Shooting stars gain national experience
East Gippsland News, Page: 33. Wednesday, 19 August 2009
East Gippsland Branch of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia was pleased that four of its juniors were able to travel to Brisbane in July to participate in coaching and competition with other junior shooters from around Australia.
The local branch is particularly grateful to SSAA Victoria for the generous sponsorship it provided for travel, accommodation and coaching expenses.
Two of the girls who travelled to Brisbane were happy to write about their experiences.
Shannon Peters: The Victorian shooting team recently made a trip up to Brisbane for the Junior Shooting Nationals. Many shooters attained a personal best and even shot medals, ranging from encouragement medals to private awards.
Three jam-packed days of non-stop fun filled our stay and every morning saw us sitting and listening attentively to our coaches, who taught us about stance, posture, breathing, aim and many more topics to improve our competitive shooting.
After the coaching we would begin the competition, which saw us in positions such asprone, kneeling, sitting, standing and more. An award ceremony was held at the end of each day, with one of our team bringing home two encouragement awards.
Four of the team hailed from our own East Gippsland, namely Shannon Peters who came fifth in field rifle with a score of 349 (bronze award), Kerrie May, who shot very well, Jessica May, who also shot extremely well and Jason May, who shot his Silhouette Pin.
We all shot our very best at the competition and came away happy with our results. The experience was one not to be forgotten and participants from all over Australia learnt much from the three-day event.
Jess May: Juniors members from East Gippsland and Springvale Sporting Shooters Association of Australia recently competed in the Junior Challenge Competition at the Belmont Range, Queensland.
There were competitors from ACT, NSW, Queensland and Victoria with over 20 competitors in all. There were seven from Victoria, four being from East Gippsland.
There were three rim fire (.22) competitions with coaching before each, metallic silhouettes out to 100 metres, four position field rifle competitions out to 50 metres and three position out to 50 metres.
This competition was the first competition that most of the kids from Victoria had competed in and they all shot welt with most shooting their personal best scores.
While in Queensland the juniors stayed in the range accommodation with meats being brought to the range or cooked on the barbecue at the rooms. The three days were a great experience and fun was had by all.
We met tots of new people and made heaps of new friends. Thanks to Mary Bingham and Bridget Butler, both from Springvale Range, as well as Andrew May and John Peters, from East Gippsland Branch, for going to Queensland with the juniors to help out.
Monthly shoots: Junior shooters meet at the Bairnsdale Pistol Club at 10am every third Sunday of the month. This is a great opportunity for young people aged over 12 to learn about the responsible handling of firearms. If they wish they are able to participate in state-wide and national postal and face-to-face competitions as well as interclub shoots.
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