Is the tour just designed for high-performing archers?
Absolutely not. Juniors of all abilities are invited to participate: the emphasis is on participation with a competitive element, not the other way around. We have not designed the tour specifically with the needs of high-performing junior archers in mind. Instead the tour simply seeks to link together the shoots that tournament organisers have already been running, and encourage more junior participation in them.
Is SCAS trying to take over how shoots for juniors are run?
No. While we all might have ideas about what is best for junior archers, the last word on how shoots are run stays with the tournament organisers. They know what works for them at their particular shoot. The tour simply tries to boost junior participation across all shoots while making juniors also feel part of the broader archery community.
What age-gender-bow type categories will be available at SCAYT shoots?
For the purposes of calculating the SCAYT standings, the age-gender-bow type categories adopted by ArcheryGB will be used.
That means age groups will be U-21, U-18, U-16, U-15, U-14 and U-12 where U denotes under. Please note that the ‘year of birth’ method, as recently adopted by ArcheryGB, will be used to assess an archer’s correct age group. For more information on that, see here. Genders will be women and men. Bow types will be Olympic Recurve, Recurve Barebow, Compound and Longbow.
It is possible that some events listed on the Tour will not explicitly include the under 21 age group as a distinct category and declare results for it separately. Whether or not that occurs is a decision taken by the Tournament Organiser for each event with regard to their specific circumstances. In cases where a shoot on the tour does not declare results for the Under 21 category, it will not be possible for Tour points for the Under 21 age group to be awarded by the SCAYT Manager. We encourage those in the Under 21 category who wish to participate in SCAYT to check the details of events in advance to ensure their results will be separately declared.
What if archers “shoot down” or “shoot up” from the AGB minimum recommended competition rounds?
The Archery GB document linked to in the question above lists the minimum recommended competition rounds for each age group. Where an archer shoots a round which involves shorter distances than the recommended round (often referred to as “shooting down”) they will not be eligible for a tour event score for that shoot. Shooting down remains a great way for archers to both gain experience of competitive shooting and work their way up to shooting longer distances. But trying to add those rounds to the Tour Points in a fair way would simply introduce too much complexity to the scoring system.
What if an archer chooses to “shoot up” – ie. shoot a round with longer distances than recommended for their age group? In such a case, the archer will receive an event score on the basis of the outcome in the category they have chosen to shoot in: one point for participating, two points for coming second or third, or three points for winning the category. Hence if an archer chooses to shoot up and wins the higher category, they gain they same 3 point event score as they would have achieved had they won the category shooting their recommended round. This procedure reflects that adjusting event scores if archers choose to shoot up would (like adjusting for shooting down) create too much complexity for the scoring system.
I cannot make the finale at the end of tour. Can I still take part in SCAYT?
Yes. Gold, silver and bronze awards for total tour points will be awarded at the end of the tour, (including the double tour points gained from the SCAS Junior Championships). If an archer secures enough tour points to win one of these awards, but is not present for the SCAS junior Championships, the medal will still be awarded to them in their absence.
In order to be eligible for a SCAYT award, archers will have to have competed in a minimum of two SCAYT events.
From where I live in the SCAYT region all or some of the shoots are far away – is that fair?
No, it is not entirely fair, and we recognise that. The uneven distribution of shoot locations has influenced the way that the SCAYT points scoring system has been designed. We would like there to be a more even and wider spread of shoots around the region. But we can only work with the shoots that are currently being organised - SCAS has very limited ability to organise shoots directly. Please encourage your local clubs to host a shoot at which juniors can shoot if you feel your area is not currently being well served by the events on the tour! We would be delighted to include a wider geographical range of shoot locations.
Can an archer opt-out of SCAYT?
Yes. Simply let us at SCAS know you wish to opt out via the contact details on the SCAYT web page, and you will no longer be shown in the updates of the SCAYT standings, and no longer eligible for a discounted place at the SCAYT finals and SCAS Junior Championships.