LOOKING AHEAD
Welcome to the last Bow of one of the more difficult and complicated years in living memory. The year 2020 will be long remembered as the year of corona; a year where not much happened that didn't involve a screen, a year where something almost infinitesimally tiny managed to stop pretty much the entire Western world in its tracks.
As I write this, archery is halted again as the UK is back under lockdown, and the virus is rampant again in many countries. But finally it looks like vaccines are on the way, testing is starting to become more commonplace and there are a handful of green shoots of recovery on the horizon – although no one is pretending to know the long-term impacts on aspects of public life and committing to specific events remains difficult. As we uneasily turn the corner into 2021, I hope you're all staying well and healthy out there, because it's clear that the ride isn't over just yet.
This is the issue we include the yearly wallplanner. As a wag wrote to me last week: "A 2021 planner? Do you have a crystal ball or something?". Needless to say, nothing is guaranteed, and I did think about leaving it blank, but we've included the extant major international dates on there. Hope springs eternal. (Unfortunately, Archerygb dates were not available at the time of going to press, so you'll have to fill those in in due course.)
As well as the biggest gift guide we've ever run, this month we conclude our short series by Andrew Smith on making the minimum Olympic qualifying score, together with an excellent complimentary article by Germany's junior coach Marc Dellenbach on fitness. Getting fit may be off a few people's minds at the moment, with winter drawing in and gyms and sports facilities shut, but it is the thing that often separates good archers from bad. I wish I'd done vastly more bow fitness this year, even if I've only really been shooting in the back garden. It's going to be a big focus come January. But of course, we all say that every year, don't we?
See you on the shooting line...