Bringing home the Silver – and Gold and Bronze …

Big wins at the National Scout Rifle Championships

Wow, what a weekend! While international sport was unkind to us, the weather was better than expected and our scouts did their very best. This October, Richmond upon Thames District saw Scouts and Scouters from 1HH, 3HH, Erik and Peake ESU take part in the National Scout Rifle Championships. There were approx. 600 competitors which always creates an unexpected range of results, because you just never know who’s going to have a good day! A huge well done to everyone and especially Lauren, Evie, Digby and Matilda who did particularly well.

As a District, we came away with 19 medals and four trophies, including the Junior Connaught for overall national U14 champions.

The coveted Junior and Senior Connaught trophies, were originally presented to Robert Baden-Powell from his friend the Duke of Connaught (Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria’s third son). The Senior Connaught is one of the oldest known trophies still active in Scouting, first presented in 1911, while the Junior Connaught was presented in 1925 and has also been won by teams in South Africa, Jamaica, Canada and New Zealand.

Here’s a list of highlights:

• Knock-out Senior: Bronze – Wend Williamson (3HH);
• Turning Target U14: 14^th Evelyn Schaapveld (1HH) out of 59;
• Turning Target U18: 9^th Saken Mukan (Peake) out of 47;
• Turning Target Senior: 7^th Thomas Tasso (3HH) and 9^th Elaine Davies (1HH) out of 35;
• Smallbore Advanced: Bronze – Lauren Mackernan (Erik), 4^th Tilly Tiffin (3HH), 6th Thomas (3HH) out of 42;
• Smallbore Sharpshooters Shield U18: Gold – Lauren (Erik, for the 2^nd year running) and Silver – Tilly (3HH);
• Target Sprint Senior Beginners: Bronze – Edward Davies (1HH) out of 21;
• Target Sprint Junior Beginners: 8^th Digby Young (3HH) and 17^th Theo Chevalier-Stebbings (1HH) out of 40 (it’s tough, especially in the rain!)
• Target Sprint Senior Advanced: 6^th Sam Barnes (Peake, 20 seconds quicker than last year) out of 21;
• Field Target Senior: Bronze – Alan Burns (1HH);
• 10m Sporter: Tilly (3HH) came 4^th out of 81 (missing out on a tie-break for 3^rd and just one point behind 2^nd);
• Vintage rifle, having been lucky enough to use a vintage 1920’s rifle: Wend (3HH) came 4^th on a tie-break for 3^rd and Paul Fitchett (3HH) 6^th out of 28;
• U12 rifle: Digby (3HH) 7^th just 5 points behind 1^st and Karina Fowles (1HH) 11^th out of 68;
• Pistol Senior: 6^th Lauren (Erik) out of 351;
• Pistol Junior: Silver – Digby (3HH, just 2 points behind 1^st), Bronze – Evie Mackelworth (3HH) and 7^th Matilda Castle (3HH), out of 235;
• The Chief’s prize is awarded to the scout U14 achieving the highest aggregate score, adding rifle, pistol and field target together. Out of 242, 3HH had Scouts in 2^nd, 3^rd and 9^th (Evie, Digby and Matilda respectively, with Evie just 2 points behind 1^st);
• Team pistol is comprised of each group’s top three U14 scouts on the day, combined with the top adult: Gold – 3HH (Digby, Evie, Matilda and Wend) and 7^th 1HH (Karina, Thea French-Brown, Amelie Botha and Edward) out of 33 teams; and
• Team rifle is comprised of each group’s top three U14 scouts on the day, combined with the top adult: Silver – 3HH (Matilda, George, Evie and Wend) and 7^th 1HH (Dez Kordyl, Karina, Theo and Alan) out of 33 teams.

The Connaught trophies are the pinnacle of the event defining overall national champions U14 and O14. Each team comprise three Scouts, pre-nominated ahead of the event, whose rifle, pistol and field target aggregate scores are combined:

• Senior Connaught: 4^th Saken Mukan, Tilly and Thomas, missing out on 3^rd by just one point, and Peake in 7^th out of 51 teams; and finally
• Junior Connaught: Gold and overall national U14 champions – 3HH (Evie, Digby and Matilda a clear 40 points ahead of 2^nd). 3HH B team were 7^th and 1HH 10^th out of 42 teams.

Needless to say, a massive well done to all!

Wend Williamson
3HH Skills Instructor and target shooting lead
NSRA Club Instructor Airgun
3rd Hampton Hill Scout Group