Archery:Officers

General structure

Target archery is a martial activity which comes under the authority of the Earl Marshal.

Kingdom Earl Marshal

The Earl Marshal is a Greater Kingdom Officer, the Head of the Marshallate in Lochac, and is responsible for:

• Development of the new combat standards of the Kingdom as required.
• Encouraging the development of chivalry on the field.
• Maintenance, publication and enforcement of the Kingdom standards for construction and use of weapons and armour.

The Earl Marshal can appoint a deputy in the area of archery and thrown weapons, or they may keep this role as part of their own.

Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery

The Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery is a Lesser Kingdom Officer who acts on behalf of the Earl Marshal on matters relating to target and combat archery, and thrown weapons.

They are sometimes called the Kingdom Archery Marshal, or even the Deputy for Light Combat

The normal term of office is two years, but this term can be extended to a maximum of four years in exceptional circumstances.

Responsibilities

The Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery is responsible for:

• encouraging the development of combat standards and chivalry on the field in all actions involving archery and other projectile weapons, in co-operation with the Marshallate;
• maintaining and enforcing the Kingdom standards for construction and use of projectile weapons and armour for archers and other plumed combatants;
• setting, maintaining and enforcing safety standards;
• making regulations and information concerning target and combat archery available;
• warranting the Captain of Archers for each group;
• reporting as required by the Crown and the Earl Marshal.
• reporting quarterly to the Society Archery Marshal.

Requirements

The Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery is required to:

• have sound knowledge and experience of target and combat archery, as well as thrown weapons;
• meet the requirements for holding a Lesser Kingdom Office as recorded in Lochac Kingdom Law

Captain of Archers

The Captain of Archers is responsible for the administration of archery and thrown weapons in your group. They are not necessarily required to organise archery and thrown weapon activities for any specific event as that is the responsibility of the Target Archery Marshal-in-Charge for the event, who is appointed by the event steward.

A group doesn't need to have a Captain of Archers, but will need an authorised Target Archery Marshal to do target archery or thrown weapon activities. If your group doesn't have a Captain of Archers, event reports should be sent to the group’s Knight Marshal, or Seneschal if there is no group Marshal.

The normal term of office is two years, but this term can be extended in exceptional circumstances. The appointment process is the same as for any other group officer as recorded in the Kingdom of Lochac Procedures Manual

Responsibilities

If you are the Captain of Archers, you are responsible for:

• being the main point of contact for the archers or throwers in your region of Lochac
• maintaining communication with the Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery and reporting quarterly on archery and thrown weapon activities in your region, including being signed up to the archers@lochac.sca.org mailing list
• spreading information regarding target archery and thrown weapon activities in your region by reporting to the group Marshal, Seneschal and the Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery as required
• organising and encouraging target archery and thrown weapon activities in you region
• advising on Lochac's current safety standards
• and encouraging the study of period archery and thrown weapon styles and equipment.

Requirements

If you want to be your group's Captain of Archers, you need to:

• meet the requirements for holding a Group Office as recorded in Lochac Kingdom Law
• and have sound knowledge of target archery and thrown weapons – you don't have to be an authourised Target Archery Marshal, but this will definitely help in your application.

Target Archery Marshal

You need to have an authorised Target Archery Marshal to set up and run target archery and thrown weapon activities. If you don't have one on the range, no archery or and thrown weapon activities can happen.

If there is more than one Target Archery Marshal at the shoot, one needs to be designated as the Target Archery Marshal-in-Charge.

The Target Archery Marshal-in-Charge can ask for help from other Target Archery Marshals. However, the responsibility for safely setting up and running the range remains with the Target Archery Marshal-in-Charge.

Responsibilities

As a Target Archery Marshal, you are responsible for:

• taking all reasonable steps to enforce the rules and safety standards for archery and thrown weapon activities;
• making sure all archers or throwers are familiar with the rules for the activity. This should be done with a verbal briefing, but may be done by making everyone read the posted rules.
• reporting any injury or near miss incident to your superior officer as soon as is practical, in accordance with Kingdom policy

The Target Archery Marshal-in-Charge and the assisting Marshals have the authority to inspect all equipment for safety and compliance with Kingdom rules.

Requirements

To be an authorised Target Archery Marshal, you need to:

• Complete the authorisation process Authorising as a Target Archery Marshal
• You need to keep yourself informed of any changes to the Target Archery Rules for Lochac.
• You need to maintain your membership with the SCA (SCA Ltd, SCANZ, SCA Inc, or any of its affiliates)

Reporting

Quarterly reports

Society Reports

The Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery reports quarterly to the Society Archery Marshal on the last day of February, May, August, and November. A copy of the report as sent to the Kingdom Earl Marshal is sufficient.

Kingdom reports

The Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery reports quarterly to the Earl Marshal and Crown on the last day of February, May, August, and November. Reports should include:

• Deputy Earl Marshal for Archery details:
  • SCA and mundane name
  • Contact details – email etc
  • Membership number and expiry date
  • Start date of term in office
• Overview of archery and thrown weapon activities in the kingdom
  • Combat archery specific matters
  • Target archery specific matters
  • Thrown weapon specific matters
• Any other issues
• List of groups which have reported
• Experiments or research
• Recommendations – people for awards or just to bring people to the Earl Marshal’s attention.
• Questions – does anything need clarifying?
• Suggestions – possible changes to rules.

Group reports

Captains of Archers of Baronies and Shires report quarterly, on the 15th of February, May, August, and November.

Captains of Archers of Colleges and Cantons report quarterly to your supporting group, on the 15th of January, April, July and October.

Report should include:

• Your details:
  • SCA name;
  • Mundane name;
  • Contact details: Email, phone number, mailing address, other ways to contact you (Skype etc);
  • The date you have held office since;
  • Membership number and expiry date.
• Target archery information
  • Are target archery activities happening in your group?
  • Competitions, practices etc
  • How many participants?
  • Are there any issues?
  • Do you have any queries around rules?
  • Do you have any suggestions for novelty shoots?
  • How many Target Archery Marshals are there in the group? Is there a good geographical spread so that people can do archery in their part of your group’s area?
• Combat archery information (you might need to collect this information from the Group Marshal)
  • Are combat archery activities happening?
  • Are there any issues?
  • Do you have any queries around rules?
  • Do you have any suggestions for combat archer games?
  • Special request: How many ramin combat arrows are still in use by participants, and how many shafts remain to be turned into combat arrows? Please include updated numbers in each report, we are hoping to track the decline.
• Anything else you would like to include - event reports, recommendations for awards, etc