An Explanation of the SCAS Inter-Counties Team Tournament
With the SCAS area covering the whole of East Anglia round in a great arc to Hampshire, the Southern Counties is the largest of the eight regions in GNAS, in terms of both geographical size and numbers of archers. It includes 15 county associations.
Each year SCAS holds two tournaments in which teams representing each of its constituent county associations compete against each other; entries are only accepted from county associations - individuals cannot apply. Two tournaments? Well, there used only to be one, but it became necessary to separate the Junior and Senior sections, because of problems finding grounds that could accommodate both at the same time.
The tournament organiser is elected to that position each year at the SCAS AGM, but the tournament will be hosted whereever a suitable ground and work-party can be found.
The rules for the composition of teams have changed from time to time, but to give you an idea of how it works, the following requirements applied to the 2007 tournaments:
Senior Tournament:
This is a GNAS record status tournament, so normal regulations about shooting and dress apply. However, it is important to note that since archers are representing a county, they may wear either the traditional white and/or green, or they may wear the registered team colours for the county they represent.
There is currently no provision for longbow teams, partly because of the issue of tournament size and partly because until recently very few counties were able to field a longbow team of a competitive standard.
The rules for recurve teams and compound teams are currently the same:
- The members of each team must be specified in advance of the tournament;
- Each team consists of five archers, of whom at least one must be a lady;
- The team score will be based on four archers, of whom at least one must be a lady;
- Gentlemen will be required to shoot the York round, ladies will shoot the Hereford round;
- In addition, one travelling reserve may be nominated for each team, but he/she can only be included in that team if one of the members of that team is unable to start the tournament;
- In the event that a reserve is not required to shoot for their team, he/she will be permitted to shoot, but his/her score will not be included in team results;
- Each county association may enter more than one team.
Junior Tournament:
The rules for the junior tournament are much the same as for the senior tournament, except that:
- Each competitor must shoot the Bristol round that starts with the longest distance appropriate for their gender and age;
- The "under 9" age category is not recognised for the purposes of this tournament (this age category and the corresponding Bristol 5 round do not have GNAS record status);
- Junior compound teams will consist of four archers, from which three scores will be included in the team results.