Archery GB is the largest national governing body for the sport of

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Archery GB is responsible for all levels of

within the UK from elite to development level and supports over 40,000 members. Archery GB is the umbrella organisation for English Archery Association, Archery Northern Ireland, Scottish Archery and Welsh Archery Association. Under Archery GB are eight Regional Societies and many different county societies. It is affiliated to the

World Archery Federation The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 nationa ...

(WA); (formerly

FITA Fita (Ѳ ѳ; italics: ) is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet. The shape and the name of the letter are derived from the Greek letter theta (Θ θ). In the ISO 9 system, Ѳ is romanized using F grave accent (F̀ f̀). In the ...

, the ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') and is a member of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

. The society's

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

is: "Union, Trueheart and Courtesie". Archery GB is the trading name of the Grand National Archery Society, a company limited by guarantee no. 1342150 Registered in England

Role

Archery GB, is the largest archery organisation of

target archery Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow – longbow, barebow, recurve and compound – can be used. In Great Britain, imperial rounds, measur ...

in the United Kingdom, the society also covers either forms of archery including field archery, flight archery and Clout archery. The society is currently responsible for over 750 clubs and 28,000 registered members across the UK, all of whom may receive the magazine

Archery UK ''Archery UK'' is a magazine devoted to the sport of archery in the United Kingdom. It is the official journal of Archery GB, which has more than 40,000 members. The headquarters is in Hatfield, Herts. History and profile The magazine was first ...

four times a year, included in their affiliation. It also organises its own national tournaments and is responsible for training coaches, as well as ensuring affiliated clubs are covered by their public liability insurance policy. These costs are partly covered by affiliation fees, which all club members pay, both to county and regional associations and Archery GB itself.

History

The first Grand National Archery Meeting was held on the Knavesmire at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in 1843 but the Grand National Archery Society (later Archery GB) itself was not founded until 1861,''Encyclopedia of Sport'', Charles Harvey (ed.) – Purnell & Sons 1959 when it met at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool. It confined its early activities to organising the Annual National Championships, being at that time just one of many archery Societies; and it did not become the governing body for the UK until much later. Following this, it became mandatory – rather than optional – for every archer who wished to enter a competition or shoot at a club to become a GNAS member for insurance purposes, and administration was through clubs, counties and regions. Three older and historically important societies – all of which survive today – were the Royal Toxophilites (founded in 1781), the

Woodmen of Arden The Woodmen of the Ancient Forest of Arden are an exclusive society of longbow shooting toxophilites, founded (or possibly re-founded) in 1758 in the village of Meriden, in the Borough of Solihull, in the ancient Forest of Arden. History Th ...

(founded in 1785), and the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a per ...

(founded in 1676). They are independent of the GNAS, although some members may belong to both. With archery now firmly established in the Olympics, GNAS/Archery GB has seen many international successes and British archers have won a total of 4 medals since the restoration of the sport in the 1972 Olympic Games.

Rebranding as Archery GB

At the Annual General Meeting held at Lilleshall on 19 April 2008, an official announcement was made confirming that "Archery GB" would become the trading name of the GNAS. An item in the Summer 2008 edition of ''Archery UK'', the official GNAS magazine, states:

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Archery in the United Kingdom Archery organizations Organisations based in Shropshire

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

Telford and Wrekin 1861 establishments in the United Kingdom