About Us
Service Awards
Volunteer of the Year Award
Archery in Australia thrives on the dedication, passion and tireless efforts of our volunteer community. The Board of Archery Australia created this National Volunteer of the Year Award to recognise an outstanding contribution to the sport over the past 12 months.
The award recognises an individual whose exceptional commitment, leadership and service have made a profound, positive impact on our sport at club, state or national level. The winner receives a trophy and prize package, with two runners-up also recognised as Volunteer Special Mentions. It is a great opportunity to celebrate our volunteers from around the country.
Winners for 2026
Andrew “Stano” Stanford: 2026 Volunteer of the Year
Andrew “Stano” Stanford coordinates the Adelaide Junior Archery Development program at Adelaide Archery Club, now the largest youth archery program in South Australia, averaging more than 60 young archers every week. His sessions are built to mirror real competition, giving juniors a confident pathway from their first arrows to state-level events. He has worked to remove barriers for families, including fundraising to cover juniors’ competition entry fees and keeping a consistent routine that supports neurodiverse archers. Beyond his home club, Stano is a National Judge and Archery SA’s Judge Coordinator, a regular volunteer at The Farm Indoor Archery Club’s major events, Security Officer for the new State Archery Centre, and official photographer at the 2026 Youth Nationals. Practical, generous and never seeking recognition, Stano shows the volunteer spirit our sport depends on.
Runners-up
- Malcolm Barker (Geelong Archers, Vic): an Archery Victoria Director and Recorder, Malcolm is the go-to problem solver for clubs across Victoria, from bringing state records up to date and supporting clubs with Assemble Sport and Archers Diary to running one of the state’s most popular beginners courses and mentoring youth archers.
- Brian Hagaman (Samford Valley Target Archers, Qld): over 28 years as a club president, coach, judge, state and national administrator and former Archery Australia President, Brian has served archery at every level, including leading Samford Valley’s move to its new home and building one of the country’s strongest communities of vision-impaired archers.
- Gloria Tse (Sydney Olympic Park Archers, NSW): as SOPA Club Secretary and Archery NSW Vice President (Membership), Gloria has championed inclusion, including fully integrated multiclass divisions at the NSW State Short Course Championships, and has helped secure grant funding and the long-term future of archery at Sydney Olympic Park.
2026 winner Andrew ‘Stano’ Stanford ASA
2025 winner Kerry Cheras from SQAS
The award
The recipient receives a trophy, 12 months free membership, acknowledgement on the Archery Australia website, a $500 gift voucher, and an invitation to make a presentation at the following Archery Australia Board Meeting.
Award criteria
Nominees should embody the spirit of service within the archery community. Nominations are assessed against three areas, and these are what the nomination form asks you to speak to:
- Impact & Reach: significant contributions to the growth, operational excellence or culture of an archery club, RGB or national program.
- Innovation & Initiative: leadership in delivering projects, events, coaching, officiating or administrative improvements that benefit members.
- Values & Sportsmanship: a consistent commitment to inclusivity, positive sport culture, integrity, and supporting fellow archers and volunteers.
Nominations are now closed.
Play Well - Win Well award
Each newsletter, Archery Australia will be publicly recognising someone who embodies the values of the sports systems collective strategies across participation and high performance, the Play Well and Win Well strategies. These strategies are essential in creating a sporting system where everyone has a place, and a system where how we win is just as important as when we win.
At Archery Australia, we want to recognise and encourage the fantastic work being done in our community to ensure that we Play Well and that we Win Well as a sport. We thank the current Athletes Committee for suggesting this award and ensuring that we honour this commitment as a sport.
You can nominate someone anytime for recognition of the work they are doing, simply email info@archery.org.au with:
WHO you are nominating
WHY you are nominating them
HOW they are embodying the Play Well or Win Well concepts through either:
- Play Well – Creating safe, welcoming, inclusive, and fun sporting experiences
- Win Well – Inspiring Australians by winning well and/or building an inclusive and sustainable sporting system.
