How (and why) to enter a team into the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series

Article updated on 13 November 2020 to reflect a change in the rules regarding team ranking and qualification for the final.

The team events were launched with the Indoor Archery World Series as a way for companies, clubs and independent groups to compete together on an international circuit but, this year, they’re taking centre stage.

With the series moving to a combined live and virtual format due to the ongoing worldwide pandemic, the team events have been made remote, too.

Any archer that’s shooting their rounds at a registered tournament can also represent a team. Squads will be ranked throughout the season – and the top four ranked teams after the fourth competition weekend will be invited to take part in the Indoor Archery World Series Finals, which will also be held remotely.

This year, World Archery is guaranteeing a team prize fund of 10,000 CHF.

Whether there’s a chance to qualify for the finals or not, entering a team into the series is also the easiest way to compete – with friends – on an international scale, without having to travel abroad. (Unless you’re willing and able to travel, of course.)

Lancaster Archery Supply (Brady Ellison, Casey Kaufhold and Jack Williams) and Mathews (Braden Gellenthien, Tanja Jensen and James Lutz) are the defending Indoor Archery World Series Champions.

Team basics

Indoor Archery World Series teams consist of three archers. At least one team member must be male and at least one must be female, meaning every squad in the competition is mixed gender.

The archers do not have to be in the same place but must be able to shoot the remote final, if they qualify, from one location.

Every team needs a name. In the past, they’ve largely represented archery manufacturers. But, this year, we’re expecting a far higher number of entries from clubs, national teams and independent groups.

What better way to get your club back to archery over the coming months?

Teams must shoot their 60-arrow 18-metre ranking rounds each weekend like everyone else. But all scores that count towards team results must be shot at either officially registered tournaments (world record status and in the World Archery calendar) or the four live events on the circuit in Switzerland, Nimes and Las Vegas.

(Hosting an official tournament at your club is not difficult. Contact your national archery federation to find out how.)

The team members’ scores will be combined each weekend to produce a team score. Teams will then be ranked on their top team score shot during the season.

After the last stage, the four highest-ranked teams will be invited to shoot in the unique 2021 Indoor Archery World Series Finals.

Calendar – online stages

• Stage 1: 21-22 November 2020
• Stage 2: 18-20 December 2020
• Stage 3: 15-17 January 2021
• Stage 4: 12-14 February 2021
• Finals (teams only): 27-28 February 2021

Team finals

There will be no individual competition at the Indoor Archery World Series Finals in 2021 – so the team finals are the main event. That is why World Archery is trying a brand-new and exciting competition format using the concept of ‘games’.

Each game consists of four 12-arrow matches: three individual and one team match. 

The results of the individual matches affect the starting score of the team match. A win adds a point to the winning archer’s starting team score while a draw adds a point to both archers’ starting team score. There’ll be no individual tiebreaks.

The result of the game is solely decided by the result of the team match. It’ll only be 12 arrows long – rather than the usual 24 – with each archer shooting one arrow in each of the four ends. The teams start with the score earned during the individual matches – and the team with the highest score after 12 arrows wins.

If there’s a draw at the end of the team match, each squad will nominate one archer to shoot in a single-arrow tiebreak.

Oh, and we’ll also be using the custom 12-point target face introduced in the Lockdown Knockout for the matches, adding yet another wrinkle to perhaps the most strategic target archery format we’ve seen yet.

The four team finalists will be seeded into a bracket according to their ranking. Each finals session will last three hours – two semifinals and a final – and we’ll emerge with one champion in each division. All the matches will be run and broadcast remotely.

Team finals schedule

• Compound finals: Saturday 27 February 2021 at 1600 CET
• Recurve finals: Sunday 28 February 2021 at 1600 CET

Schedule is subject to change.

Team entry

One team entry to the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series costs only 60 CHF and is available to buy through the World Archery shop.

The person who purchases the entry – or multiple entries – will be contacted after payment clears to submit the names of the team members and provide a team name. Each archer can only be in one team per category.

(Only company employees will be permitted to register teams in company names – so make sure you’ve got permission to use the name you want.)

The fee only covers the cost of entering the team into the ranking. Archers will still need to find a venue to shoot their round and submit each score via the Ianseo Scorekeeper application (available on Android and iOS).

Team registration is open until midnight CET on 31 December 2020.

The 2021 Indoor Archery World Series is a mass-participation circuit of live and online archery tournaments.