As well as a fun sport, field archery can be as competitive as you want it to be. There are many competitions available to enter, from friendly club shoots and inter-club rivalry, to national and international tournaments. These are almost always based on one of several standard rounds, taken from internationally recognised organisations.
There are several international organisations concerned with maintaining standards and equality between archers around the world. An outline of some of these organisations follows
To go to these organisation's websites, simply click on the title of the organisation. If you are interested in the rules for these particular organisations please visit the rules section of this website
NZFAA (New Zealand Field Archery Association)
NZFAA is a non-profit organisation with no commercial affiliations. The association is a member of the International Field Archery Association and follow their guidelines. They task themselves with organising field archery events on behalf of archery clubs in New Zealand. This includes sanctioning competitions and organising national championships in several archery disciplines - marked, unmarked 3D, and indoor archery. The NZFAA is run by an elected committee, dedicated to promoting the sport of archery.
Pine Ridge Archery Club is affiliated to the NZFAA, which means that our members are eligible to shoot in all NZFAA events in NZ, and also IFAA events internationally.
There are about nine member clubs in New Zealand, each of which hosts several competitions. Go to the calendar page of this website for upcoming shoots around NZ.
IFAA (International Field Archery Association)
IFAA is an amateur sports association that was founded in 1968 and now represents around 25 000 archers from 26 member countries. They organise world events, both marked and unmarked paper and 3D animal competitions. Pine Ridge Archery Club bases most of its shoots on IFAA rounds.
Kiwi 3D
Kiwi 3D is a fairly new competition to field archery. It was established in 2007 and quickly became the biggest event in recent NZ archery history. There was a series of three competitions, hosted by Pine Ridge, Massey and Rodney Archery clubs, with over 120 archers taking part. The National Championship event was held at the end of 2007 and was a resounding success. More of the same (but better) is planned for 2008. There will be three sponsors this year - all of the local dealers - and over $1000 in spot prizes at each round. See the calendar for details.
IBO (International Bowhunting Organisation)
IBO is based in the United States and is dedicated to the sport of bowhunting. In NZ a series of 3D animal competitions is held each year. This series is popular because it has a very simple and sensible set of rules which appeals to the majority of archers. Different clubs host the competitions each year, and a good turnout with friendly rivalry is usually guaranteed. For details of the 2008 shoots, go to our calendar page..