UK Student Archery Association

Griftsmouth turns it up to 11 [11/Jan/11]

With the new year upon us, a time to take stock before the frenetic activity of February and March. The biggest stories will unfold in the capitals of Scotland and Wales as BUTC goes to Napier on Sat 19th Feb and BUCS Indoors goes to Cardiff on Sat 5th Mar. Around the regions, however there are relatively few results to discuss thus far, particularly in NEUAL and SEAL.

Can I take this opportunity to say that I am not hoarding results for my own amusement. If a match has occurred and the scores are not on UKSAA, please make sure both the League Organiser and I have been sent a copy of the results. Also a reminder to let me know if the Club Directory is out of date.

Around the country, 2011 kicked off at Edinburgh with a "Griftsmouth" on Sat 8th Jan, organised by former Imp, Lizzie Bell. The principle of a Griftsmouth is that each end is scored once as a normal Portsmouth and the same arrows again with a set of Griftsmouth rules applied. A new rule is announced before the start of each end, varying in silliness but frequently aimed at penalising top archers. Examples included all even numbers count negative, two arrows in the same scoring zone cancel each other out, 20 bonus points for the worst scoring arrow on each boss.

Prizes were awarded for top Portsmouth, Griftsmouth and highest difference between the two, SUS League organiser Matt Nowicki in a league of his own here with a quite astonishing 459 point gap between his two scores. The first regular SUS League match is scheduled for Sat 22nd Jan.

Nottingham had looked clear favourites to win BUTTS this year, but they stumbled in the second leg and will now need to come from a point behind Warwick with 2 matches and the Indoor Championships left to go. Nottingham and Cambridge host the next BUTTS round on Sun 30th Jan. Only one SWWU leg was scheduled for before Christmas, but the league was restored to five teams with the re-appearance of Plymouth, although new club Gloucestershire have still to field a full team. Bath won this first leg and are scheduled to host the next one on Sat 19th Feb.