Abingdonian 2017
66 The Abingdonian Shooting This past year has been very successful for the Rifle Club thanks to the tireless work of our coach Alan Smith and the excellent shooting of all the Club members. Beginning with the Michaelmas term, our previous A and B teams had secured positions in division 1 and division 2 in the inter-school leagues. However, pressure was on our teams to maintain their positions in the top divisions. Things started off very well with the A team coming second in their division and the B and C team winning their respective divisions. During the leagues, the Autumn meet at Beckley range took place. Club members competed against fellow shooters of all ages from across Oxfordshire. Despite the age handicap, our team did extremely well with Henry Waterson and James Magé winning the C and D classes respectively. Following this, 10 Abingdon shooters participated in the annual Winter Shooting competition at the Lord Roberts Centre in Bisley. This is the largest school shooting competition in England with around 200 of the best young shooters in the country taking part. Overall, the competition was a success for our team with all our shooters placed in the top 100, and a few making the top ten. Unfortunately, we were not able to defend our victory from the previous year, but it was a valuable experience shooting outdoors for all those who took part. Moving onwards to the Lent Term school leagues, after the success in the Michaelmas Term, we were looking to progress in our divisions. A whole term and many targets later, the A, B and C teams had all achieved first place in their respective divisions. The annual shooting competition between Abingdon School and Stade took place during the Easter holiday. At this event, we welcomed shooters from Stade, Germany and participated in a friendly competition, as has been the tradition for the past years. During their stay, we showed them around Oxford and London before taking them to Bisley where the competition was to be held. We had hoped to beat our guests and level the playing field but after a close-fought competition, we walked away with a marginal loss. Next year the Club members will be travelling to Stade to take them on again on their home turf. Finally the Summer Term. As this term was the last time our current captain, Henry Waterson, would be with us, we wanted to do our best possible in each division. The A team came second in division 1 by a slight margin. However, the B and D teams won divisions 2 and 3 respectively and the C team performed admirably in division 2 despite the tough opposition. Starting at the end of this year, there will be several staffing changes in the Shooting Club. Mr Aitken, the master in charge, for the past few years will be leaving and, on behalf of the entire Club, we would like to say thank you for all the hard work he has put in. In his place Mr Johnson of the CCF will be stepping in. Lastly, with our club captain Henry Waterson leaving at the end of the year, Anthony Yang and James Hogge will be taking over captaincy of the Club with Benjamin MacLennan as the Lower School captain. Looking back, 2017 has been another successful year for the Club and it continues to look promising next year. All that is left to say is congratulations to all the shooters and we look forward to seeing you at the start of next term. Anthony Yang, 6BW
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