GeeNAS or G-NAS, it will be archery GB from now on - reminds me that I need to change the title for this blog.

Take care everyone and good shooting for the start of the season!

Is Spring here yet?

2008-04-06T17:57:00.003+01:00

The question in the title is very relevant. I am now living in my caravan in Holland and sometimes I think that I just left Scotland too early, as the weather has been wet and windy since I arrived. But, of course, as soon as you write it down, then the weather improves and it has been sunny today.

I was along at the handicapped training camp at Boekel over the last couple of days. The archers get to stay inside and shoot where the mere mortals like me go to run up and down getting their arrows in the rain (OK, I have exaggerated about the running).

There were archers from the Netherlands, Germany, Israel and Ireland there. As well as getting practice and sight marks, they shot ranking rounds at 70 meters, individual head-to-head and also team head-to-head. Huge quantities of food, of course, were made available as well as the continuous coffee.

Everyone is getting ready for China now. The qualification scores seem very high to me (but what do I know!) with compound being 339 and recurve being 306. They seem to be set from the last year's world rankings and taking the sixth place as the level.

I have added a few pictures for interest.

Ready for the off ...

2008-03-23T20:24:00.004Z

You may just have heard about the City of Edinburgh Council bidding to run the Archery World Cup in 2010 or 2011. It was reported in the Evening News (see http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Another-string-to-city39s-bow.3860349.jp) who did not quite get all the details correct.

It seems that FITA were not strong enough in their guidance to applicants that they should be in partnership with their local National Governing Bodies, and so it was vary late in the day that the Council hooked up with GNAS.

I won't bore you with the details, but there are procedures to be followed if funding is to be secured, and there was a lot of activity needed at the GNAS end to ensure that the Council could bid.

In the end, the bid went in, but that is just the start of the work involved. One of the venues being consider is Holyrood Park which will provide a spectacular backdrop if the Council is successful.

My personal archery activity has been in packing the caravan for my annual trip to the Netherlands. By stopping off in York, I get to visit my three month old grandson on the way over, so that is something to look forward to. Nearly everything is done now, so I am just about ready for the off ...

Policy and a new Chairperson

2008-03-09T19:54:00.003Z

Most people will be unaware that the SAA is a member of the Scottish Sports Association (SSA), which represents the interests of Governing Bodies of sport. I was invited to become a Director on the SSA Board (with the backing of the SAA) early in 2007.

The SSA was directly involved in the consultation about the future of sportscotland which was reviewed at the end of last year. If you remember, the incoming SNP administration had said in its manifesto that it would look to abolish sportscotland, but the SSA, amongst others, said that they provided a valuable service in response to the review process. In the end, sportscotland survived, being merged with the Scottish Institute for Sport and having a more regional structure.

There are a number of reviews and policy matters they are currently involved in. The UK Government is looking to tighten up the immigration system and this may have some unwanted side effects on athletes coming to the UK from outside the European Community. The SAA is responding as are a number of UK wide bodies.

The legacy of the Commonwealth Games in 2014 is being consulted on by the Scottish Government and the SSA will be holding a consultation meeting towards the end of March. The last of the three pieces is a move to influence policy on sport participation in schools where the SSA, as part of the Scottish Sports Alliance are putting forward proposals to the Scottish Government.

Hefty pieces of work!

Today saw Tina chairing her first National Council where she steered through her first budget (always a nerve racking task). The meeting got through the business in a business like and timely fashion, finishing a shade before 3pm.

DVDs and shooting

2008-02-18T20:33:00.003Z

I was at Lilleshall twice this week.

Early in the week, I was down for meetings and, during one of the breaks, went down to the Sutherland Hall (for those who don't know, this is where you can shoot 90m indoors all year round, and is used for squad training). There was a tremendous amount of activity where the Performance Unit were in the throws of making an Archery DVD which will go on sale later this year. High speed camera, professional film crews and sound men were all scurrying around.

Another sign of how far the Society has moved on.

The second trip was for the British Champs, packed out as usual. Her indoors was competing but had to pull out of the Scottish Team due to a bout of "woman flu" (well, if there is man flu, stands to reason there has to be a female variety) earlier on in the month. She seemed happy enough to be the most progressed native Scot in the compounds (oh dear, I hope I have got that right).

I get real bored by indoors, but may have to re-consider my position on this. Two of my Director colleagues were shooting (Jan and Ian) and, as well as me, another two Directors were at the Champs (David and Jean) - maybe others. Long gone the days when the Board was invisible.

It is reliably rumoured that CEO David was so terrified by the Welsh that he put his hand in his pocket, brought out £10 and bought two raffle tickets for the World Fields in Wales later this year. This will be shot at a smashing venue in the Museum of Welsh Life in Wales - well worth a visit if you are thinking of taking a holiday in the first week in September.

Teachers, Uncles and Beer

2008-02-10T21:04:00.001Z

I spoke at a meeting of SLANOPE this week - I think it stands for the Scottish Network of PE Teachers. I did a short presentation on Archery and showed a short film about GB competing on the world stage. The idea was really to see if there was an interest in providing advice on the introduction into schools.

They were a great audience and nice people individually. However, they asked some searching questions about what was the educational rationale which I was not really prepared for. I guess that there is a lesson to be learned there.

I also had the pleasure of fixing the computer of the other half's Uncle Willie. Getting it working was straightforward, if not a little time consuming, as all I had to do was put in a few passwords correctly (which, of course, he swore he had done) and sort the configuration.

In gratitude, he took us out for lunch, which was very welcome, and made a special gesture of giving me three cans of Carlsberg. He remarked that he had bought them originally for the slugs, which had not been as many this year (hence the surplus), and that he was sure that being 4 months past their date would be OK.

It's nice to be appreciated!

Rotten Weather, Good News

2008-02-03T21:25:00.000Z

It won't have escaped many people that many parts of the UK have been subjected to storms and snow - I guess I say this in the hope that this blog is being ready from sunny climes - which brings me to sunny Australia where I hear young Andy is shooting his socks off (read http://www.scottisharchery.org.uk/ for the details).

I'm not long back from the SAA's EGM caused by the lack of a quorum at the AGM, which seems a common problem these days. It was held in the lunch interval of the Scottish Indoor Champs, and the focus on getting matters concluded to be able to start the afternoon session meant that we rattled through a good 9 (?) votes in just over 30 minutes. Shows you what can be done when you put your mind to it.

Tina got elected as President and I'm sure that all of Scotland will be with her as she starts her first three year term.

I got the results back from sportsscotland on what their Active Schools database said about participation. It looks as if 300 primary and 250 secondary pupils get an archery session over twenty schools across the country. Here is a map ...

The red dots are the schools and the blue ones are the clubs. There are certainly some anomolies (as round Inverness) where there are schools without any local clubs. I guess we may have to write to the schools to get to the bottom of what is going on.

The helpful suggestion on involving Leaders by Michael Mather has certainly hit some spots, and I had a conference call with Ollie (Coaching Manager, GNAS) about it this week and he is certainly keen. With a following wind, we will see that kick off later this month after a few more folks have had the opportunity to input.

Two missing Sundays

2008-01-22T19:57:00.000Z

It is my custom to write this blog on Sunday nights, but a couple of obstacles got in the way of that habit in the last two weeks.

The first was the pleasant reason that archery got in the way.

On the Sunday before last, we went to a new indoor shoot in Alloa, run by Bannockburn Bowmen. I shot well enough and the team of me & her indoors got team third place. There were a whole pile of people from the new Edinburgh Club - Fellowship of the Bow - and I shot with one of them and had a really nice morning. The scoring was again pleasant and done by someone with very nice handwriting and who could add up - juniors, please note.

The shoot did not require uniform and people were encouraged to turn up in something bright. The morning were a pretty plain lot really (my orange breeks were mysteriously in the wash) but I was glad to see the afternoon crowd being led by the big McAuley resplendent in kilt and hairy legs.

I then spent the rest of the week sorting myself out for the winter GNAS Board meeting, which was a two day affair, with some extra days tacked on for side meetings. I worked on the train on the way down on the Thursday morning, and spent the afternoon with Dave Sherratt and Lin Berry looking at their office systems.

Lin is a real stalwart, always rushing about getting things organised, on the phone to members, or sorting our suppliers out. She keeps smiling through all of this which is something that I would struggle with. The office are now getting ready for the AGM and all the papers that are needed for that. Before I started in this role, the AGM was just ticking a box to me, but that is certainly not the case.

On the Friday, we had guests from Standard Life Investments who we have been partnered with through the 2012 process of joining up the Olympic Sports to FTSE 100 companies. The idea is to enable a bridge between successful business and sport and members will read more of that in future issues of Archery UK.

As well as sitting in on part of the Board meeting, they also had a come-and-try. This was in the Sutherland Hall (where you can shoot 90m indoors) in the midst of the development and paralympic squad training. I can't be often that sports can offer this kind of experience to outsiders.

The Board meeting itself was a pretty energetic affair and there is certainly a buzz these days. We had a presentation from the Performance Unit and it should be obvious to all the members how that has moved on, but I get the feeling that the progress made in other areas is less obvious and, perhaps, not as appreciated.

I had a much delayed train journey back, not unpleasant but wearying and long, and so I missed writing last Sunday. I just about had time for a quick chat, cup of tea and unpacking the bag before it was time for bed.

I did come back to the news that her indoors was Eastern Area champion (561 Portsmouth I think). This was accompanied by a perhaps familiar tale of starting off with 60s, falling to the wayside and gallantly rallying at the end. Ho Hum!

Tom Williamson had been at the Board as well. He has had some shoulder issues of later and is using a 26lb recurve and shooting barebow. He shot, I think, 560 Portsmouth recently - cold feet in the back in bed was the response for using that story in reply to winning the area champs! Live & learn? Not at my age, it seems.

It's 2008 already!

2008-01-06T19:52:00.000Z

I had two nice things arrive to start the year off. The first was a copy of the Winter 2007 news from London 2012. It contained a full page on one of GB's top archers, Noami Folkard, and it is good to see that extent of coverage. The second was an invitation to comment on Scottish facilities that had been put forward for 2012 pre-games training camps for archery. I shared these with National Council colleagues and fed back on the eight venues. It is good to see so much interest, given we are so far from London - I guess that commercial confidentiality will preclude me from sharing their names in this public place.

The first shoot of the year for me was today at the Penicuik frostbite. I started off well enough, fortified no doubt by Liz's own spicy lentil soup, with a 116 dozen and then the cold got the better of me. The wind chill certainly cut in and I dropped at least 6 point per dozen for the remaining two dozen. I was shooting with two delightful juniors (one of who scored and could add without a calculator, hurrah!) and the other managed to shoot two of my nocks off.

At the present exchange at the end, Alan got my donation of finger puppets which is grand as he has grandkids. I got a jar of damson jam, not just damson jam but home made damson jam (that sound like the Marks & Sparks ad?). There is just nothing so good as this kind of jam, so that made my day.

There was the traditional stovies (Scottish delicacy for the uninitiated) and curry at Elayne and Norrie's afterwards. Norrie (a life-long teetotaller) has a huge range of whiskies, so I helped out a little in draining his reserve before going off to domestic chores (her indoors being at squad this weekend and so having to fend for myself).

Scotland is just beginning to wake up after the holidays and I get the feeling that it is going to be a busy and eventful year both locally and nationally.

I am going to finish now and get off to a long soak in the bath to finish the thawing out. There is a new men in far-too-tight britches series on the box tonight, her indoors will be glued to that and it will just be me and the bubbles for an hour (unless, of course, I can find where she has hidden my duck).

The year draws to a close

2007-12-30T17:51:00.000Z

Just before Xmas, Kate (from sportstructures) and I spoke to sportscotland about how to link into the Active Schools network. They seemed pleased we had come to them and gave us some good feedback. In particular, they have details on what each school in Scotland is doing in terms of sports participation. Our next step is to pull together a map of what all the various parts of activity are taking place (in schools, in GNAS clubs etc). We had this conversation through a telephone conference call which I am well used to through work, but was a novel experience to the others on the call - good that the "new technologies" can bring people together quickly and at little cost.

Bumped into Susan from Penicuik at Ikea where her and the family were out for an excursion. Santa brought her a new compound bag from Christmas and she reminded me about the annual Frostbite and to bring a £3 present as part of the communal present giving that takes place at the end. Next Sunday, someone will be the happy recipient of Ikea finger puppets!

The household has been awash with virtual re-decorating (wish the real thing indoors could progress as quickly!). The SAA web site is getting a makeover, and Muriel is busy with that and e-mails are flying back and forward between her and Murray. I guess it is the only time that they can get on with this as they are both involved in squads (Muriel with Scottish and Murray with UK disabled).

Having time on our hands, a trip to wildest Hawick was planned, which many people may not know is one of the Archery hotspots in Scotland.

We shot indoors with (another) Kate who is, I think, Scotland's only international double medallist this year having gained Sliver & Bronze at the IPC event in Korea the other month. Her man was there shooting as well with his recurve as he has had his arm twisted into competing in deepest Geordie land at a Vegas. At the end, we were joined by Ronnie, a local newcomer who will be at Lasswade soon taking part in his first competition (that thrill seems so far away from me now).

Kate let us into a wee secret. She said that Peter Suk, in the way of coaching, gives her a wee peck on the cheek and says she is a great archer. This obviously works from her medal success - must be something in the way the Koreans kiss :-) I feel a wee tongue twister coming on here (based on Peter Piper nursery rhyme) ...

Peter Performance pecked the purple pinkie of a pretty paralympian
The purple pinkie of a pretty paralympian Peter Performance pecked
If Peter Performance pecked the purple pinkie of a pretty paralympian
Where is the purple pinkie of the pretty paralympian that Peter Performance pecked?

... must remember not to give up the day job for a career in poetry writing.

I had a chat with Gwyn who has now been there for almost seven years now (visit http://www.eastcote-archery.co.uk/ if you don't know them). When they first started out, shooting inside in the winter was problematic as the gas in the heater would often be so cold as not be able to light properly. Now, there is an outdoor range for up to 8 targets @ 90m, a well stocked shop and a really warm new indoor range with three foam targets. The shop is planned to be moved into the original indoor range which will give lots of room and also provide for a reception area. All of this has been gradually built up over the years without too much public investment - well done Gwyn!

During writing this, I had forgotten the link to Gwyn's place and did the usual web search to find it. The first link to come up was the news that Andy Logan (a two time European Field Archery champion from Hawick) had narrowly escaped death in a car accident and will miss the Worlds in Namibia. Though Andy is from the "other lot" (the Scottish Field Archery Association), it is still a sad piece of news to have at this time of year.

Ah, Yoda

2007-12-16T21:12:00.000Z

Michael Mather kindly sent through the extract from the SAA's Development Plan concerning how to use Leaders to increase numbers. As usual with Michael, it has a deal of thinking and detail behind it. GNAS are also interested in this area, but are a little more cautious. Needless to say, everyone has a number of completely contradictory opinions (it wouldn't be archery otherwise) and I hope to work with GNAS to survey Leaders in Scotland to establish a independent basis to proceed on.

Xmas is drawing near and I was at a fun shoot on Friday night that was very enjoyable and good humoured (the juniors certainly liked their selection boxes). Ian Wilson took in in good part when he was ribbed about missing the balloons twice and I certainly shot better this week. I got two red stars at the top of the tree to Muriel's none and so all I need to do now is to get FITA to make an official Spruce Tree Round.

The Scotsman reported that sportscotland looked to be safe from the SNP axe, though their remit will be changed and re-focused. We will have to wait until the New Year for the details, I suspect.

There are a number of schools who will transition into GNAS School Membership due to the demise of the AAS scheme. The SAA and Areas need to set corresponding fees and Ray Mason is on the case with the solution to charge Junior Club fees.

I hope that all Scottish Archers felt some pride this month in the December announcements in the News section of the web site - Hannah becoming Junior Lady Indoor Champion and Andy Ward shooting 1380 in Australia.

I've had less time for Archery this week than of late. I was down seeing my three week old grandson in York. As I held him in my arms, he made a face like Yoda and noisily filled his nappy, thus displaying he had the family genes.

Schools, students, AWOLs & socks

2007-12-09T19:19:00.000Z

Conversations around schools continued this week with a very helpful conversation from the development officer at Learning & Teaching Scotland (a PE teacher on secondment who used to teach archery in his school). Information about activity also started to come in - most of the activity seems in the Northern Area, and John Sullivan told me he had been running lunch time sessions for over 10 years, wow!

I visited Edinburgh University who are in the early fund-raising and planning stages for two new indoor ranges to be open in 2010 as part of an extension to the already impressive sports centre (http://www.sport.ed.ac.uk/). The club has really grown in numbers and quality over the years and the University is acknowledging this with this investment.

The SAA AGM was not quorate this year which is a real pity and those Absent With Out Leave missed some great debate and information. The Children 1st unit that looks after child protection were there and gave a presentation full of really useful facts. GNAS' Marketing & Development Director talked about Clubmark and how it could be used to provide a framework for club improvement and also took open questions - what an opportunity missed to talk to someone at such a high level! The Development Plan was covered by Michael Mather and a good healthy debate followed.

The Development Plan had a lot of detail in it, but there is one inescapable fact - if Scotland had the same participation as in England, the SAA numbers would just about double and we could afford to employ a Development Officer to get even more growth.

The final thought is that "her indoors" made me shoot a round on Friday and beat me. Totally unacceptable, so socks need pulling up.

More formats, deep thoughts, 2012 & a baby

2007-12-02T20:37:00.000Z

I spent a couple of hours this week looking at a format for action plans with Kate Griffiths of sportstructures, and have hopefully come up with a template that is usable for these types of documents.

Kate and I also had a conversation about extending the work done for school engagement in England into Scotland. That will involve her understanding about the different systems up here and so I've arranged for a couple of conversations with sportscotland and Learning & Teaching Scotland. I also wrote to National Council and got back a response from Alan Wood

for three activities in the Northern Area.

I also attended a Board Meeting of the Scottish Sports Association. Here we discussed the legislation going through the Scottish Parliament about children and vulnerable adults and it is clear that there will be continuing work to be done on procedures. We also had an interesting start to a conversation on what legacy is in terms of 2012 and 2014 - this resulted on some deep thoughts to answer that simple question and I suspect the debate will continue for some months.

My last attendance of the week was at a talk from UK Sport on how they will monitor the National Governing Bodies in the run up to 2102 and the GNAS Performance Unit is involved in the pilot of that activity. They also shared their thoughts on what Elite Centres should look like and their observation of what is happening in China in this respect.

I write this on a train back from York after giving my 8 day-old grandson a bath and wonder if his grandfather's generation will leave him with a country dedicated to world-class performance in sport and, more generally, in life.

Just a cracking conference

2007-11-25T20:12:00.000Z

I was at the Scottish Sports Development Conference this week at Crieff Hydro. First day highlights:

Stewart Harris (CEO, sportscotland) did the introduction (and will speak further tomorrow). I detected that he thought that sportscotland would continue to exist though its focus and remit would change. Otherwise, he did not say much else, as this was just the opening.
Keith Brown replaced the minister, Stewart Maxwell, who was ill. He spoke of the need to think about legacy for events, the balance between elite & grass roots, the need to keep driving that sports should be recognized as contributors to nation and community development, concern that the new PPP school estate is not being fully utilized by the community, and concerns about inequality in Council spend on sport (£36-£166 per capita). No real new messages there.
Dr Pat Duffy, CEO sport coach UK, was most inspiring. He spoke of the challenges of being participant focused, maximizing front line delivery and defining the coaching model, all of which forms the basis for the UKCC. He then went on to speak about new thinking around classifying coaching by age range (child, juvenile, adult) and by type (from community to master) and for sports to build that into their planning. He spoke of a move for coaching to be professionally regulated, embedded into policy and for coaching to recognize that it needed to work with other professionals (officials, administrators, planners, physiologists etc) to make a real difference. Coaching can’t make UK Sport great on its own, was his words. He added that his estimate would be that 40,000 coach (FTE equivalents) being in place by 2016.
Nolette Rennie OBE, CEO Sporting Equals, talked about her work in addressing the racial part of equity and the government’s desire to decrease under representation (race, disability, female) by 1% per annum to 2012. She has funding of £2M invested in English projects as early adopter programs to provide evidence and case studies. She added that, in race, you will be successful if you reach out and engage with existing race community groups, understand their barriers, and work with them for solutions.
The workshop on the culture of clubs was interesting. Amongst all the delegates, everyone had their head round the issues. The SFA presented on their Quality Mark scheme (in content like many others) and I noted that: they link their levels to equity (e.g. bringing in females); they support well through their development officers, run urban workshops, and have web/telephone solutions for rural; they incentivise through discount on coach education, priority booking for conferences, automatically endorse funding applications, provide free first aid & child protection training, and advertise on their web site. A major issue in the PPP contracts and the difficulty in access to the school estate. Another major issue is the lack on joining up, at a local level, Active School co-ordinators, Council sport development officers and NGB clubs – the SFA took several months to complete a mapping exercise in the Lothians that identified facilities, who used them and where the local clubs were. They interestingly utilize the EC’s Leonardo fund to arrange transnational visits between clubs here and on the continent.

Second day highlights:

The day started with Dr Mark Nesti of York St John University talking about the application of existentialist psychology to sport. A good speaker to start a second day off after a heavy conference dinner. In a nutshell, he said that there is too much of a focus on process in sport (though process is important) and that athletes/coaches with skill/techniques and no personality will fail (as personality gives core values and strength). He invited the audience to contact such individuals in their organizations and suggest the move to roles more suited to their capabilities and where they can develop their personalities.
I attend a coaching CPD workshop around the introduction of the UKCC into Scotland which was surprisingly different from what I thought it would be. There has been quite a bit of tartanising linked to funding that includes creation of SQA units, becoming an SQA centres and being externally moderated by the SQA. Most of this is supported though. I’ve written separately to Bill Mackay and Ollie on this.
After lunch there were some short presentations and I attended the one on Scottish University Sport. It appeared to me that these guys (and the UK equivalent) were getting their act together in increasing sporting participation and outreach to communities.
The afternoon sessions started with Derek Casey talking about how Glasgow won 2014, very inspiring. I had no idea how much effort they put in: visited 67 out of 71 commonwealth countries; had as many visit Glasgow; had 1.5M Scots pledge support for the bid; utilize 70% of existing venues and only build 30% new. He reminded us all that 2014 will not only have a profound effect on sport in Scotland but will also hugely impact and strengthen our communities.
The afternoon ended with Stewart Harris, CEO of sportscotland, reflecting on the conference and noting that can do attitude, clear responsibilities and collective energy are all success factors. Issues still remain around club facilities and we need to do more to employ & deploy coaches effectively and raise professional standards. He closed with thank us all and reminding that sometimes we forget to thank volunteers enough.

The week ended with shooting with Penicuik on Friday night and good chat and then at Montrose for the indoor. I saw Sandy Gregory (who incidentally is on one of the photos in the sportscotland boadroom, in his pre-white hair days) who was shooting both morning and afternoon, I think - none of this part-time stuff for the boys in the wheelchairs.

A week of bits & pieces

2007-11-18T18:01:00.000Z

I wonder if it is widely recognised just how much work gets done at all levels by the volunteers. There are, of course, many of these from people who work in Clubs and Coaching, perhaps the most visible, through those who run & officiate at events, obvious to tournament archers, and lastly to those who work in the background at county, regional and national level. GNAS has a turnover of roughly £1million but if the volunteering effort is counted in, the estimate is something like five times that amount.

At the Board level, only one of the executive directors (the CEO) is salaried and the others (Chairman, Finance, Operations & Marketing) only receive expenses and work anything between full- and part-time. The National Directors are all non-executive, unpaid apart from expenses and work from a few hours to a day a week.

It is a very sobering thought that there are just so many unsung heroes.

This week, I have been looking at the Equity Action plan which is beginning its consultation phase (something to look out for in the coming months). It is being managed by an outside consultancy, SportStructures, who are doing a very professional and competent job. I think that it is a feature of the maturity of GNAS that it feels comfortable to engage outside agencies where specialist knowledge is required.

Locally, sportscotland has said it would like a representative from the SAA to be on the Equity committee to comply with its requirements. That opportunity has been created but a volunteer is needed - come on Scotland, someone needs to join in!

There have been areas of regulation that some clubs have found it difficult to assimilate like Child Protection which everyone would have no problem in supporting. Equity is another regulatory area that is coming from UK Sport, but it will have genuine opportunities to think about how we practice archery and engage with all the sections of our society. This should lead on to more participation as we open doors to all - I am encouraged in talking to the Director for England and her county's work in areas of multi-culturalism in, for example, Bradford.

Being November, it was time to get the bow out and start to shoot indoor. I don't much like being cooped up inside but it is good preparation for outdoors. I was glad that I still remembered what to do and could hit the target.

Her indoors told me of a spelling mistake but wasn't too specific where (I am expecing a lot of support from the lads on this one). Anyway, it is now found and corrected.

Formats, shields, money, coaches and 2014

2007-11-11T12:39:00.000Z

I continue to work with the CEO and fellow Directors to improve the "look and feel" of our publications - you may have noticed the format of the new Equity Policy. This week I was working on the format of the Board paper with David Sherratt, the CEO.

I read of the SAA's need to move away from the traditional shield and wrote to say that the new "Archery UK" logo can be adapted to Home Nations use, perhaps replacing the "UK" with Scotland or a Thistle. However, I guess that there is a need to find a logo that is acceptable to the membership and represents the Nation that is Scotland.

I also read of the reduction of the SAA's reserves and am personally concerned as the National Council (of which I am one) has the responsibility for financial management.

There are two great notes to end on.

First is the money allocated from sportscotland for support towards the Commonwealth Games in 2010. I wrote again to the SAA National Council saying that GNAS would sympathetically receive a proposal for additional funding.

Second is the 2014 Commonwealth Games result. I phoned the GNAS Chair to discuss and found that the ball had already been set rolling (with a contact to FITA) on looking at how that event (and the 2012 Olympics) would impact on Scottish archery. Just in case people don't know, GNAS, FITA and others made strenuous efforts to get archery into the Glasgow bid. The ball may have been set rolling but this is the start of a longish road with many discussion and profiling work still to take place.

Just Starting

2007-11-11T12:06:00.000Z

I've been thinking about how to improve communications between the National Director for Scotland post and the archers on the ground. Having spoken to friends and colleagues (yes!), I'm encouraged to try cyberspace and have chosen blogging, mainly because buletin boards (an other alternative) are just too busy for me.

Well, I've started now and hopefully I'll write something every week.

These are, of course, my personal reflections and are not "official policy", whatever that means.