Huge thanks to our many helpers for the first week of the introductory programme.  While we’re primarily looking at consistency, special mention needs to be made of a number of extremely good scores achieved: Hugh Guiney 91.2, George Eyles 91.1, Oscar Watson 83.0 and David Grahame 82.2.

In the club practice session, Meredith Ackrill top-scored with 99.5.  Great shooting!  Only a few braved the hot conditions this week, with top shot in each of the lower grades going to Aiden D’Souza 84.0 (D), Amalamo Simi 88.1 (C), and Mark Riley 96.4 (B).  It appears there’ll be a good spread across the grades this year, providing healthy competition for a place in the interclub teams.

A reminder that Teams of Ten nominations must be emailed back to me by Saturday 10 March, as accommodation arrangements in Tauranga need to be confirmed by next Monday.  A copy of the information sheet and nomination form is attached.  Give it a go!  It’s a great weekend away, with the opportunity to meet shooters from all around the North Island.

A couple of quick notes:

• Welcome back to Rory Leonard, returned from his travels through Europe, and straight back into helping out at the club!
• Many thanks to Mark Riley for the very impressive new squadding board.  Mark’s joinery talent is much appreciated by the club and includes our ammo blocks, shooting rests, ladder, squadding boards, and the wheeled rifle racks.
• Congratulations to Oscar Robinson on gaining a place at Monash University in Melbourne to study medicine – a huge accomplishment, well done!
• Congratulations also to Michael Grain on his second successful Taupo Ironman race, improving on last year’s time by a phenomenal 1 hour 20 minutes to finish in 9 hours 31 minutes.
• David Grain has been selected to be a member of the TSNZ Indoor Committee – please contact him if you have an idea or viewpoint you would like put forward to the rest of the Indoor Committee.

I’d be keen to hear what others have been doing during the summer break – I’m hoping the club can focus a little more on the social side of shooting this season and get to know each other better.

Next week we’ll follow the same format as this week: introductory programme for new shooters at 6.30pm, followed by a practice session for current club members from 8.00pm onwards.  The club competition will commence on 18 March.

Upcoming events:

• Saturday 10 March, deadline for Teams of Ten nominations.
• Sunday 11 March, 6.30pm, introduction programme.  Assistance required from 6.00pm each Sunday.
• Sunday 11 March, 8.00pm, club practice session for current members.
• Friday 16 March, 7.45pm, WSRA AGM.  Please attend.
• Sunday 18 March, 6.30pm, introduction programme, followed by club competition commencing at 8.00pm.
• Sunday 25 March, 6.30pm, final week of introduction programme, followed by club competition at 8.00pm.
• Sunday 25 March, 8.00pm, club competition.
• Sunday 2 April, 6.30pm coached and 8.00pm non-coached sessions commence.