About us
Introduction
Welcome to Royal Holloway Archery!
We are a friendly club open to all archers, regardless of ability or experience. Archery is an open, accessible sport and we take pride in these values, embracing true sportsmanship as part of RHUL Sport.
In our weekly training sessions, members can practice and learn at their own pace, reaching personal goals, recreational or competitive. We embrace both mindsets: competitive and casual and support archers of all backgrounds. We want everyone to have fun at the shooting line!
Membership
Beginners
If you are a beginner archer (less than 6 months experience), then we have beginners lessons that will run in term 1. We cannot allow you to shoot in regular training sessions until you finish these lessons, as they go over health and safety measures, without which you may accidentally do something which could put yourself or someone else in danger, as well as the basics of the sport for you to be able to progress. These lessons will cost £25 for 6 lessons (once a week for 6 weeks). After you finish these lessons, if you want to continue being a member of the club, you can pay the standard membership price of either £20 for term 1 or £60 for the full academic year. Due to the need for beginners lessons as explained, we are unable to take any beginner archers in term 2 or 3, but we may be able to organise one in the beginning of term 2 if there is enough demand.
!IMPORTANT!
PLEASE DO NOT BUY THE BEGINNERS LESSONS OR MEMBERSHIP UNTIL ADVISED TO DO IT BY THE COMMITTEE (more info incoming)
Experienced/Returning
If you are an experienced archer (more than 6 months experience or completed a Beginners' course at another club) or are returning to the club as a continuing student, then you will need to buy the top-up for Experienced and Returning Members for £20 as well as the standard membership (either £20 for term 1 or £60 for the full academic year). If you have not previously shot with us (e.g. you were a member of another club in the UK or abroad) we would ask for a quick safety check before you can join the sessions, but you will be able to go straight into regular practices after that. We will also remind you of health and safety rules and archery etiquette, if needed.
IF YOU ARE A NEW ARCHER TO US PLEASE DO NOT BUY THE MEMBERSHIP UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SAFETY CHECK
Equipment
In terms of any equipment required for our sessions, we can provide all the necessary gear during training if members do not have their own. However, if members do own their own bow and arrows, they are more than welcome to bring them along for use in the sessions. We are also happy to offer advice on purchasing your own kit.
We encourage shooting one of the 4 bow types recognised by Archery GB:
- Recurve
- Barebow
- Compound
- Longbow
Other bowtypes are also welcome (such as other traditional bows), but they may not be eligible for certain competitions. Crossbows are not allowed due to safety concerns.
Events and Activities
Training Sessions
Our training sessions are:
Thursdays 20:00 - 21:45
Saturdays 14:00 - 16:00
Sundays 10:00 - 11:30
Competitions
We offer opportunities to compete in intercollegiate and national events such as SEAL and BUCS if desired, as well as Varsity near the end of the academic year, with entry and travel costs covered by the membership fees and the competitive top-up which you would need to purchase if you want to compete outside of BUCS. We also organise small trips to local competitions, so if you see one that you would like to participate in, let us know!
Socials
In the Archery club, we pride ourselves on our socials. We have events that run annually, such as the Halloween shoot and Christmas Dinner, as well as other small events throughout the year for our members to enjoy.
Social events that we plan on running include:
- Halloween and Easter shoots
- Film Nights
- Christmas Dinner
- Equipment/technique talks
- And more!
Contact Us
You can contact us on:
All the important updates are posted on our Instagram page and in our Discord server, so make sure to follow us! Alternatively, there is a Whatsapp group for our members, ask a committee member to join.
Feel free to join the discord server before you join the club, we are open to non-members and alumni too!