Archers of Warrnambool's membership has taken a hit

"This year has been much tougher than last year because it's been on again, off again," she said.

"People don't know whether they can come or they can't come.

"Whether we can shoot outdoors-only or indoors as well."

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Burrell explained restrictions had prevented the club from getting the best value it could from its rent.

"Every opportunity we can, we're out here," she said.

"This year too the club actually spent more money getting more hours for shooting, the numbers of hours we pay for in our rent arrangement is determined by the number of hours we shoot.

"So we've got quite a lot of hours this year but we haven't been able to use them.

"From a club point of view, we're a little bit down the drain because we're spending more money than archers come out to enjoy it."

Under Archery Victoria guidelines, shooting is allowed outdoors and is limited to members.

AOW is allowed up to 20 people on its outdoor range only.

Masks are to be worn at all times except on the shooting line.

Spectators are prohibited except one parent/guardian permitted to supervise children if necessary.

AOW is currently offering sessions for its members on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Burrell explained restrictions had impacted the archery community's ability to compete.

"Because people can't travel and can't gather in big groups, competition is just about out really this year," she said.

AOW president Mike Clark said the club's membership had been hit hard by the pandemic.

"They (numbers) were going excellent, 2019 we had our record numbers," he said.

"We went from four members up to 69 members by the end of 2019.

"And then lo and behold COVID hit and that basically put it to a halt, a lot our members couldn't come out (to Lake Gillear) because of the lockdowns.

"We're down to 25 to 30 members at the moment.

"Because we've got no come and trys and can't recruit new members."

Clark explained the club hadn't had a come and try session for about a month because they were typically held indoors.

Burrell said there was still demand for the sessions.

"Mike and I have lists of people to ring as soon as we can open up on a Saturday morning," she said.

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