ArcheryGB is Britain’s largest national governing body of archery. Archery GB manages all levels of archery across the UK, from elite to advanced. It is home to more than 40,000 members. Archery GB is the umbrella association for English Archery Association and Archery Northern Ireland, Scottish Archery, and Welsh Archery Association. Under Archery GB are eight Regional Societies as well as a number of different county societies. It is a member of the World Archery Federation (WA); (formerly FITA, the Federation Internationale de Tir a l’Arc) and is a member of the British Olympic Association. The society’s motto reads “Union Trueheart and Courtesie”. World Archery is the another largest national governing body for Archery.
Role
Archery GB, is the largest archery organisation of archery with a target within the United Kingdom, the society includes all forms of archery such as flight archery, field archery, and Clout archery.
It is currently in charge of more than two million members and 750 clubs. Each of them can receive Archery UK four times per year as part of their affiliation. It also hosts its own national tournaments and is responsible for educating coaches and ensuring affiliated clubs are covered by the public liability insurance policies. These costs can be partially covered by the affiliation fee that club members have to pay to Archery GB and county associations.
Histories
The very first Grand National Archery Meeting was held on the Knavesmire at York in 1843 but the Grand National Archery Society (later Archery GB) itself was not founded until 1861, [1] where it held its first meeting at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool. The organization was limited to organising the Annual National Championships. This was at the time just one of the archery associations. The GNAS was not the sole supreme body for the UK until much later. It was made compulsory for archers wanting to compete or shoot at a club to be a GNAS member. The administration was handled through regions, counties and clubs.
Some of the Archery Equipment list:
The Royal Toxophilites, Woodmen of Arden and the Royal Company of Archers are three older, more historically important societies that are still in existence today. They are independent of the GNAS however, some members might be members of both.
GNAS/Archery GB is now well-established in the Olympics. British archers have received a total of four medals since 1972 when the sport was reintroduced to its glory.
Craig David was named the bow selector for the British Archery Team’s team for April 2021.
Rebranding as Archery GB
Official announcement was made at the Annual General Meeting, held in Lilleshall on April 19th, 2008, confirming that Archery GB will be the name used for trading the GNAS. This article is from the issue of Summer 2008 of Archery UK. The official GNAS magazine states:
This pivotal moment in the history of the Society formalises a transition which is currently just beginning to take shape with elite archers sporting new Archery GB branding. The Archery GB brand will now represent all aspects of the organisation which includes the Olympic team, coaching programs, events as well as membership. This shift is because of the recognition that the Grand National Archery Society brand, whilst naturally close to many hearts, does not reflect the size and stature of the group that represents British archery on a global scale. The logo is outdatedand quite pale and the name suggests an insular organisation that is prone to horse racing. This is a poor reflection of a governing organization like this.
Also read: Archery rules