SSAA Peel Valley

New South Wales Club Profile

Each year thousands of country music fans descend upon Tamworth in NSW for the largest annual country music festival held in the Southern hemisphere. Tamworth, the Country Music Capital of Australia, is also home to the SSAA Peel Valley Branch. Formed in 2006, the branch is made up of three shooting clubs: Peel Valley Rifle Club, Tamworth Clay Target Club and Tamworth Pistol Club. The governing committee consists of two members from each club and is led by President Bill Caley and Vice President Greg Hill.

Bill says the principle aims of the branch are to promote shooting and the safe handling of firearms to the general public, grow the clubs and encourage junior shooters.

The three ranges used by the Peel Valley Branch allow the 170-plus members, including two Olympic and Commonwealth Games shooters, access to more than 30 different disciplines.

The Peel Valley Rifle Club has a clubhouse and a 700m range with mounds positioned on each of the 100m markers.

The Tamworth Clay Target Club has five Down The Line traps, four Skeet layouts, one Ball Trap layout and one Sporting Clays layout. It has a clubhouse and toilets. The grounds are very well kept, making it one of the tidiest clubs around.

The Tamworth Pistol Club has seven ranges: one Air Pistol range, three 25m ranges with 30 turning targets, one 50m range with 25 turning targets, one 100m Pistol range and one 200m Benchrest range. It too has a clubhouse and toilets and it also is equipped with a catering shed, target sheds and covered shooting areas.

The Peel Valley Branch has been given a 30x19x8m shed, which will be turned into a new Pistol clubhouse featuring an Air Pistol and Rifle range upstairs. Training rooms will make up the downstairs area. When it is finished it will be a $600,000 facility.

Peel Valley Branch shares its facilities with the local police, security groups, corrective services staff and the Australian Army.

Future plans include buying five new Brno .22-calibre rifles, which the branch will lend to the Tamworth Air Force Cadets. It is also looking to establish a junior shooting program to promote the sport and the branch.

The clay target and pistol clubs provide training for all new licensed shooters and new members. All three ranges have an open day each year to introduce people to the sport.

The clay target club and the pistol club own their own land and are open every day. The rifle club is on leased land and is only open on Saturdays. All three clubs have a large number of visiting shooters.

For more information contact: phone 0428 668 173.