For the team’s last training weekend before the Imperial and our subsequent departure on tour, it was lovely to see the Hot Rod Hayride come and celebrate with us in the sunshine. This was our last chance to really bond as a team, fine-tune our drills and take care of the last bits of admin.

Saturday morning saw us gather on Stickledown, unsure if the Hayride would prove much of a hindrance, but any fears were ill-founded. In fact, their presence meant that we were all allowed to park in front of the 900-yard firing point, making things slightly easier if anything. The team, ably led by a young and athletic James Postle, were guided through all sorts of stress positions to warm us up prior to shooting. John Ritchie’s ammo was absolutely on point as well, leaving us shooters with very few places to hide. Luckily, very few needed an excuse, making the best use of the ammo to shoot some great elevations, with our brilliant coaches doing the rest for some really good scores. The afternoon saw more of the same at 600 yards, but one round of 2 sighting shots and 20 to count (20!!). Again, nearly the whole team were on song with some terrific scores coming in. The head coach was happy (well, ish!). Suitably debriefed, we marched off to get changed for our official team photo, a special moment, especially for those of us getting our first GB cap. This was slightly more successful than our lunchtime photo opportunity with our latest sponsor, Jaros, the famously happy ice cream man whose appearance behind the firing point leads to everyone's delight.

Sunday saw us tested against the GB Australia team. The match was 2&15 at 300, 600 and 1000. Scoring was high all round, fuelled by the excellent hogroast at the BCRC the night before, washed down with some Doom Bar served to many by a beautiful barmaid (Chris Watson). Our famously hard-to-please head coach was very happy after the long-range shoot, with the A team averaging a score of 73 ex. 75 across 10 shooters, with some very fickle winds. Our performance was enough to take victory over the GB Australia team, though it must be said that our vice-captain’s superior ammunition was responsible for much of the gap between the teams.

So, spirits high, the sweet taste of victory on our lips, and the sun still beating down, there was only one thing to do: enjoy some ice cream from our new sponsor, kindly paid for by the Captain.

Lastly, the team would like to thank The Artists Rifle Club for their continued support (and buckets of halloumi fries!) along with all of our sponsors. With only 39 days until we meet at Bisley to go on tour, the countdown is well and truly on!

SDJG