Confirmation of Changes to Age Groups Rules
Last year 2022, Archery GB reviewed the current age brackets for junior and senior archers. This was in response to confusion about the differences between age related rules from Archery GB and World Archery.
Following feedback and further discussions we are pleased to outline the decisions that have been made below. The age brackets support grass roots archers progressing through the sport whilst also supporting elite archers concentrating on WA rounds.
In the future, National Championships, records and classifications will be based on these age groups. Event organisers may use additional age groups such as U10 or 65+, but, for consistency, these should adhere to the same “year of birth” rule.
The rule changes will change on October 1 2022 and the rule book with be released at this time with the correct wording to reflect the changes.
Age Brackets
The age group rules follow World Archery’s lead – as detailed in the WA rule book: section 4.2, https://worldarchery.sport/rulebook/article/15. World Archery terminology will now be used for genders, i.e. Men & Women.
- Under 12 (Women)– Archers aged 11 and under
- Under 12 (Men) – Archers aged 11 and under
- Under 14 (Women) – Archers aged 13 and under
- Under 14 (Men) – Archers aged 13 and under
- Under 15 (Women) – Archers aged 14 and under
- Under 15 (Men) – Archers aged 14 and under
- Under 16 (Women) – Archers aged 15 and under
- Under 16 (Men) – Archers aged 15 and under
- Under 18 (Women) – Archers aged 17 and under
- Under 18 (Men) – Archers aged 17 and under
- Under 21 (Women) – Archers aged 20 and under
- Under 21 (Men) – Archers aged 20 and under
- Women – Archers aged 21 and over
- Men – Archers aged 21 and over
- 50+ (Women) – Archers aged 50 and over
- 50+ (Men) – Archers aged 50 and over
Rule Examples Regarding Age
- An archer aged 15 – A competition takes place in September; the archer is 15 on 1 July – they will take part in the Under 16 class.
- An archer aged 49 – A competition takes place in April, the archer is 50 in November – they can take part in a 50+ Class in tournaments.
Classifications
Classifications will be updated to reflect the new recommended rounds.
Round names
For consistency where appropriate rounds which currently say Ladies and Gentlemen have been changed to Men and Women due to the rule change in October 2021(as per previous communications).
Recommended rounds
The tables below show the recommended rounds available to each age group. Note that:
- All current records will continue to stand. New records can be claimed throughout the season but will not be awarded until after the last outdoor and indoor competitions of the season, due to the anticipated high volume of records claims.
- For all Archery GB rounds, there will be one junior women and one junior men record available
- For all WA rounds, there will be a record available for Under 18 and Under 21 in each gender
- Only these rounds or rounds of a longer distance for an age group will be eligible for records e.g., under 12 shooting a National 40 can claim a record but a under 15 shooting a National 30 cannot.
Records and Rounds
The tables below show the records and recommended rounds available to each age group. Note that:
- All current records will continue to stand. New records can be claimed throughout the season but will not be awarded until after the last outdoor and indoor competitions of the season, due to the anticipated high volume of records claims.
- Only these rounds or rounds of a longer distance for an age group will be eligible for records e.g., under 12 shooting a National 40 can claim a record but a under 15 shooting a National 30 cannot.
Under 12 Women and Under 12 Men
| Metric V | Metric 122-30 (Recurve/Longbow and Barebow) |
| Bristol V | Metric 80-30 (Compound) |
| Long Metric V | Bray I |
| Short Metric V | Bray II |
| Windsor 30 | Stafford |
| Western 30 | Portsmouth |
| National 30 | Worcester |
| Warwick 30 | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 14 Women and under 14 Men
| Metric IV | Metric 122-40 (Recurve/Longbow and Barebow) |
| Bristol IV | Metric 80-40 (Compound) |
| Long Metric IV | Bray I |
| Short Metric IV | Bray II |
| Windsor 30 or 40 | Stafford |
| Western 30 or 40 | Portsmouth |
| National 30 or 40 | Worcester |
| Warwick 30 or 40 | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 15 Women and under 15 Men
| Metric III | Metric 122-50 (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Bristol III | WA 50 (Compound/Barebow) |
| Long Metric III | Bray I |
| Short Metric III | Bray II |
| Windsor 40 or 50 | Stafford |
| Western 40 or 50 | Portsmouth |
| National 40 or 50 | Worcester |
| Warwick 40 or 50 | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 16 Women
| Metric III | WA 50 (Compound/Barebow) |
| Bristol III | Metric 122-50 (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric III | Bray I |
| Short Metric III | Bray II |
| Windsor or Windsor 50 | Stafford |
| Western or Western 50 | Portsmouth |
| National or National 50 | Worcester |
| Warwick or Warwick 50 | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 16 Men
| Metric II | WA 50m (Compound/Barebow) |
| Bristol II | WA 60m (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric II | Bray I |
| Short Metric II | Bray II |
| Long Windsor or Windsor | Stafford |
| Long Western or Western | Portsmouth |
| Long National or National | Worcester |
| Long Warwick or Warwick | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 18 Women
| WA 1440 (Under 18 Women) | WA 50 (Compound/Barebow) |
| Bristol II | WA 60m (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric II | Bray I |
| Short Metric II | Bray II |
| Long Windsor or Windsor | Stafford |
| Long Western or Western | Portsmouth |
| Long National or National | Worcester |
| Long Warwick or Warwick | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 18 Men
| Metric I/WA1440 (Under 18 Men) | WA 50 (Compound/Barebow) |
| Bristol I | WA 60m (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric I | Bray I |
| Short Metric I | Bray II |
| Long Windsor or Windsor | Stafford |
| Long Western or Western | Portsmouth |
| Long National or National | Worcester |
| Long Warwick or Warwick | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 21 Women
| WA 1440 (Women) | WA 50m (Compound/Barebow) |
| Hereford | WA 70m (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric (Women) | Bray I |
| Short Metric I | Bray II |
| St George, Albion or Windsor | Stafford |
| New Western, Long Western or Western | Portsmouth |
| New National, Long National or National | Worcester |
| New Warwick, Long Warwick or Warwick | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
Under 21 Men
| WA 1440 (Men) | WA 50m (Compound/Barebow) |
| York | WA 70m (Recurve/Longbow) |
| Long Metric (Men) | Bray I |
| Short Metric | Bray II |
| St George, Albion or Windsor | Stafford |
| New Western, Long Western or Western | Portsmouth |
| New National, Long National or National | Worcester |
| New Warwick, Long Warwick or Warwick | Vegas |
| American | WA18 |
| St. Nicholas | WA25 |
| WA Standard Round | Combined 18/25 |
50+ rounds and available records
Archery GB suggest one distance shorter than the current men or women’s round. It is at the organiser discretion whether they add this to their shoot or not.
Records
The below are the only 50+ records available at the moment.
50+ Women
| WA 50m (Compound/Barebow) – single and double |
| WA 60m (Recurve/Longbow) – single and double |
| Metric II |
| Bristol II |
| WA18 |
| WA25 |
| Combined 18/25 |
50+ Men
| WA 50m (Compound/Barebow) – single and double |
| WA 60m (Recurve/Longbow) – single and double |
| 1440 Ladies/Metric I |
| Bristol I |
| WA18 |
| WA25 |
| Combined 18/25 |
Rounds/records for adult men and women have not changed
Clout
| Distances | Under 14 and 12 | Under 16 | Under 18 | Under 21 |
| 140yds/125m | MW | |||
| 120yds/110m | MW | |||
| 100yds/90m | MW | |||
| 80yds/75m | MW |
Frequently Asked Questions
These have been received from members with questions or concerns around the proposed rule changes.
Q. Over 50 why do I have to shoot a round shorter?
- Any archers can shoot any round, the table within rule 308 which defines the age and round group combination (Table 3-4) describes the round which allows archers to gain UK record and performance awards. All rounds in Tables 3-1, 3-2, 3-2A and 3-3 may be shot by any archer irrespective of age.
- The new 50+ category is to allow archers who are aged 50+ to gain a record at a shorter distance and shoot/compete with archers of their age. Alongside this there will be the relevant handicaps and classifications.
Q. What about over 60’s and 70’s?
- We will monitor what the uptake is for the 50+ age groups within competition before adding any more age groups.
Q. Why aren’t all rounds available for the 50+ group?
- TO’s can award archers aged 50+ prizes for the round below in distance, at their discretion. However, Archery GB only recognises the rounds listed above for record purposes. If the 50+ category grows, Archery GB will look to add more records, handicaps, and classifications as appropriate.
Q. Will the new age change for the archer’s year of birth disadvantage juniors born later in the year and force them out of the sport?
- Unfortunately, whichever rule is used – either the year or date of birth – there are archers disadvantaged. Under the current age rules archers born in the summer are disadvantaged and must change their distance part way through the outdoor season. Under the new rule an archer will not have to change mid-season if they are born during the summer.
Q. Will boys and girls be expected to shoot together under a mixed gender category?
- No, it is not expected that they compete under a mixed gender category.
Q. Why is this being done when there has been so much change with covid?
- This project was something we were looking at prior to the pandemic and the development of the sport shouldn’t be held up due to covid.
Q. Why do we have Archery GB rules?
- The World Archery rules only cater for the 50+ (masters), Adult, under 21 and under 18 ages. Participation in the UK covers a wider range of age groups and therefore it is felt archers need appropriate opportunities.
Q. How will this impact classification and handicaps?
- New tables and scores will be released with the rule changes.
Q. What will be the impact on membership fees?
- Membership fees were not part of this review. There is a wider membership review taking place during 2022. Please keep any eye on the website and social media for more information.
If you have any comments or questions please use this link https://forms.gle/8ZiQTPXCJ6T16Xu98