Sdyney University Archery Club Relocation

[Flehrad]

We have moved!
Our new location is St Pauls Oval, University of Sydney.
Same training times, Teusday and Friday 2pm-5pm.

And now we can shoot 70m and 90m safely!

Don Chiou
President
Sydney University Archery Club

[frommy]

Congratulations Don, Alex and all club your members. There has got to be a story behind this though? 8)

Brian

[Aarleks]

There has got to be a story behind this though? 8)

Many and long...

[Flehrad]

Argh, yes, very much and long.

Cutting it short, it was a two part story.

Part One: We made a request to access larger grounds for longer distances. We were given St Pauls to use, but were not going to be moved until storage problems were resolved as the shed we have has water leakage issues. It still does. And so we were going to be moving, but an indefinite delay until the water issue was to be resolved.

Part Two: Campus Security Paranoia, and the total lack of understanding or even desire to understand that unless you point an arrow at someone sitting 50m away at 90 degrees to your arrow path, no freak of accident would be able to physically cause the arrow to fly 90 degrees from your bow sideways. Enter Risk Management Committee.
Risk management determined it was not safe and viable for us to continue shooting at our prime property location where we have been for over a decade without a single blemish of human accident (pidgeons do not count). To many potential legal problems if an accident occurs, and thus we were given a notice of forced move to St Pauls.

It is both a good and bad thing for several reasons.

Good because we have fantastic grounds to train properly with less distractions, more safety, and less stoppage with idiots crossing fields.

Bad because we still do not have appropriate storage for all of our gear, and currently have to lug it across campus to get to our new location from their storage area. Also bad because we lose a social aspect of facilities. Many members come and shoot and socialise, and get coffee or lunch. With that aspect gone, we may lose some membership. There is a fear by some of the older members of the club, that the club may alianate the social members who shoot for fun, and see the club turn "elitist" with our affiliated AA members that are more competition geared etc. But I am hoping that we can work around these issues and keep both sides working together.

At least I hope that I can with my position this year in the club exec.

Don

[toxic_rabbit]

At least I hope that I can with my position this year in the club exec.

All bow to the new El Presidente' :D

[Egill]

And to the new Club Secretary... :wink:

While I'm not keen on lugging my case around everywhere now, or losing the convenience of having Ralph's Cafe nearby, I think it's great we've finally moved to somewhere I can practice at 70m regularly! :D

[Marcus]

Don, the path to a successful club is not through the 'social' shooter but through building an atmosphere of excellence from those who compete. If you have 50 archers, and 45 are there for coffee then your club will always be a club with 5 regular shooters. If your club has 50 archers and 25 are competing then you will have 25 regular shooters. That's the way to go for longterm success. (There has been much discussion on this elsewhere) They will attract others and finally we will have a competitive university team.
Also no reason why your club can not work towards your own little coffee shop. ;)

Keep at it guys, you are doing great!

[toxic_rabbit]

And to the new Club Secretary... :wink:

*mumble grumble* I must have MUG tattooed on my forehead :roll:

[Flehrad]

I am of the belief that balance is the best way. As is, we have a good stable of regulars already, and it looks like we will pick up another 5 or so regulars who are genuinely interested in shooting better and potentially competing as well. But the unfortunate reality is that even with higher membership fees and range fees, we still need that mass of social shooters to provide us funding both in cash from membership, and the numbers game with our sports union, as previously discussed, so that our regular competitive shooters can continue to get facilities and all of that.

But we will prevail.

The only thing stopping us from having our own coffee shop is a power point! We already have access to a coffee machine.....

As for Rob being Secretary, you can blame Alex for not running. :P

[recurve boy]

Sonuvabitch. I'm going to have to work harder to beat you guys :P

[frommy]

You have just got to love an entity called a "Risk Management Committee".

Prior to my last 7 years litigating personal injury, my previous 12 years was in insurance risk management.

I bet that "Committee" has some really feel-good people on it, and that they also do not have a clue about the real world.

Sorry, Don, I now realise you did already reveal that. Bet off.

When we first proposed to move our club to a property NEAR TO the UWS Campbelltown campus, but requiring access through the UWS grounds, our approach to Property Management was absolutely stonewalled.

Then the sports body welcomed us in with open arms, and we have now been on campus at UWS for 12 months, but we do not have the safety concerns that you have always had.

I hope the new location works out for the club. Good luck with it.

Brian