Clay Target Shooting By Warrant Officer Class 1 Phil Parks
A successful 2022 season has seen the Clay Shooting Team develop with the assistance of an Overseas training camp.
Growing the Team The regular Open/Novice events has meant that a greater number of personnel, from all branches of the Corps, have been able to try their hand at Clay Shooting in a safe environment. This led to an increase in those wishing to represent the AGC competitively as well as some personnel even organising Clay Shooting events for departmental development.
Overseas Training Camp
As there had been a lot of change to the team so the focus of the 2022 season was to select and develop the team from grass roots. Several selection and training sessions were conducted and with invaluable assistance from the AGC Association the opportunity was provided to conduct the first AGC Clay Target Team Overseas Training Camp. The training took place in Cyprus where Clay Shooting is a National Sport and involved personnel across several branches of the AGC. Hosting the event in Cyprus gave the team a great opportunity to shoot challenging targets, at a variety of shooting grounds, without having to travel too far on the Island. There was of course the added benefit (and hindrance) of the Mediterranean sunshine to test the resilience of individuals, which allowed them to not only develop how they shoot a specific target, but also how they prepare themselves and their equipment beforehand. The aim of the training camp was to not only develop the senior members of the team but provide expert coaching to the new cohort to grow their confidence and expose them to competitive shooting. This was brilliantly achieved using