If it rains during archery…. we all get wet!
After months of planning and a lot of work on both club’s behalf. This past Sunday – 22nd September 2024, saw Griffin Archers host the 2nd and much anticipated final leg of the Quirky Quiver Inter-Club competition with Parkfield Archers.
We lost the 1st leg and Parkfield held the baton. But it was all to play for…… Could Griffin use their home advantage?
A very wet start to our day
The day started looking overcast and the rain began before we arrived for set up! Being Deniss’ birthday we had ordered breakfast from The Command Post Bistro – we thoroughly recommend both the breakfast baps and the pancakes with crispy bacon, yum!
We had a great turn out to help nice and early, except the mood was unfortunately affected by the weather. No one wanted to set up in the persistent and heavy rain, that showed no signs of relenting! Whispers about cancelling were difficult to avoid and morale was sinking. Lines were down and targets up, no target faces as they would crumple in the wet. A group of gazebos was up to provide shelter and Deniss herded everyone to the activity centre for a warmer, dryer place where hot drinks were readily available along with cake – lots and lots of cake!
Time was ticking by, and as people from Parkfield began to arrive we had already been informed that the toilets in the Bistro were temporarily unavailable. Not the best way to greet visiting archers.
Because of the rainfall, everything was wet, to the point of dripping. However, the rain abated and we could put up dry target faces while archers set up their equipment. We decided to keep cake and buffet in the Activity Centre and to forego the raffle as there was too much admin to do and nowhere dry to put out the prizes.
And off we go!
Everyone made their way to the field and Assembly began. The rain had made the turn-out a little short, so there were spaces across the line. Rain had stopped for a moment as shooting began, so spirits were high! We had enough archers to make the Short Metric round fun and provide a decent amount of direct competition between the clubs.
To ensure there was competition within the shorter distances, Borna and Tom R agreed to move to doing a Short Metric 3, meaning there was some direct competition for David, our visiting Parkfield Archer. Robyn and Steph had the pleasure of Lin’s company and the friendly competition for their round. Pete and John L from Parkfield always enjoy some Compound Archery competition, and the 50+ recurves at 50m were plentiful. In fact, we had some epic scoring from John I, and Alan N. Deniss was initially running around as Judge, but quickly sorted all the issues that occurred with little fuss. Before we knew it the first distance had completed and there was a comfort break and targets to move.
Some archers took advantage and went to get CAKE!!!
The second distance began and Deniss took charge, Sara’s arrow failures meant she bowed out, and Kam had an issue with her bow too, with an explosive string! But all was quickly sorted. One target had its face fall off, so they had an “End“ to make up at the end of the competition. Pete and Jan arrived, bringing more cake – Pear, Walnut and Gingerbread cupcakes this time…. Yummy!
Di was busy sorting our Quirky Quiver Certificates, and then it was time to collect in the scoresheets. Just in time – the weather had turned colder and the clouds looked ominous again.
A healthy retreat from the weather
We all retreated to the Activity Centre. The Buffet, cakes and hot drinks were immediately a big hit! Sara and Holly helped juggle scoresheets and values. Holly even went off in search of getting scoresheets filled in correctly before handing them in!
Kenzie from Parkfield took Most Valuable Archer award from Griffin, as well as Gold in her class and beat her own personal record! She was an absolute star and ray of sunshine throughout the competition, keeping spirits up and forming firm friendships with many Griffin Archers.
Steph received the MVA award from Parkfield, and won Gold in her class to boot! Robyn also managing a very healthy score, taking Silver – whilst Lin bringing up the Bronze place for Senior Women Recurve.
Rachael and Paul went head-to-head and Rachael won Gold (Again! Paul…. she has ultimate bragging rights). Holly and her lonesome longbow put in an excellent score and even Oliver, who was a surprise entry, got a certificate and a medal.
Our faith in Tom R and Borna was justified, even with the pressure of knowing the competition rested on them they still took Silver and Gold respectively. With David from Parkfield achieving a PB score, so all was good. Pete took the Compound Gold and John Inkley got Gold for 50+ recurve. Ian and Rian enjoyed a friendly camaraderie and both gained their own medals for their class.
The long awaited results
The time for the Quirky Quiver Shield announcement came – John for Griffin and Lin for Parkfield stood next to each other as the important numbers were announced.
1st Leg Final Results
Griffin Archers – 1859 Parkfield Archers 1940
2nd Leg Final Results
Griffin Archers 2227 Parkfield Archers 1838
Total for WIN:
Griffin Archers 4086 Parkfield Archers 3778
So, Griffin gets the Quirky Quiver shield for its first year, and it will be fought again over 2 legs next year!
Who will hold the baton after the first leg?, and who will win?, we don’t know. But some will be some fun to be had along the way. This has been a great inaugural year for this event – friendly competition works well for all of us!