Archery - The Bottom Line
I like archery, it’s good fun and provides excercise for both mind and body. Don’t get me wrong.
It’s the end of the last beginners session, balloons have been popped, maybe sweeties earned and that sort of thing. You may have already had the membership sales pitch, sometimes it’s part of the course, because there are things you need to know. You may fit into one of four categories:
You have tried and found that you just can’t get the basics, you know it’s not for you and decide to concentrate on things you can do. But it was fun trying.
Yo’ve done the course, mastered the basics but to be honest, you don’t know what the fuss is about, it just doesn’t rock your world. But it was fun while it lasted.
Beginners courses allow someone, for a fee, to try archery with competent instruction in a structured manner and to decide if they like it or not. Some don’t like it, some don’t complete the course, no problem, it’s a free world and it’s their money. Clubs would prefer to have you on the course than not especially as they’ve taken your money, but hey ho.
You’ve done the course, loved it, popped the balloons at the end and like the idea of taking it up, but you are not so completely sure, life is busy, money is tight.
You’ve done the course, loved every minute, popped a few baloons, spent hours on the internet looking at archery web pages, even read the beginners course manual. You would sell your grannie for another hour shooting arrows and have your chequebook and pen ready.
If you are the latter, well you’re hooked and grannie is being taught how to fletch arrows and other useful archery stuff by her new owners. You still only have perhaps a 50% chance of lasting more than a year before giving up. If you are still shooting after 18 months, then you are in for life. Don’t forget to buy grandma back.
If you are hovering, then it’s likely the bottom line will send you away from the sport. Archery is as expensive as you want it to be, but it is never cheap. To begin with, you need to pay the club joining fee. This should include any affilliation fees to County and Regional organisations, e.g Warwickshire and West Midlands. The fee is likely to include at least the outdoor shooting. Some clubs just need to charge extra for the indoor season, some have a shooting charge of a few pounds each session. The fee will be different for each club depending on their outgoings.
On top of that, if the club is affliliated to the Grand National Archery Society (Archery UK) then you need to pay your affilliation fees to shoot, that’s £35 for an adult. That’s where the insurance and being able to compete in official tournaments come from. There are other organisations out there for different archery styles.
So you are looking at possibly £100 a year just to belong. And you aint got no kit yet.
