Girls in Action - Beretta Style

by senior correspondent and BGA participant Jennifer Martens

Pink is probably the last color you would associate with a shooting range, but this past October the Melbourne Gun Club in Lilydale, Victoria, was draped in it when it hosted the first ever Beretta Girl Action (BGA) Day. The event was created to give women the opportunity to experience the shooting sports in a safe, female-friendly and fun environment.

Preparation
Beretta Australia’s Managing Director Luca Scribani Rossi came up with the idea for BGA after witnessing a shooting come-and-try event in Tasmania, organised and sponsored by Redbanks Fish and Field. The day was so successful that Luca decided to adapt the idea and bring it to Victoria.
“My original thought was that we would probably get 40 or 50 ladies attending,” said Luca, who was thrilled by the attendance of 350 women who came to try their hand at the sport.
With a handpicked team of about 50 volunteers, Luca began planning for the “greatest women-only shooting event ever organised” in May 2007. Everything about the day was geared towards women - the lunch menu, decorations, entertainment and shooting set-up.
BGA was a case of role reversal as mums, sisters, aunts and grandmothers were all busy busting targets, while the husbands, brothers and granddads were taking care of the kids. With the children in mind, Beretta brought in a jumping castle, a laser shooting tent and plenty of child-friendly snacks to help keep them entertained.

Volunteers
Many of the participants admitted to being a little intimidated by the typically male-dominated shooting sports. Aware of this, Luca made sure that this wouldn’t be the case at the BGA Day. First off, all 22 of the instructors were top-level female shooters. Tania Paterson, of Melbourne, who had never shot a gun before taking part in BGA, felt the decision to use female instructors made her feel more comfortable. “They were all very friendly and the tips they gave helped me hit all five of my targets,” she said.
In addition to the helpful instructors, Olympic shooters Lauryn and Russell Mark, Suzy Balogh, Adam Vella and John Younger served as event ambassadors, mingling with the crowds to answer questions and promote the shooting sports.

Time for a shot
With shooting ticket in hand, the participants lined up for their five shots with one of the 20 Beretta over-and-under 20-gauge shotguns reserved for the event. The range was set up with three shooting stations, each with five stands. The cartridges chosen were 24g Skeet loads, filled with 8.5-sized shot.
“For someone who has never shot before, it is pointless to give them a shot with something that is hard punching on their shoulders,” said Luca.
“We chose this load because we wanted to minimise the impact of the recoil on the shoulder and emphasise what could be the joy of breaking a target.”
In addition to the mild cartridges, the targets were thrown in a straightforward Sporting Clays pattern and the guns were fitted with Skeet chokes - all of which increased the shooters’ chances of hitting a target. “The results are great, because as soon as they pull the trigger and hit the target they don’t even think of what happened on their shoulder, which can be traumatic if that is the only thing you have to think about,” said Luca.
At the end of the day, the shooters had worked their way through 4000 Beretta cartridges and targets.

Celebrity shoot-off
While actually having a shot would have been the highlight of the day for most of the women, the celebrity event proved to be enjoyable and entertaining as well. Lauryn and Russell invited 14 international female athletes to take part in a celebrity shoot-off. At the top of the list were fellow Olympians:

• Alisa Camplin - Olympic gold and bronze medallist in aerial skiing
• Tamsyn Lewis - dual Olympian and triple Commonwealth Games gold medallist in athletics
• Shane Reese - fourth place finish in 4x200 freestyle relay in 2004 Olympics

The other celebrity sport stars included:

• Sarah Katsoulis and Danni Miatke - swimming
• Liz Gardner and Bree Munro - aerial skiing
• Kate Quigley - softball
• Ingrid Dick, Liz Boniello and Eloise Southby-Halbish - Phoenix Netball Team
• Emma Randall - Opals Basketball
• Desi Glaubitz and Elyse Penaluna - Bullen Boomers Basketball

The athletes were divided into five teams: The Allstars, Winter Sports, Swimming, Netball and Basketball.
Most of the celebrities had never held a gun before, but their athletic ability didn’t let them down, with the majority hitting at least a few of their challenging targets.
The Allstars team included Alisa Camplin, Tamsyn Lewis and BGA participant Kirsty Draper, who secured her spot in the team via a donation of $700 from her mother-in-law to the McGrath Foundation. Living up to their billing, the Allstars led the entire competition and the team’s members were awarded with a Beretta-engraved crystal trophy.
Tamsyn, the pin-up girl of Australian athletics and also a contestant on series five of Dancing with the Stars, had given shooting a go two times before with friends Russell and Lauryn. “I have absolutely had a ball every time I’ve come down here. It is such good fun,” she said.
Despite having dealt with intense pressure during Olympic and Commonwealth Games, both Tamsyn and Alisa found competing with a shotgun quite stressful. “I was so nervous…I was saying to Suzie (Balogh), ‘I do not know how you guys compete in an Olympic Games with that pressure. At least in my sport, the gun goes and you can run,” said Tamsyn.
Aerial skier Bree Munro was thrilled to be a part of the event. “I’ve never even had a gun in my hand before, but it was fantastic. I loved every minute of it. I was so nervous before the competition because I didn’t expect that many people to be here. But as soon as I got up there and had the first shot…I thought it was great. I can’t wait to do it again,” she said.
Along with Lauryn Mark, Olympic shooting gold medallist Suzy Balogh coached the celebrities during the competition and was proud of how they handled the new challenge. “They did brilliantly. Shooting is basically hand/eye coordination and athletes are coordinated. They did great.”

Raising awareness and money
In addition to raising awareness of the shooting sports, the BGA Day also raised $2000 for the McGrath Foundation, which was founded by shooter and cricket legend Glenn McGrath and his wife Jane. The Foundation helps fund the placement of Australian breastcare nurses.

Special thanks
Luca Scribani Rossi said the success of the day was a joint effort, giving thanks to the Melbourne Gun Club for hosting the event, the many event sponsors, including Hunter and Australian Shooter magazines and instructors, caterers and general volunteers. He gave special mention to Lauryn and Russell Mark for organising the celebrity shooting competition, Luca Cella for handling the event marketing, Greg Chan for organising the shooting trial and Gina di Lullo for coordinating the entire event.
While Beretta Girl Action was a first for the shooting sports, it won’t be a last for the many women who have since decided to make the shooting sports a permanent part of their lives.

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