Juniors at Derwent Bowmen Archery Club have two range priority sessions a week and their own officer to represent them at club meetings and look after their wellbeing whilst at Derwent Bowmen.
The current Junior Officer is Ben Bexton.
The focus of junior sessions is to have fun in archery and shooting with their own age groups and abilities to encourage participation in archery so they stay with the sport long term.
This doesn't mean that the juniors have fun but don't compete. We have plenty of record holding, medal winning juniors who travel to competitions throughout the country – and win!
But not every junior has the time or the drive to put in the effort needed to go to the Olympics and we try to find a balance between the two.
We integrate the juniors at the club at every level from their priority sessions to them being included in club shoots to hosting 3 big fun shoots each year (the adults get to come enjoy these too).
We have coaching available at the club to help the juniors be the best archers they can be – if they want it. As long as a junior has fun and is safe then that's our main aim.