CONSTITUTION:

PARAGRAPH 1          -     Name                                                           

PARAGRAPH 2          -     Purpose                                                       

PARAGRAPH 3          -     Membership                                                 

PARAGRAPH 4          -     The Committee                                            

PARAGRAPH 5          -     Duties of the Officers                                   

PARAGRAPH 6          -     Election and or Appointment of Officers       

PARAGRAPH 7          -     Conflict of Interest                                       

PARAGRAPH 8          -     Proceedings of the Executive                      

PARAGRAPH 9          -     Disqualification of Executive Officers

PARAGRAPH 10        -     The Annual General Meeting               

PARAGRAPH 11        -     Extra-Ordinary General Meetings                  

PARAGRAPH 12        -     The Financial Year                                       

PARAGRAPH 13        -     Reports of Officers                                     

PARAGRAPH 14        -     Alterations and Amendments to this Constitution

SHOOTING RULES:

PARAGRAPH 1          -     Shooting Styles                                         

PARAGRAPH 2          -     Tournament Rules                                        

PARAGRAPH 3          -     Official Rounds                                       

PARAGRAPH 4          -     Shooting rules for unmarked rounds            

PARAGRAPH 5          -     Safety                                                         

PARAGRAPH 6          -     Shooting Etiquette        

PROCEDURES:

PARAGRAPH 1          -     Membership                                                

PARAGRAPH 2          -     Membership Cards                                      

PARAGRAPH 3          -     Qualification and Status for Representative Shooting

PARAGRAPH 4          -     Tournament Standards                                 

PARAGRAPH 5          -     National Records 

PARAGRAPH 6          -     Incentives                                                    

PARAGRAPH 7          -     Class Cut-offs                                             

PARAGRAPH 8          -     Range Charter                                             

PARAGRAPH 9          -     Insurance                                                    

PARAGRAPH 10        -     Miscellaneous   

ENGLISH FIELD ARCHERY ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION

1. NAME

a) The name of the Association shall be the English Field Archery Association (hereinafter abbreviated to EFAA).

b) The EFAA shall be affiliated to the International Field Archery Association, (hereinafter abbreviated to IFAA) whose By-laws (Shooting Rules), Articles VI to XI inclusive, shall be accepted.

2. PURPOSE

a) To foster, expand, promote, and perpetuate the practice of Field Archery and any other form of archery the Association may adopt, both amateur and professional, and to establish uniform rules, regulations, procedures, conditions and methods of practising such activities.

b) To provide a basic plan by which individual archers can organise into clubs, that can join together to form the association, in order to regulate and administer the sport in England.

c) To conduct a continuous educational programme, designed to acquaint the public and the archer, with the use of the bow as a recreation.

d) To conduct tournaments to determine, in accordance with Procedures Rule 6, National Champions in all forms of archery adopted by the Association.

e) To foster and perpetuate a spirit of good fellowship and sportsmanship amongst all archers.

f)  To evolve and conduct programmes that will give recognition to archers for proficiency with the bow and arrow, in all recognised competition.

g) To inform regularly all members of the major problems and issues affecting the sport of Field Archery, and/or of the actions proposed or taken, in order that the membership may make its will known to its duly elected representatives.

h) The EFAA does not support the use of the bow and arrow in the pursuit of hunting.

3. MEMBERSHIP

a)  There shall be five classes of membership; Honorary, Life, Affiliate, Individual and Associate.

i)    Honorary Membership, with exemption from regular fees and dues established by the EFAA, may be granted for exceptional merit and service, upon submission of a recommendation signed by not less than six members of the Executive. Such recommendation must be approved or rejected by the Executive within 60 days of the submission.

ii)   Life Membership, with exemption from regular fees and dues established by the EFAA shall be granted to anyone on payment of the relevant fee (i.e. 25 times the annual adult membership fee). This fee shall be for life EFAA membership only, and shall not necessarily include the magazine.

iii)   Individual Membership  shall be granted to anyone upon individual application and payment of the relevant fee.

iv)  Associate Membership shall be granted to any supporter of the EFAA who does not wish to participate in its shooting activities, upon application and payment of the relevant fee. An Associate Member has no voting rights and may not stand for elective position.

b)  Eligibility for Membership shall apply as follows from 1 January 1997, but shall not be retrospective for members continuing with an unbroken membership.  For membership to be granted, applicants must have resided in England for a period of thirty days prior to their application, or to be an English national by birth or naturalisation, or be a bona fide applicant residing in a country that does not have membership of the IFAA.  With regard to any National Championship, members must conform to the National status rule to be eligible for Championship titles.

*    A club shall be considered to exist if three or more archers are shooting under an agreed club name.

c)  All annual subscriptions shall be payable on the First day of January each year.

d)  Any member of the Association may resign his membership by giving the General Secretary notice in writing to that effect, providing that if notice be given after the First day of January in any year, such member shall be liable to pay his subscription for that year.

e) Membership of the Association shall cease in all or any of the following circumstances:

i)   If the Executive shall resolve, pursuant to sub-paragraph (e) below that the member be expelled as from the date of the resolution.

ii)   If a member gives notice in writing to the General Secretary in accordance with sub-paragraph (c) above.

iii)  Membership shall expire if the annual subscription of a member has not been paid on or before the first day of February following the first day of January in each year unless the Executive resolve to extend such period, in which event, the membership shall expire at the end of the extended period unless the subscription shall then have been paid.

f) If any member shall wilfully refuse or neglect to comply with any of the provisions of the Constitution or shall be guilty of any conduct objectionable to other members of the Association or prejudicial to the interests of the Association he shall be liable to expulsion by Resolution of the Executive provided that not less than two weeks notice in writing shall be given by the Secretary to any such member of the intended Resolution and the nature of the allegation made against him and the member, at his option, shall be entitled to give an explanation in writing or to attend the meeting of the Executive at which the Resolution is to be considered and to give such explanation or make such defence in person as he may think fit but the Executive shall have absolute and unfettered discretion to accept or reject any such explanation or defence and its decision to expel any member shall be final and conclusive.

g)  Any person, on ceasing to be a member of the Association shall forfeit all right to and claim upon the Association, its property and funds.

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4. THE COMMITTEE

a)  The full committee shall consist of the President, Vice-President, General Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer, International Representative and nine Technical Officers (4d).

b)  The position of Treasurer may be held independently or in conjunction with any other office.

c)  The position of International Representative may be held independently or in conjunction with any other office.

d)  Technical Officers. The ten Technical Officers on the Executive Committee shall be:- Classification and Incentives Officer, Range Charter Officer, Coaching Officer, Tournaments Officer, Website Manager, Team Manager, Editor of the "Field Archer", Supplies and Merchandising Officer and EFAA Faces Officer.

e)  The position of Team (Squad) Manager may be held independently or in conjunction with any other office.

f)   With the exceptions mentioned in (b), (c) and (e) above, all offices shall be held independently.

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5. DUTIES of OFFICERS

a)  The President shall; 

i)   Preside at all General Meetings. 

ii)   Prepare and submit to the Executive and the AGM, an annual report, indicating the activities and position of the EFAA.

b)  The Vice-President shall; 

i)   Perform the duties of the President if the President is unable to act.

c)  The General Secretary shall; 

 i)  Conduct the affairs of the EFAA in accordance with the programmes and policies established by the Executive. 

ii)   Organise and operate the administrative offices of the EFAA. 

iii)  Co-ordinate the activities and programmes of the EFAA. 

iv)  Assure the proper publication of official notices, reports and attest documents, and shall keep the archives of the EFAA. 

v)  Assure the proper publication of any officially adopted publications of the EFAA.

d)  The Membership Secretary shall; 

i)   Supervise the collection of all membership fees and pass the monies thus collected to the Treasurer. 

ii)   Prepare and maintain up-to-date membership lists. 

iii)  Issue all membership cards.

e)  The Treasurer shall; 

i)   Prepare and submit to the Executive and the AGM, an annual report, indicating the financial position of the EFAA. 

ii)   Supervise the financial affairs of the Association. 

iii)  Keep adequate books of accounts for the EFAA. 

iv)  Have an appointed auditor make an annual survey of the EFAA accounts at the close of business at each financial year, and shall publish the result at the AGM following. 

v)  Deposit all monies to the credit of the EFAA. 

vi)  Shall present a statement of account supported by an official bank statement at every Executive meeting.

f)   The International Representative shall; 

i)   Be responsible for liaison between the Executive and the IFAA. 

ii)   Advise the Executive on matters of International nature.

g)  The Classification and Incentives Officer shall;  

i)   Supervise and administer the National Classification and Incentives policy, in accordance with the wishes of the Executive. 

ii)   Co-operate with and advise the officers concerned with classification and incentives. 

iii)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning Classification and Incentives.

h)  The Range Charter Officer shall; 

i)   Supervise and administer the national Range Charter policy in accordance with the wishes of the Executive. 

ii)   Co-operate with and advise the officers concerned with Range Charter. 

iii)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning Range Charter. 

iv)  Issue Shoot Certificates as requested and as appropriate.

i)   The Coaching Officer shall; 

i)   Supervise and administer the Coaching activities of the EFAA. 

ii)   Co-operate with and advise the officers concerned with coaching.

iii)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning coaching.

j)   The Tournaments Officer shall; 

i)   Be responsible for the co-ordination of national, Regional and Club committees, in deciding the dates of Tournaments. 

ii)   Compile a list of International, National, Regional, and Club Tournaments for the information of members. 

iii)  Be the custodian of all National Challenge Trophies of the EFAA, and shall keep a record of them, the names of the donors where applicable, the condition of the competition governing the awards, and the names and addresses of those who win them. 

iv)  Request the return of the trophies from the winners at least three weeks before the next tournament at which they will be awarded. (The archer awarded the temporary custody of the trophies shall be responsible for their return, in good order, toe the Tournaments Officer upon request.) 

v)  Co-ordinate the organisation and administration of Tournaments run directly by the EFAA, as directed by the Executive. 

vi)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning such Tournaments. 

k)  Editor of the Field Archer shall; 

i)   Edit the journal of the EFAA known as the Field Archer, in accordance with the wishes of the Executive. 

ii)   Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning the journal. 

iii)  Publish and supervise the distribution of the journal at appropriate times. 

iv)  Arrange form and if obtained follow up and finally invoice, all advertising for the journal.

l)   Team Squad Manager shall; 

i)   Liaise with other associations and organise Team matches, in accordance with the wishes of the Executive. 

ii)   Select appropriate Team Members and organise travel and expenses (as agree with the Executive) at the time of the matches. 

iii)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning Team matches.

m) The Supplies/Merchandising Officer shall; 

i)   Obtain and make available to the membership such merchandise as is considered suitable by the Executive at prices set by the Executive. 

ii)   Collect in moneys for goods sold and remit to the Treasurer timeously. 

iii)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning supplies.

n)  The EFAA Faces Officer shall; 

i)   Obtain and make available to the membership supplies of faces as directed by the Executive at prices set by the Executive. 

ii)   Ensure that orders are dealt with expeditiously. 

iii)  Collect in moneys for faces sold and remit to the Treasurer timeously. 

iv)  Report to and advise the Executive on matters concerning the supply of faces.

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6. ELECTION/APPOINTMENT of OFFICERS

 a) The President shall be elected every third year by members of the EFAA at their AGM, or by post, as decided by the Executive. He shall hold office for three years, when he may stand for re-election.

b)  Committee shall be elected by members of the EFAA at their AGM, or by post, as decided by the Executive. They shall hold office for one year defined as January 1st to December 31st following the AGM, and at the end of that period shall resign, but may stand for re-election.  All officers, both Technical and Executive, have equal Executive status.

7. CONFLICT of INTEREST

a)  Any person nominated to an elective position in the EFAA shall declare at the time of nomination any business or political interest or activity that could influence his impartiality and this information shall be circulated to all those who are entitled to vote. In the event of his election, the Executive reserve the right to insist upon his abstention from voting on any issue so influenced.

b)  All conflict of issue questions shall be decided by the Executive, excluding the “interested” party if present.

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8. PROCEEDINGS of the EXECUTIVE

a)  The Executive may meet together for the despatch of business, adjourn and otherwise regulate the meetings as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes, the President or Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. A member of the Executive may, and the Secretary on the requisition of a member of the Executive shall, at any time summon a meeting of the Executive. It shall not be necessary to give notice of a meeting to a member of the Executive for the time being absent from the United Kingdom. 

b)  The quorum necessary for the transaction of business of the Executive to be fixed by the Executive and unless so fixed shall be seven. 

c)  Minutes shall be taken of all proceedings of the Executive and may be inspected by any member of the Association applying to the General Secretary therefore, except where the Executive decide in advance that a meeting or a part of a meeting shall be held in camera. 

d)  In the event of any vacancy occurring on the Executive it shall have the power to appoint any member of the Association who is properly qualified (if required) to fill such vacancy. 

e)  The Chairman of meetings of the Executive shall be the President provided that if the Chairman is not present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the Executive members present may choose one of their members to be Chairman of the meeting. 

f)   The members of the Executive may delegate any of their powers to Standing or Sub-Committees consisting of such members of the Association as they think fit. Any Standing or Sub-Committee so formed shall in the exercise of the powers so delegated conform to any regulation that may be impressed on it by the Executive. 

g)  A Sub-Committee may elect as Chairman of its meetings any one of its members. If no such Chairman is elected, or if at any meeting the Chairman is not present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the members present may choose one of their members to be Chairman of the meeting. 

h)  A Sub-Committee may meet and adjourn at it thinks proper. Questions arising at any meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes by the members present and in the case of equality of votes the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. 

i)   All acts done by any meeting of the Executive or of a Sub-Committee or by a person acting as an Executive member shall notwithstanding that it be afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such Executive member or person acting as aforesaid or that they or any of them were disqualified, are valid as if every such person had been duly appointed and was qualified to be an Executive member. 

j)   A resolution in writing signed by all Executive members for the time being entitled to receive notice of a meeting of the Executive shall be as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Executive duly convened and held.

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9. DISQUALIFICATION of EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

a)  Any Executive member shall be deemed to have resigned from the Executive 

i)   If he becomes medically unfit to carry out his duties. 

ii)   If he ceases to be a member of the Association. 

iii)  If by notice in writing to the Association, he resigns his office. 

iv)  If he is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Executive and the Executive resolve that his office is thereby vacated. 

b)  In addition the Association may be Extra-ordinary Resolution remove any member of the Executive before the expiration of his period of office and may by an Ordinary Resolution appoint another qualified member in his stead, but any person so appointed shall be subject to retirement at the same time as if he had been appointed from the day on which the person in whose place he is appointed was last appointed to the office from which he was removed.

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10. THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

a) There shall be an Annual General Meeting in September or October or November each year. 

b)  Notification that an AGM will take place must be made to all members separately, or through the official EFAA publication, at least 60 days prior to the date of the meeting. 

c)  All matters for inclusion on the Agenda of the AGM must reach the General Secretary at least 40 days prior to the date of the meeting. 

d)  Proposals to be put to the AGM must be in writing and bear the signature of the proposer and seconder, who must both be full members of the Association (i.e. not Jnr, Cub or Associate Members) and further, either or both signatories must attend the AGM to discuss their proposal. 

e)  The AGM agenda and any proposals to be considered at the AGM, must be circulated to the members at least 10 days prior to the AGM. 

f)   Only matters shown on the Agenda and matters arising from the Executive Officers reports may be voted upon at the AGM. 

g)  Matters that may come before the EFAA for decision at the AGM shall be decided by the vote of the majority of the members present, and shall be binding upon the Association and effective from the 1st January the following year, unless the President determines adoption must be immediate to assure the successful operation of the Association. 

h)  If the election of officers is to take place at the AGM all nominations, in writing, bearing the signature of the proposer, seconder and nominee, who must all be full members of the EFAA, together with a resume of the candidate’s activities on behalf of the EFAA, must reach the General Secretary at least 30 days prior to the meeting. The officers standing at the time of the AGM shall continue in office until January 1st, when the newly elected officers shall take over.

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11. EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS

a)  An Extra-Ordinary General Meeting shall be called by the General Secretary upon the receipt of a written request, signed by at least 25 members of the EFAA or at the request of the Executive. 

b)  Such a request from members shall state the proposition/s on the Agenda of the meeting. 

c)  Only propositions on the Agenda shall be discussed and voted upon at an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting.

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12. THE FINANCIAL YEAR 

a)  The Financial Year of the EFAA shall be the 1st of January to the 31st of December (AGM 1998).

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13. REPORTS OF OFFICERS 

a)  At the end of each Financial Year the President, General Secretary and Treasurer shall each prepare a written report and submit copies thereof to each member of the Executive and to members at the AGM. 

b)  Any other Officer shall prepare a written report as and when directed by the Executive.

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14.  ALTERATIONS and AMENDMENTS to this CONSTITUTION 

a)  Alterations and amendments to this constitution may be made only by the majority vote of the EFAA membership present at a General Meeting.
 

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SHOOTING RULES

The EFAA adopts the By-laws (Shooting Rules) of the IFAA, articles VI to XI inclusive, with the following additions.

GENERAL RULES

1.   SHOOTING STYLES

A.  American Flat Bow.  (AFB)

i)          A one-piece straight-ended bow of any material. 

ii)         The belly must be free of any marks or blemishes that can be used as sighting aids. 

iii)         The bow may contain a window and an arrow shelf. 

iv)        Only one nocking point is allowed on the string. 

v)         Arrows must be of wood, fletched with natural feather, and must be of the same length, fletch and pile, without regard for colour. 

vi)        Nocks may be of any material, any weight of pile may be used. 

vii)        The bow must be shot with the ‘Mediterranean’ loose. 

viii)       One consistent anchor point must be used.

B.  Hunting Style Division. (HS)

i)          No device of any type that may be used for sighting may be used, or attached to the archer’s equipment. 

ii)         There shall be no device, mechanical or otherwise, in the sight window, except the arrow rest and adjustable pressure button where used. 

iii)         The following are NOT permitted; Clickers, Draw Checks, Levels, Stabilisers and devices for lengthening or shortening the draw length of an archer. 

iv)        Laminations, artificial marks or blemishes may not appear on the upper limb in the field of vision at full draw. A sight window that is altered from standard configuration and not offered as a standard option without charge by the manufacturer is NOT acceptable. 

v)         String shall be of ONE colour only, with a single nocking point. A serving of any ONE colour may be used. Any marks, ties or string attachments (except brush buttons properly located or silencers less than 12” from the nocking point) are NOT permitted. 

vi)         One anchor point only is permitted (i.e. no face walking). 

vii)        An archer shall hold the string when shooting in the traditional manner. i.e. index finger above the nock and middle finger below the nock, except in cases of physical deformity or handicap for which special dispensation may be given (apply to General Secretary). 

viii)       Arrows shall be made of wood. Piles must be of such dimension as not to cause excessive damage to the target faces. Fletch must be feather. All arrows shall be identical in length, weight, diameter, and fletching, with allowance for wear and tear. Arrows which do not conform to the permitted specification must not be included in or carried with the archer’s equipment during competition; exceptions are arrows found during the shoot and damaged arrows accepted for convenience of carrying. 

ix)         A bow quiver installed on the opposite side of the sight window, with no part of the quiver visible in the sight window, is permitted. 

x)         There shall be no restriction placed on the bow draw weight. 

xi)         Compound bows shall not be permitted in this division.

C.  Longbow Division. (LB)

i)          The bow shall be of "D" section through its entire length, and shall be made entirely of wood or laminations of wood. Nocks may be of any other material. 

ii)          There shall be no sight window or arrow rest allowed. Arrows must be shot off the hand. 

iii)         The length between nocks shall not be less than 5 feet for arrows up to 26 inches in length, and not less than 5 feet 6 inches for arrows over 26 inches in length. 

iv)         The limb thickness from belly to back is at no point to be less than 3/5ths the overall width of the limb at any point. 

v)         No device of any type that may be used for sighting shall be permitted, either on the bow or attached to the archer’s equipment. 

vi)         The following are NOT permitted; Clickers, draw-checks, levels, stabilisers and devices for lengthening or shortening the draw length of an archer. 

vii)        Laminations, artificial marks or blemishes, may NOT appear on the upper limb in the field of vision at full draw. 

viii)       String shall be of ONE colour only, with a single nocking point. A serving of any ONE colour may be used. Any marks, ties or string attachments (except brush buttons properly located or silencers less than 12” from the nocking point) are NOT permitted. 

ix)         One anchor point only is permitted (i.e. no face walking). 

x)         An archer shall hold the string when shooting in the traditional manner. i.e. index finger above the nock and middle finger below the nock, except in cases of physical deformity or handicap for which special dispensation may be made (apply to General Secretary). 

xi)         Arrows shall be made of wood. Piles must be of such diameter as not to cause excessive damage to target faces. Fletch must be feather. All arrows shall be identical in length, weight, diameter and fletching, with allowance for wear and tear. Arrows which do not conform to the permitted specification must NOT be included in, or carried with the archer’s equipment during competition; exceptions are arrows found during the shoot and damaged arrows accepted for the convenience of carrying. 

xii)        There shall be no restriction placed on the bow draw weight.

D.  Bowhunter, Bowhunter Unlimited, Bowhunter Limited

For EFAA domestic competition only the following IFAA By-Laws are amended as follows:- 

i)          By-Laws Vi, E.        4.  Bowhunter - Recurve & Compound (BH)

              5.  Bowhunter Unlimited (BU)

              6.  Bowhunter Limited (BL) 

ii)          That sub-paragraph 4b, be altered to:-

No device of any type that may be used for sighting may be attached to the archer's equipment.  No clicker will be permitted.

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2.   TOURNAMENT RULES.

The number of times an archer may draw an arrow before releasing that arrow is limited to FOUR. If the arrow is not then shot it will be scored as a miss. The only exception to this rule will be in a dangerous situation, at the discretion of the Target Captain (or the first scorer if it is the Target Captain in Question). 

In EFAA Tournaments the EFAA does not have a Veteran class for archers aged 55 and above.

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3.   OFFICIAL ROUNDS

1.   Unmarked Distance Rounds

A.    New Forester’s Round 

i)     The standard unit shall consist of the following 14 shots; 

3 x 4 shot on a target with a 4” spot with all markers set between 40 and 60 yards.  Markers to be no further then 5 yards apart. 

4 x 3 shot on a target with a 3” spot with all markers set between 30 and 40 yards.  Markers to be no further then 4 yards apart. 

4 x 2 shot on a target with a 2” spot with all markers set between 15 and 30 yards.  Markers to be no further than 3 yards apart. 

3 x 1 shot on a target with a 1” spot with the marker set between 20 and 30 feet. 

     ii)    Targets.  

          Targets used shall be Bengston Bowhunter faces, as follows: