Another very busy Sunday afternoon session with 26 shooters.  Many thanks to everyone for helping out where needed, especially with so many of our senior members away.  It was great to see some of our brand new shooters learning to mark targets – the more involved you are in the running of the club, the more enjoyment you get from the sport.

Four more new members were moved into slings yesterday, with some excellent results particularly Summer O’Dwyer 87.0 and Leilani Fam 84.1, and almost all who made the transition last week shot a higher score this week, notably Mila Ballara 90.1 and Georgia Karantze 88.1.

Of the four first-time shooters using the rest, Preya shot highest with 80.1.  Top shot in D Grade this week was Luisa Kristen with 93.1, followed by Jamie Yee 92.2, Alex Hill 92.1 and Daniel Mackey 91.1.  In C Grade Neakiry Kivi shot extremely well (96.4) after being kept very busy with helping with the move to slings and coaching new shooters.  Craig Fair also shot well in B Grade with 97.4, Dianne Grain topped A Grade with 99.6, and David Grain finished an inner ahead of Meredith Ackrill to be highest in Master Grade with 99.7.  Meredith scored the highest 20-shot score this week of 197.11, including 100.7.

Congratulations to Evan Little on winning A Grade at the Colyton Open Champs with an extremely impressive score of 299.18.  Evan shot in the final 10, finishing in 3rd place overall.  Well done!  Dianne Grain, Meredith Ackrill and David Grain also competed, all scoring 293, then shooting in the final 10 present, with David scoring best out of the Brooklyn shooters in the final (197.11).

The first of the Rees Scroll trials were held yesterday morning, with the top three all Brooklyn members (Meredith Ackrill 391.20, Dianne Grain 390.20, Ross Little 390.17).  The second trials are being held next Sunday at 9.30am, with the final trials the following Sunday.  Wellington need a minimum of 22 triallists for their two teams so if you are a self-sufficient shooter and would like to have a go, simply turn up at the trials next Sunday.

The grading season is from 1 April to 30 September, and all shooters need to record all their competition scores within this period.  Attached is a blank scores spreadsheet to use, or ask at the club next week for a hard copy version of this.  The Excel spreadsheet automatically updates your average and your grade for next season as you enter each score.  It also gives an indication on the right-hand side of how close you are to achieving the next grade.  This grading record will determine your grade for the 2016 season.  If you are unsure which column to record your scores into, firstly look at the example page, and feel free to ask a senior member at the club.  There’s no need to record inners, just your whole numbers.  It’s much easier to get into a habit of recording your scores each week, rather than getting to the end of the season and trying to remember what you’ve shot when.

There are still a few subs outstanding.  These do need to be paid promptly (either at the club or direct into the club’s bank account 38-9005-0731057-01 using your name as the reference) so that the necessary paperwork and affiliation fees can be finalised and forwarded to the regional and national bodies by the upcoming deadline.

The Bulls Open Champs is being held on Saturday at Palmerston North, with the Rangitikei Open Champs in Marton the following weekend.  If anyone wishes to enter either of these matches and requires club equipment to be transported, please let me know.  A reminder that if you are interested in selection to a North Island team, you need to complete a minimum of four open champs between now and the end of June.

The Target Shooting Business House Challenge (poster attached) is being held on Friday 17 April at 6.30pm.  If you are able to form a team of non-shooting friends and/or workmates, please let me know so that we can organise equipment and coaching.  This is a WSRA fundraiser with the proceeds coming back to Wellington shooters and shooting facilities.

Upcoming events:

  • Saturday 11 April, Bulls Club Open Champs, Palmerston North (poster attached).
  • Sunday 12 April, 9.30am, Teams of Ten trials, 2x20.
  • Friday 17 April, 6.30pm, WSRA Business House shoot (poster attached).
  • Saturday 18 April, Rangitikei Open Champs, Marton.
  • Sunday 19 April, 9.30am, Teams of Ten trials, 2x20.