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Day 10 – 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship (final day)
Day 9 – 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship (continued)
Day 8 – 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship
Featured Team Members
Andrew Lothian
Andrew was given a .177” air rifle for his seventh birthday. As he was absolutely useless at ball sports, he was delighted to discover something he could do.
He was lucky enough to attend Epsom College where he didn’t work very hard, but really got hooked shooting the good old .303”. He was in the school’s first ever Ashburton winning VIII in 1973, the month before he toured to Canada as an Atheling, where he shot like a drain.
Life then got in the way of shooting in Canada, spending the next 42 years flying airliners for a living, but still managed to shoot in the UK. He did squeeze in tours to New Zealand and Australia in the ’90’s, competing in a couple of Australia Matches and a Palma. He’s hoping his wife Alison didn’t notice. He toured with his son James in 2009 to Bloemfontein. As they were both missing, Alison probably twigged that one! After an interval of 38 years, he shot at Connaught in 2011 and again in 2019.
Now that he is retired, he indulges himself shooting as much as he can. He is passionate about supporting youth shooting, running the .22” range at a local Prep School and helping out at Epsom. Unsurprisingly, he is looking forward to meeting long standing Canadian friends and forging new links with others.
Reg Roberts
Reg is a Chartered Accountant who owns a recruitment agency in the South of England. Although Australian by birth, he arrived in the UK in 1983 and the country has suffered ever since! He started his shooting career as a cadet in 1971 when laid up with a rugby injury.
Reg has toured overseas on 11 previous GB teams including 7 to Canada, one to Australia in 2005 as Captain and was a target coach for the GB Palma winning teams in 2007and 2015. His personal achievements include 25 Queen’s final badges, 6 Grand Aggregate crosses and 12 St.George’s badges. Inducted into the ‘big five’ in 2016, he Captained the winning Kolapore match that year with a record score on ICFRA targets.
His is married to Jennifer and has four children, two of which, Nick and Tim, are already avid fullbore shots. Reg’s other hobbies include fly fishing, share investing and the development of a golf resort in British Columbia.
Tom Rylands
SC
Having accepted he will always be in the ‘Senior’ section of any team he tours with Tom is delighted that he is still shooting well enough to be selected!! He is also pleased to be continuing his recent run of DCRA meeting attendances with what will be a return to Borden 35 years after his last visit – he is hoping little will have changed apart from the trees being taller!!
Tom’s first Bisley was in 1978 and he hasn’t missed one since – his first visit to Canada was in 1988, on his first GB Tour, and he has represented GB in 5 Palma Teams and 6 Australia Matches as well as returning to Canada in 1998, 2017, 2018 (as Commandant of the Athelings), 2019 as England Team Captain and 2022. This year has already been busy with trips to USA, Kenya and South Africa.
After an initial career in the agricultural industry, Tom is now a gunsmith and shooting coach, is heavily involved with Cadet Shooting as National Chief Coach, Army Cadets and coaches 2 schools in the Bisley Schools meeting.
Along with 3 well known international shooters, he recently set up a new barrel making company in the UK; Phoenix Barrels, and is finding their products to be much in demand! Tom looks forward to catching up with his many Canadian friends again and will try not to go overboard on technical detail!
Jon Underwood
GM GC2 SM2
Jon’s passion for target shooting started at the tender age of 11 at Aldro School on a 20 yard range in a converted greenhouse. Jon continued to enjoy the sport, learnt about fullbore shooting and ‘Bisley’ when he moved to the Royal Grammar School at Guildford. With the sport becoming more than just a hobby, he continued his shooting career at London University, subsequently making regular appearances for Surrey County.
Jon has achieved a number of notable successes over the years including winning the Grand Aggregate in 2005 and 2009, the Queens Prize in 2006, and most recently the Governor General’s Prize in 2019. He has also been a member of many successful teams representing England and Great Britain. Back home, Jon looks after his family business interests in Surrey (handy for Bisley), including a tool hire business and property management and rental business and in ‘spare time’ has returned to Guildford Grammar School to help with the coaching. Jon also has the responsibility of looking after Ted – ‘The Underdog’!
