November saw the competitive archery season burst into life, with Dublin University Archery Club’s (DUAC) players taking part in their first two competitions of the year, travelling to Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) on the 11th and making the short journey to Dublin City University (DCU) at the weekend. The new club looked to blood new members in a competitive setting and challenge at the higher levels of competition.
Competitive archery is divided into the two seasons, with the indoor season taking place in winter and the outdoor season during the summer. The intervarsities are the pinnacle of college archery tournaments, where students measure their skills and meet fellow archers from across Ireland.
Each competitor shoots 60 arrows from a distance of 18 metres, with scoring based on shot accuracy. The archer shoots three arrows at each end, with an end being the number of arrows shot before a score is taken. The competition is divided into two sessions of 10 ends.
As a relatively new club in Trinity, having been granted official status by Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC) in 2015, DUAC had an impressive seven archers compete in DKIT on November 11th for the first competition of the semester. In the Beginner Barebow section, Conn de Barra, Simon Bluett, Naveen Kurian, Árpád Papp and Lucie Delobel lined out. Eve Kearney was the sole Trinity participant in the Beginner Recurve. Diego Coyle Diez took on some of the top archers in the Advance Recurve competition.
DUAC sent three archers to DCU for the second competition of the year this weekend, with Clara Mercedal making her debut in the Beginner Barebow, Eve Kearney continuing in the Beginner Recurve and Diego Coyle Diez once again shooting in the Advance Recurve competition.
Results from both competitions are pending but DUAC are optimistic moving forward after the opening competitions of the semester, and expect most of the competitors in the beginner sections to advance to the intermediate standard before the conclusion of the college year.
