CLIFTON HAMPDEN LONGBOW SOCIETY RULES OF THE CLUB

1. A “member”will have been formally invited to join CHLBS by the club secretary, and his/her name entered on the club membership list, following the attendance of six shoots and the approval of the committee.
2. Shoot fees will be two pounds per person per shoot attended, other than practice shoots. Participants arriving after the start of an event will be expected to pay the shoot fee if he/she wishes to participate.
3. A guest may shoot with the club if invited by an existing member. The guest should have received prior basic instruction from a qualified mainstream archery coach, or may receive instruction from one of the club coaches prior to the main shoot on the day .It is the responsibility of the inviting member to ensure that a coach is available. A guest would not require further instruction on repeat visits to the club. After attending six shoots, full membership may be offered, subject to committee agreement and membership availability. Also at this point, a non member would be expected to purchase his/her own bow and equipment. In order to limit numbers and to make guest slots available to all members, the same guest will not attend consecutive Sunday shoots.               
4. Club equipment will be available for guest use and instructional use by the club coaches. The inviting member should ensure that club equipment is booked for their guest in advance of the day the guest attends. Equipment provision will be on a first come, first served basis.
5. A shoot will qualify for club scores and averages provided that a minimum of two club members are present
6. Only Sunday morning shoots or a Saturday shoot replacing a Sunday shoot due to bad weather will be considered club events other than designated practice shoots and coaching sessions with prior consent of the committee acting with consideration toward the landowner and representatives thereof.
7. No shoots will take place at either of the two club sites except as club events, coaching  sessions  or designated practice sessions in line with 6 above.
8. A warning notice should be displayed at any potential point of public entry to the shooting ground prior to commencement of activities.
9. A field Captain will be nominated/elected to oversee safety at both club scoring events and practice shoots. The field captain will be fully endorsed by the other members present and his/her decision will be final. Mainstream archery association advice  is that there be sufficient  officers of the club present at a shoot to reflect the total number of archers present, therefore additional club members with sufficient experience may need to be nominated in the event of a large attendance.
10. The shooting discipline of CHLBS is fixed mark and arrows will be loosed only at the appropriate fixed mark flag. Arrows will not be loosed at any other time or in any other direction. The appointed field captain will ensure that a straight line is kept when shooting and that shooting does not re commence until scoring on the previous flag is completed. The field captain will establish that shooting to a given flag is completed before participants walk forward to the scoring flag.
11. Only longbows as defined by I.L.A.A. will be used in club events. This definition refers to bow dimensions. Bows will be constructed from wood and may be of up to six laminations. Bamboo is now officially classified as a legitimate bow material and will be permissible. There will be no upper limit regarding bow draw weight although the archer should be aware of the range of heavy bows in regard to overshoot. The field Captain may , at his/her discretion, limit bow weight on certain directions of shot effected by wind conditions.
12. Arrows may be of any length or shape provided they are made of wood. Fletchings may be of any size but fletching colour must be as agreed to be that member`s colours. Fletchings will be natural feather only. No plastic or similar materials permitted. Experimental arrows may be tested during club shoots provided that the arrow/arrows are nominated as non scoring prior to loosing on any given flag. All arrows shot on a scoring shoot will have piles no more than 1/8”wider than the arrow shaft diameter and be no longer than 2”. The exception to this rule will be where a member wishes to test arrows in the historic/ experimental context where provision is made for such an exercise either side of a club shoot , under the control of the shoot captain and with the approval of the committee.  In events requiring that archers use Military or Standard arrows, these will comply with the dimensions laid down by ILAA. These will usually be away events.
13. The field captain and members present will remain vigilant as to possible members of the public coming into the shooting line and a call to cease shooting given as soon as possible. Any shooting participant shall have the right to call fast. Shooting must not continue until that person/ persons is/are completely out of the shooting line and the field captain calls for shooting to continue.
14. Members using bows of 40lbs draw weight or less may go forward twenty yards if they wish when shooting the 160yd flags and ten yards forward when shooting the 140 yard flags. This is not only to give the low bow weights a fairer chance but to avoid arrows falling short into the trees at the European school. Big bows shoot first then all archers then move forward ten or twenty yards.
15. Only the appointed scorer will enter the scoring area, i.e, within 12 feet of the relevant flag. The scorer`s decision is final except that the scorer may call for a second opinion if he considers it necessary. Members should assist the scorer eg in holding his/her bow and receiving scored arrows as they are removed by the scorer.
16. If a member breaks another member`s arrow/arrows, immediate compensation to that member will be offered at the rate of £5 per arrow.
17. Two handicap trophies are shot for each season, these being The Robert Wallis memorial trophy and the Crecy trophy. Also shot for during the season is the Agincourt trophy, which is for archery excellence, and awarded to the highest scoring archer on the day. These trophy shoots are in June, August and October respectively. A member should have attended five shoots in that year to qualify for scoring in the two handicap events . Non qualifying members may still shoot but will not be entered for trophies. All members are eligible to shoot for the Agincourt trophy, irrespective of number of shoots attended. A running handicap adjusted each third of season will run alongside normal shoot scores. A trophy will be presented at the year end calculated on members` best ten scores.
18. To qualify for end of season averages/ high score trophy, a member should have attended ten scoring shoots in that season. These averages will be calculated at the end of the season on the basis of each member`s best ten scores through the season. An additional annual trophy will be presented in and from 2008, to reflect the highest single shoot score of the year. This trophy will be back dated to 2005.
19. The Improvers trophy will be awarded at the end of the year, based on the improvement percentage between the current year and the previous year. In order to qualify, members should have attended ten shoots in the previous and current year.
20. The wooden spoon trophy will be awarded to the member having the lowest year end average.
21. All members are expected to have respect at all times for the grounds we shoot on and do their utmost to leave gates etc; as found, avoid damage to trees and fences or make good if possible. It must be remembered that the European school site is a sports field during the week and arrows left accidentally on the field could prejudice our use of the pitches as well as the possibility that we could lose the site.  If at the start of a shoot, it is found that a school event is taking/about to take place, then members would be expected to adjourn to the lock site. Similarly, the lock site being agricultural land with cattle grazing at times should be respected as such and no shooting should take place if cattle are in the field constituting the shooting ground.
22. Non active members who do not attend club events for a period of twelve months will be moved to a dormant member list. They will continue to be regarded as members and may shoot with the club as would a guest. If after a period of two years a member has not attended an event, he/she will be approached as to whether he/she wishes to continue as a member. It has to be acknowledged that there can be very legitimate reasons for member inactivity, and this is a way to free up membership space while giving ample time for a member to decide whether he/she wishes to continue as a club member. Club membership numbers will be kept under review by the committee, the current maximum being 23. This number will be maintained outside the dormant member list.
23. Rules of the club regarding shooting safety will be in line with those of mainstream archery associations.
24. An incident book will be maintained at all club shoots by the shoot Captain.
25. A risk assessment will be maintained for all shoots.
26. An emergency procedure plan will be maintained for the event of visitors, (including children) going missing.
27. A first aid kit will be available at all shooting events, with a member trained in first aid present. Qualified first aiders` names should be recorded so as to have cover at each shoot.                  

THESE RULES OF THE CLUB SUPERCEDE ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS.