NEWS / REPORTS FEBRUARY 2010
February 2010 Shooter Profile - Welsh Lady Trap and Sporting Shooter - Helen Jones
This is the magic tenth shooter profile we have published so far and this month we move to a talented lady shooter by the name of Helen Jones who shoots trap and sporting. Although Helen has only been shooting for 4 years, she has been a regular in various counties team events and has also gained a Welsh international cap in 2009.
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Another very interesting shooter profile, so over to Helen Jones:
Question 1. What disciplines do you shoot?
Helen>> I am currently shooting mainly DTL with a bit of Sporting and ABT. In the new the new year I will concentrate on ABT and DTL. Until last summer I mainly shot sporting.
Question 2. What type of gun are you using?
Helen>> I started shooting a Beretta 20 bore, then a Beretta 12 bore sporter. Last year I bought a Perazzi SC3 trap gun.
Question 3. Is there a specific ammunition you favour or tend to use?
Helen>> I usually shoot Eley Superb, as anything with more kick gives me a bad elbow.
Question 4. What's your background in shooting, when did you start, where did you start?
Helen>> I started shooting 4 years ago while on holiday at my brother’s home in Scotland (as my sister in law had already started). I didn’t initially want to shoot as I disliked guns, but my sister in law insisted. Thanks Margaret, although you’ve cost me thousands !
Question 5. List of your achievements to date?
Helen>> I won a few small local sporting prizes. I have shot for Powys at ABT, DTL, Skeet and All-Round. Last year I switched to trap and won a cap in the Welsh ABT team at the home international in Scotland. I managed to be Welsh ladies high gun at the international. I won the Welsh inter-counties ladies high gun trophy a couple of weeks later with my best score of 87.
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Question 6. Most memorable shoot/performance?
Helen>> Wearing the Welsh badge! I felt a lot of pressure, but the rest of the team made me feel more at home.
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Question 7. Who are your close shooting friends?
Helen>> Husband Ian, Dick ”Ty Mawr” and Rose. Also Jonathon, Lisa and Luke of Mid-Wales shooting centre. Charlie Snelgrove was a great support on my line at the international.
Question 8. Influences, coaches or people who've helped your shooting?
Helen>> I have had lessons since I started from a few coaches. Earlier this year I started having lessons regularly from Peter Croft. Peter made an enormous difference to all aspects of my shooting and has given me more confidence. Hopefully he will be able improve my shooting next year. I am very lucky to count Arthur, Rita, Jonathon and Lisa from the Mid Wales Shooting Centre as very close friends. Their support, encouragement and endless enthusiasm just make you want to shoot. We have such fun at the Ffinant, it is like home from home.
Question 9. Top tip for your chosen discipline?
Helen>> Get good tuition from a knowledgeable coach. Get a gun that fits. Then go for it!
Question 10. What are your hopes for the future ?
Helen>> More women shooters especially in Wales, so we can be more competitive.
Question 11. What are "your personal ambitions and goals" within shooting for the foreseeable future ?
Helen>> I would like to get in welsh ABT team again and would love to compete for overall ladies high gun. I would also like to get in the Welsh DTL team.
Many thanks Helen for submitting another very interesting shooter profile. We wish you every success for the future and we hope your personal goals are achieved.
Mid Wales Shooting Centre - Shoot Re-Schedule
One of the main Welsh events that starts a new year of trap shooting is the Welsh Double Rise and Single Barrel championships. This shoot was again to be held at Mid Wales Shooting Centre on Sunday 14th March 2010 - but because of the clash with the World DTL in South Africa, the management have decided to postpone the shoot.
The new date for the Welsh Double Rise and Single Barrel championships is September 26th 2010.
On Sunday 14th March Mid Wales will now hold 100 Reg DTL and 100 Reg NSK, see their website for more details:
Mid Wales Web Site
News of an Exciting New Website by Ken Griffiths
One of our members - Ken Griffiths has created an exciting new area for all you Welsh shooters to gather and share in your experiences. Ken has been creating a number of entries in his blog and his followers have been adding their comments along the way, leading to quite a constructive area for sharing information about shooting in Wales.
You can view Ken's blog here:
Clay Shooting Wales Blog
Please note - Kens blog is an independent website and administered by Ken himself. As such any views expressed on the mentioned site are not those of the WCTSA.
WCTSA Executive Meeting Minutes
Minutes are now available to read of executive committee meetings, starting from December 2009.
http://www.wctsa.co.uk/minutes.html
Shoot Information - ABT - SW2000
South Wales 2000 has a 100 A.B.T competition on March 14th. There will be 250 shells up for High Gun Prize sponsored by SW 2000.
Vacancies
The WCTSA vacancies page has had a number of Executive and Counties vacancy updates recently, please view this page for more information:North Wales verses South Wales National Skeet Competition - Mid Wales Shooting Centre - 14th February 2010
The first of what will be an annual North Wales verses South Wales national skeet competition was held at Mid Wales Shooting Centre on February 14th and was a tremendous success.
The weather conditions were about as perfect as you could have expected in February, a lovely bright sky with no wind, dry, but very chilly. Despite the recent continuing bad weather conditions, with a lot of Wales still under a blanket of fresh snow, over thirty competitors were determined enough to attend this first competitive meeting between the members from the North and South. So what constituted being a North or South Wales team member? – it was simple an imaginary line was drawn across Wales which went straight across Mid Wales Shooting Centre, so if you lied either side of the line – that was your team for the day.
Since the event was a registered shoot it made for some excellent and determined competition. At the half way stage Huw Evans led the way with a score of 49 ex 50, followed closely by Rob English, Lloyd Morris and Gareth Irving all on 48 ex 50. These front runners were trailed by no less than eight other competitors in close pursuit on 47 ex 50.
By the end of the day the Southern team just managed to win by a couple of targets (by counting the top five scores from each team).
The trophy for the high gun of the winning team went to Rob English with a very satisfying score of 97 ex 100. Huw Evans ended on 96 (having dropped three on his last round), whilst the top lady guns were Angie Goodman and Deena Griffiths both finishing on 95 (both girls are looking in good shape!!).
The day was well organized and ran like clockwork. We would like to thank all the staff at Mid Wales SG for helping stage the event.
This new event on the Welsh skeet shooters calendar was the brainchild of Huw Evans and it is hoped after its success this year that even more people will make the effort to attend next year.
Some pictures from the event follow:
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Report: Huw Evans
Final 100 Bird National Skeet Winter Series - South Wales 2000 - 14th February 2010
Good targets and good weather greeted the shooters for the last National Skeet winter series held at South Wales 2000. There could be absolutely no excuse for missing the targets, apart that is for gun operator error! A big thank you to Mike Amodeo and his team, for hosting the shoots through out the winter.
Two shooters who posted scores of 98 each were well known to each other, brothers Chris and Garry Ingram. Well done to you both. Alan Parking shot a credible 96, Andy Pearce making the trip across the sever bridge posted an uncharacteristic 93.
Most knew it was St Valentines day, but it was also Angie Oliver's birthday, Sian produced a cake and Angie was happy to cut and share.
Thanks to the guys who entered the competition, especially being St Valentines day I expect more that a few of them stopped off on their way home to buy flowers and chocolates.
Some pictures from the day follow:
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Report By: Mark Davies
Official WCTSA Statement - Llandegla Shooting Ground
After a number of requests from WCTSA members concerning the current status of Llandegla shooting ground and the WCTSA, the following official statement has been released:
"At this present time the WCTSA Ltd are in discussion and trying to resolve the situation with Llandegla Shooting Ground but until this is completed, unfortunately, scores are not being registered with the WCTSA."
WCTSA Executives
Gwent County Skeet Qualifier – SW2000 - Sunday 7th February 2010
An excellent days shooting, favourable weather conditions and good attendance at SW2000. The cold dry conditions provided the foundation for some excellent shooting.
The first squad of the day was to produce some early pace setters in the form of Mark Davies and Mark Legge both shooting 24’s, Alan Parkin shooting the first 25 straight. Squad two saw two further straights from Natalie Davies and Kevin Phillips, and Squad 3 saw a 25 straight from Chris Ingram.
The second round again produced some excellent shooting - John Thomas 24, sporting shooter Wayne Lewis 24, Mark Davies 25 straight but Alan Parkin and Chris Ingram were on fire both shooting 50 straights.
It was good to see a mixture of shooters, Neil Evans who has only been shooting for a few months and showed some excellent potential. Sporting shooters Adrian Osment and Wayne Lewis with their tight chokes entertained us by turning many clays into clouds of dust. Shaun Clifford returning to the skeet scene with style.
Well done everyone. Big thanks to Mike and Margaret Amodeo for their support and providing one of the best grounds in the country.
Top scores were:
Alan Parkin 50
Chris Ingram 50
Mark Davies 49
Natile Davies 48
Kevin Phillips 48
John Thomas 46
Rob English 46
Mark Legge 45
Wayne Lewis 44
Angela Oliver 43
Jeff Seabourne 43
Shaun Clifford 43
A selection of photographs from the event follows:
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Report By: Kevin Phillips (Gwent Skeet Co-ordinator)
Gwynedd's County Skeet and Sporting Qualifiers Report
On the 24th of January in glorious but rather cold conditions, Gwynedd held their first combined Skeet and Sporting Qualifiers, comprising of 50 Skeet in the morning and 50 sporting in the afternoon. This is the 2nd year we've used this format and it seems to be popular amongst all the shooters.
Our thanks goes to the County co-ordinator Keith Hill whose excellent organisation meant that everything went smoothly on the day.
We had 6 shooters trying for a County team place for the very first time, and although having very little experience they all shot well, well done lads - Dafydd Jones, Dewi Griffith, Dave Jones, Barry Hughes, Rhys Davies, and W Musgrave.
Skeet
As is always the case, the scoring was close, with the top five being within 3 birds of the high gun score. It's such a pity we had no ladies again this year, although Sue and Christine should have had a go, I don't think they like getting up at 7.00a.m. for the 2 hour drive ;-)
Some people had a disastrous round (yes it was me Gwyn !!! - before you tell everyone else) and a few shooters shot much better than they had ever expected.
Top 10 scores were:
1 Gwyn Richards 47
2 Ken Griffiths 46
3 Elgan Pugh 45
4 Keith Hill 44
5 W Glyn Jones 44
6 Adrian Jones 41
7 Dennis Evans 40
8 John H Jones 39
9 W Musgrave 35
10 Bob Carter 35
Well done Gwyn on your first high gun score, keep it up.
Sporting
As usual Mid Wales gave us a great mixed variety of easy and hard birds over the five stands.
For the sporting we had 16 shooters including two lovely ladies (thanks Chris and Sue), a junior and a Colt. I think this was the best turnout for many a year, and it makes all the work behind the scenes worthwhile.
Apparently the ladies have promised a night out with whoever is high gun, as an incentive to get us to shoot well. Glyn, you might be a veteran now, but could you handle them both old man?
As in the skeet the scores were close between the top 5 right up to the last stand.
Top 10 scores were:
1 Elgan Pugh 44
1 Ken Griffiths 44
3 Keith Hill 43
4 Gwyn Richards 38
5 Dennis Evans 37
6 Sion Evans 35
7 W Glyn Jones 33
8 Dewi Griffith 31
9 Christine Carter 31
10 Sue Gauton 30
I look forward to seeing you all on the 28th of February at Dyfi Valley shooting ground, for the second set of qualifiers.
Report by: Ken Griffiths.
National Skeet - Team Structure Changes
Please note changes to the structure of the Welsh national skeet international team for 2010 - the team will now consist of 3 Veterans, 3 Ladies and 3 Juniors (previously 2 per team).
DTL International Fixtures - Date Change
Would all DTL shooters please note that an Welsh international team qualifier was scheduled for 13th June 2010 at Mid Wales - which clashes with the English Open (which some Welsh shooters attend). This date has been changed to one week earlier - 6th June 2010.
National Skeet - Shoot Reminder
A reminder to all Welsh National Skeet shooters - after last months cancelled shoot due to bad weather:
This is a registered 100 bird shoot."
Huw Evans has kindly donated a trophy for the event, so this is the stunning piece of glassware you will all be shooting for:
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Welsh Coaching Officer - Job Opportunity
A terrific opportunity had arisen for somebody to become a coaching officer for the Sports Council of Wales. This is a salaried position and would suit somebody wishing to develop Sport and coaching within Wales as a profession.
We have been asked by the Sports Council to announce this position within the Welsh clay shooting sector, as they are publishing it to all sports sectors in the hope of widespread response.
PDF's are available to download for further information.
Application forms and further job descriptions can be seen at the following website address:
Want to see more reports this month ?
Why not send in a quick report from the shoot you are going to next and get you and your friends a bit of exposure in this months news section !
Shooter Profiles
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