As you all know, we have a great facility at the Martin Kelly Archery Field, but it doesn’t look after itself. It takes a bit of work to maintain the field to a high standard and, as with most things, the more people you have available, the easier the work tends to be. We are intending to have work teams in over two weekends. The 12th and 13th May and the 25th and 26th May from 2-5pm each day is the plan at the moment. The work will involve the usual, stand maintenance, butt maintenance and grounds maintenance. Some work, some refreshments and some fun shooting. If you can help out please let the committee know and turn up on the days required. See you there.

Athboy Archery Club will host their 1st Open Championship on Sunday 27th May, 2012 at Cloran Road, Athboy, Co. Meath. Cost for early entries, €10 seniors, €5 juniors. Late entries, €15 seniors, €7 juniors. Round format FITA 70 m qualifying (WRS) and head to heads (WRS).

For those interested in Field Archery, the Open Irish Championships will be hosted by Woodbrook Garden County Archery Club this year at Dargle Valley, Tinahinch Farm, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow. Dates are 5th and 6th May and the cost for two days will be €25 adults and €15 juniors. Entries accepted up to 3rd May. Summerhill Archery was well represented at this event last year, so let’s do it again. Best of luck to all.

Calling all archers, calling all archers. Well, according to the calendar, summer is here. In the best tradition of enjoying all things “summer”, we have moved back to our outdoor venue. All members are invited and welcome to shoot at any time, but of course, you all know that anyway. We have beginners shooting on Tuesdays, Club night on Wednesdays, Juniors Club on Saturdays and Club shooting on Sundays. It is proposed to have a Club competition each month for all members. We will also be hosting our normal open shoots throughout the summer. There is something for everyone so let us see you all out shooting and scoring. Enjoy the summer.

Ok folks. Time to get the sights in for the Indoor Competition. Club nights recommence on Tuesday 10th January and the competition will begin soon after. Remember, this is not a life or death struggle. It’s much more important than that.  There are bragging rights at stake here. A chance to knock the young pretender’s silly hat off.   There’s a trophy as well, if you are interested in that sort of thing. So get practicing, breathe, keep your bow arm up and all that stuff. Get your scores in (it probably won’t make any difference because once Dave’s incomprehensible handicap system takes effect there’s no knowing what will happen ), shoot as often as possible, and who knows? It could be you.

Summerhill Archery would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our members and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. If you are all very good and have been notable on the nice list and not the naughty list, Santa may just fill your stocking with Hoyt and Easton goodies. Enjoy

Picture the scene. You are walking through a sylvan landscape with a couple of friends. You don’t make a sound as each step is cushioned by the carpet of fine pine needles underfoot. Any swish of clothing is masked by the soft lapping of water on the shores of a nearby lake. Through the occasional openings in the leafy canopy you can see clear crisp skies of azure blue. You hear the cry and then, high above, you catch a fleeting glimpse of a buzzard pair, lazily soaring on the hunt. Suddenly and without warning, as you round a bend on the path, you are confronted by a large brown bear. Your arrow is nocked, string drawn and sights seeking ‘the kill’ in a heartbeat. Your breathing slows, time appears to stop as the arrow is loosed and you await the telltale and satisfactory ‘thunk’ of your arrow striking home on target. (Please note: No bears were injured in the making of this commercial)

If any of the above appeals to you, there is a Come and Try Field Archery event due to be held on Sunday 4th December at Drewstown House, Athboy. If you have never tried Field Archery, you are in for a treat. The targets are arrayed through a forest and alongside a lake. You must follow a path through the area and ‘hunt’ your targets. These can take the form of normal ring targets, animal picture targets or 3D animal targets. It is a great day out and well worth a try.

Starting time is 9am for 9.30am. Drewstown House is on the R154 from Athboy to Oldcastle (if you get to the crossroads with the N52 you have gone too far). Give it a try. Fun for all ages.

The National Indoor Championships were held on Sunday 20th November at Oriel Park, Dundalk. The event was hosted by Cúchulainn Archers and a huge vote of praise and appreciation must go to Eamonn, Deirdre and all the team involved for a very well run event.

Seven members from Summerhill were in attendance (including Dave’s Judgeship). The day started with a FITA 18 round for classification followed by lunch. We were then into the head-to-heads. These can be quite daunting if you have never shot in them before, but all of our members handled the pressure admirably. There was an element of chagrin voiced by some of the heavy hitters at the allocation of ‘byes’ in the first round. I must admit, I wasn’t complaining myself. At the end of the day, Summerhill came away with three medals.   Congratulations to Amy for taking Bronze in the Ladies Junior Recurve after a hard fought battle with Cork. Congratulations also to our two Male Cadet Recurve who took Gold and Silver afterwards admitting they had less nerves shooting against each other than in any previous head-to-head.

Team events unfortunately had to be cancelled due to lack of time and were allocated based on cumulative scores from the qualification rounds.

A very good day with a great buzz going all day. The only sour note came when it was noted that at least one sight was tampered with while a bow was unattended. This caused the elimination of an otherwise excellent and high-scoring shooter early in the event. I wonder how the culprit manages to feel good about him or herself. It is sad that whoever they are feels the need to stoop so low.

A heartfelt well done to all others involved yesterday.

Calling all Summerhill Archers. We have moved indoors since the beginning of October as normal. The venue is the same as usual, Summerhill Community Centre, just off the village square. The Community Centre is a fine old Medieval Building originally built as a Keep circa 1460. Some of the original walls, towers and buttressing have been retained in the renovations. The covered area we shoot in was originally the training ground for the troops guarding the Keep and maintains the old feel of the place.
I should say, at this point, that none of the above history is true, but you have to try anything to get people out these days We are however back indoors, every Tuesday evening, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. We have also revived the social aspect of the evening (there might even be biscuits). We should also be starting the Indoor competition soon so you need to start getting the scores in. See you all “On Any Tuesday”, do some shooting, have a laugh, have a coffee, enjoy

Dublin Archers held their indoor shoot at the Main Sports Hall, DCU, on Sunday 13th November. Although not as well attended as previous years, there was still a good crowd including some of the countries best shooters   The venue is very good, easily accessible with plenty of parking, albeit a bit of a walk away. The event ran smoothly, without any obvious hitches which is generally a testament to good organisation. Summerhill Archery Club fielded five entrants with four taking home prizes and a couple of top placings   On the subject of prizes, definitely my kind of people. Bronze: tube of sweets, Silver: yard of Jaffa Cakes and my personal favourite, Gold: Toblerone. Mmmmmmmmmmm Chocolate
Congratulations to Dublin Archers for an excellent competition