Jacob Mackenzie - a keen shotgunner
by Rachael Andrews
In the space of three years, 16-year-old SSAA member Jacob Mackenzie has gone from knowing little about the sport of shooting to representing Australia at a national level in two disciplines.
The Mudgee youth’s shooting career began when a friend from school invited him along to a shoot at Mudgee Sporting Clays in 2006. “It was really fun and just completely different to anything else I’ve ever done,” he said.
Just one year later, Jacob’s natural ability in shooting became apparent when he was named in New South Wales’ Field & Game State Team and from there, he gained a National Junior third-place ranking. Jacob’s success continued in the discipline the following year, obtaining a place on the State Field & Game Team in 2008.
In 2009, just three years into his shooting career, Jacob made the next step up the ladder at selections, where he won the Overall Two-Day High Gun and Best in State for the weekend, ensuring him a spot in the State Team in September.
“The State Championships was an excellent shoot,” said Jacob. “I won Junior’s and won a place as the only junior in the New South Wales Team. It was really good. There was a bit of pressure to shoot well, but I had to put that aside and focus on the shooting.”
He is now fighting for a spot in the Australian Field & Games Team as a junior and will compete at a Grand Prix event early this year against other talented juniors from across the country. If his good form continues at these games, Jacob could travel to Italy mid-year to take part in the World Championships.
Despite devoting a great deal of time to his Field & Game endeavours during the past three years, Jacob has taken up another discipline, SSAA’s own 5-Stand, and is heading down the same track of success. This SSAA discipline is a variation of Sporting Clays, which uses five cages or ‘stands’ and traps that throw targets in all directions. Shooters are required to read targets quickly. It is a popular discipline, particularly in New South Wales.
In early 2009, just months after beginning his foray into 5-Stand with the SSAA Mudgee Branch, Jacob took part in two state selection shoots for the shotgun discipline, qualifying for the state competition at Cecil Park Clay Target Complex in May. Jacob said that making this selection exceeded his “wildest expectations”, as the state titles are for ‘open’ shooters only and to gain a place, he had to compete against shooters who were more than twice his age. He went on to the 5-Stand National Titles in Newcastle in June and placed fifth, winning him a place in the National Team, which will enable him to compete in the Trans Tasman 5-Stand Championships in Hamilton, New Zealand, this year.
SSAA National Discipline Chairman for Shotgun Warren Brown said it was great to see Jacob take a passionate approach to his shooting. “He is constantly striving to improve his scores and master targets he finds difficult,” he said.
Warren said Jacob’s success and particularly gaining a place in the Australian Team was “a creditable achievement for a junior”, especially when beating open competitors. “It signals that Jacob has great potential for future shooting successes,” he said.
While it may appear Jacob’s triumphs have come easily, he said it has been a matter of focus and perseverance. The high school student said it was coaching from local Field & Game enthusiast Stephen Payne, former junior shooting talent Dan Baskerville and fellow national shooter Peter Tobin who helped him “really smooth out my style”.
“I also look at the top shooters in Australia and pick bits of their style to add to my own,” Jacob said.
But, while training and hard work to improve his technique is important, Jacob said he also wanted to keep shooting as a fun activity. “Reaching high levels has always been a goal, I’ve tried to do it...but I want to have fun too,” he said. “I like to vary my shooting and I like the differences between my two disciplines; it keeps it fresh and new.”
Jacob is now focusing on qualifying in this year’s State and National Teams and also competing in the Trans Tasman Championships.
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