Youth is the junior section of Archery New Zealand and was formed to help cater for young archers in New Zealand. Before Youth Archery was formed in New Zealand all juniors, no matter what their age, competed against one another. So a 17 year old stood beside an 8 year old shooting for the same trophies and medals. Youth Archery (formerly known as JAMA - Junior Archer Members Association) was formed to make junior archery a much fairer system and now has 5 different age divisions from U11 to U21.
Youth Archery has their own Māori Motto: Ko ngā Rangatahi ngā Rangatira mō āpōpō. This translated means: the youth of today are the champions of tomorrow.
Most archers begin on a simple recurve bow, but they can choose after their beginner course which type of bow they wish to shoot with, and this can also change over time. Some people who start recurve find that compounds are more their style, and others who start on compound might change to recurve or barebow. Here is a short description of the types of bows:
Recurve |
Compound |
Barebow/Longbow |
The Recurve bow is common known as an "Olympic-style" bow with a riser and recurved limbs and a string pulled back with fingers. A recurve commonly has an adjustable sight and often has stabilisers. | Compound bows are a more complex bow with cams and wheels, a single string drawn back with a mechanical release aid, and a cable to hold the cams. Compound bows are also allowed a magnified sight to aid with aiming. | A barebow is a recurve bow with a riser and limbs and string, but no sight or stabilisers are allowed. Longbows are the traditional-style wooden bow which is one long piece of wood and a string. |
Each youth archer competes in their division which is based on bow type and age group. If you don't know where your child (or you) belongs, click here for a handy table that can help you out.
Starting out in archery, the best place to get better at shooting is at your local club. Shoot as much as you can!
All Archery NZ clubs in New Zealand offer the monthly shoot to their youth archers so they can compete against other archers in their category and improve over time. This monthly shoot is what we call a "postal shoot" - you shoot at your own club, and your scores are sent into a coordinator who puts the results together for the whole country. These rounds are shot each month from February to November.
Each month a different round is shot. Certificates are presented to the first 3 placings in each division. For more information please review the Postal Rounds page.
As Youth archers progress through archery, most like to try out tournaments. Many individual clubs host tournaments during the year solely for Youth Archery. Clubs also run open tournaments where youth divisions are catered for also.
Youth archers also compete in the National Indoor Championships which is held during the winter months, and the Outdoor Championships which is held during summer.
Solely for Youth archers, the North Island and South Island Youth Championships are outdoor tournaments which are held over a weekend usually in February or March. These outdoor tournaments are shot from various distances for juniors’ relevant ages. The youngest (U11) can shoot from as close as 15 metres while the older (U21) can shoot as far as 90 metres. These tournaments are very useful for those trying out for the Trans-Tasman team.
Youth badges and award pins can be claimed and won for particular rounds shot and scores shot at those tournaments. There are also pins and badges available for the youth monthly shoot.
Please visit the pins and badges page to see what is available (there is a handy PDF to view) and to make a claim.
Archery NZ keeps a full list of rounds and records shot for those rounds. Chasing a record can be really motivating for an archer!
Youth archers have the opportunity to trial for NZ Representative teams to compete against other youth archers from around the world. Each archer must meet the required criteria to be considered for any teams. For upcoming events, and their selection information, read this page.
Every second year Archery New Zealand selects a youth team to compete against Australia. This competition is called the Trans-Tasman. Please click here for more information.
This is a self funded event of which is located either in New Zealand or Australia on a rotating basis.
Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship applications usually open on 1 November each year.
Programme information, guides, draft application forms and closing dates available here.
... some great information for kids and parents, plus some interactive games... https://www.wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/education-awareness/youth-zone