Should all club activities be cancelled?

LionOfNarnia

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This be what I WhatsApp'd to my club group this morning...

Just to chuck in my 2p...
I think we should carry on having indoor club sessions until the centre is closed down, then start outdoors sessions asap (weather permitting ofc).
I see the #covid-19 transmission risk due to archery to be extremely low, but the damage to physical & mental health caused by cancellation to be very much greater.
Humans are above all else social creatures, YES we have to be responsible & compassionate in our contacts & decisions but it is perhaps vital to retain what we sensibly can of a sense of social cohesion during a time of great stress.
#KeepCalmAndCarryOn
...but what do the rest of you think?
 

bimble

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We have a field that's open 24/7, though our few indoor sessions, and the work party at the weekend have been cancelled. We got this message this morning:

GAC Covid-19 Update

As a result of the recent announcements, Guildford Archery Club’s Executive Committee has decided on the following course of action:

Indoor sessions at Ash Manor 17, 20 & 22 March: CANCELLED.

Working Party 21 March: POSTPONED.
We will try to contact everyone who’s volunteered to help, but please do not turn up to take part.
Beginners’ Course 28 March, 4 & 11 April: POSTPONED.
We will try to contact everyone who’s volunteered to help or is booked on to it and will aim to offer a place later in the year.
Shooting at GAC’s ground at Normandy: we are not going to close or restrict access to the Club for the time being, but please watch out for updates, as this may of course change as a result of government advice/orders.
We will take a view on events scheduled in the Club’s calendar over the next week or so. Again, watch out for updates.
DO NOT visit the Club if you feel unwell at all, or if you have been in contact with anyone who is unwell.
If you do visit the Club, observe stringent hand hygiene; take your own drinks and food to avoid using Club crockery and cutlery; wash hands before and after handling anything in the Clubhouse; avoid touching shared or other’s people’s items as much as possible eg arrows, when collecting; observe social distancing; in other words, we must all take all sensible precautions to protect ourselves and other people as much as we can.
Thanks and stay safe everyone.
But if you can't keep social distancing in a field you're really not trying
 

Big George

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We don’t have a field and indoors is a leisure centre. All archery is current suspended and a lot of other local clubs are doing the same.

I’m looking for a target bag I can use in the garage as I don’t have enough room in the garden.
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
Yes, as much as the conspiracy theories sugest otherwise this is serious just look around the world.
We have all been asked politely by the Government to do what they think is best for the health of the country, so we don't end up like Italy. The trouble is even the PM's father said he would defy the pub ban so anarchy will reign until all our movements are legally enforced like France because we cannot do the decent thing for a few weeks/months
We are asked not to panic buy - but it carries on
We are asked not to make unnecessary journeys but people convince themselves that theirs is necessary one, so why isn't everyone else's. Is shooting really a necessity when every other sport has done the decent thing.
We are asked not to go to pubs restaurants etc but when the PM's Dad is prepared to ignore the advice why should anyone else bother.
We are asked not to gather in largish groups and keep our distance - but surely that is for others and doesn't apply to archery we are all responsible people and we are surely not the sort to be carrying the virus.

Yes financially this is going to be very painful, yes inconvenient, yes our lives are going to change and just not in the short term but something needs to be done. Clearly for some it will not hit home until somebody is taken away from them that may (can we take the chance not to) have been saved if we take these actions now. Already we are short of Oxygen and Respirators surely better that we don't need them or less of them.

There are a lot of vulnerable people out there very scared and short of loo roll this is the time for all of our society to step up to the plate and look out for others.
 

Fuzzy

Member
My club (Lintman) has cancelled beginners' courses and the rest of our indoor shooting. Our summer activities are off. I believe we need to close our permanent outdoor range too, since we have a series of tables that act as nexus points behind the waiting line at almost every distance. These could easily spread disease.

This is scary. This is real. We touch our mouths and faces a lot in this sport. Please spray down your equipment with an antibacterial spray, especially leather and cloth items which may hold on to the virus more than metal or composite parts.

I personally have stopped shooting - it's back to the training aids for me and the garden range. I encourage your to do the same.
 

Emmadragon

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Speaking as someone very much in the group marked as 'at risk' (type 1 diabetic with some breathing issues), and with my husband also in that group (previous brain surgery, reduced immune response), we will sadly be practising social distancing with effect from this weekend, and that does include archery. So no indoors at all, and outdoors only by ourselves at suitable distances from everyone else. No tea stops, no conversations in the club hut, no competitions, no socialising.
It's going to be as dull as hell, but I've already had one death-bed conversation with my husband about what to do in the event of his death (and no one should have that in their 40s, I might add), and neither of us has any desire to repeat that experience.
So, yes, it's going to be painful, but it's a heck of a lot better than the alternatives.
 

bimble

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Is shooting really a necessity when every other sport has done the decent thing.
At the top professional level, at lower levels other sports are continuing, the British Basketball League had their final only this weekend.

There has been a statement from ArcheryGB today saying all archery should be halted.

We are advising that all archery in the UK is postponed for the foreseeable future, to reduce all non-essential contact with others. Our priority is the health and safety of our members, participants, volunteers and staff.

We would like to clarify our guidance to providers of grassroots archery following on from the announcement made last night in relation to COVID-19 which can be found here.

We understand that grassroots archery is delivered by a myriad of providers who all operate under their own governance procedures, to be clear the government advice is:

  • Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel.
  • You should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues.
We are advising that all grassroots archery in the UK is postponed for the foreseeable future, to reduce all non-essential contact with others. Our priority is the health and safety of our members, participants, volunteers and staff. We will continue to work closely with grassroots providers during this time.
 

T101

Active member
Hoping our club keeps solo shooting allowed, and maybe schedule time slots for people who still want to shoot. Or you know just maintain at least 2m apart at all times at club shoots.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
Yes, it's a total bummer that even in the couple of hours since I started this thread, the situation has changed for the worse.

I've already taken steps to try to ensure that I can keep up my arrow-count over what may prove to be a total non-event as far as the outdoor season goes.

I've written to the owner of the land in front of my house, it's the former car park of the now-closed Conservative club, to ask permission to shoot on there. 20 yds is possible in safety. It deffo helps that Egertec have come up with some tempting offers for home shooters, I'm trying to wangle it to buy a 90cm foam target package this month, at the very latest early next month - the offers run until 15th April.

One way or another, I'll find a way to keep on flingin' ;)
 

Emmadragon

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Geoff, I do realise that that is your sense of humour, but that sort of comment isn't really helpful right now...:( I refer you to my comments above. When a potentially fatal disease can be spread by contact, suggesting that people don't wash, even in jest, just isn't appropriate.
 

KidCurry

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I think if people continue to make unnecessary journeys, for whatever reason, and I really don't think archery is a good reason now the prospect of the next few month becomes clearer, the government will use the force of the law to stop them, as was needed in France. People will tend to put their own interest before the need of others, often without realising it.
My thoughts are not with the young or the athletes that have trained for the last couple of years or more to reach the top of their sport, but with those that will almost certainly not see the summer out. I've lost one member of my family in the last three weeks, I don't want to lose any more.
 

modernlongbow

Active member
I don't shoot indoors anymore, and the thought of alarming others gives me pause. We have a shoot scheduled for this Saturday. It will be outdoors, and if previous shoots this year are anything to go by, fewer than 25 archers will attend. There is room enough on the shooting line for social distancing. As long as each archer pulls his or her own arrows, and coughing, spluttering and sneezing is kept to a minimum, no harm will be done.
 

Timid Toad

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I don't shoot indoors anymore, and the thought of alarming others gives me pause. We have a shoot scheduled for this Saturday. It will be outdoors, and if previous shoots this year are anything to go by, fewer than 25 archers will attend. There is room enough on the shooting line for social distancing. As long as each archer pulls his or her own arrows, and coughing, spluttering and sneezing is kept to a minimum, no harm will be done.
And you remain at least 2m apart during set up and take down of equipment, and during the awards ceremony and nosh distribution :cautious:
 
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