3 July 2013

National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Surrey

Following the successful inauguration of their Military Adaptive competition in 2012, the NRA are not only including the event in this year’s Summer meeting, but are also extending it to include a Civilian Championship. 

The Military event, to be held in the morning, is open to any current or former member of the Armed Forces who has a disability, regardless of whether their disabling injury or condition occurred in-service.   

In the afternoon, the Civilian match is open to anyone with a disability, even complete novices, as instruction and assistance will be provided on the range.  We have been asked to emphasise that this competition is open to people who have no military service background at all. 

Detailed information about the courses of fire and how the matches will be conducted can be downloaded from the NRA’s website, along with separate entry forms for the Military and Civilian events.  Winners will receive their trophies and medals as part of the prize-giving for the main military meeting. 

Anyone who is interested in entering but would like to talk to an experienced participant to find out more about it is welcome to contact Olaf Jones, the NRA’s Disability Representative, who was a prize-winner in last year’s event. 

We are great believers in saying “thank you” and trying to ensure that those who put a lot of work into making target shooting a great sport are recognised and appreciated. Accordingly, our inaugural awards scheme has been launched, and nominations can be made now.

Award categories include not only disabled shooters, but coaches, volunteers, clubs, shooting grounds, etc. The full list is set out in the Conditions of Entry. The nomination process is simple, and completed forms can be submitted by e-mail, post or fax.

Please don’t be shy about putting someone forward – download the documents, or request them by e-mail from the DSP Co-ordinator, Liz Woodall.

The closing date is Sunday 30th June (please note that this is an extension from the original date).

The awards will be presented on Sunday 8th September - information about the event will be published shortly.  

Thank you!

Between the middle of February and the end of March we held six Regional Conferences, which a total of 100 delegates booked to attend, although some did not make it due to the weather!  We were delighted that the delegates represented almost every target shooting discipline, and included coaches, range officers and volunteers as well as club officials and disabled shooters at all ability levels. It was particularly good to be able to welcome representatives from some external bodies interested in disabled target shooting.

The most remarkable thing about this round of conferences is that they were the first ever events in our sport to which were invited people from ALL target shooting disciplines, participating in any capacity and at any level. It was absolutely wonderful to see six groups of people from completely different shooting backgrounds all getting to know each other, swopping ideas and information, and leaving as good friends. We would like to thank all these pioneers for what they have helped to accomplish in the sport as a whole, not only on the disabled shooting front.

Read more: DSP Regional Conferences 2013

British shooter Laugharne Jones, who competes in Olympic Trap from his wheelchair, is in Cyprus to represent Wales in the Clay Target Grand Prix. For those who would like to follow his progress but who are not Twitter users, we are using his tweets to compile a micro-blog here. (Timings are GMT, 2 hrs behind Cyprus)

Read more: CT News from Larnaca

The NSRA has announced the team selection for the European .22 and Airgun Benchrest Championships 2013.  The event will take place at Plzen, Czech Republic, from 3rd to 16th August.  

The 17-strong team includes three Juniors.  The Team Manager will be Andy Dubreuil, who is taking on other roles within the sport since making the sad decision to give up his own shooting for medical reasons.  

The full selection list is published on the NSRA website. 

A new initiative for the NSRA is the use of a dedicated website for this national meeting.  The site sets out the match programme, has a blog and photograph gallery, and will show results live as the events are running.  

We are publishing the results for disabled competitors here.

Read more: GB Airgun Championships - Results

Clay Target competitors are gathering at Larnaca in Cyprus for the Grand Prix which runs from 22nd February to 4th March.  British shooter Laugharne Jones will be taking part, and hopes to follow up his medal-winning success in the 1st Disabled CT Grand Prix in Italy in 2011. 

The event is hosted by the Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation.  If we are able to obtain relevant results and news from the organisers we will publish them here. 

 Follow Laugharne on @LaugharneJones.  

This is the latest addition to our suite of leaflets covering various aspects of disabled target shooting.  It gives an outline of the disciplines governed by the National Rifle Association, and highlights the most accessible options for those with disabilities.  The leaflet is available in our Downloads, and included in the DSP information packs.  Hard copies can be requested from DSP Co-ordinator Liz Woodall.