The Welsh Field Archery Association (WFAA)[1] is the governing body of field archery in Wales. The WFAA is affiliated to the world governing body, the International Field Archery Association (IFAA).[2] which is a member of the leading World Sport for all association TAFISA. The WFAA manages all aspects of the sport in Wales, including governance, national teams, organisation and administration of national and international tournaments.
The WFAA was founded in 1970 after the British Field Archery Association merged with the English Field Archery Association to form the EFAA. The merger of the BFAA and EFAA was designed to bring the sport under a single governing body but in the event, this did not suit the majority of the membership. In 1967, the Scottish members broke away and formed the Scottish Field Archery Association. This development precipitated a meeting of the Welsh Company of Archers which was held at Glyncornel Centre, Rhondda in December 1969 where it was decided to form the Welsh Field Archery Association (WFAA) as the governing body of the sport of field archery in Wales.[3] This development spelt the birth of the WFAA of today and also of the now well known format in the UK whereby each of the Home Nations has its own governing body. This format also means that Great Britain is not represented in the IFAA code of field archery at international level.
The WFAA is headed by its president, who chairs the WFAA General Committee. This Committee bears overall responsibility for the running of the Association and consists of administrators who manage record keeping, communication, finances, tournament management, coaching activities, and team selection. Each member club has a representative on the General Committee. The Committee also has an IFAA Delegate who represents Wales' interests with the IFAA and who attends the bi-annual IFAA World Council Meeting.
In addition, there are two sub-committees: The Welsh Squad and Team Selection Panel (who are tasked with team and squad selection), and the Coaching Committee, which is headed by the National Coach (who are responsible for the management of training and development of coaches).
Day-to-day running of archery activities is managed by the WFAA's network of clubs who manage training for archers from beginner level upwards, classification shoots, and regional level tournaments.
National and international tournaments are usually hosted by member clubs but managed directly by the WFAA General Committee.
Since 2004 the WFAA has seen a large increase in development activities in Wales to promote the sport and increase its profile in the Principality. During this period the WFAA has increased its network of clubs, promoted membership growth, and grown its network of field archery courses across Wales. In 2009 the WFAA signed up to the newly conceived IFAA International Instructors Program. Subsequently, all coaches and instructors in Wales underwent re-training and re-qualification to the new system. This has resulted in more structured training of archers at all levels in Wales.
2009 also saw the appointment of a new post of National Coach. This position was charged not only with responsibility for development of coaches in Wales, but also for development of elite archers. This development saw a re-structuring of the Welsh National Squad program to make it more effective and structured.
The WFAA holds annual National Championships for field archery, 3D Bowhunting and Indoor target archery. Archers from Wales also compete in the UK & Ireland Field Archery Championships which are held annually and which consists of archers from Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The hosting of this tournament rotates around each member nation and WFAA hosts once every five years.
The WFAA has hosted the European Field Archery Championships twice in its history. The first was in 1980 when the tournament was held on the Dunraven Estate at Merthyr Mawr, near Bridgend in South Wales. The second time was in 2009 when the tournament was held at Tal y Coed, near Monmouth.[3]
The WFAA has enjoyed international tournament success over the years, particularly during the 1980s and 2004 onwards. Wales has had 4 world champions in its history: Fabien Spalvieri (2003),[4] Mathew Symmonds (2008, 2010, 2014),[5][6][7] Gary Hart (2013)[8] and Sandra Anderson (2015).[9] There have also been a number of Welsh archers who have won the European Field Archery Championships, European Bowhunter Championships and the UK & Ireland Field Archery Championships.
