I have been following this thread since the first post and felt as an NFAS archer/member I should have my say.
"At a recent NFAS shoot i attended i noticed that the majority of archers present were fairly old, i was wondering if this is normal. In fact there were so many coffin dodgers i thought i had wandered on to the set of the walking dead, except that zombies move faster and are generally beter dressed".
I would be interested to know which club/shoot you attended? I have been shooting NFAS for several years now and regularly compete in groups with archers from 7 to 70 years of age. Thankfully we are free to dress as we please, to suit the conditions on the day and/or what we feel comfortable in.
But seriously, how can field archery survive into the future when the participants are mostly incapable of navigating a real field archery course.
I think you will find that the majority of us are more than capable at navigating a field archery course, in fact not only NFAS but EFAA and IFAA courses/competitions both here and in Europe with more than a handful placing.
And how will the NFAS continue without making itself more attractive to a younger generation of archers.
I am a committee member of one of the largest NFAS clubs and we like other clubs make every effort to encourage new archers both old and young to the sport, like most clubs in the NFAS we offer reduced annual rates for family memberships to actively seek younger members, after all they are our future and the NFAS has always tried to promote a family atmosphere.
I think the problem lies in the pace of shooting and that needs to be addressed, people who take three minutes just to flick through a set of picture cards and then another 3 minutes to shoot should not be tolerated.
I would have to partly agree with you on this one, as an instinctive archer I do find it frustrating having to hang around while an archer spends time flicking through cards, adjusting sights, another flick through to check and then a bit more sight adjustment before shooting. I have been unfortunate enough to be in a group behind 5 of the afore mentioned but this has been a rarity. The majority of unlimited archers I have shot with are very considerate and mindful of this and its been a joy to shoot with them. Having said that, I shot with a group of
recurve BB archers in Austria this year at the IFAA Europeans whose shoot times were way longer than most compounders lol
That, compounded by money grabbing clubs who overfill a course is ruining the sport.
You will find that most clubs in the NFAS have a maximum number of entrants to a shoot dictated by the number of targets 36 or 40 or 2 x 18 or 2 x 20, it is generally kept to a maximum of 5 archers to a peg, more often than not 4. Safety is taken very seriously with risk assessments being undertaken before a shoot taking in to account the amount of archers booked in etc.
The last thing I am saying is the NFAS is perfect and free from issues, show me an association that is! What I am saying is though, please do not judge the NFAS based on a couple of bad experiences. I have shot a great many of the NFAS courses up and down the country and have also had a couple of nightmare days out and chose not to return for various reasons. There are over 160 NFAS clubs dotted here and there who all have comps during the year so try another, you never know you may just enjoy it!