Archery GB - Development Partner

Summary:

As development partner for Archery GB, Sport Structures worked on a number of areas to develop archery nationally. Through seven objectives, the year long project aimed to raise awareness of the sport, put processes in place to enable increases in participation, including participation in schools, and build relationships with CSPs, forming an initial point of the national development network.

Approach:

The objectives of this work and the approach taken were:

1. To establish the geographical position of Archery in the UK. 10 initial CSPs identified through an online survey of all 45 County Sport Partnerships (CSP) and GIS mapping. Continued work with these CSPs resulted in local development plans for each area.
2. Establish accredit, and support a Club Mark programme for Archery with identified focus clubs and resource support. To support the implementation of the Archery GB Club Mark and develop resources to support all Archery GB clubs
3. Develop a coaching strategy for Archery at a participation level including a coach licensing programme to support and assist the development of coaches within archery.
4. Establish a national development network of development staff and coaches. 
5. Increase the level of archery in schools through the PESSCL programme. Sport Structures worked closely with the Youth Sport Trust to review Archery GB's competition structure and developed a framework in line with national standards. A clear player pathway was also developed.
6. Achievement of Preliminary standard of the Equality standard of sport. The portfolio for the Foundation level of the Equality Standards was prepared
7. Ensure that development work was effectively reported and communicated

Sport Structures provided regular update reports to the Board and met with relevant members of staff accordingly.

Outcome:

We supported Archery GB for four years. The completed report into the geographic position of archery resulted in the identification of the 10 initial CSPs that form the start of a national development network. The achievement of the equality standards will indicate GNAS’s commitment to equality in archery.

We developed a progressive club development model that supported smaller clubs grow into ClubMark and those already in the process an ability to develop their membership numbers. The support we gave directly led to enable Archery GB to receive its first substantial Sport England grant (£800,000+) resulting in the appointment of a full time development team.