Why Membership
A question we are sometimes asked is why we require archers shooting with us to be members. Why can’t non-members come and shoot casually?
Public liability insurance is the most significant reason. As a member organisation of Archery Australia, the national governing body for the sport, we receive the benefit of group public liability coverage for all of our members. Our annual membership fees cover the cost of this insurance. The caveat of this insurance is that the club is only protected if all archers on the range have a valid and current membership. If an incident occurs and any archer present was found to not have valid membership, the insurance would be rendered void. Note that this insurance only covers members shooting on club grounds. This does not cover members shooting at non-Archery Australia locations.
Commercial archery ranges do allow casual shooting without membership, and that is because as commercial enterprises they are not eligible for Archery Australia’s member coverage. They will have purchased their own commercial public liability coverage.
For the purposes of beginner instruction we have temporary memberships that students can sign to cover them for a 12 week period, after which they will need to sign up for a full membership to continue shooting.
Membership Candidates
All candidates should have completed a beginners’ course either with us, or at another Archery Australia club to be eligible for membership. There may be grounds for waiving this requirement, if you are able to demonstrate your understanding of safe bow handling, target range safety, and a solid understanding of basic archery technique. People that have participated in sanctioned sporting archery overseas often fall into this category. Come talk to us and shoot with us as a temporary member and we’ll see whether you’re a good fit for the club.
If you’ve completed a beginners’ course with us, you are welcome to come practice four times by yourself during our regular shooting hours. This is your opportunity to decide whether you would like to make archery a long term hobby. Please note that your temporary membership does not last indefinitely, but expires after 12 weeks from when you first signed it. The beginners course is 3 weeks, leaving you 9 weeks to use those sessions. If you would like to continue archery beyond that period, you will need to apply for membership.
If you are a returning archer who has already completed a beginners’ course elsewhere, perhaps a decade ago, we would like you to come and shoot with us for a while and see if you would like to apply for membership. When archers shoot with us on a temporary basis, Archery Australia’s rules require that they fill in a temporary membership form (for insurance purposes).
Membership Application
Membership applications are lodged via the Archery Australia website. Please use the following steps to apply for membership with the club. The club committee must approve your application before you will be accepted by the club. Please ensure you have spoken with a senior member of the club, or one of your instructors so that the committee can be made aware of your application.
- Click the New Members button.
- Select Archery Victoria as your state, and Archers of Warrnambool as your club.
- On the next page select your registration type. Your selection will generally be made on a basis of age category. If you are already a full member of another club, you may choose to join Archers of Warrnambool as a “Club Associate”, otherwise you must select one of the other full membership options.
- The next page consists of various policies, terms and conditions, and behaviour codes you must agree to.
- You will then need to enter your personal details.
- Then, Submit Application & Pay Online. Payment should only be deducted once we have approved and activated your application.
- The committee reviews all membership applications once a month.
- After approval and payment, Archery Australia will send you a membership card.