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Editor's Note - issue 13/2022
Dear fellow archers,
Welcome to the 13th edition of The Irish Field Archery Monthly. I was asked to write the editor’s note for this issue and I am very happy to do so.
Firstly, I only very recently became involved with this brilliant production and I am chuffed to be part of this fine team. It is my hope that TIFAM will be the go-to source of information for all archery in Ireland with close relationships with all of the societies, their Public Relations people and their social media outlets. I was IFAF P.R.O a number of years back and before that I was P.R.O of Dunbrody Archers. Because of this I have great interest in statistics and nostalgia, so I hope to be able to submit some memorable pieces from the past as well as new articles of course.
Anyway, the team and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year. As we look ahead to 2023, there are so many shoots across the associations as well as some very interesting shoots abroad so lots to keep us entertained and occupied over the coming year.
2022 saw lots of events taking place here and in the UK and across Europe where Irish archers were in the midst of the action with lots of successes too.
It is lovely to return to “normal” times after Covid even if we still have to be aware of new variants of the virus arising. Hopefully it won’t present itself again in any worrying capacity.
This is a good opportunity to inform you too that TIFAM is now NON PROFIT CLG with a full package of statutory objectives as to promote by publishing means the sport of archery in its all possible aspects on the island of Ireland and abroad, and also to educate and integrate the archery community through the promotion (via media tools) of any activity aimed at the development of the sport of archery at all available levels with particular emphasis on overcoming various barriers, be it cultural, physical or economic.
As a quick note, we want to add that TIFAM now has its own governing body consisting of Marcin as Chair, Owen as Treasurer and Lynn as Secretary, with the remaining members of the editorial board serving as subscribers to the founding charter.
This will enable us to intensify our strives to provide targeted assistance to clubs, irrespective of their affiliation, be it by means of media or PR, to run charitable events or to acquire financial aid, e.g. assistance in winning sponsors. We have developed tools and, what is not to be underestimated within such context we have advertising space as an asset we will not hesitate to use in sourcing of sponsorship.
So if you have an initiative in mind and don't know how approach funding bodies, get in touch with us and we'll work together.
The first of the printed editions of TIFAM came into existence in November and I must say they look great. We did have certain frustrating technical issues and aspects of the editing, layout and printing proved very challenging indeed. But perseverance paid off and the finished work was well up to scratch thanks especially to Marcin and Owen who went above and beyond. We are conscious of some layout and duplication issues in the print version of issue 12 but we have rectified them for this 13th edition.
It takes a huge amount of effort to compile such a production, hours of researching and compiling, that is even before it gets to the stage where it can be proof-read and finally uploaded and saved. As always, we welcome contributions from our readers whether it be a shoot report, news of an upcoming event, a funny story, informative facts or a historical tale. Anybody with artistic skills can also send in some items too of course. As Marcin said in the editor’s note last month, we will be delighted to feature guest writers with whatever you have to say.
I will be conducting 20 question interviews of archers every month commencing with Owen Reynolds in this very issue. This is totally on a random archer selection basis across associations so don’t be annoyed if I fail to get to you quickly as I hope to do eventually. It is no reflection of an archers popularity or talent if they are or are not interviewed over the coming months. The format of this 20 question interview is 10 pre-determined questions relating to their archery, and then the interviewee will be asked to choose 10 numbers from a choice of 50 which will determine what remaining questions I will ask them.
This will be a fun and entertaining section as Owen demonstrates in this issue. It will also give us an opportunity to learn a little more about our fellow bow men and women. Hope you enjoy.
The IFAF AGM took place in Portlaoise on November 6th. Lots of progress was made at this. Best wishes to the incoming Committee and well done to those who stepped down for all their efforts during the past year.
It is terrific to see so many new up and coming archery clubs in Ireland. We all look forward to hearing more from them in the coming year.
A special mention to IFAF's Eddie Ryan who has officially withdrawn from the running of Wexford Archery after several years due to personal reasons. We wish him the very best.
So heres to a fun 2023.