Archery - Ten Facts

Located up the hill near rock climbing, Archery is one activity where you can test your aim as you try and beat the high score.

1. It is believed that bows and arrows have been used for at least 25,000 years based upon the discovery of arrowheads in Africa.

2. Archery is considered to be one of the oldest sports in the world.

3. The word archery is derived from the word arcus, a Latin term that means bow and arrows.

4. Archery has been an Olympic sport almost from the beginning. Its debut in the summer Olympics occurred in 1900. In 1924 it was discontinued and it was reintroduced in 1972.

5. The bag that archers use to hold their arrows is called a quiver.

6. Splitting the arrow of a competitor is called a ‘Robin Hood’, in reference to the legend archer Robin Hood who won a competition by splitting his opponent’s arrow with his own.

7. In 1457 King James II banned golf in Scotland because he believed men were wasting time playing golf when they should have been practicing their archery skills.

8. The very first compound bow was made 500 years ago.

9. The first country with organized archery competitions was England in the 1500s.

10. Archers shoot according to their dominant eye and because of this a right-handed person may shoot with their left hand and vice versa.