The Byron Shire Archery Club boasts 48 members and is planning a barbecue in December to celebrate its second anniversary.
‘The club has grown way beyond expectations, and a lot quicker than we thought,’ co-founder Vinnie Bleakley said.
‘More and more people are coming out of the woodwork and want to have a go. Some just find an old bow in the closet,’ he said.
‘We are now the biggest club on the north coast,’ he said.
The club meets at the Cavanbah Centre, where they have a quality archery facility.
‘We meet on Wednesday nights (under lights in winter) for the weekly practice session, and on Saturday mornings for local or interclub competitions,’ Vinnie said.
The club is open to people as young as eight years and provides plenty of training and coaching opportunities.
‘The club is also developing a new target range for field archery that involves a few extra archery challenges,’ he said.
On Saturday November 26 club members will be travelling to Brisbane to compete in the Queensland state championships so the Archery Club’s birthday will be held on December 3.
Vinnie has been an archer since he was 10 years old, but never really got competitive, or fully gave the sport away. At one stage he even owned an archery store.
‘I didn’t get competitive till about six years ago.’
In 2014 Vinnie and his founding partner ‘saw a need for an archery club in this area,’ he said.
