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A Brief History of Laleham Archery Club
Stan Hewitt founded our Club in 1955, with a group of colleagues from Staines Urban District Council. The Club has had four homes from its inception - Matthew Arnold School (1955-1959), Laleham Golf Club (1959-1964), Staines Football Club (1964-1971), and its current facility in Worple Road, Staines, where it has been since 1971.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s the Club grew rapidly and had over 100 members, with many representing the county, though as with most other sports, numbers have declined somewhat in recent years. Membership currently stands at 40-50, made up from all age groups, with ages ranging from 8 to 75. The Club caters for archers shooting the three “disciplines” of recurve, compound and longbow archery.
The Club is very active in competitions all year round and a number of our archers have previously represented Great Britain. These include Mark Blenkarne (Olympic Games; World Champions and Commonwealth Games Gold medallist), Sue Willcox (Olympic Games; World Champions) and Anthony Green (Junior British Champion and Junior Europa Cup, 1998, 1999).
In October each year the Club hosts the Laleham Albion Tournament, a major regional tournament, which has been shot every year for the last 43 years. It ranks as one of the largest club competitions in the country. In the 1970’s to 1980’s, the maximum number of targets was 61 targets were needed, catering for over 300 archers. The targets spread from the current Club House into land now occupied by our neighbours, Nottcutts Garden Centre.
Qualified coaches (one Senior) and a National Judge are also members of the club and are available for help and advice. The Club shoots regularly on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings, and holds regular training sessions for beginners in the summer.
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Sports Clubs