NFAA ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

NFAA ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

Dave Hryn – NFAA Director

The NFAA Annual Meeting was held in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 4 - 6, 2007.

Forty-seven (47) states were represented at the meeting. States not in attendance were: Delaware, Maine, South Carolina and the Archery Association of Europe (AAE).

Total NFAA membership as of 12/31/06 was 14,095. The breakdown of total NFAA membership is as follows: 12,489 NFAA + 1,606 Ted Nugent USA members. California, by virtue of their 2,469 total NFAA members, had 5 votes to cast. Michigan (1,006) had 3 votes. Florida (714), Texas (558), Wisconsin (536) & Illinois (511), each had 2 votes to cast. All other states had one vote. New York’s 396 members are broken-down as follows: 350 NFAA + 46 Ted Nugent USA.

Future tournament dates are as follows:

July 23 - 27, 2007 - 62nd NFAA Outdoor National Tournament @ Darrington, Washington.

This is a 5 day, Monday - Friday (ALL SCORES COUNT) tournament.

February 22-24, 2008 - World Archery Festival Las Vegas Shoot @ Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

March 15-16, 2008 - 26th Annual NFAA Indoor National Championship @ Louisville, KY.

July 21-25, 2008 - 63nd NFAA Outdoor National Tournament @ Yankton, South Dakota.

This is a Monday thru Friday; 5 day/3 day (only 3 scores count) tournament format.

Unfortunately, for the second time in the past two years, an individual membership dues increase was approved. See Agenda Item C-4 (Administration).

A change to the National and Sectional tournament registration fees for NFAA life members was approved. See Agenda Item C-1 (Administration).

Major changes to the equipment rules for Bowhunter Freestyle and Bowhunter Freestyle Limited styles of competition were approved. See Agenda Item NE-2 (Equipment). The deletion of Paragraph 4 will now allow the use of arrow rests such as the “Whisker Biscuit”. The re-write of Paragraph 8 will now allow the use of bows equipped with “String Suppressors” such as the “STS Shock Terminator Suppressor” and Hoyt’s “Stealth Shot String Suppression System”. The changes to the equipment rules apparently make it legal to use counter balances as the sentence, “No forked stabilizer or any counter balance will be legal”, was removed. The deletion of Paragraph 10 will now allow the use of bows (such as Mathews) that come equipped with a “cable guard” that may be visible in the sight window.

Be advised, that unless otherwise noted, all action taken by the Board of Directors shall carry an effective date of 30 calendar days from notification in “ARCHERY”, the official publication of the NFAA. Notification in “ARCHERY” shall be the April/May issue.

Agenda Items Approved at the 2007 NFAA Annual Board of Directors Meeting

EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE

NE-2: Revision, By-Laws, Pages 30 & 31, Article II, Section F, Paragraphs 4, 8 & 10.

A change to the Bowhunter Freestyle equipment rules. Paragraph 4 is DELETED: “There shall be no device, mechanical or otherwise, in the sight window except the arrow rest and/or cushion plungers. Any part of the arrow rest extending more than ¼ inch above the arrow shaft is deemed illegal”. Paragraph 10 is DELETED: “The pylon (string clearance bar) will be allowed in this style of shooting if it is not located in the sight window”. Paragraph 8 is changed to read: “One straight stabilizer, coupling included which may not exceed 12 inches as measured from the back of the bow”.

The NFAA Directors UPHELD RIC 2006-4

The California Director was asked if calipers would be legal in Bowhunter Freestyle to stack for 100 yards in lieu of using pins. Putting the bottom of the calipers on the spot at arms length and referencing where the top of the calipers were, then putting your 60 yard pin in this location.

Freestyle Bowhunter Page 30 Article II Section F. There is no mention of written or additional memoranda. Paragraph 1. A maximum of 5 fixed reference points - it does not say attached.

Even though the calipers would not be attached to the equipment they would be used as a reference point. Therefore, if the archer already has 5 fixed reference points, I'm ruling they would be illegal.

RIC DECISION: Since there is no reference to the technique of ranging, or stacking in the BHFS rules, the RIC disagrees with the CA. Director, & rules that such practices are legal.

The NFAA Directors UPHELD RIC 2006-5

At the Southeast Sectional Indoor Tournament, the Georgia NFAA Director asked the Southeast Councilman to rule on the legality of a Bowhunter Freestyle lighted sight with the light itself mounted on top of the round or oval (housing) pin guard. The Southeast Councilman ruled that nothing other than the five fixed pins and pin guard could be visible through the sight window of the bow. Since the light housing extends above the scope housing, it was ruled as not legal in the Bowhunter Freestyle shooting style.

RIC DECISION: Since the BHFS rules state that only 5 fixed references are allowed, a light mounted on top or bottom of the pin guard would constitute another reference point, the RIC agrees with the S.E. Councilman's decision.

ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE

C-1 Revision – Constitution: Page 10, Article III, Section A, Para 2, Item 2.2.

Life members who are 55 years of age and older will pay the same registration fees as younger archers at National and Sectional tournaments. Those individuals who became NFAA Life Members before 2007 may continue to be exempt from paying the pre-registration portion of fees at National and Sectional tournaments.

GL-4 Revision – Constitution: Page 11, Article III, Section A, Para 10.

Insert the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:

Members may be privileged to change their state of residence two times during a calendar year. The entire paragraph to read as follows: 10: Adjacent NFAA affiliated states shall be authorized to arrive at unilateral or reciprocal non-resident membership arrangements. Resident as being defined as from the state through which the member’s NFAA card is drawn. NFAA members may join as many affiliated states, if accepted, as they wish. However, they may only shoot in the sectional and state championship of the resident state for championship awards. The member must notify NFAA Headquarters in writing when changing residence. NFAA members may compete for awards in only one Indoor, one Outdoor, and one 3D Sectional; and only one Indoor, one Outdoor, and one 3D State tournament per calendar year. The member may shoot as a guest at any other time. Members may be privileged to change their state of residence two times during a calendar year.

MA-2 Revision – By-Laws: Page 40, Article IV, Section A, Para 9.

Paragraph 9 is removed in its entirety. “Disputes arising at this tournament will be discussed and ruled upon by a committee consisting of the Tournament Director, NFAA President, one Councilman, and two Directors available at the tournament. The Councilman and Directors will be chosen at random by the Tournament Director. A list of the members of this committee shall be posted in public view.

9.1 A competitor not following the established tournament rules, improper conduct or creating a safety hazard may be disqualified immediately. 9.2 A competitor using equipment not deemed legal for NFAA competition may be disqualified after review by the committee with the archer in question present, after that days shooting is complete”.

SE-1 Revision – By-Laws: Page 42, Article IV, Section F, Para 1.2.

Delete the words: “the sectional level”. Paragraph 1.2 changed to read: “An optional alternate flight system for tournaments with 200 shooters or less (see Appendix 1)”.

SE-5 Revision – Policy - Page 86; “Effective 2008: The Outdoor National Tournament will be a 3/5 day format with a Monday through Friday schedule. Rounds will be Field, Hunter, Animal, Field, Hunter, in that order. Five-day shooters will shoot all five days, and count only their better Field and better Hunter Round scores. Three-day shooters may register for first three, middle three, or last three days. Archers must register for the days they will shoot”.

C-4 Revision – Constitution: Page 24, Article XII, Section C.

Individual dues:

Individual dues for the National Field Archery Association shall be $35.00 per year per person and shall include the National Field Archery Association’s official publication. Each member or head of household may at his/her option, elect for $1 to be designated for the Bowhunter Defense fund. Dues for two additional family memberships shall be $5.00 per year per person. Additional family memberships shall be $2.00 per year per person. A family is defined as head of the household, spouse, and all dependents less than 18 years of age. Dues billing shall be handled by NFAA for states. NFAA shall return state dues monthly.

COMPETITION COMMITTEE

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-1 Revision - By-Laws: Page 27, Article I, Section A, Para 1 & 2. Deletes the term “Unit” and replace with the term “Round”. 1: “Round – Prescribed number of targets for the game being shot”.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-2 Revision - By-Laws: Page 42, Article IV, Section E, Para. 1.

1: The NFAA recognizes as official those rounds described in By-Laws Article VI.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-3 Revision - By-Laws: Page 42, Article IV, Section E, Para. 3.

3: NFAA Handicap Round: The NFAA recognizes as official for recording on the NFAA handicap card any 28 target Field or 28 Hunter Round or 14/14 target combination of same.

WI-5 Revision - By-Laws: Page 66, Article VI, Section R.

Move from page 87 - 89 “Lake of the Woods round” in its entirety and create a Section R on page 66.

SE-2 Revision - By-Laws: Page 43, Article IV, Section F, Para. 2.

Insert after first sentence: When an optional 5 day/3 day Outdoor Nationals is held, archers may be arranged in flights based on their high 28 target Field Round Score.

C-3 New Item - By-Laws: Page 46, Article IV, Section J, Paragraph 4.

4: Ties for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in Champion Flight at any National Tournament will be broken by a shoot off.

MA-3 Revision - By-Laws: Page 46, Article IV, Section I, Para 9.

Remove Paragraph 9 in its entirety & replace with: “All shoot offs for ties will be take place at the practice range, on the longest yardage commensurate with age. Field or hunter face used at the discretion of the tournament director. Score, spots & X’s will be used. After one end, if still tied, repeat the end.”

MA-1 Revision - By-Laws: Page 56, Article VI, Section I, Paragraph 4, Item 4.1.

Remove the first sentence in its entirety, & replace with: “An archer must straddle the shooting line, or distance marker”.

PRO-1 New - By-Laws: Page 35, Article D, Section I, Paragraph 4, Item 4.1.

1.3 “Archers from any other archery organization who compete in a Semi-Pro Division where the description of said Division by the other archery organization is classified as a non-professional, those archers shall be recognized by the NFAA as non-professional archers”. Re-number remaining paragraphs.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-5 Revision - By-Laws: Page 49 – 50, Article VI, Section A-B, Paragraph New A 6, Delete B. Move Section B, Paragraph 5 to Section A, Paragraph 6 and re-write as follows: A.6: Alternate Expert Field Scoring: The scoring is five points for the spot, four for second circle, three points for the third circle, two points for the fourth circle and one point for the fifth circle. The X-ring is used for tiebreakers only. Delete Section B and renumber remaining Sections.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-9 Revision - By-Laws: Page 52 – 55, Article VI, Section E, F & G. Delete Section E, Section F, and Section G (The 15 target “300” Field, Hunter and Animal Rounds).

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-11 Revision - By-Laws: Page 57, Article VI, Section J.

Delete Paragraph J and sub-paragraphs. Deletes the NFAA Indoor Championship Round which is a duplication of the NFAA Indoor Round with slightly different scoring.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-12 Revision - By-Laws: Page 57, Article VI, Section K & L.

Delete Paragraphs K and L. Deletes the NFAA Freeman Round and the Freeman Bowhunter Indoor Round from the NFAA Rule book.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-13 New Item - By-Laws: Page 61, Article VI, Section O.

NFAA 600 Target Round:

1: The only difference between the 600 Round and the 900 Round is the number of arrows per end and the number of ends per distance. All other rules apply.

2: 20 arrows will be shot at each distance in four ends of five arrows for score.

3: The time limit shall be 4 minutes per end.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-14 Revision - By-Laws: Page 61, Article VI, Section P.

Delete: P. FITA Field Archery Rounds: Reference current edition of the FITA constitution and rules.

FUTURE OF THE NFAA COMMITTEE-15 New Item - By-Laws: Page 61, Article VI, Section P.

New Paragraph P (or realigned paragraphing from other changes, but following after 900 Round and 600 Round.)

P: Classic 600 Target Round: Rules same as 600 Round except as follows:

1: The NFAA Archery Classic 92cm Target Face shall be used. At the discretion of tournament management, the center version of the Face may be used utilizing only the 6 through 10 rings.

2: The round is shot starting at the closest distance and progressing to the longest distance.

FL-1 Revision - By-Laws: Page 63, Article VI, Section Q, Paragraph 8, Item 8.8.

Change to read: “Each archer will shoot their arrows with one foot touching the appropriate stake for the division and class in which they are registered.”

WI-6 Revision - By-Laws: Page 42, Article IV, Section E, Paragraph 1.

After the words “300 Animal Round”, include the Lake of the Woods round. Adds “Lake of the Woods” round to the NFAA official rounds.

The NFAA Directors UPHELD RIC 2006-6

Protest: The archers involved are protesting the decision of the protest committee. The score of an arrow on the animal round was changed by the protest committee with out consulting all the archers involved. This was a dispute, not an actual protest. There was no money involved. The protested archer shot the wrong face on the animal round. The archer verbally announced to the group that she did indeed shoot the wrong face. Then she proceeded to shoot the correct one & scored it correctly. The following day the archer came to the committee to plead her case, stating that there are no rules for the animal faces & that everyone else is probably not doing it correctly. Page 44, H, 3, outdoor shooting rules, states “when shooting at butts with multiple faces, the first shooters up will shoot the bottom …”. The committee voted to restore the points taken because of a previous decision on another matter. The protestors found out later that the score had been changed & filed the protest the following morning. The committee was re-convened at the end of the shooting day with all concerned present. It was a unanimous decision to over turn the committee’s first decision & subtract the points that were first given.

RIC DECISION: Agrees with the protest committee’s decision to over turn the committees first decision. That indeed the archer should lose the points.

The NFAA Directors UPHELD RIC 2006-7

Michigan Director was asked at an indoor Sectional & two State indoor shoots if an archer may change from a single spot face to a five spot face, or the reverse during the tournament. The Director ruled no. The director then researched the constitution & found nothing to the contrary. He then ruled that an archer may change faces during the round. The Director also stated that at the NFAA 2006 Nationals that the tournament rules stated that an archer must shoot the same face both days.

RIC DECISION: Committee agrees with the Director, that unless the tournament rules prohibit the changing of target faces, it is allowed. The RIC agrees that the tournament committee may set any rules for the tournament as long as there is no conflict with the rules of the constitution.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE

CI-1 Revision – Policy: Page 86.

2007: The Certified Instructor Program shall be a multi-level program with educational requirements necessary for advancement. All levels, except the Basic level of the program, require NFAA membership. The four levels are Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Master Coach. The Certified Instructor Committee, with approval of the NFAA Council will be responsible for the management and content of this program at all levels.

PRES-1 Revision – Constitution: Page 26, Article “NFAA Foundation”.

NFAA FOUNDATION:

This Foundation is a 501-c3 tax exempt Foundation. The purpose of the NFAA Foundation shall be to raise funds to promote and perpetuate all archery to include (but not be limited to) Youth Development Programs, Scholarship Programs, the NFAA Museum and administration of these programs. Funding for the Foundation shall be through tax-deductible donations.