Shooting Stars
School shooting team is bang on target.
When you think of Birkenhead School and sport, what comes to mind? I bet not many of you think of shooting. But, recently, Birkenhead School has emerged as a real force in the shooting world, and many of the established shooting schools have found Birkenhead more than a match.
Lest anyone think last summer’s success at Bisley was a mere flash in the pan, School returned an excellent performance at the recent LCRA regional shoot. Competing against schools from as far away as Dollar Academy, Birkenhead School won the Individual, Pairs, Eights and Tens competitions.
Cpl Swift took silver in the Formby Cup, the individual competition, and when he teamed up with Cdt Ince, they carried off the Pairs Trophy. Add CPO Qaisar, Sgt Lander, Ld H Macauley, and Cadets Neish, Ramsbottom and Walsby-Tickle, and you have the team that won the Eights by one single point. Cpl Barnes and Cpl Thelwell filled the final two places, and that team convincingly won the Tens by a margin of 100 points.
Captain Alan Joseph, BEM, who manages the School Team explains the meteoric rise as follows: ‘When I first floated the idea of a shooting team I had the usual response in that several cadets were interested. What has been exceptional is the commitment they have shown, the hours of practice they have undertaken, and their enthusiasm and self-discipline.’ What Captain Joseph is too modest to mention is that his extraordinary ability as a coach may also have had some impact on the team’s fortune.
Many schools in the shooting world are boarding schools, and adopt an almost professional attitude, with practice facilities available all term, often on the premises. We at Birkenhead are truly ‘amateur’ in our approach, and our results speak for themselves. July 15th to 20th will be a supreme test, as we have Bisley titles to defend, and Alan Joseph hopes to enter a total of 40 different events.
