History of the WFAA
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History of WFAA
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 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 remains the only major championship to have been hosted in Wales to date. 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. Membership has grown rapidly since 2003 and Wales is once again making its presence felt on the international tournament stage. Plans for the future are focusing on further development of coaching, courses, club networking and further increasing membership. The WFAA also started the Welsh National Squad in 2004 to develop the top Welsh archers to the highest level in order to enable us to compete and win on the world stage.