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The ISSF Rifle Judges course was an intense
two-day affair, writes COLIN WATSON. Held at the Lord Roberts centre
within Bisley Camp, it was quite an experience for Gavin Walker, Iain Malone,
John Buchanan and Jim McIntosh, but particularly for myself as it was my first
visit to Bisley. The course featured around 17 people, some of whom had held C
licences before. A fair amount of work had gone into studying for it, especially
bearing in mind the course had been aborted before Christmas, but hats off to
Gavin who had to do a lot of cramming in a short time as he was unable to attend
the original date and the cancellation proved a blessing in disguise. He, along
with all the Scots, managed to pick up a high enough score to qualify for a B
licence - except of course that as we were sorely lacking in practical
experience we will have to stick in for the next year or two and officiate at
events across Britain to make the grade.
The course was run by British Shooting's David
Goodfellow with a major contribution from the ISSF's David Parish. Their
combined knowledge is huge and, in between a series of tests throughout the
weekend, they were able to offer plenty of advice, engage in discussion - often
extremely animated - on the many rules and constant updates and new
interpretations. For those who stayed on camp for the Saturday, there was an
excellent meal served up in the Army Target Shooting Club and made for a relaxed
atmosphere to blether and wind down after a long day. And for that I think I
don't grudge Parish having two desserts or for Scotland being blamed for
Britain's banking ills...
Sunday brought more of the same, with the course
touching on subjects such as electronic scoring targets, Olympic finals set-ups,
future rule changes and air pistol events. It's apparent to all of us that this
is only the beginning of a long, hard road but one which will hopefully benefit
Scotland's shooting sports community. For our next competition...load!
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Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association
