The Bowmen of Rutland Archery Club

The Bowmen of Rutland welcomes new members of all ages, at present we have  78 members, 58 are senior members (adults) and 20 are juniors. Our members shoot the three main archery disciplines, these are recurve bow, compound bow and longbow.

During the summer we shoot at our own ground at Greetham Valley Golf Club. In the winter we shoot mainly indoors at Casterton Business and Enterrpise College and Catmose College.

The Junior part of the Bowmen of Rutland is very active and enthusiastic with members taking part in County and National competitions. The club has had both Junior Outdoor and Indoor National Champions in their respective age groups. Two Juniors have represented England during 2006 and one of these has also represented Great Britain in Prague and Mexico. Junior Members have been selected to attend the Winter Regional Training Squads in Lincoln and the County Development Squad. Junior members have set County, Regional, European and World Records. Two Junior members have been selected to shoot for their county team during this summer, along with six Senior Club members.

During the year the Bowmen of Rutland put on Have-A-Go Sessions and Corporate evenings at their Greetham ground. In the past the Club has attended the Uffington May Day Fair, Brooksby Agricultural College Open Day, Wing Summer Fair, Copthill School Fun Day and Bourne Grammar School Fete.

The Club takes part in various Postal Leagues during the year. In the summer we shoot the Selby Summer Postal League, on the second Thursday of the month. During the winter we take part in the BA Postal League Portsmouth and Frostbite. Once a month we shoot a Portsmouth round indoors and once a month we shoot the Frostbite round outdoors. During the winter the Juniors take part in the Leicester and Rutland 300, an internet league organised by the County. Each year we shoot the Bunbury Silver Leprechaun Shoot, this is a postal shoot with invited clubs from around the world shooting the same round and sending their scores to Australia.

Each year we hold an inter-club match against the Bowmen of Birstall Archery Club, this is a fun afternoon of shooting with a tea afterwards put on by the host club. Each summer the club operates a Summer League to encourage archers to shoot some of the different outdoor rounds. In the winter we have a club Winter League.

Some members of the club enter the two County Outdoor Competitions, the County Indoor Championships and the County Clout. Local competitions are listed in the Club Newsletter. Competitions are usually very friendly with archers willing to help you if it is your first competition.

In 2001 the Bowmen of Rutland celebrated its silver jubilee, to mark this event we hosted our first Combined F.I.T.A. competition, this shoot has become an annual event but sadly due to a lack of entries it was cancelled in 2011, we hope to host it again in 2012.

In 2006 we celebrated our 30th anniversary with an anniversary shoot, a head to head competition the first in the clubs history shot at our Greetham ground.The Bowmen of Rutland Archery Club is affiliated to the Leicestershire and Rutland County Archery Association (L&RCAA), East Midlands Archery Society (EMAS) and the sports governing body The Grand National Archery Society (GNAS). The Club was formed in 1976, we are the only target archery club in Rutland but our members come from Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire as well as Rutland.