Below is an expanded version of the leaflet distributed at BUSA indoors
Why is BUSA outdoor going to be a FITA this year?
At present university archery, despite its high level and fantastic ability to develop beginners into very competent archers, does not help archers to make the jump from university and local to national level competition. Many students are put off from competing at a national level because they see it beyond them. By running BUSA Outdoors as a FITA this year BUSA hopes to show that the gap is not so great. In the end we hope it might be a step toward greater student representation in national level archery. Also, a FITA is THE internationally recognised round, the true discriminator to which everyone can see how they have performed and how they have progressed. Finally, with ever increasing standards at BUSA the old Albion/Windsor round had reached a stage where it was failing to adequately discriminate between the top archers, particularly in the compound category. A FITA, with its longer distances for those archers (but not for everyone! See below) will fix this problem. Finally, a FITA is 12 dozen arrows instead of 9. If you're going to go all that way to shoot you might as well do a full length round!
What will be different?
| Previously | This year | |
| Round | Albion/Windsor | FITA/Metrics |
| Arrows shot & Distances* | Men: 36@80yrds 36@60yrds 36@50yrds Ladies: 36@60yrds 36@50yrds 36@40yrds | Experienced Men: (Gents FITA) 36@90m 36@70m 36@50m 36@30m Experienced Ladies & Novice Men: (Ladies FITA/ Metric I) 36@70m 36@60m 36@50m 36@30m Novice Ladies: (Metric II) 36@60m 36@50m 36@40m 36@30m |
| Scoring system | 5 zone (9,7,5,3,1) | 10zone(X,10,9,8…) |
| Timing | At the judges' discretion. Nominally 2 and a half minutes per 3 arrows. | Timed ends with lights and audible instructions. 2 minutes per 3 arrows. |
| Details | 2 details of 2 archers per boss | Same (note two details, not one) |
| Arrows per detail | 3 arrows per detail, each detail shoots twice between collecting | 6 arrows per detail for the 2 longest distances then 3 arrows per detail at the 2 shorter distances. Each detail shoots once between collecting. |
It'll take ages, won't it?
Probably. BUSA have insisted on running the competition double detail, so we need everyone to help us run the shoot as efficiently as possible. You can do this by making sure you are well prepared, with sightmarks at all distances to cut down on needless misses and by having your equipment in good order to cut down on equipment failure time. If your club is bringing any non-shooting members, please ask them to volunteer to help with the field party (finding missed arrows, changes faces, helping with scoring etc.) by emailing Helen on cub-equipment@srcf.ucam.org.
Do we get sighters?
Yes, as with most rounds there will be some practice beforehand at the longest distance ONLY. Practice at a FITA works by having a normal timed end (see below) but in which you can shoot as many arrows as you like. There will typically be 2 or 3 ends like this before scoring starts.
Make sure you have sight marks for all the distances you will be shooting though, as there will be no practice between distances once scoring starts.
How does each end work?
FITAs use a traffic light system to time how long everyone has to shoot their arrows. Along the line will be several sets of traffic lights, here's how it goes at your 2 longest distances….
1. A buzzer sounds.
2. You then have to go up to the line get yourself ready and relaxed. During this time the traffic lights will be on red.
3. A second buzzer will sound. The traffic lights turn to green and you have 4 minutes to shoot your 6 arrows.
4. When there is just 30 seconds of your time remaining the lights will turn to amber. This is to warn you that your time is nearly up, although you can still shoot on an amber light.
5. When the 4 minutes are up another buzzer will sound, the lights will turn to red and you must stop shooting.
This is then repeated for the second detail, including preparation time to get onto the line. Just a warning - If you shoot when the lights are red the judges will notice and your highest scoring arrow from that end will be disallowed.
At the 2 shorter distances you only have to shoot 3 arrows so the time the light are green is reduced to 1.5 minutes and then 30s on amber as before. Everything else is exactly the same.
How are novices supposed to shoot 90/70m?
They're not! See the table above.
Having novices shooting one distance shorter does mean that they will not be eligible to shoot for their club's experienced team or for individual experienced medals. If any novice would like to shoot the experienced round in order to compete with the experienced archers applicable to them they're welcome to do so, but their score will be considered directly equivalent to those of novices shooting the shorter round. (This means, for example, that if a novice lady shoots the ladies FITA and scores 1099 they would be beaten by a novice lady shooting the Metric 2 and scoring 1100)
Why won't you be allowing all carbon arrows and what will happen to lost arrows?
One of the biggest reasons why BUSA has traditionally taken so long to finish is that archers do miss; we all do it from time to time. This wouldn't be a problem normally, but with so many people it does mean that a very large amount of time finding missed arrows in the grass. To prevent this from dragging the competition on into the evening we are going to limit the time spent looking for arrows to the time it takes for the last boss to complete scoring. Also, all carbon arrows are nearly impossible to find as only the points show up on a metal detector, so we will not be allowing them on the field. There will be time to search for arrows at distance changes. So, if you think that you might miss, make sure that you bring enough arrows to see you through to the next distance change. We are prepared to consider special cases for the use of all carbon arrows, so get in touch if you are sure that your using them will not hinder the competition.
What is marking faces, and do we have to do it?
When you shoot at a FITA after you have scored your arrows, but before you pull them out of the target, you have to mark the holes they have made. Basically you just put a small tick with a pen next to each hole. This means that if one of your arrows bounces out of the target then you get the score for where it went. If you have a bouncer you ask the other archer on your target to not shoot any more arrows (wait till they are not at full draw!). You then call over a judge and tell them you have a bouncer. When everyone else on the line has finished shooting you and the judge go up to the target and find the unmarked hole on the face that your arrow must have fallen out of and you get that number of points. You then come back to the shooting line and will be given time to shoot your remaining arrows before everyone goes and collects.
Will it be record status, and will there be a dress code?
No and no. There will not be a dress code. We were previously in discussions with GNAS to ask if we could have special dispensation to run the competition as World Record Status but without the dress code. Record Status would have its benefits, such as being able to claim FITA stars, but we don't think that they are worth making everyone look silly in white trousers! There is the possibility, if BUSA continues as a FITA in years to come, that it will be granted record status but GNAS insist, not unreasonably, that an event must be proven to be sufficiently well run before it can be granted record status for the following year.
What is this talk of BUSA stars?
We are planning to produce shiny badges for those who shoot certain scores (probably 100 point increments starting at 900). This system allows everyone to set themselves a specific aim for the day. Also it has the advantage of being an award based only upon how well you shoot, not on who you beat. Your achievement is not dependent on weather others have had a good or a bad day, only weather you have.
I'm still confused. Where can I get more information?
Go to: http://www.srcf.ucam.org/cub/
Or
Email the CUB captain: cub-captain@srcf.ucam.org