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OLD ALLEYNIAN SHOOTING CLUB While 2020 wasn’t the worst year for shooting events, 2021 dangled the carrot of a return to normality. Then, oops, more lockdown restrictions. The National Rifle Association decided to extend their ban on training new recruits. Teaching the prone rifle position can involve a bit of direct intervention and it can be difficult for an instructor to confirm the safety aspects of a new shooter from two metres away. However, those existing members who had previously furloughed their rifles, dusted them off and came out to play. The early season practice shoots started to feel like a return to normality. Everyone was rewarded for their patience with a 50% reduction in their annual subscriptions with probationary membership offered for free. We fielded a full team for the first inter-school trophy shoot in April. The Q Match series starts with the Short Q - a 500 yard shoot falling back to 600. The Old Lawrentians, Framlinghamians, Bedfordians, Cranleighans and Albanians have been meeting up since the 1960’s to compete for trophies presented by the competing schools. Unfortunately the OASC did not carry home the Short Q Cup on this occasion but we were there! We were also there in July. We easily raised a team of five for the Public School Veterans shoot, part of the July Imperial Meeting at Bisley. I was particularly pleased to also be there in person. After 45 years of shooting this was the first time the date aligned in my diary and I could attend. I was rewarded by stealing the Christmas Cup from the previous holder, Neil Blaydon (56-62). Inevitably, the majority of the season’s shooting got pushed into the latter half of the year. But I’m pleased to say the final fixtures list shows we had one of the most active seasons to date with 10 shoots at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley. This was largely due to the enthusiasm of some recent leavers who have been introduced to shooting as a sport through the Alleyn Club and the OA sports and societies network. August is usually a month off from shooting but the holidays offered our new OAs the chance to get to the range mid week for a relaxed afternoon’s induction and training. Full-bore target shooting is tricky but everyone showed promise. If there are small-bore ranges at their universities, I hope they seek them out to refine their skills.
The remaining inter school old boys’ events got pushed back to September. The Quadrangular Cup/Lane Shield is now considered a major event by the NRA with Wellington, Bradfield and Marlborough all coming mob handed with their extensive school teams. The organisers report that the schools love shooting as a sport as it offers equal opportunities with many of the girls out gunning the boys. We shot alongside these bright young things and most of them put us to shame. Inevitably, the same can be said of the old boys’ competition and the Lane Shield went home with Wellington. Our annual alumni play off against St Albans went ahead with the Old Albanians retaining the Arnold Cup on this occasion. They arranged a Ritz style afternoon tea at the LMRA in lieu of a more formal evening dinner. The format worked well and will be repeated. I wanted to ensure the maximum attendance for the club trophy shoots so the Sturges Shield, Tuckerman Tankard and Club Championship shoots were scheduled for Sunday afternoons in October. We had an excellent turnout for all. To ensure a level playing field, we use the Macrae Handicap scoring system for both the Sturges Shield and Tuckeman Tankard. Congratulations to Nick Fordham (84-86) for winning the shield and Associate member Adam Cornbill for winning the Tankard. Interestingly, they would even have won on gun scores alone, so it was absolutely a fair fight. Fittingly, our final outing was the Club Championship. When I scheduled the event for the 24th October, I was ribbed for introducing a frost bite shoot into the fixtures list. As it happened, the mild autumn gave us a glorious bright blue sky day that you would be pleased to see in any English summer. After some excellent individual scores in the previous matches, I was expecting a tough battle to retain the magnificent Stringer Cup. But the sunshine and threat of stiff competition gave me just enough focus to have to clean it once more. Looking ahead, we are ever grateful for the continued financial support from the Alleyn Club. It will enable us to continue subsidising membership fees to OAs with a 50% discount for annual subscriptions. New joiners and returning probationers will still have free probationary membership. There has never been a better time to join the club. If you would like to try your hand at target shooting, please contact us. Pete Leggett (68-76) Secretary OASC
OAFC RUGBY CLUB
October 2021 saw the Senior Men's rugby return to competitive league fixtures following Covid restrictions. Particularly welcome was a return to training on the newly resurfaced 3rd pitch and it is great seeing the playing fields busy once again with Age Grade rugby on Sunday mornings. At the AGM David Yaldron joined the committee as the Honorary Treasurer, Helen McIntosh as Facilities Member, Alastair Carnegie responsible for IT and Communications, Tom Chambers as Senior Players member and Piers Cleaver as Community member. The Club was fortunate to have had a financial surplus before the pandemic and we have sought to spend our reserves prudently. The fire and loss of the old wooden shed at the top of the drive, additional security measures and pitch works, as well as the lease renewal over the last year have required support and assistance from many members, for which the Committee is very grateful. The fundraising for a new defibrillator exceeded our target and we are now able to provide two defibrillators that can be accessed from both the Clubhouse and the changing room. If you would like a copy of the Chairman’s report please email info@oarfc.club. Rugby for all! We continue to be active through our schools community outreach programme ‘Give it a try!’ which now delivers rugby programmes in three local state secondary schools and one state primary school (with more in discussion currently). As our outreach programme expands we increasingly find that we engage with more young people who are experiencing financial barriers to their further involvement in the game at club level. As a consequence we have created ‘Rugby for all’ which is an awards programme that supports young people and their families financially to ensure that no child is excluded from rugby at the club. Past Players Lunch The Past Players Lunch took place on Saturday 4th December followed by 1st XV game against Charlton Park where a sizeable crowd gathered to watch the OAs achieve a convincing 60 -19 victory.
Neil Blaydon presenting Pete Leggett with his first Christmas Cup win at the Public School Veterans Shoot at Bisley
Probationary member Manish Tiwari at the 300 yard electronic range at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley
Neil Blaydon at the 300 yard electronic range at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley
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