After 24 years at Fort van Lier, the 5 Nations tournament in Belgium is set to return to its origin: Wuustwezel, thanks to one of the founders of the competition: Francis Notenboom.

“As a co-founder, I couldn’t stand by and watch the 5 Nations go without an organizer for the Belgium tournament.”
-Francis Notenboom

The search for a new venue was first announced last year during the event in Esch-sur-Alzette, creating uncertainty about the tournament’s future. As 2025 began, it remained unclear whether all five tournaments for the Cup would take place this season.

Hearing the news of there not being an organization for the 5 Nations tournament in Belgium this season, Francis said: “As a co-founder, I couldn’t stand by and watch the 5 Nations go without an organizer for the Belgium tournament.” And thus he took it up with his current archery range to organize it.

When the field was held at Wuustwezel in the past, it was held at a military base between 1987 and 2000. At the start of this century it was not possible anymore to shoot there. The organization diverted to a motor cross terrain.

This year, the tournament was held at that same motor cross terrain. The field offers many possibilities for shooting up and down and because the course is in and around a forest, there are a lot of bright and dark targets. However, most archers talk about the wind.

The targets were set out really well, where you’d shoot from inside the forest onto a field, where the wind would catch your arrows. Or from up a small hill where you’d be catching all the wind with your body, shooting downwards.

Saturday the weather was beautiful! The sun was shining the entire day with a clear sky. Temperatures rose up to 25 °C and there was a fair amount of wind on the open field. People were smiling and laughing!

On Sunday morning there was a bit of rain before the tournament started, but soon the sun broke through and the rain stopped. The day remained a bit cloudy with periods of sun. However, the wind was a lot stronger than on Saturday.

The first tournament of the 5 Nations Field Cup was a great success! Below you can find links to the results and the photos of the weekend.

The next field of the 5 Nations will be at Vertus, on 10 and 11 May.

Results can be found on the website of the 5 Nations: www.5nations.org/results
Photos are available on: InsideOutArchery Flickr account.