So what does all this cost - isn't it horribly expensive?

Actually - no it isn't!

Affiliation and target fees

All archers in the UK are required to be affiliated to the Grand National Archery Society (GNAS) - now 'rebranded' as Archery GB - and their local county and region. This not only entitles you to shoot at GNAS and FITA tournaments but also means that you are covered by GNAS insurance in the highly unlikely event this becomes important! Because of the insurance aspect of membership, you have to be affiliated to GNAS to shoot at any archery club in the UK.

Currently GNAS, Cheshire County archery and Northern Counties archery subscriptions total £40 a year - affiliation is handled for you by the club. Payment is usually due by the 1st September annually

In addition to your annual GNAS subscriptions, we ask that you contribute £8 per month by standing order to Club funds. This is to cover all the costs associated with running shoots - wear and tear on equipment, target faces, rental for premises etc. etc.

So all told, affiliation fees and shooting fees average out at a little over £11 a month for the year - see, that's not so bad is it?

Equipment costs

Depends entirely on how far you want to progress!

It is quite possible to set yourself up with everything needed for a 'beginner / intermediate' standard archer for between £250 - £300. Several of the archery retailers do 'packages' specifically aimed at this market and the club coaches will be happy to discuss the pros and cons of the various options available with you and make some recommendations for what you require. There is of course also the 'secondhand option' - there is a lot of very good used equipment on the market - but see below before attacking eBay with a vengeance!

If you want to progress to the higher levels of the sport then, as with all sports, life inevitably gets a little more expensive. An average 'tournament' bow and ancillaries plus tournament standard arrows could typically cost from £500 upwards, depending how serious you are, and if you feel so inclined it is quite possible to spend up to £2000 on a set of top-class equipment. This level of expense is however only really necessary if you are aiming for the 'upper echelon' of tournament archery - for example if your target is achieving Bowman or Master Bowman (or even the very elusive 'Grand Master Bowman'!) status. Nor is it necessary to spend it all in one go, many archers upgrade 'piecemeal' - for example upgrading the limbs, then the riser, then the arrows, then the sights, adding stabilisers etc etc. Once you have got a setup that suits your shooting style and works well, 'running costs' are minimal - mainly replacement fletchings and a couple of bowstrings a season.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT EBAY

There is often top-class used equipment offered for sale on ebay and other online auction sites, Archery Interchange and elsewhere (it is not unknown for GB elite squad archers to sell surplus equipment this way), frequently at less than 50% of the new price, and this can be a very good way of getting the highest standard of competition equipment without having to pay the matching prices. However you have to know EXACTLY what you are looking at and whether it is what you need so we recommend that the less experienced either avoid buying used equipment off ebay (or elsewhere) or at least consult one of the coaching squad before committing to buy. Here endeth the lecture.......