18 February, 2022

The Local Organising Committee and Archery NZ have met to discuss the 2022 Outdoor Nationals in the light of current information relating to COVID-19 and the Omicron and Delta outbreaks a within New Zealand at this time. The difficult decision was made to cancel this year’s event.

The current alert level restrictions have introduced new challenges to operation of the event for our crew, admin and judges, and limited numbers make it impractical to run an event of this size well and safely. The likely peak of the outbreak is too near the date of hosting the event, and the impact on athletes, officials and volunteers introduced significant concerns for event continuity, viability, and the wellbeing of our members.

Splitting or shifting the event has been considered by the LOC, but deemed unsuitable for this year, with the event already at the end of the outdoor season, and the start of the next season too close to the Indoor Nationals, scheduled for August 2022.

We acknowledge many will be disappointed by this news, as are we. The effects of COVID-19 on event planning have been challenging. Archery NZ thanks River Glade Archers and other volunteers for their work on planning the event, and we look forward to working together to deliver the 2023 Outdoor Nationals. We should be able to welcome our international visitors back to this tournament by that stage also. The Board of Archery NZ has agreed to amend the host agreement with River Glade Archers to include the 2024 event instead of 2022, and we thank them for their support in organising these events.

We encourage our archers to attend local/Club tournaments as they feel safe to over the coming season, and we hope to see you all at the Indoor Nationals in August.

Archery NZ will communicate to our members effects on selection separately, and our financial team will be in touch with Outdoor Nationals entrants regarding refunds 

On behalf of River Glade Archers and Archery NZ