Ranking for Juniors

[Nick Forster]

Why is it that under 16's and below cannot get a jmb ranking this always has struck me as being unfair, this weekend I had the pleassure of being present at the JNOC. If you look at the results you will noticed that the vast majority of kids who are shooting in these competitions, shoot way over jbm leval by several hundred points, and there is little recognition for doing so.
I Personally feel that there should be a JMB leval all the way down to under 12, this would give our talented junior archers something to strive for and this leval should be set at about the Red Rose type leval 1100+ and has to be shot in a bristol / 12 doz round of rose / rs status.
This leval of ability should be rewarded as adults we expect our achievements to be recognised so why dont we recognise the achievement of our youngsters. I know that there is the arrow awards but that is not the same as saying. I am a Junior Master Bowman,
right I am now getting of my soap box let us know what you think and maybe the knowlegeable few from the Ivory towers of the GNAS can tell us why not.
Nick

[Jacqamoe]

I have to agree with you, if a child can shoot well past the Junior Bowman level there should be something to reward them with regardless of the fact that they might not be a U18, but just a U12 like my son.

Like all of us kids work at things that little bit harder if there is a goal and some form of encouragement on past that at which they are. For those who shoot well why not something past Bowman level regardless of age, even if it's not JMB I'm sure there's scope for something to encourage the best...

[pelican]

I don't think it's about age, it's about shooting the longest distance.

JMB can only be claimed if boys shoot 100/90 and girls 80/70. If a 14yr old boy (recurve) shot a York and scored 1015 (3 times of course) then they'd be JMB.

That's my understanding.

[MrM]

Originally Posted by pelican

I don't think it's about age, it's about shooting the longest distance.

JMB can only be claimed if boys shoot 100/90 and girls 80/70. If a 14yr old boy (recurve) shot a York and scored 1015 (3 times of course) then they'd be JMB.

That's my understanding.

Yes, that's how I understand it - it's the distance not the age. If you look at the JAWS booklets there is a section for obtaining classifications above your age group, eveni mentioning JMB for U12 and U13 age group.

[grimsby archer]

I agree that JMB should be extended to all age groups.

I talked with Nick Beeson about this about 3 years ago and he explained to me that the GNAS Arrow award was the JMB Substitute for juniors under 18 who are not able to shoot the full adult distance.

We should do everything to encourage the juniors.

[Furface]

Hello there from the Ivory Towers!
I have indeed had my ear bent about this, as recently as this weekend (I wonder why?). As usual there have been several good suggestions on various topics put forward, and the Junior Committee will look into all of them.
The JMB restriction is rooted somewhere in history, way before my time. I shall try to find the thinking behind it. However, of the top of my head, would archers who had achieved JMB on Yorks feel happy that those who had achieved them on Bristol 4s have the same title? (I realise they do for all the other Classifications, but, even among adults, I think the "Master" word carries a higher cachet). And would a JMB feel happy about relinquishing the title on moving up an age group? Also, the JMB can only be gained by shooting a round above the appropriate one for your age group. While this may well be fine for those who are approaching physical maturity, is this something we should be encouraging, even by showing the possibility, for those who are younger and still changing rapidly? I know that there are some who can manage, I also know that there are many who really cannot (despite being able to put in extremely high scores at the appropriate distances), but would drive themselves to achieve it and end up overbowed and permanently damaged. (Same area of argument as to why the Bristol and Metric 5s are not championship rounds).
This whole area is fraught with difficulties (they are called juniors!) and new insights and opinions are more than welcome.

[dino1300]

I was very confused about this, and GNAS have got a miss-match here.

According to the rules of shooting, a junior boy under 18 can claim a national record for a Metric 1, but canot get a JMB for it!

When I was a junior i am absolutly certain that you could (20 years ago!).

Also the level @1149 is what is proposed for the new senior MB.

Perhaps someone tried to introduce a JGMB, but got their fingers mixed up?

This needs looking at with the proposed classification changes.

[grimsby archer]

Originally Posted by Furface

Also, the JMB can only be gained by shooting a round above the appropriate one for your age group.

Good point, that raises the question "why?"
Adults dont have to shoot a distance beyond their age group, so why juniors.

Originally Posted by Furface

However, of the top of my head, would archers who had achieved JMB on Yorks feel happy that those who had achieved them on Bristol 4s have the same title?.

Another good point. however, since JMB, like any classification (including adult MB) has to be requalified each year, only the current year's classification is valid, so in any given year you would only have one standard for JMB. Therefore you wouldnt get some archers who HAD to do Yorks whilst others "only" did bristol 4s

Originally Posted by Furface

would a JMB feel happy about relinquishing the title on moving up an age group?

Surely this is true of all junior classifications and when a JMB becomes an adult anyway, so this is not a new situation?

Just my opinion (ignore it at your peril)