If you are interested in setting up your school for archery, or helping your kids who already shoot to be recognised for their efforts, you can contact us for help, or join in with one of the many options that are out there.
There is an NCEA Assessment Guide which may prove useful for Physical Education (P.E.) teachers who are keen to run archery or help archers in their school gain qualifications.
There are NEW rubrics for Year 2 and Year 3 - please check the downloads section to review.
You can also join our School Shooting Programme (as outlined above) for secondary schools (years 9 - 13) and intermediates (years 7-8), as well as joining the secondary school tournament in some regions. There is a North Island and South Island Youth Championships, held annually in the first quarter of every year, and a National Championships as well. We are also hoping to run a National Inter-School Archery Championships should enough schools and archers become involved. Archery has been sanctioned by CollegeSport in the Auckland region.
We have a few suggestions below in how to start up archery at your school -and we do recommend contacting the local clubs as they may be able to help you with space and coaching opportunities.
Please note:
Not all clubs are able to offer assistance at this time, due to a shortage of coaches or equipment. Interested students are welcome to join local clubs, and participate in this programme on behalf of their school.
1) Setting up a range on your school grounds
There are some benefits for schools to be mostly self-sufficient. If you have sufficient space for setting up a range on your grounds, clubs can assist in advising what equipment is required (buttresses, targets, bows, arrows, accessories, etc.) and will be able to give advice for setting up the range in a safe and appropriate manner.
In this situation it is necessary for teachers in charge, and possibly a couple of the senior students, to complete a basic instructor course which is provided by the Archery NZ Coaching Commission. This course will provide the ability to effectively set up and operate an archery range with an emphasis on safety and the ability to instruct students in the basics of archery. The schools may wish to arrange for some club coaches to visit regularly to provide more advanced coaching instruction. If coaches are not available during after-school training sessions, the students may be able to travel to the club for a weekend training session, such as a Saturday morning.
If you are a Tertiary institute, it is likely that your archer is already experienced at range safety, but may need guidance from a local club. We recommend reaching out to find out more at [email protected].
2) Coaching sessions at a club
If there is no suitable area for a range at the school grounds, training could be carried out at the club’s range, either using the club equipment, or bringing their own. This could be carried out in week-day afternoons if coaches are available at a time that suits a school, else in the weekend.
3) Joining a club
Another option involves joining the students up to a local club, undertaking the club’s novice coaching course, and purchasing their own equipment (approx $300 or so for a novice Recurve setup). This gives the students the flexibility of coming to the club whenever they want and joining in the club activities.
While not necessary, it is recommended that the teacher in charge and some senior students go through a basic instructor course to allow them to run their own training sessions and coaching. Alternatively, the club may take on this activity.
The School Shoot Programme is run once per school term. The event is run at 15m, and can be completed during a normal school sports training session. This event can be shot as often as desired before the end date each term, and each archer’s highest score is submitted. Schools can also compete as teams in this event.
In addition to the programme, Archery NZ helps run the inter-school matchplay competitions. A number of cities have already been running these events successfully for the past few years. Schools are encouraged to attend these events or run their own if they desire.
The Tertiary League is also run once per term but dates may vary depending on the semester year. We recommend reviewing them on the Tertiary League page.
