If you’ve visited our website recently or added your name to our beginners’ waiting list, you may have noticed that demand for archery is once again incredibly high. We thought this would be a good opportunity to share an update on where the club is, how we got here, and what we’re planning for the future.
For many years, Loreburn Archers has been fortunate to run a hugely successful annual beginners’ course. As one of the largest archery clubs in Scotland, we’ve introduced hundreds of people to the sport over the years, with many of those beginners going on to become long-standing members, coaches and even committee members.
Today, the club has a strong and active membership of around 60 archers. This allows us to run a thriving club while maintaining the friendly atmosphere that has always been at the heart of Loreburn Archers.
Like many organisations, COVID had a significant impact on the club. Our beginners’ courses had to stop for a period while interest in taking up archery continued to grow. This resulted in our waiting list reaching well over 120 people.
Over the last few years, we’ve worked hard to reduce that backlog and, by last year, we’d finally managed to bring the waiting list back down to a much more manageable level.
Then, archery seems to have become popular again!
This year alone, our waiting list has grown back to more than 70 people and it continues to increase. While that creates challenges for us as a club, it is also fantastic news. It is brilliant to see so many people wanting to take up our sport, and we’re incredibly proud that so many choose Loreburn Archers as the club they’d like to join.
One question we’re often asked is, “Why not just run more courses?”
If only it were that easy!
Loreburn Archers is run entirely by volunteers. Every coach, committee member and experienced archer gives up their own shooting time to help teach beginners, organise events, maintain equipment and keep the club running.
We’ve explored lots of different ideas over the years, trust us, we’ve really tried, to see how we could increase the number of places we offer. However, we’re limited not only by the number of volunteers we have, but also by the facilities available to us and the amount of hall time we can secure throughout the year.
Of course, we could hire additional venues and run more sessions, but that would inevitably increase membership costs. One thing we’ve always been proud of is keeping archery as accessible and affordable as possible, and we’d like to continue doing that.
We’d rather have a waiting list than compromise the experience our members and beginners receive. Growing sustainably means every new member continues to benefit from high-quality coaching, plenty of support and the welcoming atmosphere that people have come to expect from Loreburn Archers.
Following discussions at this year’s AGM, the committee and members agreed that one area where the club can make a real difference is by encouraging more young people into archery.
Youth participation has always been one of the sport’s biggest challenges, both locally and nationally. With so much interest in joining the club, we have a fantastic opportunity to invest in the next generation of archers.
As a result, this year’s beginners’ course will be run as a dedicated Youth Development Course, with places being offered to the youngest people currently on our waiting list.
We’re genuinely excited to see where this leads. We’d love to think that some of the young people taking their first shots with us this year could become the coaches, volunteers and perhaps even international archers of the future. If we can help inspire the next generation of archers, we believe that’s something worth investing in.
This certainly doesn’t mean we’re forgetting everyone else on the waiting list.
Throughout the coming year, we’ll continue looking at other ways to introduce more people to archery. We’re already exploring ideas such as one-off taster sessions and other opportunities that would allow more people to experience the sport without affecting our regular club activities.
You’ll also be able to find us at a number of local gala days and community events over the summer. If you see us, please come over for a chat, have a go if we’re running an activity, and find out more about what we do. We’d love to meet you.
Finally, we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in joining Loreburn Archers. The support and enthusiasm we’ve received over the last few years has been incredible and it’s something we’re genuinely proud of.
While we can’t always welcome everyone as quickly as we’d like, we remain committed to growing the sport in the best way we can. That means supporting our current members, creating opportunities for new archers, and ensuring Loreburn Archers continues to be a friendly, welcoming and affordable club for many years to come.
Thank you for your patience, your support and your interest in our club. We hope to welcome you onto the shooting line in the near future.