Hutton Memorial Annual Tournament
The Hutton Memorial Tournament is held every year on Waitangi Day to commemorate Royle and Alison Hutton, the founders of Youth Archery in New Zealand.
This tournament is open to all current shooting members of Archery New Zealand. It is held annually, rain or shine, on 6 February. The competition is run under minor tournament conditions (end timing, double scoring required) but there is no requirement to register your club’s event as a minor or major tournament.
Please get involved at your local club! The distances are suitable for most archers.
Full rules for the event are in the Archery NZ Competition Rules and the rounds being shot are described in the Archery NZ Shooting Rules.
Rounds: Burton – for all age classes except as below. 5 ends of 6 arrows at each distance of 55 m, 46 m, 37 m.
Junior Burton – for Junior B (under 16 and below), and the combined Novice and Development class. 5 ends of 6 arrows at each distance of 37 m, 28 m, 18 m.
Both rounds include one 6-arrow sighting end at each distance, and use ten-zone scoring.
Classes: Open, 50+, 65+, combined Novice and Development, Junior A (U18, U21) and Junior B (U11, U14, U16).
Divisions: Barebow, Compound, Crossbow, Longbow, Recurve, Traditional, Para Compound, Para Recurve, Para W1.
Face Sizes: Barebow, Compound, Longbow, Recurve, and Traditional shoot 122 cm; Crossbow shoots 60 cm.
If your ace archers need more space for arrows on the 122 cm faces particularly at the short distances, we suggest folding 122 cm faces into squares showing only the 10-9-8 rings, with 3 such folded faces mounted onto a target butt in a triangular pattern, similarly to how compound 10-5 faces are used in other shoots.
Entry fee: $5.00 per archer. Archers pay to their club and the club is invoiced by Archery NZ. Clubs may pay entry fees to Archery NZ using a bank transfer, with your club name and the number of archers in the payment reference.
Medals: Medals will be awarded for all divisions by class: Youth A, Youth B, Open, 50+, 65+, and combined Novice and Development.
Archers: Register your interest with your club, and pay your $5 entry fee to your club.
Clubs:
- Please register your club by email to interclub@archery.org.nz, explaining that you have members who intend to enter. You will be sent a spreadsheet link to enter your results.
- Complete your score return spreadsheet before the deadline (TBC February 2026).
- Please ensure that you have paid your archer entry fees to ANZ as above by (TBC February 2026).
Results received after the stated deadline will not be accepted.
Any questions please ask interclub@archery.org.nz.
Youth Archery Advocates
Royle (1938 – 2004) and Alison (1941 – 2023) were integral figures in Archery New Zealand. Their dedication to make archery fair for youth in New Zealand was undeniable. At first, when they attended Greenwood Archery Club in New Plymouth with their daughter Kylee, there was no such thing as JAMA or Youth Archery. There was only an U18 class and no provision for children under the age of 10. Juniors were left to their own devices.
Royle and Alison started to work with what they called the “midgets”. Their goal was to obtain recognition for the children and develop a system that would include them. Royle and Alison developed a structure for junior archery, which became JAMA (Juniors and Midget Archers, which was later changed to Junior Archery Member Association), and later, Youth Archery. Thanks to their tireless hard work, Youth Archery has specific age groups, its own medal structure, and a national monthly postal competition with awards and certificates. They were also integral in establishing the biennial international competition, the Trans-Tasman Junior Test. These days, it’s easy to think that Youth Archery has always been there, but it took years of work by Alison and Royle, dedication, and their vision to get to this point.
Royle was also a level three archery coach who was keen on developing juniors in the sport, as was Alison. Royle was also a National Judge, and attained International WA Judge status, from 1997-2003. He served at the Oceania Championships in Fiji in 2000, South Pacific Mini-Games in Norfolk Island in 2001 and the World Field Championships in Canberra in 2002. Royle was not only an experienced Judge but he also trained Judges. He ran the course to train National Judges in Fiji in the late 1990s.
Royle acted as Director of Shooting at National Tournaments, where his firm but courteous manner was much appreciated by all competitors. He also served on the Board of ANZ for many years, and the Hutton’s had an archery store in New Plymouth where if you needed anything, they would be able to get it for you. Their door was always open and they had a vast knowledge of archery, junior archery in particular. Their archery achievements are many, but Junior Archery will always be their legacy.
Alison ran archery in military style. She collated all junior shoots as well as the Waitangi Day shoot every year. This was at a time before computers, so snail mail was the means of communication. She very strictly stuck to the dates of return of scores and after receiving these, typed them up on her old typewriter. Incredibly efficient scores were immediately sent out to all clubs within the week along with medals for the Waitangi Day shoot. She often said “give a busy person a job: it will get done”.
Royle and Alison worked together as a team. They complimented each other and were a real inspiration to all in archery in New Zealand.
In memory of their hard work which will never be forgotten, the Hutton Memorial Tournament is shot every year on Waitangi Day.
With thanks to David and Karen Croskery, Gisborne Archery Club