General Information for Beginners

A few notes to explain what you can expect during your lessons, what happens when the course is over and some general information.

Tuition fees for 2008 courses are £50 for adults and £30 for juniors - they subject to a review at our AGM every March. Your tuition fee is for a number of sessions of instruction, supervised practice in basic technique of the sport of archery (recurve and long bows only) at the Aquarius Archery Club. It includes the use of club equipment. We are moving towards a course length of either 3 or 4 weeks - depending on the time of year and the available light in the evenings. 

Junior Archery is encouraged at the Club (8 being the minimum age) but certain restrictions do apply for safety and insurance purposes. For children under 16 at least one parent or legal guardian must attend for the duration of the training session.

Lessons are normally Wednesday evenings juniors 6.00 pm to 7.00pm following by adults 7.00 pm onwards. Courses start between the first Wednesday after Easter and the last Wednesday in August. Contact us for details of specific start dates, as these vary each year.

You should try and join a course that you can attend all the sessions. Talk to the coaches if you are having trouble.

Weather: If it is pouring with rain then the session will be postponed to the following week, in the event of the session being interrupted due to adverse weather then you will receive an extra session in lieu.

Clothing: Correct upper body clothing is very important, especially a tight fitting top. In cold weather a thermal vest under a tight top/tops is ideal. No baggy sleeves, neckwear, bulky or loose clothing as the bowstring will just catch and ruin the "shot". In warmer weather polo shirts with a gathered sleeve are ideal. It does get cold during the early and late courses and being warm is essential to concentration - the temperature can drop off rapidly in the early evening, bring layers to keep warm. A soft brimmed hat is also a good idea - the midges can bite fiercely at dusk!

On completion of the course we hope that you will decide to join the Club in which case you will need to pay additional club fees. Current (2008/9) membership fees for adults are £100 and juniors £40, but are subject to alteration each year. This covers you to 1st April next year and includes affiliation fees (and insurance) to the Grand National Archery Society (GNAS), Southern Counties Archery Society and the Middlesex County Archery Association. 

Membership entitles an adult to use the Club facilities 7 days a week after a three month probationary period (you may purchase club keys) and juniors normally Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings or any other time by arrangement. Juniors have to be supervised by an adult archer at all times for safety and insurance purposes.

Training continues once you have joined the club - we offer "improver" training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. There is no additional charge for this over the membership fee.

If you plan to continue as a club archer then you should start to collect bottle green or white clothing which are the traditional archery colours for competition shooting.

Membership of GNAS entitles you to shoot anywhere in this country or abroad at recognised archery venues covered by GNAS or FITA (The International Archery body). You will also receive a quarterly magazine carrying lots of information, news and lists of competitions you might consider entering.

Please note that Aquarius is basically a GNAS/FITA target archery club for recurve and longbow only. However instruction in other forms of archery is available i.e. Field and Clout. We do not allow the use of crossbows or compound bows at the club.

You will be encouraged to purchase your own equipment from a recommended dealer and be given advise on what will suit you best. Expect to pay at least £150.00 minimum for a basic kit of bow, arrows, sight, pressure button. There are catalogues in the Clubhouse to give you an idea of what is available and costs.

The purchase of a GNAS rule book is strongly recommended.

What is there to do? There are many competitions you can enter both at a local level - the Club for instance enters various postal and County league competitions and further a field.

The Club operates the GNAS handicap and Classification scheme through our Club Records Officer. High scores lead to selection for Club teams, County teams and even National Squads and teams.

Indoor Shooting : The Club hires the Barnet TA centre on Monday evenings during the winter for indoor practice and competitions, make sure you sign up for this if you are interested in August, the cost will be around £5 an evening 7.30 - 10.30 pm.

Continued coaching is available free of charge from any of the Club coaches - other than Wednesdays, when we hope it is always busy.

If you would like to enrol on one of our courses it is necessary to Register with us beforehand. Recent years have seen very high demand for training courses so this has now become essential. You will also be asked to pay for the course in full before the start date.

For further details please email us, or ring our club secretary Alan Lake on 0208 440 1558.