Staying in for the winter
Hello, and welcome to the first Bow International of 2019. I'm writing this in 2018 (because that's how publishing works) where I've just returned from the Roma Archery Trophy, in the beautiful (if chilly) city of Rome, Italy. I say beautiful – as usual when I'm working at events, I saw the airport, the venue, the hotel, and that's it; there's no wandering around the Coliseum for archery correspondents. But an awful lot of other archers did get out and about; the event attracted around 650 archers, from professionals to enthusiastic club members. This was over what the organisers were expecting, and most people made at least some kind of holiday out of it. Next year, the organisers have ambitions to pull in a thousand archers. Unlike many other indoor archery venues for the larger events, which have hit capacity and are unable to expand, here they can just hire one of the equally enormous halls next door. It wasn't without its teething problems; the usual niggles with timing, seating, food & drink, and transport hovered around - even if the coffee was well up to Italian standards,
It's apparent that there is an increasingly large international community of archers interested in combining competitive shooting with holidays in interesting cities around the world, and older rather than younger. However, this has its limits, as seen with the shock cancellation of one of the Indoor World Series events in Seoul, Korea due to be held the weekend before Christmas. The event failed to attract enough international archers - although apparently a total of 71 had stumped up the entry fee and presumably booked flights - and wasn't selling particularly well domestically, either. With the organisers unable to guarantee the prize money, World Archery were forced to pull the plug. It was a reminder that events are not purely about the competition on offer or the amenities available; they have to fit in with real lives and jobs and families. The Vegas Shoot is popular not just because it is the biggest and most prestigious indoor tournament, it's also because it takes place in one of the world's best holiday destinations, which you can 'sell' to significant others. Even if you have a disaster of a shoot, it's not the entire experience. Anyway, I hope your indoor season is in full swing wherever you are. Whatever you are up to this winter, enjoy it!
Individuals carrying out any instructions detailed in this publication do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of parts, equipment and environment for a particular use. Appropriate protective/safety gear should be worn at all times when handling dangerous equipment. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither Future Publishing Limited, its supplier or any of their employees, agents, subcontractors or contributors shall have any liability in connection with the use of this information, provided that nothing shall exclude or limit the liability of any party for personal injury or death caused by negligence or for anything else which cannot be excluded or limited by law.