About the Club

The University of Warwick Archery Club is an informal club providing a friendly atmosphere for its members to meet, socialise and shoot together. We are an Archery GB affiliated club, part of the County of Warwickshire Archery Association and the West Midlands Archery Society. We participate in BUCS events and also the student-run regional BUTTS league, along with various external competitions. Among our members and alumni are Team Warwick sports scholars and athletes who have represented Great Britain on the international stage, including Olympians Tom Hall and James Woodgate. We enjoy success at county, regional, and national level competitions. We also have plenty of members who choose not to compete and simply shoot for their own enjoyment!

We cater for all levels of experience, from complete beginners to experienced competitiors. (See details below for how you can get involved!) For those new to the sport, we provide all equipment necessary to participate in our sessions. Coaching is available for members of all levels of ability. Archery is also a highly inclusive sport, and suitable for people with a wide range of disabilites. If you have concerns about accessibility, please look at the dedicated accessibility page on the club website.

Our membership is a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate students from a wide range of subject areas, and we pride ourselves on being a welcoming club! After practice we have regular trips to the pub together, as well as a variety of other socials including fortnightly circling at the union and other, non-drinking socials. We also run a tour each year, usually during the Easter break.

The quickest and easiest way to join is to come to the sports fair in Welcome Week and find our stand, where you will be able to speak to current members. You can also find out more information if you email us or turn up to one of our sessions and find an exec member, who will usually be wearing an archery club shirt. Please note that to participate in one of our sessions, you will need to have completed a beginners' course.

How Do I Join?

We divide our incoming members into two groups: current members of Archery GB or a World Archery affiliated body, and those who we classify as 'new' to the sport. Although many people have had some experience of archery before at Summer Camps, school, etc. this usually does not count as sufficient experience to participate in one of our sessions.

• I am new to the sport and haven't been an Archery GB member before:
  • If you haven't been a member of Archery GB (or other World Archery member organisation) before, you'll need to complete one of our Beginners' Courses. This is to ensure everyone knows how to shoot safely before being allowed to take part in sessions. A beginners' course typically consists of four hands-on sessions at the club where we teach range safety and the basics of good technique. The courses are led by our club coach, and run by volunteers from the club. We emphasise that these courses are only offered at particular dates/times each year and are a requirement for you to participate in club sessions. At a typical club session it is expected that most members will be self-sufficient; the club is run by and for its members and we do not have the ability to offer one-on-one teaching all year round.
  • We usually run courses at the start of Term 1, sometimes following up with another course at the start of the Term 2. At the beginning of the academic year, we also run taster sessions so you can have a go at Archery without committing to a full course!
• I am a current member of Archery GB or another World Archery member organisation:
  • Great! Every year, we have a few experienced archers who join our club. Contact us via email to let us know who you are! You'll need to be a member of the club to participate in our sessions. Please note that we do not permit the use of all-carbon arrows at our outdoor venue because it is a shared use field.
• I don't know if I need to do a beginners' course:
  • If you really are unsure as to whether or not you need to do a beginners' course (maybe you used to be a member of an archery club but have since stopped) please contact us by email and give us details of your previous experience; we can help you decide whether or not you'll need to do a course.
• I have another question:
  • If you have another question about the club, the best course of action is to get in touch with us via email or on social media.

Please note that when you join this club, your name, gender, e-mail address, and date of birth will be used to register you with Archery GB, the national governing body for Archery in the UK. This is necessary to comply with the terms of our insurance.

Club Session Details

Typically, we have up to 4 sessions per week, with exact days and times varying from year to year. Full details of our current session times and more information about our club can be found on our website. We also use an online archery club record keeping software called archr to enable people to sign up to sessions and competitions, and track scores. We ask that everyone arrives promptly for the start of session to help us set up.

Our sessions are held in the Sports & Wellbeing Hub during Terms 1 and 2, and then outside on Varsity Field during Term 3 and the Summer break. We also shoot during the university holidays because we have a significant number of postgraduate students among our members. Holiday sessions are usually in the Sports Hub over the Christmas break, then on Varsity field during the Easter and Summer vacations.

Current sessions are as follows:

Term 1 and 2 Session Times 2022/23

• Wednesday 8am-11am
• Thursday 5pm-8pm
• Friday 6:30pm-9:30pm
• Sunday 5pm-8pm

Term 3 Session Times 2022/23

• Tuesday 4pm-8pm
• Wednesday 9am-1pm
• Thursday 4pm-8pm
• Saturday 9am-1pm
• Sunday 1pm-5pm

You must book the session before you attend, both through the Warwick Sport website and also archr, the club's record keeping software. If you have completed a beginners' course or a safety assessment with us, and do not have an account, you can email our Records Officer, Megan at records@uwac.co.uk