Thanks to all those who helped with cleaning on Sunday night.  It’s very satisfying getting the job done thoroughly and quickly with so many helping.

The competition season has almost concluded.  Congratulations to Alex, Finn, Gerry, Jaz and Rob, members of Wellington Association’s winning team in the C Grade inter-association match against Hutt Valley.  Congratulations also to Bex, Evan, Meredith and Stephen, for winning the inter-association Open Grade inter-club winners match against Pauatahanui.

Alex, Eleanor, Zahra, Evan, Finn, Inge, Jaz, Rob, Mark R, Meredith and Stephen shot in the Wright Cup and Osmond Shield competitions on Saturday.  Unfortunately for us, Wellington Central fielded excellent teams, beating Brooklyn by five points in both competitions.  

Closed Champs Results

Congratulations to Brooklyn members on their success in the Closed Champs competition:

Master Grade:

• 3rd place - Meredith
• 4th place - Bex

A Grade:

• 1st pace - Evan
• 2nd place - Stephen
• 3rd place - David

B Grade:

• 1st place - Inge
• 2nd place - Mark B

C Grade:

• 2nd place - Jaz

D Grade:

• 3rd place - Rob
• 4th place - Alex

Juniors

• 3rd place - Alex 

Congratulations also to Bex, Evan, Meredith and Stephen for making the Closed Champs Final Ten, which was shot tonight.

Grading return due 4 October 

A reminder that all members need to provide a record of all their competition scores shot between 1 April to 30 September year to Meredith by 4 October, so the club can provide members’ grading returns to TSNZ in early October.  See the 14 September club update for details.

Sunday - final comp cards, fun shoots, rifle cleaning

Our final competition night is on Sunday.  This is your last chance to shoot club competition targets.

After the first couple of rounds to permit everyone to shoot their last competition targets, we will have some fun shoots.

In between it would be great if everyone could lend a hand cleaning the club rifles.

Summer Shooting

Brooklyn’s Sunday night shooting will resume in late February 2026.  However, South Wellington is continuing to shoot on Thursday evenings until mid-December, and Wellington Central is continuing to shoot on Monday evenings.  

For those using club gear and interested in keeping up their practice over the summer, you are welcome to come along on Thursday evenings from 7pm.  A Brooklyn committee member must be available to provide access to your gear.  Please confirm your interest by email, and we will set up a group chat to confirm arrangements.

Upcoming Events - we’re not finished yet:

• Sunday 5 October: final club night
• Sunday 12 October: Brooklyn prize giving from 4pm at Wilton Bowling Club - all welcome, including families (details to follow)
• Tuesday 14 October, 7:30pm, Royal Tiger
  • WSRA Champion of Champions competition: Grade champions from all clubs compete - Brooklyn Grade champions will be announced after Sunday 5 October shooting is completed.

• Saturday 18 October, 6pm: WSRA end of season dinner and prizegiving  - all welcome.

It was great to see so many on Sunday, after a busy couple of weeks of shooting.

TSNZ Secondary Schools Competitions, Palmerston North, 5-7 September

Congratulations to Eleanor, Filly and Sienna for representing Samuel Marsden College, and to Eli and Mikey for representing Wellington College (together with Wellington Central’s Eric).  This competition comprised 20 college teams from across the country.  After the teams competition, the top 12 shooters from the North Island colleges shot against the top 12 shooters from the South Island, and then the top 12 shooters from those teams represented New Zealand in a postal competition, while the other students participated in a combined teams match.  Everyone did a lot of shooting over the weekend!  Special thanks to Craig and Meredith for coaching, transport and managing the Marsden and Wellington College teams, and to Phil Hore for helping out as well.

Candymans Cup Winners

In May Wellington Association won the North Island Teams of 10 competition.  Last week Wellington’s team shot against the South Island corresponding match (Andrews & Faulkner) winner, Christchurch, for the Candymans Cup.  Wellington won, woohoo.  Congratulations to Bex, Meredith, Stephen, Mark B, Evan and Inge for their part in the winning team.

Interclub Success

The Wellington Association interclub competition ended at the beginning of October.  Brooklyn won the Open Grade competition, Ngaio won the B Grade competition and Wellington Central won the C Grade competition.  All winning teams will compete on Friday against Hutt Valley Association interclub winners.

C Grade Interassociation Competition 

Also on Friday, a 10-person C Grade team from Wellington Association will compete against Hutt Valley Association.  Good luck everyone!

Grading return due 4 October 

All members need to provide a record of all their competition scores shot between 1 April to 30 September year to Meredith by 4 October, so the club can provide members’ grading returns to TSNZ in early October.

What's this all about?

The grading return calculates your average score for the season.  This determines your grade for next year.  It is important that you submit your grading return so that next year you can shoot in the correct grade, against people who are getting similar scores to you. This means we can have fair competitions.

What are the grades?

Master = 97.75 and above

A = 96.50 to 97.74

B = 94.00 to 96.59

C = 90.00 to 93.99

D = 89.99 and below

Where do I find my scores?  What scores do I include? and other questions

The grading return spreadsheet provides information about what scores to include and where to find your scores, if you haven’t been recording them.  Please have a look, check out the worked example on the second tab, and raise any questions at the club on Sunday.

Do I really have to do this?

Yes, all members must submit a return.  This is part of your commitment to the 2025 shooting season.

Upcoming events

• Friday 19 September, 7pm, Royal Tiger
  • Interclub Winners: Open Grade team to be selected
  • C Grade inter-association competition: Finn, Rob, Gerard, Jaz (emergency), Alex (emergency)
• Saturday 20 September, North Island Championships, Palmerston North (see attached flyer)
  • Members using club gear wanting to shoot in this competition MUST advise Inge before Friday
• Saturday 27 Wright Cup and Osmond Shield competitions, 7pm, Royal Tiger 
  • Teams to be selected - most of the club will be involved 
• Sunday 28 September
  • 6pm club night, week 5 of series 4 of the club competition
  • Cleaning duty
• Tuesday 30 September, 7pm, Royal Tiger
  • Closed Champs Final Ten
• Sunday 5 October: final club night
• Tuesday 14 October, 7pm, Royal Tiger
  • WSRA Champion of Champions competition: Grade champions from all clubs compete

Save the date

• Sunday 12 October: Brooklyn prize giving - all welcome (details to follow)
• Saturday 18 October: WSRA end of season dinner and prizegiving  - all welcome (details to follow)

Hoping all our first year shooters valued Sunday’s learning to use a scope session.  Do persevere with using a scope.  We’ll run the session again for those who missed out.  

Success at North Island vs South Island competition

Congratulations to Bex and Meredith on their success at the national North Island vs South Island competition in Nelson at the weekend.  Their superb shooting in the North Island Women’s Team and the North Island Open Team contributed to both North Island Teams winning against the South Island.  Their superb shooting also earned them places in the New Zealand Women’s Team and NZ Open Team (individually qualifying 1st and 2nd i.e. shooting the top 2 scores), to compete against the UK.  Results were posted on the Wellington Smallbore Rifle Association Facebook group, for those interested in following our representatives and other local competitions in future.

Secondary Schools Competitions

Good luck to Eleanor, Filly, Sienna, Zahra, Eli, Leo, Mikey and Nakul on Sunday, shooting against other Wellington and Hutt Valley secondary schools.  As this competition is being hosted at our range, we would be grateful if parents who stay could help with target changing.  All competitors are asked to stay until all shooting has finished, as prize-giving will follow.  The top 12 shooters from Wellington are selected to compete against the Hutt Valley and Manawatu schools teams in a triangular inter-association match on 31 August.

For those staying on to participate in club night on Sunday evening, we’ll organise pizzas (or something similar) for dinner.

Visitors this week

We have six or so visitors coming along to try out target shooting on Sunday from 6pm.  Please do help out where you can.

Practice doing a 20-shot

First year shooters are reminded to get some practice doing a 20-shot, as the final round in the Secondary Schools Shooting (SSS) Championship competition, due in September, is a 20-shot.  You can do a 20-shot on round 4 and any round after.

Upcoming events

• Saturday 23 August: Wellington vvd Hutt Valley vs Wairarapa triangular match, 12:30 for 1pm start at the Royal Tiger Range: Alex, Bex, Eli, Evan, Filly, Finn, Inge, Mark B, Meredith and Stephen, plus Mikey and Rob on call
• Sunday 24 August
  • 1:30pm for 2pm start, Wellington vs Hutt Valley Secondary Schools competition, Round 2, Royal Tiger Range, Newtown: Eleanor, Filly, Sienna, Zahra, Eli, Leo, Mikey and Nakul
  • 6pm Visitor night AND club night, break week in the club competition
• Friday 5 Sept to Sunday 7 Sept: TSNZ Secondary Schools Competition, Palmerston North:  Eleanor, Filly, Sienna, Eli and Mikey

Save the date

• Sunday 12 October: Brooklyn prize giving (details to follow)
• Saturday 18 October: WSRA end of season dinner and prizegiving (details to follow)

A very busy Sunday of shooting, with our secondary schools teams shooting at Hutt Valley on Sunday afternoon, and carrying on with club night in the evening.  

Well done to Filly, Eleanor, Sienna and Zahra for representing Samuel Marsden College, and to Eli, Leo, Mikey and Nakul for representing Wellington College on Sunday afternoon.  Shooting at an unfamiliar range is always a challenge, as well as the busyness of so many shooters all at once.  You will have home range advantage for Round 2 on 24 August!

Interclub success

On Tuesday Brooklyn convincingly won the C Grade interclub match against Melrose: congratulations to Finn for top scoring with 99.7, and to Jaz for shooting 98.1, both of which earned the team bonus points in the competition.  Brooklyn also convincingly won the Open Grade interclub match against South Wellington: congratulations to Stephen for top scoring with 198.12 (including a 100).  

Different format on Sunday

Bex, Meredith and Mark are all away this week, shooting in the national North Island vs South Island competition.  The top shooters in this competition will go on to represent NZ - so we wish them well. Stephen will also be away this weekend.  

So we’re going to change things up for the first few squads, to focus on learning how to use a scope.  Using a scope will help you to better understand your shooting.  You will be able to observe what occurs when you take your shot (where did the rifle settle, on the centre of the target or up/down/left/right?) and immediately compare by observing your shot target through the scope.  Over time, this will enable you to adjust your position or your sights when needed.  Don’t worry, coaching won’t cease, but you will become more independent over time.

We’re also going to change things up for the senior shooters in the later squads, with 20-shot squads available on demand from round 5 onwards.  If you want to shoot a 20-shot, just note it on the squad sheet and prepare your cards accordingly.  Those completing a 10-shot card may quietly leave their gear and exit the range at the 12 minute mark. 

Upcoming events

• Sunday 17 August
  • 6pm club night, break week in the club competition; playing with scopes
• Sunday 24 August
  • 1:30pm for 2pm start, Wellington vs Hutt Valley Secondary Schools competition, Round 2, Royal Tiger Range, Newtown: Eleanor, Filly, Sienna, Zahra, Eli, Leo, Mikey and Nakul
  • 6pm Visitor night AND club night, break week in the club competition
• Friday 5 Sept to Sunday 7 Sept: TSNZ Secondary Schools Competition, Palmerston North:  Eleanor, Filly, Sienna, Eli and Mikey

Save the date

• Sunday 12 October: Brooklyn prize giving (details to follow)
• Saturday 18 October: WSRA end of season dinner and prizegiving (details to follow)