FENLAND FIELD TARGET ASSOCIATION
Winter League Constitution & Rules
FENLAND FIELD TARGET ASSOCIATION
Winter League Constitution & Rules ( 2025 – 2026 Series )
The objective of the WINTER LEAGUE is to provide a series of shoots outside the National Calendar. Thus, the newer members may obtain a flavour of Competition whilst improving his/her shooting. The seasoned shooter can practice and maintain his/her skills. Prospective course builders will be able to demonstrate and refine their ability. The series will be conducted professionally and fairly, with a clear structure, but above all in a friendly atmosphere….
1) The WINTER LEAGUE series shall normally consist of each FENLAND club hosting a round at their home ground (this must remain flexible to allow for clubs joining or leaving the Region during the year), if through any reason the home ground is unavailable the club may elect to use a neutral site, this will be discussed, and may be voted on at committee. Currently there are 6 clubs Affiliated to the FFTA — Broadlands, Colne Valley, East Tree, Lea Valley, Midshires, and Sywell. There will be 8 W/L rounds this season with Broadlands, Colne Valley and Lea Valley holding two rounds each In the case that Midshires secure a suitable facility to host a round the published venues for rounds may be reconsidered. Any changes will be posted on the FTTA website.
2) The WINTER LEAGUE results may be used by the Competition Secretary when selecting the team to represent Fenlands Region in the BFTA INTER-REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At the conclusion of the WINTER LEAGUE series ‘The FFTA CHAMPIONSHIPS’ will take place, with awards (all ungraded) to 5th place PCP, to 3rd place piston and to 3rd place open/supported (The shoot may also be used to conduct any shoot-offs required from the WINTER LEAGUE. The presentation of WINTER LEAGUE trophies will normally be carried out at the Championships.
3) The B.F.T.A. Main Shoot Rules and safety rules will apply throughout the series of shoots. At the start of each shoot the ‘abbreviated Fenland shooting brief’ or a ‘club specific brief’ will be read out, a full written copy will be made available at ‘stats’, by ‘signing in’ the shooter is confirming they have read, understand and accept the various rules.
4) The FENLANDS Competition Secretary and/or The Winter League Secretary will be responsible for the administration of the series including: – the collation of scores, forwarding scores for uploading to website as soon as possible after each shoot and also dealing with any disputes. The Competition Secretary may inspect the course for compliance to the rules prior to commencement of the first round.
5) Cost of entry will be presented at the AGM each year (already voted at the previous committee meeting) entry fees will be set to cover the running costs involved in the series, including the prize shoot, purchase of all trophies etc and still enable the Region gain financially. For the 2025/2026 W/L cost of entry will be £7.00 each and all entries on the day, this includes entry to the Golden Shot. Golden Shot awards to be three of £10 in the Main and two of £10 in the Re-Entry, fixed for the season.
6) The Region will supply scorecards, score sheets and a grading list. MAIN or BFTA grade cards will be White, SPRING grade cards Green and OPEN/SUPPORTED Class cards Pink together with the same-coloured score sheets. The new style ‘all in one’ signing in form may be used in place of coloured sheets.
7) Shooters grades for the Winter League will be calculated internally by the FFTA Competition Secretary, so as to give a true representation of each shooter’s current ability within the Fenlands Region. Scores will not be submitted to the BFTA for, or towards national grading.
8) Clocks/timers will be used throughout the Winter League Series for the Main/first round only. Except for Rule 11d) below failure to use a clock or timer will result in Rule 23) being implemented. Any clock or timer being used must be viewable by a marshal and/or other members of the shooting group.
9) Grades will be calculated each season, as follows:
9a) If you have a current FFTA grade percentage, this will be used as a start basis and together with your next two W/L percentages from your main entry you will then have a new FFTA percentage/grade for your third shoot.
9b) If you are a Fenlands Club member and start the series without an FFTA percentage you will be allocated a start percentage of 84% as a basis and together with your next three W/L percentages from your main entry you will then have a new FFTA percentage/grade for your fourth shot.
9c) Grade percentage boundaries will be calculated each year.
9d) A shooter may elect to shoot in a higher grade; this must be done by advising the Winter League Secretary or Competition Secretary prior to their 3rd W/L shoot.
10)
10a) ‘OPEN/SUPPORTED class’ encompasses the existing ‘OPEN Class’ as defined in the BFTA Rules together with SUPPORTED which allows the use of bipods, tripods and other ‘non-fixed supporting devices with no additional seating or cushions to be used. Only the front end of the rifle may be supported. The leading hand must control the rifle within or on the support device during the actual taking of the shot.
10b) a ‘SPRING GUN’ is defined as follows…
Any piston powered gun, including semi-recoilless, Whiscombe, Theoben etc.
Single or Multi pump pneumatic rifles are NOT classed as piston powered or Spring Guns.
11)
11a) The host club at each round will set out the main course, set out a practice area, provide marshalling, enforce safety, collect fees, ensure score cards are correctly and legibly filled in, collect score cards and complete the score sheets. A Competitor must not score his or her own card and each member of that squad must sign all cards. Cards and result sheets to be passed to the Winter League Secretary or his representative as soon as possible after the shoot, cards not handed in by the end of the shoot on the day will be deemed void. All monies to be passed over to the FFTA Treasurer, or the Treasurers Representative.
11b) No shooting on the main course until l0:00am The ‘Practice Range’ will close at the start of the Briefing (normally 09.45hrs sharp) and will not re-open until 11.30hrs. Any person not on site when the briefing starts may shoot the morning round, but may not submit his/her card from the morning round for scoring. The exception to this will be when a shooter is unavoidably detained on the journey to the event and phones ahead to advise stats, afternoon rounds will score as normal. All targets will be shot at in numerical order, if a target is shot at out of order, B.F.T.A. rules apply.
11c) For a shooter’s score to be recorded and count in the competition they must be a bona-fide current member of an FFTA Affiliated club.
Any non-FFTA member may take part in a round of the FFTA Winter League providing they are either:
- A recognised member of a Regional club affiliated to the BFTA, or
- A shooter who has shot at a club affiliated to the FFTA and has been vouched for by that club.
If non-FFTA members take part their scores will not be included in the FFTA Winter League scores, but be recorded separately
11d) Courses to be shot through with paired shooters only. In the exceptional circumstance of a group of 3 shooters, the first shooter having shot at his/her targets will immediately move on to the next lane so that no delay is incurred, common sense must be used regards using a clock or timer. 1 gun may be shared between a maximum of 2 shooters, provided no delay is incurred.
11e) A shot gun start will be employed (lanes will be allocated at signing in). In the event of a club using the old style of signing in sheets it is permissible for pairings to be drawn from a ‘hat’.
12) Any disputes 1) refer to the rules 2) contact the appointed Chief Marshal 3) contact the Competition Secretary (not whilst they are shooting) 4) contact a FENLAND COMMITTEE member.
13) At the end of the Winter League Series the following awards shall be presented.
For calculations all scores will be converted into percentages (with the exception of the team event)
13a) Individual trophies will be presented 1st to 3rd place in ‘AA’ ‘A’ ‘B’ & ‘C’ grade in the Main -entry round. Counting scores shall be 2 rounds less than the total number of rounds in the competition (i.e., 6 counting scores for the 2025 – 2026 W/L).
13b) Individual trophies will be presented 1st to 3rd place ‘A’ & ‘B’ grades in ‘Spring’ Re-entry. Counting scores shall be 2 rounds less than the total number of rounds in the competition (i.e., 6 counting scores for the 2025 – 2026 W/L).
13c) Individual trophies will be presented 1st to 3rd place in ‘Open/Supported Class’. Counting scores shall be 2 rounds less than the total number of rounds in the competition (i.e., 6 counting scores for the 2025 – 2026 W/L).
13d) The Champion of Champions will be the shooter with the scores aggregated from his/her Main and Re-entry rounds (“pneumatic’ the first time round and “spring” for the re-entry). Counting scores shall be 2 rounds less than the total number of rounds in the competition (i.e., 6 counting scores for 2025 – 2026 W/L). Awards will be presented 1st to 3rd place, with the overall winner retaining the MICHAEL TAWN trophy for one year.
13e) A trophy will also be presented to the shooter with the highest number of actual targets hit Counting scores shall be 2 rounds less than the total number of rounds in the competition (i.e., 6 counting scores for the 2025 – 2026 W/L)..
13f) The FFTA Winter League Shield will be presented to the series overall winning Team/Club. 4 individual scores from the first time will count towards your overall Team/Club Score, all 8 rounds to count. Up to 2 of the counting scores may be Open/Supported class. Shooters electing to shoot in the Open/Supported class must ensure their score card (Pink) from the first round is marked as such. The top team score will receive points equivalent to the number of clubs in the region, then dropping one point per position, with zero points for any team or teams that do not attend. With this in mind the winning team will always score 6 points.
13g) There will be individual awards for members of the overall winning team, provided they have shot at least 3(three) rounds during the series.
An absolute minimum of 3 scores must be submitted by any
individual shooter to be eligible for any award.
14) Shoot-offs if required will normally (but not confined to) be conducted over a 3-lane representative Field Target course. 1 lane freestyle, 1 lane kneeling and 1 lane standing. If scores are still drawn after shooting these 3 lanes the targets will continue to be shot in sequence with sudden death after each lane is completed. In the event of a tie in the club/team result, the contesting clubs will each need to nominate a team of 4 shooters to take part in the shoot off. Variation to the above ‘shoot off’ rules may be allowed if all parties concerned are in full agreement.
15) Cancelling a shoot partway through for whatever reason will render all scores that day void, and the course will need to be shot again, preferably at the same ground at a date to be decided by committee.
16) The Spring gun round is re-entry: if the shooter’s only gun is a spring gun, their first-time round will be deemed to be their entry for the main and scored on a white score card. Should they wish to enter in the spring gun re-entry they will need to shoot round again, using a green score card.
Those shooting Spring/Piston rifle for their re-entry round (using a Green Score Card) will be graded ‘B’ up to 74.99 % and ‘A’ for 75% and over.
17) Those shooting Open/Supported Class in both sessions, will shoot a team-scoring Pink Card first time round, then shoot a re-entry card second time round. The score for the first round will be assimilated with the PCP shooters. All Open/Supported (Pink) Cards must be marked to show which card was shot first and which one second.
18) All cards must be signed by the Shooter and all other persons shooting in their squad.
19) All cards must be marked to show which type of rifle is being used i.e. Spring or PCP
20) The host club may organize side shoots as long as there is no delay to the main and re-entry rounds, all proceeds going to the host club.
21) Course layout… As per the BFTA Main Shoot Rules (copy at the end of the document) with the exception that FFTA does not use Rule 7c i.e. Modified Length Courses.
22) Trophy/Awards List…
Team/Club Winner, Annual Shield + awards for all team members with 3 or more shoots to their credit.
First Time Round PCP 1st, 2nd and 3 in each grade.
First Time Round Open/Supported 1st, 2nd and 3rd no grades
Re-entry PCP and Open/Supported treated as one 1st, 2nd and 3rd no grades
Re-entry Piston 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each of the two grades
Champion of Champions 1st Annual award + keepsake, 2nd and 3rd keepsake
To qualify for the CoC you must use two different rifles one a PCP and one Piston power.
Highest Number of Targets Hit Annual award + keepsake
FFTA Championships (all the positions are ungraded) Overall Winner = Annual Award + keepsake, together with 1st to 5th PCP, 1st to 3rd Piston and 1st to 3rd Open/Supported.
23) Unless otherwise stated the penalty for infringing any of the above rules or disregarding Safety Rules or disregarding specific competition rules will be any or all of the following…………
A verbal warning, a written warning, disqualification from the course, a number of hit targets or a complete score being voided. Fenland Field Target Association must reserve the right to take any other action deemed suitable and/or sufficient.
Amendments.
(To be inserted when agreed by committee)
W/L 2022 – 2023 No amendments, this is a completely new and/or updated set of Winter League Rules.
W/L 2023 – 2024 No amendments
Fenland Field Target Association 
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