HINXWORTH Archery Club has retained the Hertfordshire Archery Association s Summer League ­Championship – and in some style. The club, which has been unbeaten in the county for the past two years, has once again claimed the title, with chairman David Osm

HINXWORTH Archery Club has retained the Hertfordshire Archery Association's Summer League ­Championship - and in some style.

The club, which has been unbeaten in the county for the past two years, has once again claimed the title, with chairman David Osmond putting success down to the club's dedicated members.

He said: "A lot of our success comes down to the fact that we train three times a week.

"Our members are very committed and that has shown in our results, especially over the last few years.

"We have also been given a lot of support, particularly from the parish council and the rest of the community, and they have also been a major factor in our success."

Since Hinxworth Archery Club was formed in 1999, it has gone from strength to strength and is now the top club in the county.

Each year David has witnessed the growth of the club, which now has 54 members.

"Archery is fundamentally a family sport and we have participants aged from 10-80," said David, who helped set up the club with his wife Marianne.

"We even have three generations of the same family involved."

The club boasts a number of talented archers, and in the traditional longbow category, Derek Bridgewater has been county champion on several occasions.

He holds a number of county records and one UK national record.

In the "Olympic" style or "Recurve" as it is more commonly called, Hinxworth has more county standard archers, with Herts ladies champion Gaynor Hutchinson, and county elite squad member Joe Privett leading the way.

The club also has several junior archers and won the county junior indoor league with Ashley Pay and Kate Scales taking the boy's and girls' championships.

David said: "The juniors are important to the club, and we have some very talented youngsters and we will continue to encourage more juniors to take up the sport.

"We are also looking to create a separate junior club as long as there are enough youngsters interested."

David, first picked up a bow 25 years ago and has been a coach for 15 years.

He said: "I feel very proud to be part of the club.

"When we started we never thought we would be so successful.

"It is beyond our wildest dreams.