POLICIES OF THE EARL MARSHAL OF ÆTHELMEARC 

POLICIES FOR TARGE TARCHERY

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I.                   THESE POLICIES ARE IN ADDITION TO SOCIETY LAW AND POLICY.  IN THE CASE OF ANY DISCERPANCY, SOCIETY POLICY TAKES PRECEDENCE.

II.                Requirements for Archery Officers

A.      All warranted marshals are expected to exhibit a minimum level of activity.

                                                 1.      Marshals who report little or no activity over the course of a one-year period will not have their warrants renewed.

                                                 2.      Persons applying for a warranting must have a current Royal Rounds average on file with the Kingdom Scorekeeper. Marshals who have their warrants revoked must establish a Royal Round average before reapplying. These are the only instances where a Royal Round average is required.

B.      The individual requirements for each office are outlined below.

                                                 1.      Archery Marshal

a.       Must successfully complete the warranting procedure.

b.       Must have been added to the official roster by the Archery Commander.

                                                 2.      Company Captain

a.       Must be a warranted Archery Marshal.

b.       As the position is a local office, the approval of the local Seneschal is required.

c.        It is strongly recommended that the archers of the groups approve of the appointment.

                                                 3.      Archery Scorekeeper

a.       Appointed by the Archery Commander.

                                                 4.      Lieutenant Regional Commander

a.       Must be a warranted Archery Marshal.

b.       Appointed by the Archery Commander.

                                                 5.      Archery Commander

a.       Appointed by the Crown.

III.             Responsibilities of the Archery Marshallate

A.      The individual responsibilities of each officer are outlined below.

                                                 1.      Archery Commander

a.       As defined by Kingdom Law.

                                                 2.      Lieutenant Regional Commander; To assist the Archery Commander with their duties by:

a.       Training marshals and administering the warranting procedure.

b.       Organizing the annual regional archery war practice and overseeing the muster of archers in time of war.

c.        Reporting their activities to the Archery Commander.

d.       Keeping the files of the office in good order.

                                                 3.      Archery Scorekeeper

a.       Receiving, recording and publishing the scores submitted by marshals throughout the Kingdom.

b.       Keeping the files of the office in good order.

                                                 4.      Company Captain; To foster the growth of archery in the local group by:

a.       The formation of a company of archers.

b.       Providing archery activities at local events.

c.        Arranging a practice site for the group's archers and administering a regularly scheduled practice.

d.       Representing the interests of the group's archers at local meetings.

e.        Arranging for the recognition of those archers who have advanced in rank.

f.        Reporting their activities to the Archery Commander and Lieutenant Regional Commander.

                                                 5.      Archery Marshal; To foster the growth of archery throughout the Kingdom by:

a.       Assisting Company Captains with their duties.

b.       Providing for the organization and running of archery activities whenever needed.

c.        Reporting their activities to the Archery Commander and Lieutenant Regional Archery Commander

d.       Keeping the Company Captain advised of their activities.

B.      Schedule of reporting deadlines.

                                                 1.      All marshals and Captains shall report to the Archery Commander.

a.       The report shall contain the marshal's SCAdian and mundane names, address, phone number, local group, office held and a brief letter detailing recent or upcoming activities. Proof of membership must also be included.

                                                 2.      Regional Commanders shall report to the Archery Commander

a.       The report shall contain a letter detailing the officer's activity during the period and include observations on the state of archery within the Kingdom. Any problem areas should also be defined.

b.       Updates to the roster of Marshals should also be included (i.e., new marshals, proofs of membership, etc.).

                                                 3.      Marshals-in-Charge of archery activated at events must submit a completed Event Report Form to the Archery Commander within ten (10) days of the event.

C.      Failure to fulfill the requirements and responsibilities listed above will result in removal from the roster of warranted marshals.

                                                 1.      Those removed from the roster shall be allowed thirty (30) days to apply for a re-warranting.

a.       The reason(s) for removal must be corrected before applying.

b.       After thirty (30) days, applicants for re-warranting will be required to undergo the warranting procedure.

IV.              Equipment Standards (All equipment should reflect the spirit of period archery)

A.      Bows

                                                 1.      Wire rests are not allowed.

                                                 2.      Fiberglass bows must be painted to more closely resemble a wooden bow – no glow-green trees existed in period.

B.      Crossbows

                                                 1.      Limb coverings are not required.

                                                 2.      Slings may be attached to the bow but may not be used as an aid in shooting.

C.      Strings

                                                 1.      Strings may not be constructed of materials prone to failure, such as sinew or gut.

V.                 Procedure for Running a Shoot

A.      The Marshal shall state the number of arrows to be shot, the distance to the target and the rules for scoring.

                                                 1.      For timed shoots, the Marshal shall also state the amount of time allowed.

B.      For untimed shoots, the archer may spend as much time as they wish to shoot.

C.      For timed shoots, the Marshal shall follow the procedure below:

                                                 1.      Archers shall be allowed to start with an arrow nocked and drawn and crossbowmen may start at aim with the bolt loaded.

                                                 2.      The Marshal shall inquire as to whether the archers are ready.

                                                 3.      When the archers are ready, the Marshal shall count down in seconds from five to one ending with the command ―Shoot at the beginning of the timed interval.

                                                 4.      From five seconds before the end of the timed interval, the Marshal shall again count down by seconds from five to one ending with the command ―Hold at the end of the interval.

                                                 5.      If an arrow is released before the command to begin shooting or after the hold, the highest scoring shaft of that round for that archer shall not be counted.

                                                 6.      Arrows released on the call of ―Shoot or ―Hold shall be counted.

                                                 7.      The use of a tape recorder or similar device with a recording of the countdown is permitted.

VI.              Scoring Rules

A.      The scoring area(s) on any target shall be clearly marked with a solid, continuous line.

B.      Any arrow touching the line marking the outer edge of a scoring area shall be scored as if it were within the scoring area.

C.      In the event of a pass-through or bounce-off:

                                                 1.      For shoots recorded on standard five-color round targets, such as Royal Rounds and IKAC, if a bounce-off is not witnessed, it shall be accorded a value of three points.

                                                 2.      In order for a bounce-off or pass-through to be accorded its witnessed value, someone other than the archer who launched the shaft must attest to its value.

D.      The decision of the Marshal-in-Charge as to the point value of the shoot is final.

E.       For shoots which require a standard five-color round target, such as the Royal Round or IKAC, the following rules will apply:

                                                 1.      Scoring shall be on a NAA-FITA standard 60 centimeter round targets only.

                                                 2.      Targets shall be divided into five concentric circles of contrasting color divided by black lines.

                                                 3.      The order of color from outside to center shall be while, black, blue, red and yellow.

                                                 4.      The point value from outside to center shall be 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

VII.           Rules for Shoots

A.      The Royal Round

                                                 1.      This is a standardized shoot upon which is based Æthelmearc's Archery Ranking System.

a.       The Ranking System is described in Section VIII.

                                                 2.      This shoot shall be shot at standard five-color round targets as described in Section VI.E.

                                                 3.      The center of the target shall be placed no less than two feet and no more than four feet above the ground.

                                                 4.      The shoot will consist of one end of six arrows shot at distances of 20, 30 and 40 yards and a thirty second timed round at 20 yards.

a.       All distances shall be measured and not paced.

                                                 5.      The rules in Section V shall govern the running of the Royal Round.

a.       It shall be the Marshal's discretion as to what order the ends will be shot, save that all ends and the timed round for a give Royal Round must be shot consecutive.

b.       Archers must declare the beginning of their Royal Round. It is not permissible to shoot several Royal Rounds and then pick the best four consecutive scores.

c.        No restriction is placed on the number of Royal Rounds that may be shot on any given day.

i.         Only one Royal Round score may be submitted for an archer on a given day.

ii.        The archer shall have the option of which score to submit.

                                                 6.      The rules in Section V shall govern the scoring of the Royal Round.

a.       In order for Royal Round scores to be eligible for submission to the Scorekeeper, they must be witnessed and recorded by a warranted Archery Marshal and shot at an event or practice that has been published in at least a local newsletter.

                                                 7.      Each individual archer is responsible for submitting his or her scores to the Scorekeeper. Marshals may submit scores for archers at practices or events they hold if the archers approve. Royal Round scores for submission are to be send to the Archery Scorekeeper within thirty (30) days of the date shot (regardless of one score or one hundred scores) and must include all of the information listed below:

a.       The recording Marshal's full SCA name and signature.

b.       The date and place that the Royal Round was shot.

c.        The archer's full SCA and mundane names.

d.       The name of the archer's home SCA group.

e.        The score shot at each range and the total in the following order: 20 yards, Timed Round, 30 yards, 40 yards and total.

f.        The type of bow the score was shot with. This must be Longbow, Recurve or Crossbow.

B.      Junior Royal Rounds

                                                 1.      The Junior Royal Round is designed for children under the age of fourteen (14).

a.       Archers under the age of 14 may still shot a regular Royal Round if they wish.

                                                 2.      Except for the distances shot, the Junior Royal Round is the same as the Royal Round.

                                                 3.      The shoot shall consist of one end of six arrows shot at the distances of 10, 15 and 20 yards and a thirty second timed round at 10 yards.

                                                 4.      Requirements for submission of scores are the same as those for Royal Rounds except that the Marshal must submit the score.

VIII.        The Archery Ranking System

A.      The ranking system is designed to provide archers of the Kingdom with a method of comparing levels of skill. Solely the Archery Commander and staff administer it. The rankings are not to be considered titles and carry no rank in the Order of Precedence.

B.      Rankings shall be determined by averaging the three highest Royal Round scores shot and submitted to the Archery Scorekeeper within the last twelve months.

                                                 1.      Scores that are older than twelve months from the date shot will be dropped from the records and will not be used in calculating an archer's average.

                                                 2.      Archers that have submitted less than three scores to the Archery Scorekeeper will not appear in the list of published Royal Round averages.

C.      The rankings and their required averages are listed below:

                                                 1.      Any archer who has submitted three Royal Round scores has attained the rank of ―Archer.

                                                 2.      Those with an average of 40 or greater, yet less than 60, shall be adjudged a ―Marksman.

                                                 3.      Those with an average of 60 or greater, yet less than 80, shall be adjudged a ―Bowman.

                                                 4.      Those with an average of 80 or greater, yet less than 100, shall be adjudged a ―Master Bowman.

                                                 5.      Those with an average of 100 or greater shall be adjudged a ―Grand Master Bowman.

D.      Each archer is entitled to wear a badge that signifies his/her rank as described below. With the exception of Grand Master Bowmen, who are allowed to keep their ranking permanently, all archers are allowed to wear only the badge that signifies their current rank.

E.       Junior Archery Ranking System

                                                 1.      Junior Archers rankings are determined in the same manner as Royal Round Rankings.

                                                 2.      The rankings and required averages are the same as those for Royal Rounds except that each rank is prefixed with ―Junior.

                                                 3.      Once a Junior Archer has achieved the rank of Junior Grand Master Bowman, they are to be encouraged to begin shooting standard Royal Rounds.

                                                 4.      Badges for Junior rankings will be described at a later date pending review and approval of the College of Heralds.

F.       Presentation of Badges

                                                 1.      The Company Captain, Lieutenant Regional Commander, the Archery Commander or a member of the local Nobility, may present Archer, Marksman, Bowman and Junior Badges.

a.       The local Company Captain is encouraged to add some form of ceremony to the presentation.

                                                 2.      Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman badges are of sufficient note that the Crown of Æthelmearc reserves the right to present them at Royal Court.

                                                 3.      The presentation of Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman badges must be arranged with the Archery Commander as follows:

a.       A warranted Archery Marshal must provide a letter to the Archery Commander.

b.       The letter will include the archer's full SCA name and group, the rank achieved and the next two Royal Progress events that the archer will be attending.

c.        If possible, the name of the recording marshal(s), the scores and the place and date of each score should be submitted.

d.       No ranking will be recognized until the Archery Scorekeeper has received and accepted the necessary scores. The Archery Commander will confirm this.

IX.              APPENDIX

A.      Archery Badges of the Kingdom of Æthelmearc (see the Æthelmearc website for pictures of the badges)

                                                 1.      Archer: Argent, 8 arrows in annulo points to center sable

                                                 2.      Marksman: Argent, 8 arrows in annulo points to center sable within a bordure sable

                                                 3.      Bowman: Argent, 8 arrows in annulo points to center sable within a bordure azure

                                                 4.      Master Bowman: Or, 8 arrows in annulo points to center sable within a bordure gules

                                                 5.      Grand Master Bowman: Or, 8 arrows in annulo points to center sable

                                                 6.      Archery Marshal: Gules, 8 arrows in annulo points to center argent

                                                 7.      Archery Commander: Gules, 8 arrows in annulo points to center within a bordure argent