20 March, 2020

Dear archery whānau,

Thanks, everyone, for your patience. These are certainly challenging times.

The Archery New Zealand Board shares your disappointment with the cancellation
and postponement of our major international competitions. It was a heart-breaking
decision to withdraw our teams from all international competition but in retrospect it was the correct thing to do given that the government has now closed our borders and travel internationally in and out of the country is no longer possible, at least in the short and medium term.

The Board wish you to know that we share your love of our sport. The respect we have for our international archers is beyond words. We know how hard you train, we understand your aspirations, and how much you’ve worked to #earnthefern.  We can only hope, when things settle, that the postponements that have been made result in events rescheduled that we can all participate in sooner rather than later.

The Board is working with the Operational Team to identify options from within our borders that will enable you to continue competing, to participate safely in your sport with all the
camaraderie that goes with it.

WA Oceania Championships CQT has been postponed at this point but there is talk of revisiting this decision as soon as possible. June has been mentioned but nothing has been confirmed at this stage. World Cup #1 in Guatemala and the Pan American Games have been cancelled and it’s a ‘watch this space’ for details of future events as we work through the  ramifications of the COVID19 pandemic.

Keep checking the World Archery and Oceania websites and, of course, ours.  World Archery, Oceania, and Archery New Zealand social media will be vital for receiving updates and, please, contact our General Manager Mike Thompson if you have any questions via [email protected].

May we end by quoting world champion Brady Ellison whose advice, via social media, is to ‘just keep training’.  It’s great advice and who can disagree.

Best regards,

Elizabeth, Lexie, Sier, Lisa, Tracy, Chris

The Archery New Zealand Board