16 November 2007 - First steps for the Archery World Plan

PRESS RELEASE   Lausanne (SUI) – 16 November 2007     First steps for the Archery World Plan   The Steering Group that is heading the Archery World Plan’s implementation met in Istanbul, Turkey this past weekend. On the agenda was the review of the initial proposals submitted by a World Plan Working Group as well as a focus on planning for the coming year. The Group also discussed new initiatives for 2008 to ensure that the entire Archery family stays involved and informed on the progress of the plan.   The Archery World Plan was adopted at the FITA Congress this past summer and will run from 2007–2012. It focuses on key changes that should be made to Archery over the coming years to strengthen its recognition as an important Olympic sport. The plan is designed as a change project which will instigate and manage substantial change in the sport and feed this back into the daily operations of Archery. The plan describes a total of 24 Focus Areas within Archery that will be examined over the duration of the plan.   Working Group 1 is looking at the Core Values of Archery and presented their initial proposal this past weekend. The proposal was met with a lot of enthusiasm from the Steering Group and feedback from the meeting is now going back to the Working Group so they can finalise their proposal for the end of the year.   Commenting on the Archery World Plan, the President of FITA, Dr Ugur Erdener, said: “As with the introduction of any new project in an organisation you are always faced with some resistance and doubt. The steering group meeting this past weekend clearly demonstrated the belief in this project and the dedication in terms of time and energy that people are willing to invest to making the plan a success. This is not just demonstrated by our Council and FITA staff but from all of the Member Associations and individuals that have chosen to be a part of the project. Over the coming five years, together, we will make sure that Archery, at latest by the London Olympics in 2012, is a much stronger and more appealing sport. For Archery, the future is now!”   Two Working Groups are currently up and running with another four to start early in 2008. The Working Groups are composed of internal representatives from Archery as well as external representatives from sponsors, other international federations and international sports organisations and media partners.   Caroline Anderson TSE Consultant Edited FITA Communication