Any presidents out there??

[nd chickenman]

Nope, not politics. Are any of you the head of your archery club? Our local club leader wants to step down and I was considering going for it. The problem is the club is about 95% compound shooters with a winter league. I am looking for some of you that can share your experience and knowledge if you have been in a similar position. I know that I will have to cater to the wheelie shooters but maybe I can convert some. chickenman

[leatherneck]

If you only convert just one, then you have succeeded.

[Mark Baker]

Joel...I have  been prez of my local,  and both state  organizations.  I got involved because I wanted  to "give back" in some way or another, but never really aspired to being President of any of them...it just worked out that way.   The  biggest organization was the Montana Bowhunters Assoc., and it  consisted of at least half  compound guys.    Just remember,  that a good leader leads by  example.   Don't try and force your ways down anyones throats,  and  be as democratic in  the clubs  decisions as you can  be  and  still get things  accomplished.  If you do that, you will do fine, and will likely influence more folks than you ever realize.  Have fun, and go for it, if you want to.   Not enough folks ever are willing to take that step.

[R.V.T.B.]

I am the president of our archery club and also the president of our local traditional club. We have 150 plus in the archery club and around 45 in the traditional club. More headaches than I ever imagined but it is nice to have a hand in the shaping of the future of your club. You have to cater to the compound crowd and be aware of what makes them tick in order to survive and grow.  Just not enough stick shooters to support a large archery club. It is tough at times to keep both the stick shooters and the wheel shooters happy. I am fortunate that I am surrounded by a great group of officers in both clubs. Without the help and support from those guys and gals, myself and the club would fold.

Our club is the largest in the state and we have several outdoor ranges to maintain in addition to hosting major shoots and both indoor and outdoor state tournaments. It is a lot of work and just coordinating getting the right people in the right place at the right time is a bit overwhelming at times. I have to say that it is more work than I ever imagined it to be as well as being more rewarding than I could have thought.

You are right, you may be able to convert some of the wheel shooters when they see how much fun the traditional guys are having.  More importantly is to recognize that they have different needs.  Trad guys are happy to just get out and fling some arrows at a 3-D.  Compound guys have specific expectations that need to be fulfilled. I purposely filled some of my officers positions with traditional guys and a like amount with compound guys. We pick at each other some but all in all get along good and have the well being of the club as our major concern. I feel that it is important for both sides to have a say in the management of the club.

Look at it this way...Someone has to step up and do the job. Might as well be you.

[laddy]

I am referred to more as a joke, by the guys I taught how to shoot as The Reverand Most High of The Ladder Day Longbow Shooters of America, 'professor' for short.  the closest we ever get to being a club is when we get together and make strings and arrows in my basement, with my supplies.  Not complaining I get free corn for my corn furnace.

[AkDan]

its not the weapon that makes the hunter!  Enjoy there company for what it is and who they are, not what they shoot.  No need to convert anyone to anything!

[nd chickenman]

Thanks for the info, we have a meeting early next month with an "election". I am going to volunteer to take over the league responsibility and see what happen with the presidency. AkDan, I will show some of the non-stickbow shooters how much fun they are missing and leave it up to them. Some of them don't seem like they have fun shooting. chickenman

[Basic Instinct]

I have been the president 2 different times, vice Pres 1 time, Treasure 1 time of our club. Can be very rewarding, But one thing you need to remember is all the work is volunteer, we have about 75 members and the help you get putting on these shoots a lot of the time is very scarce. I enjoyed it for a long time then got burned out, I would call for help, only to get the same few guys every time which was only about 2-3 guys. I got a sour attitude, wondering why everyone in the club thought there time was more important than mine and could not help out a little. It's easy to get this way, believe me. When my time was up I let someone else step in, It was good for the club to have a fresh person. It wasn't long before the new guy was having the same thoughts he said. Maybe the club you belong to will have a lot more people willing to help. which would make it great!! Just the nuts and bolts behind my times as a officer in the club. As far as trying to convert others to trad, thats great, but I would spend my time trying to get them involved in helping out the club before I worried about that.

[Jason Jelinek]

I am the president of Sandhills Archery Club in Fargo (this will be my second year).  I am also the Secretary.  My job is basically to organize the meetings (create agendas, run the meeting and in general oversee the projects and events going on).  Luckily, we have a number of members that running the different events and the president doesn't have to do a ton of work.

As far as increasing the trad numbers goes...  We added a Monday night Traditionaly Only league (a members else's great idea) to place targets closer and to speed up league for those who don't analyze the targets with a set of binoculars before and after the shot.  We went from having maybe 11 trad guys show up during league last year to 20-25 trad archers participate, with at least 12 of them coming every Monday night.  This separate night allows the guys who aren't comfortable shooting in front of the compound shooter a time to come out and shoot and interact with other traditional shooters.  Also a number of compound shooter have come to watch, some hang out after league and ask to shoot bows.

The lessons learned as a board member and president have helped me understand people and working to get things done at work.

Jason

[Jason Jelinek]

I also helped organize the league and have an Excel spreadsheet I use to enter scores and analyze the results.  I allows me to sort based on category/division and track different items of information about league from year to year plus I can save it off as a web page and put it on our website.  I also have the league rules on the same sheet so there's no excuse for not following the rules.

I'm an engineer so if something can be analyzed I'll do it.  It's helped determine our current rules and divisions and provides information for futures changes.

Jason

[bigislandmark]

Aloha All,

I am president of a different club all together----a trap shooting club. We just finished our State shoot. How does this relate to archery? Jason "Basic Instint" hit it right on the head. Most clubs run on volunteer help to get things done. As things progress, you will find the same people willing to step up and help out and others content to sit and watch.  Same thing when you end a shoot----same people helping and the same people putting their stuff away and going home. Be it trap shooting, archery, or another club, I find this to be the norm for most clubs. After 1 year of this, the people who have supported me are burnt out. Sadly they don't enjoy shooting anymore.

Now that I've given you the gloom, I will try to give you a fix for the above. (Before you ask, it was shot down)

My son who is twelve years old is really getting into archery. We just joined the local club and they were having the same problems. My friend just became the new president.  I suggested that he should try and give back to all those that are willing to help out at shoots. Be it free entry into the shoot or a club shirt or lunch/drinks----- just something that shows that their efforts are appreciated. A handshake and thank you only goes so far before people start to burn out. I think giving back helps to drive things forward and next year who knows, we might get more members involved and host more shoots. A win/win for all those involved and the club benifits.

As far as shooting bows vs. bows with training wheels, main thing is that everyone enjoys the sport of archery. Be true to yourself and I'm sure that you will have some convet over to Trad. They will see the challenge of taking it to the next level.

Mark

[CJ5]

I'm not the president of our club but I'd like to second what Basic Instinct said, which is right on the money. Our club is very fortunate to have an excellent group of officers (Pres,VP,Sec & Treasurer) that work super hard and give alot back to the club. But, I fear we as a club are riding these guys awfully hard. On scheduled work nights, its always the same 7 or 8 of us that show (this in a club of well over 100 members). Its the same with business meetings. Its not that the membership is bad. Quite the contrary, we have a great bunch of guys/ladies. It's just that most fall into this "let them handle it" mode when it comes to the work or business aspect of the club.

[Shifting Shadow]

nd chickenman and Jason, it's good to hear from another couple of North Dakotans! I was the last treasurer for Tatanka Archers before it merged with a wildlife group. We dealt with few active members, dwindling funds and insurance issues. As one member expressed it, we lacked "critical mass" in terms of membership to expand. I don't know what the answer is to burn out. I have heard most officers say that they were burned out at one time or another. nd chickenman, one thing you may want to try is to just volunteer for one club duty at a time. If that goes well for you maybe add something to it next year. Search for answers as you work your way into the leadership. HEY, BY THE WAY, we are having our big 3-D indoor shoot March 14-16 at the Jamestown Civic Center. This is a 'goodin'! See you there!!

[GameMaster]

President of Racine Instinctive Bowmen for 6 years and VP one year. Bottom line,you need them so your club can go on. What is your total membership and what is the break down or percentage between your divisions? Being my club as a member you can only belong if you shoot no sights on your bow compound or traditional. But we open our club to anyone in our summer league that has 600 t0 700 shooters every Wednesday for 14 weeks. I have been a member for 33 years now and have run into just about any situation you can think of, please contact me on any questions you may have. Take it on ,you won't regret it.

[nd chickenman]

Ok, I want to thank guys for your insight and sharing your experiences. We have have aprox 60 member with about 45 of them participating in League shooting. It has be the same here with the 4 to 7 guys that show up and do the work. Our long time club head is a school teacher and has a tendency to talk to us like we are high school kids, turns alot of people off. He has done wonderful things for the club but for the reasons stated above it is good to get new blood from time to time. One thing that disturbs me is that many of the members know nothing of the history of archery, I want them to know about Howard Hill, Ben Pearson ,Fred Bear and all of the early pioneers up to and including compound shooters. I am going to have a profile board and do a short bio on someone different every week during league. Our club needs a youth shooting program, old prez doesn't have the patience to be around young uns. That will change. Anyway you guys got the point of what I wanted and came through, thanks a bunch and if you ever get anywhere near Portland North Dakota, give me a holler. chickenman

[Eric Krewson]

I ran an archery club for 15 years. At first my enthusiasm for archery made it an enjoyable experience. As the years passed and the work load increasingly fell on my shoulders the fun became a drudgery.

We maintained an indoor range for the city and the way the range was abused by John Q Public was appalling. The public bathroom was about 100yds away so people urinated in the corners and behind the backstop, left cups of urine sitting around, gallons of tobacco spit in the trash cans and on the concrete floor, someone even took a dump on a piece of card board and placed it in the trash. Of course cleaning up the place fell on my shoulders most of the time.

The thing that finally got caused me to walk away was the following;

We held tournaments on Saturday evening on a ball field near the indoor range and had to pick up the trophies by noon on Friday. I was working evenings and lived about 20 miles from the trophy shop. My relief didn't come to work on Thursday evening so I doubled over on midnight shift.

When I got off work the next morning I called a member who lived across the street from the trophy company and asked him to pick up the trophies. I heard the same response from him I had heard so many times in the past from other members when I asked for a little help,"I don't think I will have time". We are talking across the street and 5 minutes tops. Strangely, this same member always had time to attend every tournament as a shooter.

I went to bed, slept 2 hrs and drove over to pick up the trophies and got back just in time to go back in to work. Two hours sleep in the last 36 hours made a light go off in my head, that was it, I was done with the club and walked away. This club, with a 40 year history, folded within 2 years because none of the remaining members were willing to work like I did. I guess they "just didn't have the time".

The above is the reality of running a club, very rewarding at times but the reality is if you step up and look like you want the reins, everyone will sure step back and give them to you. The more involved you become the more they distance themselves from you to minimize their involvement.

[joel smith]

Joel, now in my second term as prez for TBG. My experience pretty much mirrors the others you've seen here, there's some good and some bad at every turn in the road. Our club puts a lot of emphasis on our youth programs, trying to get the message of archery and bowhunting fun to the future generations. That is a very rewarding thing for me and has helped me get past some of the kinds of things that Eric spoke of above. I think that if your club has a higher purpose than just the pleasure of it's adult members it can make those tough times easier to take. E-mail me if you'd like to explore some of the ins and outs in depth

[email protected]


good luck,
Joel