The CFAA (Canadian Field Archery Association) was originally formed in 1980 as a concept to address the growing compound interests in Ontario. It later became a more national concept with Alberta, BC and Quebec participating. It must be mentioned that the sheer size of Canada makes even interprovincial competing difficult. Southern Ontario, with its huge population (Chicago and New York are closer than many Canadian cities).
The CFAA became incorporated as a National body in 1981 and was affiliated with the IFAA. Carl DeWilde was the first President. Carl was single minded in his approach to bring the CFAA to a larger platform, so he began to get setup both an indoor and outdoor Field Championship. The first CFAA indoor Championships was held in Dresden, ON and the first outdoor Championships held in Woodstock. Carl would then set his eyes on setting up NAFAC (North American Field Archery Championships) with competitors from Canada, the US and Mexico. The first NAFAC was hosted by the Forest City Archers of Ontario. It would later travel to the US and Mexico on a rotating basis with NAFACs being held in Mexico City, Darrington, WA and several locations including BC and Ontario. The CFAA sent several teams to WFAC (World Field Archery Championships) over its years of operation.
With Field archery participation increasing word of the CFAA began to grow as well. So much that the indoor Championship could no longer be held at a local club and was now being held in Casino ballrooms with upwards of 300 participants from several provinces and the US.
The beginning on the 90’s saw the 3D scene start to take off and the rapid decline of Field archery along with the OAA (Ontario Archery Association (provincial body) adopting the IFAA Field rounds for its championships, which saw many archers choosing to shoot the OAA Championships. Causing even more decline in the outdoor CFAA championships, the indoor Championship continued to remain steady. The CFAA continued to survive until its eventual dissolution after the last indoor championships in 2002. The FCA (Federation of Canadian Archers (now Archery Canada)) became the IFAA affiliate with Ontario still being the largest Canadian location for IFAA and WA Field archery.
Sean McKenty
Article actually written by Sean McKenty – submitted by Al !
The picture is of me (Al Wills) at the 1974 Canadian Championships in Prince Albert Saskatchewan – the first year that the professional division competed at the event.
Hello Al! I am sorry for the long wait. We now have edited the post. I hope everything is in order now 🙂
Greetings, Franziska
Has anyone kept records of indoor and outdoor championship results over the years of the CFAA’s existence? Might Carl Boyle or Sean McKenty have done this?
Hello James,
we kept some of the records in our archives. We also are currently working on the homepage, so not every menue option will work right now. We hope we’re ready soon. Until then, see what you can find here: https://www.ifaa-archery.org