History of the WFAA
Contents
History of WFAA
During World War II, American servicemen introduced Britain to the US style of field archery. It was different to the traditional field archery practiced in Britain. British field archery was much the same as that now shot by NFAS archers, consisting largely of animal rounds, unmarked distances and with obstructions such as bushes commonly obscuring the target. This brand of field archery did not suit the Americans who wanted clear lines of sight to targets and marked distances in order to achieve a greater consistency in shooting and remove, as far as possible, any elements of luck from the shot. The Americans also used modern equipment with shooting aids as well as the more traditional styles of shooting.
The American brand of field archery caught on, particularly in East Anglia and quickly gained popularity across the UK. The early days saw two governing bodies of field archery, the English Field Archery Association (EFAA) and the British Field Archery Association (BFAA) but by 1970 it became apparent that the two bodies could no longer co-exist. They therefore combined to form the EFAA that we know today.
In 1967, Scotland had broken away to form its own governing body, the Scottish Field Archery Association (SFAA). In 1970, when the EFAA and BFAA joined together, it became apparent that Wales needed its own governing body. In December 1969 the Welsh Company of Archers held a general meeting at which it was decided to form the Welsh Field Archery Association (WFAA). The Welsh members of the EFAA then transferred their membership to the WFAA when it officially came into being in early 1970. The first committee meeting of the WFAA was held on January 8th 1970.
The Early Years of the WFAA
The early years of the WFAA saw
success in both growth and wins at tournaments. In 1980, Wales hosted the
IFAA European Field Archery Championships at Merthyr Mawr near Porthcawl.
This was a very successful championship which firmly established Wales on
the world map of field archery. Other successes in our
early years include Wales being a founder member of the world governing
body, the International Field Archery Association (IFAA) and we had a
representative present at its inaugural meeting. The IFAA of today is now
the largest community of field archers in the world.
The WFAA grew throughout the 1980s and 90s and our members won several World and European Championships along the way. The dawn of the twenty-first century saw new challenges for WFAA with membership falling and the foot and mouth epidemic forcing closure of courses for over a year. In response, the General Committee re-organised and changed direction, prompting a revival in the fortunes of the WFAA.
The WFAA in the Modern Era
In 2003 the General Committee developed a 5 year development plan which
included establishing a network of courses and clubs across Wales,
establishing a Welsh Open 3D Championships to be held annually,
increase of membership, a squad system to develop our most promising
archers and revival of travelling Welsh teams to major tournaments. In
addition, the General Committee established an aspiration to host a major
tournament in Wales and to achieve at least one major tournament win for
Wales before the end of the 5 years.
By the end of 2008 the WFAA had achieved all of the objectives of the 5 year plan. New clubs had been established and existing GNAS and NFAS clubs had also affiliated to the WFAA, creating a network of clubs across Wales. This naturally caused a surge in the membership and by 2009 the membership figures were 6 times higher than in 2003. In 2007, Hawk Archers hosted the inaugural Welsh Open 3D Championships at Tal y Coed, near Monmouth, signalling WFAA's entry into the bowhunter tournament arena. The Welsh Squad began in 2005 and had a positive effect and Wales not only began sending teams overseas once more to major tournaments, we also began to enjoy some success. Welsh archers took medals at the World 3D Championships in Sopron, Hungary in 2007 and we achieved our aspiration of a major tournament finish when Wales returned gold medals at the 2006 and 2007 European Championships and at the 2008 World Championships.
In 2007 the General Committee bid for and won the right to host the 2009 European Field Archery Championships. The tournament took place at the village of Tal y Coed in July 2009 and 42 Welsh archers took part, making the 2009 Welsh team the largest Welsh team ever at a major tournament. The 2009 EFAC was also the highest attended EFAC for more than 10 years with 340 competitors and it saw the highest ever medal tally by Wales at a major tournament. The Welsh team achieved 6 European Champions, 4 silver medalists, 1 bronze medalist and our team also broke 4 European records to cap the WFAA's best ever year.
The introduction of a structured development plan began to generate a positive result as early as 2004 but it was during 2009 that Wales really burst into the limelight of the world archery community. Hosting the European Championships not only showcased Wales to the whole of Europe, it also gave many Welsh archers a first experience of shooting a major international tournament. This has sparked interest in overseas competition and Wales will have teams at both the European Bowhunter Championships and World Field Championships in 2010.
The plan for 2010 is to further develop the capabilities of our competing archers and build upon the work that has been going on since 2003. WFAA will also be developing a formal coaching structure to assist in development of archery skills and knowledge at all levels and the Welsh Squads will be subject to a more organised and structured training program than in previous years. This we hope will ensure that Wales and the WFAA continues to grow and be successful.