Archery Australia hopeful that national competitions could be back by the end of November
As Victoria suffered the ongoing effects of a COVID-19 second wave, archers have been long-awaiting word on when they can get back on the range. But things are finally on target. Get the latest details here.
Other Sports
Don't miss out on the headlines from Other Sports. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Archery Australia is hopeful that Victorians could rejoin national competitions within four weeks as it eyes post-COVID events.
The governing body is now halfway through its Back to Archery series, which has involved archers from all states and territories except for Victoria, which has only this week been relieved of heavy Stage 4 COVID-19 lockdown measures.
Victorian premier Dan Andrews announced on Monday that outdoor non-contact sport can return from October 28, meaning Victorian archers can get back on the outdoor range, with announcements on indoor non-contact sport expected in coming weeks.
And Archery Australia chief executive Rick Hastie is hopeful that Victorian clubs could be involved in that competition by late November.
“Domestically, we have already started competitions, embracing technology and using our online scoring system to create a Back to Archery Competition for any club in Australia that is able to operate,” Hastie said.
“We are hopeful that will include the clubs located in Victoria towards the end of November or early December.”
Archery Victoria announced this week that all state championship events for 2020 had been cancelled and would not be rescheduled.
It said that invitational and club shoots would be permitted once official notification was received.
“The cancellations are due to likely restrictions in the number of archers able to attend each event,” it said.
“It would not be possible to ensure fair and equal access to all competitors wishing to contest state championship events.”
It is hopeful that state championship events can be reinstated in the new year.
There remains significant uncertainty surrounding international competition, with many countries currently facing a second wave of COVID-19.
There has been some inventiveness seen globally, with World Archery recently announcing that the Indoor Archery World Series, which is set to begin next month, would combine both online and small live events in an effort for competition to overcome the effects of the pandemic.
Hastie said that Australian archers should be confident that international competitions will not be far away.
“Although there is a lot of uncertainty around international competitions for 2021, we are confident that competitions will begin at some stage with the first competition for our international recurve and compound archers, being World Cup 1 in Guatemala towards the end of April,” he said.
MORE SPORT
Russian hackers indicted for global cyber attacks, planned Tokyo Olympics plot
`Django’ Opelu the forgotten man in title bout with boom rookie Justis Huni
Archery Australia also recently announced it will form an athletes committee, to give athletes a direct voice to Hastie and board members.
“The committee will provide … an up to date understanding of athlete views and offer ideas in areas directly related to athlete participation,” it said in its announcement.
“Additionally, the committee will provide opportunities for leadership experience and knowledge retention of high standing archery athletes.”
Originally published as Archery Australia hopeful that national competitions could be back by the end of November