The 2012 ASAA Indoor Championship

January 21 - 22, 2012 – Ben Avery Shooting Facility – Indoor Range

Story:  In spite of a significant increase in overall entry fee to accommodate the new Ben Avery Shooting Facility rental fees, the 57 archers is average for the state indoor championship.  Having a large range with good space and lighting as well as indoor restrooms is appreciated.  Youth archer participation continues to be a major portion of the competition.  Desert Sky Archers provided a top notch event with first class awards and well thought out planning.  AAE provided door prizes and set up a demonstration and sales booth which was a great service to the archers.  DSA sold bottled water and candy bars as a fund raiser to buy a storage conex.

Day 0 PM:  Set up began at 3:00 with equipment pick and delivery.  The range was set up by 5 PM, then check by COJ Yee around 6.  The set up went smoothly in similar fashion to the Iron archers a few weeks prior.  Set up included 2 full size LED timers, computer results center and a booming PA system.

Day 1 AM:  Most competed in the AM session shooting filling the range shooting AB/CD waves   Equipment inspection took place after check in.  The state championship consists of a 2x600 round at 18 meters on 40 cm faces.  Desert Sky provided “leader board” for every 30 arrows.  Individual 300 round score cards were used.  DSA collected the cards, check the math, entered them into a spread sheet, sorted and posted so that everyone could “watch” the competition ranking progress.

By doing so, the final results were compiled quickly at the end of the tourney.  A group photo was taken at the end of the shooting session.

Day 1 PM:  The PM session was AB line only.  Many from out of town drove in the AM to shoot the PM line after check in and equipment inspection.  Some that shot the AM line shot the PM line to make one trip to save time and save gasoline.  By shooting one line, the afternoon moves along quickly.  The DSA staff kept up with the result checking and entry to finish the day in time for dinner after another group photo.    

Day 2 AM:  Like the day one AM session, the day two session was full, shooting AB/CD waves.  There was a medical delay during this session.

Sportsmanship:  During the medical delay, a JOAD archer was not able to continue shooting and began to miss some ends.  The officials noted that the archer would be allotted 6 make up arrows.  The other archers’ families in category all were more than willing to allow the JOAD to make up more arrows than the rules provide, if needed.  As it turned out, additional time was not needed, but the lesson was clear.  Competition should be based on an archer’s performance and not disqualification that could otherwise be resolved.  Fairness and Sportsmanship!

After the final score cards were collected, the DSA staff, checked score cards and entered results.  A final group photo was taken.  At the same time the club cleared the range equipment and loaded equipment for transport.  Each JOAD was presented an archery emblem “dog tag” as a memento. 

Congratulations to Brian Bullis, Spencer Yee and Andrew Mateo for setting new state records.

The awards ceremony consisted of a podium ceremony for each category and the presentation of high quality state championship graphic image plaques! 

After the event, congratulations and appreciation were exchanged by all. The final take down and put away took place by mid-afternoon.  The Desert Sky Archers provided a wonderful event for the archers and is closer to buying their own conex storage unit. 

Next time:  Continue to have AAE take part, provide top notch awards and staff the event with a full complement of volunteers.  Food vendors are always welcome.

Tournament Director:         Rick Bachman

Chairman of Judges:          Steve Yee

Director of Shooting:           Steve Yee

Judges:                                  Mike Cullumber - Continental Judge

                                                Paula Simpson - Judge Candidate (Sunday)

Technical Delegate:            Bob Pian

Scoring:                                 Valerie Bullis, Scott and Tiffany Waldrop