Beginner's Course

Where possible, the club likes to give members of the public the opportunity to go beyond a "Come and try session" that can be found in many places, and give them a chance to participate in a short course designed with the complete beginner in mind. It is open to anyone form the age of ten upwards^[1] and is suitable for anyone with absolutely no, or very little experience in archery. The total course duration is 12 hours shooting spread over several Sundays in January and February (exact dates to be confirmed). Each session also has intervals for education and information that is needed to complete the course. Refreshments are available during the interval.

^[1] Note: members as young as eight might be accepted at the club's discretion, but only if a parent/guardian is also on the same course or is already an existing club member. We must also consider their physical stature is adequate for completing the course and that they have the correct attitude for their age to accept and follow instruction. (This can be dangerous sport if instructions are not followed).

Course Objectives

The main aims of the course are to:

• to teach you to safely shoot a bow and arrow to the minimum required level at a distance of 20yds
• teach some basic backgrounds about:
  • the different types of archery equipment available
  • the different styles of shooting archery
  • equipment & shooting-range set-up and take down
  • archery rules & archery etiquette

All of which is required to complete the course.

On completion of the course you will receive an Archery Safety Shooting Certificate, which should be accepted by any archery club in the U.K. as proof of you meeting the minimum standard of archery, which will allow you to join the club if they have capacity.

So there will be short educational sections each session where background and other relevant information is taught to the whole group. You will need to have received all this information in order to complete the course and receive your certificate at the end (which of course means you must be able to attend all the sessions).

Several members of our club give up their free time to assist throughout the course, so each pupil will receive individual 1-on-1 instruction by a recognised Archery GB coach. We might be a small club, but we are unusual in having many Archery GB qualified coaches (including both level-1 and level-2 coaches) within our membership.

Beginners' Course 2014

These courses are very friendly and progress at your own speed, to the point that extra sessions maybe given to individuals if they feel they need more time to reach the required level.

How to enrol for the next course

Next Course 2024

The next course will run over 5 sessions starting in September 2024. Each session starts at 10:00am and lasts for two and a half hours including a break. All 5 sessions must be attended to complete your course.

The dates are:

• Sun 22nd Sept 2024
• Sun 29nd Sept 2024
• Sun   6th Oct 2024
• Sun 13th Oct 2024
• Sun 20th Oct 2024

All sessions start at 10:00am and finish at 12:30pm. If you are able to stay a little longer after the session is finished, your assistance with taking down the range will be very welcome.

You will need to attend all 5 sessions to complete the course. Attendance on the first and second session is always mandatory, due to all the safety information provided and equipment selection for the whole course. But an alternative may be available if you cannot attend one of the remaining sessions. Contact us for details and possible extra costs for attending an extra session.

To get your name onto the waiting list for our next course please complete the Enrolment Form as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Course Fees

Due to increasing costs of hiring the venue in 2023, the price for our Beginners' Course has had to increase to £60 for an adult and £50 for a junior (17 and under).
We like to encourage families to shoot together, so we are offering a £10 discount to every additional immediate family member living at the same address who takes the course at the same time. For example, the cost for one parent and two children receive a £20.00 discount off the full price.

The price includes use of all the equipment you need during the course, hire of venue fees, all archery education & handouts and face fees. Refreshments (tea, coffeé, squash and biscuits) are also included on our indoor courses.

After the course

If the club has capacity for new members, pupils that complete the course to a satisfactorily level and have received their Safety Shooting certificate will be offered the opportunity to join the Bowmen Of Leeds club on either our Full Membership scheme if spaces are available or the Outside Membership Scheme (or Junior Club if under 18).

The hall used for the course is our normal indoor shooting facility and as you will see it is limited in space. So we have to apply a limit to the number of Full Memberships we can offer. When a Full Membership becomes available, it is first offered to people already with the club and regularly shooting on the Outdoor Membership scheme.