COAST ARCHERS YOUTH CHALLENGE
TEAM EVENT
COAST ARCHERS YOUTH CHALLENGE
TEAM EVENT
COAST ARCHERS YOUTH CHALLENGE
TEAM EVENT
Our History
Our Archery Club has been in operation for over 50 years and was initially called the Gosford Archery Club.
It later became Erina Archery Club, and in 2025 we became Coast Archers.
The objectives of the club are to support and promote all forms of Archery and the spirit of good fellowship,
and to raise public awareness of Archery as a recreation and competitive sport.
Members are affiliated with the sports governing bodies Archery Society of New South Wales Archery Australia and can participate in development days, special events and compete in tournaments throughout Australia and overseas.
1960s | Gosford
The original name of our archery club was Gosford Archery Club. We believe the club was formed in the late 1950s. In the early years, Ray Morris (pictured) was the President and Robert Vickers was the Secretary/Treasurer. Shooting was conducted every Sunday morning at the Jusfrute Park adjacent to Henry Kendall’s Cottage at West Gosford. As there were no facilities for storage, targets & stands were covered in plastic sheets and stored against a large tree with the hope that they wouldn’t be stolen or vandalised.
When West Gosford started to expand we moved to an area near Gosford R.S.L that is now occupied by the Galaxy Motel. As the Motel & R.S.L Club expanded we were gradually edged out and had to go further afield.
Multiple clubhouses
Davistown R.S.L Club came to the party and the Archery Club, after a lot of hard work by the members, developed a very good range. The facilities included an equipment shed and the use of a hall with toilets and a kitchen. Other sporting bodies shared the area and we were eventually informed that our range was to become a soccer field.
In the early 1980's, Geoff Breene of Gosford Council was able to have an area of Frost Reserve at Kincumber made available to us. These grounds were quite open windy. If the targets were not tied down the wind blew them over, an archer could break quite a few arrows. Shooting was on Saturday afternoons, but we had to finish early or shoot in the morning because of the conflict with other sporting groups.
Erina Leagues Club
Before we moved to Erina, we had a small shed in Kincumber, where we stored easels, strammit boards and target faces but there were no other facilities at the grounds. Each week we had to set up our easels and targets before the shoot and take them down on completion. We had approximately a dozen members back in those days so the monthly meetings were usually held at the home of one of the members.
During 1982, one of our members got talking to a member of Erina Rugby Leagues Club which resulted in our current grounds being offered to us. We inspected the area and quickly accepted their offer. We relocated our little shed and all our equipment to the new grounds adjacent to the Leagues Club in Ilya Avenue, Erina.
Peats Ridge
Over December 2023 and January 2024, the Club relocated to our new grounds at Fred Pinkstone Oval at Peats Ridge. Originally used as a cricket field, the oval has now been repurposed as an archery range. The field now has 18 permanent targets, 16 of which which were relocated from Erina, plus capacity for another 9 portable targets. We have built a safety barrier across the back of the range and a disabled access ramp. We continue to work on improving the grounds and rebuilding our Clubhouse. We have been operational at the new ground since February 2024.
History Book
In 2024, one of the Club's members, Frank Farrugia, researched the history of the club and pulled together as much information as possible to write a book, "The History of Erina Archery Club 1957 to 2024". The book has 10 chapters including; History of Archery, Gosford Archery Club Early Years, Club's Years at Erina, Caost Archers and Starting at Peats Ridge. It also includes the Club Trophies and the winners over the years. The book was published in limited numbers. A copy of the book is held by Coast Archers and a copy is held by the Gosford library.
Coast Archers have an electronic version of the book that can be made available to interested parties.