MARK DOES THE DOUBLE!
With an indoor target shoot in the King’s Hall on Saturday and an outdor field at Hydebank Woods on Sunday it was going to be a busy weekend for archers and none did better than Mark Nesbitt who came away with two gold medals scoring 1110 in the Portsmourh rounds and coming in with the highest freestyle score of 325 at the FITA.On the Sunday Philip Fitzpatrick [309] and Peter lavery [223] also did well winning the mens and boys barebow. In the ladies section Amy Lavery just turned 18 and into the senior section came in with the highest freestyle score of 1087Ashley Russell-Cowan also did very well winning ladies class F with 943 shooting traditional.Also in the medals were Shannon Russell-Cowan [701] Stephanie Shannon [293], Morgan Russell-Cowan [213] and Gerry Thompson [994] All in all a very satisfactory weekend for the club.

HAMILTONS HEAD THE LEAGUE.
Ballyvally’s Outdoor Autumn League finished just before Christmas.The league began in July and went right through to December.Generally FITA Rounds were shot to prepare for the 2008 season. In the gents and boys sections, father [Nigel] and son [Dean] finished tops in their categories well ahead of the pack. Nigel won the gents with 19 points ahead of Michael Masterson [2nd] and Damien Lennon and Rune Naeri in joint 3rd position. Alwyn Sneddon was one point behind 3rd place to come in 4th.. In the boys section Dean just beat his brother Mark into 2nd place on 22 points. Mark in turn was just one point clear of Ewan Lynas [21 points ] in 3rd place. Peter Lavery was 4th with Taylor Masterson and Matthew Corbett both on 15 points in joint 5th place.
In the female sections it was much closer. In the under 18 girls only one point separated the top three!. Ciara Dunl;eavy won with 18 points just ahead of Amy Lavery and Shannon Russell-Cowan both on 17!!! Rebecca Lennon came 3rd with a late rush while Morgan Russell-Cowan was 5th and Polly Price 6th. In the ladies section Adele Lynas won on 22 points ahead of Valerie Sleith on 19 and Marion Patterson on 16. Ashley Russell-Cowan was 4th on 14 points and Bernie Scullion 5th on 10 points..
Members were starting to prepare for the BIG shoots of 2008 leading up to the British Open which will be set in Ballywalter Estate Co. Down and hosted by Lough Cuan Archers and to the UK Junior Field Champs which will be in Kendal, Cumbria. Ballyvally’s first outdoor practice of 2008 will be on Sunday 13th Jan at Loughbrickland starting at 2.00pm.

OUTDOOR COURSES PREPARED:
With three British Record Status shoots to organise as well as the N.I. Field Championships to run in 2008, members of Ballyvally club have started early preparing the course for 2008. A lot of thought is needed to ensure that the required distances and degrees of difficulty are available to challenge the archers. This is more important in the incoming year as one of Ballyvally’s course has been nominated in the top 4 courses in the UK!!.

73 JUNIORS QUALIFY FOR UK ARCHERY BADGES.
73 young archers from Ballyvally club have just qualified after 3 months of shooting for their UK Achievement badges.38 have won their white badges, 27 their blue badges and 8 their red badges. This is a National Scheme all over the UK, with standardised scores to be achieved at different distances. All badges and medals for the leagues will be presented at Ballyvally’s presentation Night in the Belmont Hotel on Friday 18th January.

“HAVE A GO WITH A BOW” in 2008.
The normal 9 practice sessions will restart on Wed 9th and Thursday 10th January 2008. Juniors and seniors will start seriously to practise indoors in Banbridge Leisure Centre for the Portsmouth and FITA 18 Rounds as the NIAS Championships are at the start of Feb 2008 in Jordanstown and outdoors at Loughbrickland for the Field Championships in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Archery as organised by Ballyvally appeals to a wide range of people from 4 year olds to pensioners and also with a large number of families involved. . Details of the beginner sessions in Banbridge Leisure Centre can be obtained by contacting club coach, Frank Mulligan on 406 23748.All equipment supplied.

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