OOBAC Birthday Bash


This is a rather unusual event that we here at OOBAC made up to celebrate archery in general and our club in particular.  OOBAC is a very family friendly inclusive club and it was important to us that we reflected that in our celebrations.  
We have lots of refreshments available and
a buzzy party atmosphere.  With over four
hundred prizes people just keep winning all
day long.  At all times during the full day
shoot there are events and activities running
for everyone from the experienced archer
right the way through to the person who
picked up a bow for the first time on the day.  
We also have a range of events and activities
for people who do not wish to shoot at all.  
When you look around on the day you see around
eighty people of all ages having a good time, the
vast majority of them do have a bow in their hands.



There are three main areas which run from 9.am till 6.30pm.   There are five groups of people and we try to meet each sections needs all of the time.  The experienced archers seniors and juniors are who I refer to as the main field mob.  They want one proper feeling event to get their teeth into and some crazy fun.  A small section of them are very able archers I irreverently call them the smarty pants.  Now they need an opportunity to show off a little and inspire the others without intimidating anyone or being allowed to snatch all the prizes.  Everyone is equal at birthday bash and they all have the opportunity to win.  The awesome archers are a very important group who can easily be overlooked.  They are the inbetweenies who have not been shooting long and can’t yet shoot the distances usually required in competition.  These guys shoot together, adults and juniors as young as seven for the morning. The one thing they have in common is that they are enthusiastic beginners enjoying their first opportunity to compete. After lunch they can choose to remain in the arena together or the more confident among them can go play on the big field knowing that their target will be at the right distance for them so they can have fun without being overwhelmed.  The have-a-goes come next, they are complete beginners trying the sport out for the first time, the majority of them are friends or relations of main field archers.  They have a training session followed by loads of short events with masses of prizes.  The final group are the family members who have come along to watch.  We have a variety of garden games they can borrow as well as four garden fete style non-shooting events.  Most popular of which is the chance to win a special OOBAC egghead award in Pete’s famous un-pub pub quiz.






This year the main field mob and the smarty pants shot an Australian round called a short Wollongong in the morning.  Many handmade wooden trophies and medals were won as well as a novelty sheep toilet roll cover for the archer with the most petticoats.  In the afternoon their first event was just for the smarty pants.  They had a fruit shoot elimination round, with the final fruit being a grape.  The audience were in fits of giggles when the archers were presented with a chocolate bar when they were out.  Reluctantly after carrying on playing with the fruit long after the event had been won all the experienced archers were marched back to the main field.  They were joined by some of the awesome archers.  This motley crowd had targets placed at different distances to suit their experience.  The targets were covered in bright stars, balloons and wrapped parcels.  Every time they hit one of them they instantly won a prize.  We call this prize pillage as when the marauding mob descend on me to grab their prizes it really does feel a lot like that.  Our smarty pants and their mates the main field mob then went on to shoot scarecrow clout.  The awesome archers could chose to return to the arena or stay on the big field. Loads of bizarre looking scarecrows went out on the field and everyone picked a scarecrow that they felt was the right distance away for them, or else they just picked one they really felt like obliterating.  Poor Pamela Anderson lookalike had seven archers trying to wipe her out.  Once again we had a scoring system with knitted medals and trophies for each category so everyone has an equal chance of winning.  At birthday bash we like everyone to go home feeling like a winner.
We have a second shooting line in the arena. This is where our have-a-goes are based with the awesome archers shooting different events alongside them.  Yes I am serious we do actually run two lines with as many as three shooting events all at the same time.  It really is the only way everyone can have fun all day.  The have-a-goes begin with basic training, followed by prize pillage and then their own mini tournament with wooden medals and trophies.  Meanwhile the awesome archers get stuck straight in to prize pillage.  I try to avoid the different sections playing this game at the same time as I have noticed none of them want to queue up to get their prizes. Grab and run back to the line for more seems to be the style in all categories.  After that the awesome archers played at shooting different pictures of Australian signs to see who could score the highest.  Then they had a mini tournament, both of those events naturally meant more of our stylish wooden trophies and medals being awarded.  The final event of the day in the arena was animal antics.  Some of the awesome archers joined with the have-a-goes to slaughter our field targets.  The crocodile was their favourite to massacre.  Obviously knitted trophies and medals were handed out for this event at prize giving.

The third area is the gazebo.  This is my domain and the central point for anyone who has any problems be it a scrapped knee or an urgent need to find the toilet.  All four non shooting events run from here.  As well as quiz sheets, we have a guess the teddy bears birthday, a treasure hunt and a pot of gold.  We also have a selection of garden games like quoits or giant ludo available for people to borrow.  This is particularly helpful for families with children who are not yet old enough to shoot.  The refreshments and burger van are situated close by.  Prize giving at the end of the day is held here too.  We even sing happy birthday dear OOBAC and blow out the candles before handing out a complimentary slice of cake to everyone.  Whilst the birthday bash is primarily a party for our club we do invite other clubs as it is all about having fun with your friends and doing something you love.   If you would like to join next years party please email me helencurtis-bridges@hotmail.com and I will send you an invitation.  After this years Australian theme we think it might be fun to go all medieval next time!