ISAA Outdoor League

Outdoor Category Checker

Choose recurve or barebow, enter the archer’s best 72-arrow outdoor scores, and press Enter to calculate the category and distance they should shoot.

Check an archer

Leave any distance blank if there is no recorded PB for it.

Bow style

Scores must be whole numbers from 0 to 720.

Outdoor category rules

These are the outdoor distances and 72-arrow score limits used by the calculator.

Distances by category

StyleBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedSENIOR
Recurve50 m60 m70 m70 m
Barebow30 m40 m50 m50 m

Recurve score limits

Eligible category50 m or less60 m70 m
Beginner · RBO/RBFMust not have scored more than 419Must not have scored more than 349Must not have scored more than 299
Intermediate · RIO/RIFMust not have scored more than 519Must not have scored more than 459Must not have scored more than 419
Advanced · RAO/RAFAny recurve archer above the intermediate limits shoots Advanced.

Barebow score limits

Eligible category30 m or less40 m50 m
Beginner · BBO/BBFMust not have scored more than 449Must not have scored more than 359Must not have scored more than 299
Intermediate · BIO/BIFMust not have scored more than 549Must not have scored more than 499Must not have scored more than 399
Advanced · BAO/BAFAny barebow archer above the intermediate limits shoots Advanced.

Compound score limits

Category50 M
Open · CO/CFAll compound archers compete at 50 m

The calculator treats a blank PB as “no recorded score” and only checks the scores entered against the relevant limit table.

Source: ISAA Outdoor League rules, Articles 2.7.4.8 and 2.7.4.17, for 72 arrows on a 122 cm target face.

No previous outdoor score?

Use this when an archer has never competed in an ISAA Outdoor Intervarsity or an official World Archery Member Association Competition.

If this is your first ever recognised outdoor competition, there is no previous PB to place you automatically. Before entering your first Outdoor Intervarsity, you choose one of two starting routes.

Choice 1: Start in Advanced

You shoot your first event at the advanced distance for your bow style.

  • What happens next: if your score fits Intermediate or Beginner, you may move down afterwards.
  • Your first score: if you move down, that first score still counts in the category you move into.
  • Best for: archers who may beat the Beginner limit, or who want to protect a strong first score.
  • Trade-off: your first shoot is at the hardest distance.

Choice 2: Start in Beginner

You shoot your first event at the beginner distance for your bow style.

  • What happens next: if your score is too high for Beginner, you move to the correct higher category afterwards.
  • Your first score: if you move up, that first score does not count in the higher category.
  • Best for: new outdoor archers who are unlikely to beat the Beginner limit and would benefit from the shorter distance.
  • Trade-off: a very good first score may not carry forward if it forces a category move.

Practical guide: if the archer is already strong enough that beating the Beginner limit is realistic, starting Advanced can be safer for league scoring because they may still drop into the right category and keep that score. If they are genuinely new to outdoor shooting and unlikely to exceed the Beginner limit, starting Beginner is usually the simpler and easier-distance option.

Source: ISAA Outdoor League rules, Articles 2.7.4.13, 2.7.4.14, and 2.7.4.15.