SSAA membership at an all-time high
by senior correspondent Jennifer Martens
In the past 18 months, overall membership in the Association has increased by more than 4 per cent, with New South Wales and Queensland experiencing the largest gains. As a result, with 120,300-plus members, participation in the Association is at an all-time high. The SSAA is Australia’s largest sports shooting organisation. Because of that, it is able to provide its members with many benefits including:
• liability insurance
• a cache of five different magazine titles (Australian Shooter, Australian Hunter, Australian & New Zealand Handgun, ASJ: The political voice of the SSAA and The Junior Shooter)
• representation at the United Nations and at Australian federal and local governments
• hundreds of SSAA ranges located throughout the country
• top-level coaching
• access to hunting properties
• Hunting & Conservation organisations in each state and territory
• the Shooter’s Gallery, a large classifieds section featured in the Australian Shooter and now available online at www.australianshooter.com.au
• up-to-date news and industry-related information via a first-class website at www.ssaa.org.au
At any given SSAA range or in any part of the Aussie bush, you will find men and women of all ages and backgrounds sharing equipment, stories, experiences, tips, time and their real enthusiasm for their sport.
More than 90 per cent of SSAA members are keen hunters, making the introduction of the Australian Hunter magazine in 2000 a much-anticipated event. Within the SSAA, there are groups of shooters dedicated to the preservation of native Australian species. These members use their shooting skills to assist in the conservation of native animals and in the management of non-native species and they form the SSAA’s Hunting & Conservation branches.
In the late 1990s, the Association began promoting itself as the ‘safe, fun, family sport’ and while there have always been families in the sport, family memberships really took off as a result of that campaign. Similarly, junior shooters have always been a part of the Association, but it wasn’t until August 2007 that the SSAA really began trying to build that segment of the membership through the ‘Sign Up A Junior’ campaign.
SSAA National President Bob Green said, “Juniors, defined as aged under 18, are critical to the ongoing strength and vitality of SSAA membership…The whole point is to introduce them into the world of shooting at an early age, even if it’s just reading about it or having the facts of sports shooting and hunting explained to them, so that if they choose, they can enter the sport at a later stage.”
Since then, junior membership has increased by a massive 30 per cent and 28 per cent of all juniors within the Association joined through sponsorship. These youths are the sport’s leaders, ambassadors and potentially the Olympians of the future. Bob’s message then is just as relevant today. “As the SSAA National President, I call on all member parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts to sign up their youngsters and introduce them to the many benefits of recreational shooting. By becoming a member of the SSAA, juniors will gain a sense of ownership of the Association.”
To sign up your kids or a junior shooter you know, check out the ‘Sign Up A Junior’ membership form in the latest Australian Shooter or The Junior Shooter magazines.
If you are not already a member yourself, why not join the thousands of Australians who make up the SSAA and help keep the shooting sports a respected part of Australia’s sporting community? Check out the SSAA membership form in this magazine or visit www.ssaa.org.au
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