When I started in archery a few years ago, I was bewildered with all the initials that kept cropping up…DNAA….GNAS…..FITA…..AGB etc. So I thought it might be useful to show how we fit into the archery structure that surrounds us.
Riverside Archery Club is based in Ryton, Gateshead. Our club is registered with the UK’s governing body, which is Archery GB, but I am getting ahead of myself. I will work from the bottom up.
Riverside Archery Club is affiliated to DNAA (Durham and Northumberland Archery Association). Along with DNAA you will find Yorkshire Archery, Cumbria Archery, Lancashire Archery and Cheshire Archery. These five Archery Counties make up NCAS, which stands for the Northern Counties Archery Society.
Above NCAS we then come to Archery GB. AGB is the governing body for the UK. It was founded in 1861 but at that time it was named GNAS – the Grand National Archery Society.
FITA (Fédération Internationale de Tir à l’Arc) was established in 1931 and was the world governing body for archery. In 2011 there was a vote to rename the organisation World Archery (WA)
So there you have it, Riverside’s place in the world of archery. I hope that helps a little bit when all you can see is initials and don’t know what they stand for.
There are other organisations associated with archery but I will let you discover them for yourselves.