Fredquently Asked Questions
***if there are questions not covered in this section and you would like an answer to, please visit the AoB section to post your queries.***
-what are the training days of the team?
Trainings for 2008
-Monday Physical Training
-Wednesday Shooting Training @ Zheng Hua National Range
-Thursday Morning Endurance Run (0710 - 0815)
-Saturday Shooting @ Zheng Hua National Range
However, we believe in flexibility and if any archer feels that he/she requires a leave from training, he/she could get one from their captains if the reason is deemed reasonable. However, he/she is required to arrange a make-up training with their captains.
Trainings will also be reduced if tests/examinations period are approaching and intensifies nearing a competitive fixture.
-so, what is expected of me if I were to join the team?
Commitment and dedication is the basis of being a good archer. Hence, getting your priorities right is important as we must know when to shoot and when to spend time on work. A perfect balance is required.
The willingness to learn and the ability to self reflect is also essential if you would like to improve in the 2 or 4 years in the college.
As trainings are flexible, we require the archer to be responsible for his/her own training and studies. If you want to improve, only you can make it happen.
Open-mindedness is also another aspect that will ensure that your development in archery is smooth sailing. The willingness to correct you mistakes and the ability to overcome a poor performance is essential to prevent a drop in form remaining that way.
-but I do not have experience in sports or archery. Will that hinder my chances to enter the team?
Certainly no!
Through experience, archery is a sport that is very easy to learn but difficult to master and perfect. So everyone will start at the same level and it really depends on the individual how your development in archery will be like. So fret not, we do not accept people into the team based on experience although it would just be an added advantage to have it.
-I see that all the archers in the club now have a bow. Is the bow theirs or the school's?
The bow is bought by the archers themselves and belongs to them. They have the liberty to bring their bows home and shoot on their own accord at any ranges.
As the school hasn't provided funding for the team, being a very young team, the archers who join us are required to purchase their own archery set.
The advantage of having your own equipment is that the set will remain yours even after JC and uou could still carry on shooting elsewhere, leisurely or competitively with other teams like NUS, NTU, CDANS, SAFSA, etc. and the equipment would be personalized and it has the ability to last a lifetime.
A wooden bow set(bow, arrows, necessary equipments to shoot) cost about $300 odd while a metal one (bow, arrows, minimum equipments to shoot) cost about a minimum of $600 odd, depending on brand and model of the bow. The seniors and teacher will recommend the type of equipment to the archer based on his/her budget and concerns.
For archers who are really passionate for the sport but do not have a high budget, seniors may be upgrading their bows from a wooden to a metal one and will sell off their bows to the juniors. Price will then be determined based on the quality of the equipment and the senior who owns the equipment.
-you mentioned that there are different models of equipments. What models are there actually?
There are plenty to be honest. The following is a website that gives a rather good range of equipments available in archery around the world. However, not all equipments are listed and seniors and teacher will be able to provide a more personal opinion to the equipments given their experience. So do consult them before buying the equipments as we do not want to see someone spending unnecessary money on impulse, only to regret later.
http://www.altservices.biz/cgi-bin/start.cgi/shop/main.htm?
-how do we acquire our equipments then?
The vice-captains will ensure that all archers will secure a full set of equipment by march, ensuring adequate time to familiarise with the equipment and for training purposes. So, no archer will be neglected.
Mr Harry Tiew will be in charge of recommendations on equipments to archers such that you will get the most appropriate equipment that is still within your budget. Having said that, all in-coming archers should consider, with their parents, a budget for yourselves.
-how prominent is NJC's Archery Team in the archery arena in Singapore?
We are not in a position to judge how good we are or where we stand in people's eyes. The mentality we would like archers to have is that we give off our best each time we train, shoot and compete. No matter the result, we will know we have done our best and that should be what matters.
-in that case, how do we improve? What are our trainings like to ensure that the strength of our team remains strong?
Our training recognizes that a professional archer do not just knows how to shoot but who is strong in all aspect, physically for example.
Thus, our training caters to all these aspect and we ensure that we develop an all rounded archer. Not to worry too much about it now as we will introduce it to you formally when you have entered.
However, as this is a public site, we do not wish to disclose the exact details of the trainings we do in details here.
-oh great! So now we have our equipments and we know that we can become good archers. But wait, where do we train?
Although the school has generously bought for us 2 target boards for training at school, we still have to travel around to train in order to accustom ourselves to the various competition grounds.
Thus, apart from school, Zheng Hua National Range, Potong Pasir Community Centre and most recently, NUS has invited us to make use of their outdoor range for training.
Moving around means we have to spend a little more on transport as well as membership fees which we have to foot before we can make use of the ranges.
Zheng Hua National Range - monthly fee of $10.
CDANS - annual membership of $75 (no existing archer has membership to this range as it is rather expensive)
PPCC - annual membership of $18
TBCC - Annual membership of $20 with the addition of $10 a month for range upkeep.
-archery seems like a CCA which requires a high expenditure, are the current archers very rich people?
Unfortunately, we aren't very rich. Some of us are also very tight financially. However, our passion and interest in shooting and our desire to improve archery-wise drove us on.
We overcame the lack of a school ground training facility, during which we had to constantly travel to train, and saved money from our allowances to pay for our equipments just to be where we are today, one of the leading teams in the scene.
All in all, most of us are average students whose passion is strong enough to make us invest in something we know we will carry on even in life after NJ. And if you are just like us, you don't have to be rich.
-now we are almost ready to start, when are the competition dates?
There are numerous competitions throughout and all round the year, so everyone will have the opportunity to gain competitive experience as we will try our best to participate in all competitions available.
Due to the many competitive fixtures, it would be quite difficult to predict an exact date for each of them. There are about 1 competition in January this year(Sembawang CC Open), 1 in March (NTU Invitational), 2 in June(National Interschools, NUS Indoor Open), 1 in August(Pesta Sukan), and 1 in November(AAS Annual Youth Shoot)
