Athletes Corner

If you have any queries, complaints, compliments, issues or suggestions for the Board regarding athletes, please contact [email protected].

In the downloads are the eligibility rules for Transgender Athletes. 

 

Novice and Development Classes

The Novice Class is aimed at archers that are new to the sport and the Development Class is aimed at archers early in their progression of the sport.

  • The two classes’ levels were implemented to achieve several goals:
  • Create a pathway for archers
  • Allow all archers to aspire to and meet tangible targets in their archery
  • Create a more level playing field for archers new or early in their development in the sport
  • Assist in the development and growth of archery into a mainstream sport in New Zealand

If you fall into one of these Classes but haven’t competed in a tournament before, why not register for your next local RMT to get a flavour of what a tournament is all about at a comfortable distance.

 

 To read more about the rules for the classes, click here and view the downloads.

Age Classes and Eligibility

World Archery Age Classes - a How-To Guide

What do the rules say?

As of 15 January 2022, this is what the World Archery rules say:

4.2.3. An athlete may participate in a Under 18 Class in tournaments when the competition takes place up to and in the year of his 17th birthday.

4.2.4. An athlete may participate in a Under 21 Class in tournaments when the competition takes place up to and in the year of his 20th birthday.

4.2.5. An athlete may participate in a 50+ Class in tournaments when the competition takes place in the year of his 50th birthday and thereafter.

The other age classes we recognise in NZ (i.e.: U11, U14, U16, and 65+) work the same way just with the numbers adjusted as per the name of the class.

OK, but what does that actually mean?

In order to shoot in a youth age class, your age on your birthday this year needs to be lower than the number indicated in the name of that age class.

In order to shoot in a masters age class, your age on your birthday this year needs to be the same or higher than the number indicated in the name of that age class.

So how do I figure out what Age Classes I can compete in?

I realise that these descriptions aren’t very helpful on their own, so I’ll run through some examples:

Using your birthday, the event date, and some math:

So let’s say you are planning to shoot an event next year, 4-5 March 2023, and want to know which age classes you can shoot in if you are born on 16 June 1973.

Calculate

So in this example you can compete in the 50+ or SENIOR, but not the 65+ or youth age classes. Note that although you are only 49 during the event, you are still eligible for the 50+ age class.

For Youth Archers, you can use the table on the ArcheryNZ website. If you aren't sure how to:

First, look for the row with your birth year (let’s say 2011) and then find the column with the year the event if being held (let’s use 2022).

Age classes table

 

This means you can shoot in the U14, U16, U18, U21, or SENIOR age classes but not in the U11 or 50+/65+ age classes. This happens even if you are 10 years old at the time of the event.

FAQs:

Q: When should I check what age class I am (or, when does my age class change happen)?

A: 1st of January is when the effective changes happen.

Q: What if the event happens over 31st Dec/1st Jan?

A: You need to be eligible to shoot that age class for the whole event (much like how you can’t swap to compound after starting the ranking round with a recurve).

Q: Can I be eligible for more than one age class at a time?

A: Yes, but you can only shoot each event as one of them. You can be U14 and shoot SENIOR, but you can’t do both in the same event (e.g.: ranking and Matchplay). Merging age classes is done during events to allow events with low entries to happen, but that doesn’t change your age class.

Where else can I find information?

You can ask the judges at any tournament, look at the ArcheryNZ website, or email us at [email protected]