Archery is one world’s oldest practices. As far back as 10,000-20,000 BC, hunters were using a bow and arrow to hunt for food and to defend against invading forces. Variations of Archery can be seen throughout history in a vast array of cultures. The sport of Archery doesn’t date as far back but is still over 600 years old, with the first documented example taking place in Finsbury, England. Since then, Archery has become a staple of the Olympics and student sport.
There are two popular forms of Archery, those being Indoor and Outdoor Archery. While the name may suggest the only difference between the two is where the sport takes place, that would be a misconception.
Outdoor Archery is the style seen at the Olympics. Competitors take turns shooting an arrow at a target 70m away. The target is separated into rings, with the rings closest to the centre earning the most points. In singles competition, each competitor is allowed to shoot three arrows per end. The competitor with the highest score at the end wins. In a team competition, each archer is allowed to shoot one arrow, with the team earning the most points declared victorious. The winner is determined by either the player/team with the most ends or the player/team with the most overall points, depending on the competition rules. If a match results in a draw, a tiebreaker will be introduced with either a shoot-out end or the first player to hit the centre 10 marker being deemed the winner.
Indoor Archery works similarly, just on a smaller scale. Both the distance between the archer and the target and the target size is roughly a third of what they are in Outdoor Archer. As the size of the target is different, archers are given three targets to shoot at instead of one. Archers must hit one of each target per end.
Great Britain has had mild success in Archery at the Olympics, with two gold, two silver and five bronze medals. This is enough for Great Britain to be the 6th most successful country at the games. However, the last medal for Great Britain came at the 2004 Athens Games where Alison Williamson won a bronze medal. The last time Britain won gold was in 1908 when William Dod and Queenie Newell both claimed the top spot. The win made Queenie the oldest female gold medal winner at 53 years old.
There are many Scottish Student Sport-affiliated events for Archery enthusiasts, including both Indoor and Outdoor Championships, Head-to-Head Competitions and an Archery League. To find out more, click the link here: https://scottishstudentsport.com/sports/archery/
If you want to give Archery a shot, click the following links:
Edinburgh Napier: https://www.napierstudents.com/organisation/sports/napierarchery/
Heriot-Watt University: https://sportsunion.site.hw.ac.uk/archery/
University of Aberdeen: https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/club/archery/
University of Dundee: https://sportsunion.dundee.ac.uk/clubs/archery/
University of Edinburgh: https://www.eusu.ed.ac.uk/organisation/archery/
University of St. Andrews: https://archery.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/
University of Stirling: https://www.stirlingstudentsunion.com/sportsunion/clubs/suac/
University of Strathclyde: https://www.strathunion.com/sports-union/club-sport/club/6112/
UWS: https://www.facebook.com/UWSArcheryClub/
Sports Chair: Gleb Evteev – scotstuarchery@outlook.com
Governing Body: Scottish Archery – https://scottisharchery.org.uk/
Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/scotstuarchery/
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