“Archery Tag” doesn’t sound unfamiliar in America and Europe anymore as it has already become a crowd attraction. But for many Sri Lankans, it was the first time they heard the name of this unique sport. On 14th of May 15 Teams filled with excitement walked into the Campbell Park Ground to battle each other out and Team Knockout Kings stole the show. This is how all the preparations prior to the event day set up the platform for Sherwood Shootout and how the First ever Archery tag tournament in Sri Lanka unfolded.
Technically this is the “New Member Project” which is assigned to all the new members in order to get to know each other and identify the special skills each other possess. Every Year the New Member Project has done something unique and entertaining such as Soap Football and Bubble football in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Therefore there was an expectation right from the beginning to pull off something not mainstream. After Days of discussions, we agreed to organize an Archery Tag Tournament which was then something we also lacked the experience of it. But we found it an exciting challenge as we had to organize the project while learning about the background of the subject itself.
Deciding a catching name was again an important step as it would help us to get the crowds’ attention. After considering many suggestions we came across two which were “Sherwood Shootout “ and “The Game of Tag”. Finally our Co-chairperson Rtr. Kasun suggested that we should combine both names as “Sherwood Shootout: The Game of Tag” and the issue of project name was solved like that. Then we had to choose a venue to host the event. We tried to contact almost all the grounds around Colombo and Campbell Park ground was selected after considering the availability on the decided date 14th of May.
One of the major milestones in any project is finding sponsors. At that point, we were about two weeks from the Event and started to feel the rush as we had to get the support of sponsors for Awards, Beverage and Etc. Meanwhile, we have already started our PR campaign with the help of our go-to IT guys Rtr. Ranoj and Rtr. Anushan. Teaser video we released to social media played a major role in terms of attracting contestants and also sponsors. One of them was Rupavahini who approached to us inspired by the concept of Archery Tag. They took the complete responsibility of Pre-Event and Post-Event Media coverage. It was certainly a morale booster for us knowing that this project has already caught the attention of the Key Target groups.
Archery Tag League Sri Lanka as the officials took the full control of the event with regard to preparing the field, providing the equipment, scoring, and Judging. Through the commitment and the determination of the two chairpersons and all the committee members, we managed to find sponsors for Prizes and awards. Our target number of Teams for the event was 18 as the gameplay was structured for League format. Everyone approached their colleagues, friends, classmates and pushed them for the registrations. Until about 4-5 days for the event day, we were well behind our target number of registrations. But everyone kept their heads high and managed to get 15 teams on board which was a huge accomplishment indeed.
On the event day, we assisted Archery Tag League officials in preparing the field, setting up barriers and preparing the playing field. 15 Teams were divided into groups of three and the first round was played according to League format. The top team in each group advanced to the Quarterfinals and the losing teams were given a wild card round played out in a knockout format for a spot in the quarterfinals. Knockout Kings, Kollane, Kimbula Banis, and Titans went through to the Semi-finals and out of them Knockout Kings and Kimbula Banis advanced into the Finals undefeated to battle each other out for the Championship of the first ever Archery tag tournament organized in Sri Lanka. After an exciting battle Knockout Kings were able to eliminate all the five members of the opposite team and emerged as the Champions of Sherwood Shootout. They walked out with Certificates and Prize Money and the 1st runner-up Kimbula Banis with Vouchers and Certificates and 2nd Runner-up Titanz also with Vouchers and Certificates.
Feedback from the participants after the event showed that they had a great day at Sherwood Shootout. The way it was organized and the gameplay was planned smoothly that they even suggested that we should organize this as an inaugural event in our Rotaract Calendar which of course we would definitely consider about looking at all the positive reactions and what we could achieve in a short period of time.
Rtr. Ashen Hirantha
Editor
RACALBS