Recently, I accidentally found myself in an indoor archery championship. I thought I was just going to enter a basic competition for fun, but no. I was locked into a sports hall the size of Wembley Arena (or so it felt) with the best archers in Surrey and Middlesex. I knew it was a mistake when the judge asked to see my 'release mechanism'. I have a longbow, so this was my floppy, three fingered, bear paw glove. The judge also asked if I wanted to check my bracing position. As I had no idea what that might be, I said, 'no thank you' and hoped he hadn't spotted my confused look. So here I was, surrounded by people with very high tech equipment, bows with winches and wheels on them, long sticky outy things at the front (stabilisers I think), and complicated sighting equipment. It took them ages to set up, as they had to get out screw drivers to build the bows and set the sights. I just strung my stick of wood and started bitterly regretting a) filling in the application form and b) having a very large coffee.
The targets were lined up along the far side of the hall, it looked like a long way away. There was a very large curtain hanging behind them, the sort used to separate badminton courts. The archers, bows all assembled and strung, stood in ranks behind the shooting line. And so it started. I was with a group of three, very nice and chatty archers, and we took turns to shoot, and then walk up to the target to calculate the scores. This became increasingly embarrassing, as they were all getting golds or reds (the centre of the target, or near to it), while my arrows wouldn't go anywhere I wanted them to. Once or twice, I would suffer the indignity of an arrow hitting the backing curtain, which then rippled the full width of the hall, showing that someone, further down the line HAD MISSED THE TARGET COMPLETELY. When we went to collect our three arrows, and I only had two in the target, and the scoring person looked confused, I had to confess the missing arrow was the one dangling above us.
One of my arrows bounced out of the target, which I didn't mind too much, at least it had hit it. I hadn't realised that this meant, after all the other BEST ARCHERS IN SURREY AND MIDDLESEX had finished shooting that 'end' (round), I had to stand BY MYSELF in front of them all AND SHOOT THE BOUNCED ARROW AGAIN. After pleading quietly to whichever deity might be listening, 'please, please, please let me hit the target', I was very happy to not only hit it, but apparently get the gold IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TARGET. I noticed a ripple of applause go round the hall, and realised I WAS BEING APPLAUDED BY THE BEST ARCHERS IN SURREY AND MIDDLESEX. When I went to get the arrow, it was actually in the red, but I wasn't too worried.
After what felt like a very long afternoon, I achieved a personal worst score and came bottom in the ladies section. This was no real disappointment, as was pointed out to me, I had actually achieved my best ever score in a tournament.
The targets were lined up along the far side of the hall, it looked like a long way away. There was a very large curtain hanging behind them, the sort used to separate badminton courts. The archers, bows all assembled and strung, stood in ranks behind the shooting line. And so it started. I was with a group of three, very nice and chatty archers, and we took turns to shoot, and then walk up to the target to calculate the scores. This became increasingly embarrassing, as they were all getting golds or reds (the centre of the target, or near to it), while my arrows wouldn't go anywhere I wanted them to. Once or twice, I would suffer the indignity of an arrow hitting the backing curtain, which then rippled the full width of the hall, showing that someone, further down the line HAD MISSED THE TARGET COMPLETELY. When we went to collect our three arrows, and I only had two in the target, and the scoring person looked confused, I had to confess the missing arrow was the one dangling above us.
One of my arrows bounced out of the target, which I didn't mind too much, at least it had hit it. I hadn't realised that this meant, after all the other BEST ARCHERS IN SURREY AND MIDDLESEX had finished shooting that 'end' (round), I had to stand BY MYSELF in front of them all AND SHOOT THE BOUNCED ARROW AGAIN. After pleading quietly to whichever deity might be listening, 'please, please, please let me hit the target', I was very happy to not only hit it, but apparently get the gold IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TARGET. I noticed a ripple of applause go round the hall, and realised I WAS BEING APPLAUDED BY THE BEST ARCHERS IN SURREY AND MIDDLESEX. When I went to get the arrow, it was actually in the red, but I wasn't too worried.
After what felt like a very long afternoon, I achieved a personal worst score and came bottom in the ladies section. This was no real disappointment, as was pointed out to me, I had actually achieved my best ever score in a tournament.
