Lake Joondalup Archery Club

History

Archery has been practised in the Joondalup area (north of Perth, Western Australia) for the last 50 years, that we know of. Our original shooting grounds were at Rotary Park, Wanneroo alongside Lake Joondalup, hence the name of our sports club. In 2006 the club had to vacate Rotary Park due to redevelopment of the park. With the assistance of the City of Joondalup, it moved temporarily to a public park until suitable grounds could be found. The club incorporated in 1999, with Mr Dennis Holmes as President. He is a life member and is recognized as the founding father of Lake Joondalup Archery Club. As a sports club, we represent the City of Joondalup with pride and distinction.

Where and when we shoot

We shoot at St Stephens Carramar Campus, at 50 St Stephens Crescent, Tapping, Western Australia. Setup commences at 8.30am and shooting at 9.00am every SATURDAY MORNING. Shooting generally finishes between 11.30am and noon. Entry is from the northern side of the campus, the driveway with a "Canteen" sign. We can also shoot on Wednesdays during the school holidays. Archery at our grounds is not permitted on Sundays, this being a condition of the hire arrangement. We shoot in the mornings as wind conditions are statistically lighter, gaining strength from about 10.00am. In summer, it is also cooler in the mornings with maximum temperatures often peaking at about 3.00 pm.

Suburbs in our proximity are (alphabetically): Alkimos, Ashby, Banksia Grove, Beldon, Bullsbrook, Burns Beach, Butler, Carabooda, Carramar, Clarkson, Connolly, Craigie, Currambine, Edgewater, Eglington, Heathridge, Hillarys, Hocking, Iluka, Jindalee, Joondalup, Kallaroo, Kinross, Lancelin, Mariginiup, Merriwa, Mindarie, Mullaloo, Neerabup, Nowergup, Ocean Reef, Padbury, Pearsall, Quinns Rocks, Ridgewood, Sinagra, Tamala, Tapping, Two Rocks, Wanneroo, Whiitfords, Woodvale and Yanchep. We have members living in other northern suburbs of Perth as well.

Come and try

Archery is a sport for all seasons, genders, ages and levels of physical ability ¹. We have no conditions to membership other than a requirement for parents to attend, and remain in attendance, where juniors are 14 years of age or under. Parents that attend are asked to assist with setting up, packing up and to supervise their children. They are also encouraged to participate for two reasons. Firstly, they gain an appreciation for what their child is learning and can help with their own child's sporting development. Secondly, doing archery with your children is great fun and becomes a shared interest for the entire family. We have no set "training period". You can start competing at a club level whenever you wish to once you have demonstrated a comprehension of range safety. We have three Archery Australia qualified instructors.

If you would like to try archery out, please come to our St Stephens grounds for a 9.00am commencement with 11.00am finish on Saturday mornings (bookings are not required). Cost is $15 for temporary membership, payable each Saturday that you shoot. This fee covers insurance, equipment hire, shooting fee and supervised training by one of our accredited archery instructors. Temporary membership is limited to 12 weeks, thereafter full membership is required if you wish to proceed.

The club has a strict no smoking policy. We also ask that parents ensure that their children have hats, sunscreen and water bottles. Closed footwear is also required, for safety reasons.

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Our vision

The vision and direction of the club changes and evolves over time. Where we go and what we want to achieve is driven by the membership. At present, members are keen to compete, move up through the skills class structure and to shoot for high scores. We do not seek to compete against each other or anybody else. We are competing against our own last scores. The person shooting next to you is there to chat to and to provide encouragement. All of us are seeking to educate ourselves further in terms of our knowledge of archery, regardless of our level of expertise. Our members regularly compete at both State and National levels. We also provide a friendly and social atmosphere for those that simply enjoy the company of others.

The following members have achieved Master Bowman status: Dennis Holmes, Gordon Pikes, Bruce Titlestad, Mark Bobowski and Peter Godwich.

Forms of archery

Lake Joondalup Archery Club primarily participates in Outdoor Target archery. This means shooting outdoors over distances ranging from 10 metres to 90 metres ². We also compete at Field Archery events. Field archery is also shot outdoors over distances ranging up to 60m over uneven ground ³. Annually, we usually compete at the State and National Indoor events. Indoor is shot at the fixed distance of 18m ⁴. Our high performance archers also compete in Clout tournaments.

We do not participate in hunting. Our targets are restricted to paper.

At present our members shoot with either compound, recurve bows and longbows. We do not provide facilities for crossbows.

Facilities at our club

We are very grateful to St Stephens for permitting us to shoot at their Carramar campus. We have ample space for multiple targets ranged over various distances. Where required, we can cater to FITA shoots that need to be shot in North/South directions. Of great benefit are the covered areas that permit our members to shoot under shade and provide protection from rain. The photos on this page give some indication as to the large area covered area that we have. Toilets and water faucets are also in this covered area. We also have an equipment shed adjacent to the fields for storage of our target butts and stands. Ample carparking is available, even for tournaments.

For introduction to archery, the club has 8 recurve bows, two compound bows, quivers, aluminium arrows, bow stands and arm guards. We have one left hand recurve bow. All club equipment is of good quality and maintained to a high standard. The recurve bows range in poundage from 16lbs to 30lbs and are suitable for age ranges 8 to adult.

Importantly, for compound shooters shooting high poundage, we have Danage target butts. Conventional butts, if not continuously maintained and packed correctly, have difficulty stopping these sorts of arrows. Arrows passing through targets is extremely frustrating and costly as the arrow vanes are invariably damaged.

As a matter of practice, archers shooting for important classifications, such as First Class and Master Bowman are automatically provided with new target faces. This makes spotting at long distances more accurate. Worn target faces are immediately replaced for all participants. Members periodically are required to assist with target butt repairs, this being repacking the target centres.

Range safety

Peter Godwich is our Range Safety Officer. All archers must comply with his range safety instructions when directed to. Before commencement of shooting, yellow and red danger signs are put up, warning anyone entering the grounds that archery is in progress. Archery stops immediately if anyone enters the grounds/danger areas. All archers are required to sign the attendance register before commencement of shooting and pay applicable shooting fees. This important for insurance reasons.

When drawing your bow, NEVER raise your bow arm above shoulder height and then come down to aim at the target. You will be immediately stopped from shooting. When drawing, your bow arm should be directed lower to or to the target. Whilst we have a large safety margin for any arrow that over shoots a target, we frown upon arrows going over the top of targets. If you are going to miss (and we all do from time to time), make sure you arrow goes below or to the side of the target. Always check your sight settings before commencing shooting and remind those shooting beside you.

When retrieving arrows from the target buttress, make sure nobody is standing directly behind the arrows that are being pulled out to avoid injury. Arrows that are in the ground should be pulled out backwards and in a straight line to avoid bending them. Arrows can bury themselves completely, in which case it is necessary to use a metal detector to find and retrieve them.

Common archery injuries

Statistically, falling out of trees is the main accident that archers experience ⁵. This is due to archery hunters in northern America who set themselves up in trees. The most common injury is bow string slap to the bow arm ⁶. Whilst this can hurt, it is generally a minor soft tissue injury, normally causing bruising. To reduce or eliminate bow string slap, wear an armguard. Holding the bow with knuckles at a 45 degree angle often pushes the bow elbow away from the string. Some string stopping devices also work well. Shoulder injuries on the draw arm are also a common injury ⁷. This can be caused by not drawing back far enough, that is the draw elbow should be behind the archer's head/ear and not sticking out. Keeping the draw elbow right back relieves stress. Shoulder injuries are most common in high performance archers due to the additional training that they do ⁸. Quality of training is therefore considerably safer than quantity of practice.

An armguard. For beginners, we recommend a long armguard.

From an insurance perspective, archery is rated as a very safe sport, slightly more dangerous than lawn bowls, and safer than golf ⁹. We are insured by QBE Insurance ¹⁰.

Membership Fees

The majority of fees (all apart from $35 or annual pro rata equivalent) are passed on to Archery Australia (AA) and Archery Western Australia (AWA). AA provide insurance that covers all members, regardless of age. AWA provide additional services and facilities from their Whiteman Park complex. The club fees are only $35 per annum and are purely for hire of grounds. Targets and other costs are covered by a $5 per attendance shooting fee. The club's financial year is fiscal with fees due in January. Lake Joondalup Archery Club is a non-profit club determined to provide its membership with the best facilities and equipment that the club can afford, whilst at the same time maintaining reserve funds for contingencies.