When Archery GB released their British Sign Language (BSL) resources for archery, the Young Archers' team at Wells City Archers saw an opportunity for a fun session.
A group of 13 young people took part in the session – one of the weekly Saturday morning sessions the club runs specifically for young archers. The Young Archers' coaching team had all made use of the Archery GB BSL archery signs videos to make sure they were able to communicate and score their arrows.
John Baker, one of the coaches for the Young Archers' team at Wells, said: "As part of the Progression Programme we've developed for young people, we are attempting to increase not just their technical skills but also broaden their understanding of how the sport can be made more inclusive and accessible. For the session, we set the objective that the Young Archers' team could only use British Sign Language to communicate their arrows' scores to their partner, using the Archery GB handout as a guide."
Joe, one of the young archers, said: "It was fun communicating with sign language but it was hard to get used to a different way of scoring. It was really interesting to see archery from a new perspective."
The team agreed that it was a really fun session that can be included on the event calendar each year, and can be adapted to offer appropriate challenge to encourage learning and skill development.
To watch the BSL videos or download the resource card, click the buttons below:
BSL archery signs resource card
You can find further resources and guidance here:
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