We are thrilled to announce that the Nottingham Senior Recurve Team has won the 2026 competition held annually between the Sherwood, Oregon, and Nottingham, England. This is the first time that we have won this competition in 40 years!
Congratulations to all of our archers on this tremendous result.
Sandy Wallace, Archery Chair of The Sherwood Robin Hood Festival Association, has sent on congratulations from the association, The Sylvan Archers Inc, and all of the archers who participated in the Sherwood, Oregon, part of the competition.
She writes:
To All Participating Members of the 2026 Oregon Challenge Teams,
Congratulations!! The Nottingham Senior Recurve Team has won the 2026 competition with the Sherwood Senior Recurve Team. The Silver Bowl Plaque traveling trophy will soon be posted.
The Nottingham Senior Recurve Team score of 12,815 was a win over the Sherwood Senior Recurve Team score of 12,535.
The Sherwood Robin Hood Festival Association, The Sylvan Archers, Inc., and all the archers who participated in the 2026 annual archery competition between Sherwood, Oregon and Nottingham, England extend their congratulations to the Nottingham Senior Recurve Team.
The year 2026 marks the 70th Anniversary of the International Archery Match/Oregon Challenge between Sherwood, Oregon and Nottingham, England. This archer contest of skill was originated by the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival Association (SRHFA). The first competition was held in July of 1956, simultaneously in Sherwood and in Nottingham with scores shared by telegram and/or telephone.
The Sylvan Archers, Inc., whose range is outside of Sherwood, represent Sherwood in this annual contest. They organize and hold the Sherwood portion of this contest in conjunction with the Robin Hood Festival held annually on the third weekend of July.
This annual contest of skill has now evolved to include competition between junior recurve, compound, longbow, barebow, master recurve, master compound, master longbow and master barebow teams.
The SRHFA handles the correspondence which includes the exchange of scores and also the exchange of medals that are presented to the archers on the teams previously mentioned. Our organization looks forward to this unique, one-of-a-kind, historic competition to continue for years to come.
The list of all Sherwood and Nottingham team scores and team members has been emailed to Susan Stankovic. We have also exchanged photos of all the teams.
Once again, congratulations to the Nottingham Senior Recurve Team in their 2026 win.
Respectfully,
Sandy Wallace
Archery Chair, SRHFA
Sandy also sent some background information regarding the festival, at which local citizens of Sherwood, Oregon, are Knighted for their community involvement, and for their contribution to the sport and the annual competition. A number of Nottinghamshire archers have also been Knighted for their contribution to the competition: Wayne Froggat and his son, Simon, knighted in 2006. Shani Lambert, Mick Coward, Sharon and Bernie Dicks were knighted in 2014.
