Namoi Valley Archers Host Hugely Successful State Titles

On the weekend of the 17 – 18th August Namoi Valley Archers hosted the 3D state archery titles at their Wandobah Road range. The weekend was an outstanding success, despite the threat of rain on the Saturday morning, with nearly 150 shooters in attendance for the two challenging ranges shot over both days. Northern branch controller Mike Potter said that he can’t remember such a large turnout at a NSW branch shoot in over 6 years. The ranges were put together by Greg Donovan and Gordon White who, along with other club members, have put in big weekends getting the ranges ready in time for this important date on the archery calendar. The club had shooters attend from all over the state, but most notably from as far south as Adaminaby and Batemans Bay, who along with Wagga Wagga, Canberra, Orange, Forbes and Lithgow all sent a large contingent of archers up from the southern club’s to contest the titles over the weekend, with some staying camped over at the range for some sightseeing at Ag-quip. Along with the southern clubs, our northern neighbours Maitland, Singleton, Gloucester, Newcastle, Gosford, Taree, Kempsey, Inverell, Dubbo and Cobar all sent members over to make the weekend, not only a success in respect of numbers but also a truly memorable weekend of 3D target shooting. The Namoi Valley Archery club had some stand out success against the best shooters in the state, all competing for the chance to be crowned state champion. Wade Hudson has continued his recent good form with a win in the men’s compound masters division, beating Rob Salter from Maitland and turning the tables on his rival who had the wood on him at their recent trip to Argentina for the world IFAA championships. Another outstanding win went to Darrell Hudson in the men’s recurve A grade division, not only did Darrell shoot well to secure a narrow win over his Taree counterpart but Peter Stubbs, another Namoi Valley archer and club president, finished in 3rd position. James Bush who hails from Murrurundi, along with his father Peter, have been travelling over to Gunnedah to compete with Namoi Valley Archers for several years now and all the practice has paid off with James taking out men’s bow hunter Unlimited flight 2 division with 3 dominant rounds of shooting. This is James first notable win in archery and the young man was ecstatic with his performance. Brian Taylor was likewise exuberant with his win in men’s compound B grade, he has been away from archery for some time, with this being his first appearance at a shoot in years. Brian was quite surprised at not only his performance but his achievement in taking home the silverware with the smile impossible to wipe from his face. Other notable performances from the club included a first place to Amy Stubbs in women’s compound C grade, a win to Phil Greenwood in men’s recurve ungraded, and a 2nd and 3rd place finish in men’s freestyle unlimited flight 2 from Bernie Hayne and John Clark. While Benjamin Stubbs, Ann Stubbs, Stuart Dolbel and Greg Donovan all finished with a 3rd placing in their respective divisions. A big thank you to all the members who sacrificed time to help set up on Friday, set out the ranges, work in the kitchen and generally helped to keep things running smoothly. Without a concerted team effort the weekend would not have been the success it was. The clubs next shoot will be on the 8th September and will be an IFAA style round with a muster scheduled for 9:00 am and a start followed shortly thereafter.