In March 2014 we are putting the spotlight on shooting for those who are blind or visually impaired. This is because there has been a significant upsurge of interest in this area of the sport, so we are using this month to highlight the opportunities available, and to introduce our plans for the next twelve months. Below is a round-up of all the latest news on this topic - there is quite a lot of it!
Those who are new to the concept of blind participation in target shooting can find out about it in our introductory article, which also includes some notes on the latest developments in additional disciplines. There is also an overview by VI shooter Hussain Patwa.
Anyone who is looking for somewhere to try acoustic air rifle shooting can check out the list of clubs which have the equipment for it.
The British Blind/VI Championships were held at Aldersley on the first weekend in March. A report and the principal results can be found in News about Events.
New Club
We are delighted to welcome the opening of the latest acoustic shooting facility to be set up by the indefatigable Ken Nash, who has been the key man in developing this discipline in Britain over the last 20 years. Ken travelled to the Isle of Man for the usual installation and training process, and the Manx Acoustic Shooting Club was born. Our report has links to various local reports of the event, including a video by Manx TV.
On the Radio
A crew from BBC Radio 4 attended the first day of the British Championships and produced an excellent report that was broadcast on the In Touch programme a few days later. The programme also included an interview with blind journalist and broadcaster Sean Dilley who shoots clay target at the Lea Valley Shooting Ground in Hertfordshire. For those who find this hard to believe, there is a video showing how he does it.
On the TV?
We have also been contacted by one of the TV channels seeking information about blind biathlon, with a view to including a piece about it in one of their programmes in the run-up to the Winter Paralympics. If this is broadcast, we will add details here. In the meantime, anyone who would like to find out about this challenging sport can view a video that has just been released by IPC Shooting.
Crossbow
On the domestic front, Acoustic Sporter Crossbow, which has been demonstrated at several of the DSP's promotional events, is becoming popular. Blackburn Acoustic Airgun Club are getting so keen on it that they would like other clubs to take it up so that some competitions can be introduced for it. Any clubs interested should contact John Lloyd at Blackburn - as usual, grants should be available to cover the cost of acquiring the equipment.
We have been receiving a lot of enquiries about blind/VI shooting from London and the south east. At the moment, the only clubs with acoustic aiming equipment in that area are Tubslake Shooting Centre in Kent and SportsAble at Maidenhead in Berkshire. Clearly we need to find several more clubs willing to acquire the equipment (which can be fully grant-funded), and/or some blind/VI support organisations with premises where 10-metre ranges can be set up for this purpose.
During this month we are liaising with existing clubs in the area that have airgun facilities, with British Blind Sport, the London CSPs, and several blind/VI groups. The aim is to arrange a meeting or conference to agree on the best way of meeting this demand, and then helping those clubs and venues that are willing to set up the facilities. Naturally, we will be very pleased to hear from anyone interested in this exercise - particularly clubs who would like to get involved. Please contact Liz Woodall to register your interest and be kept informed.
Other areas
In other parts of the country we have been encouraging and supporting more clubs to offer acoustic shooting. Ken Nash, and hopefully his newly-recruited apprentice will be kept busy this year setting up at least half a dozen more facilities.
After a lengthy period of gestation, the DSP's flagship scheme for accrediting clubs that are able to cater properly for people who are disabled or less able was officially launched at the Disabled Shooting Gala on 9th September.
Leicester & District Smallbore Rifle & Pistol Club was the first club to pass the benchmarking process and receive its Focus Club certificate. We are very grateful to them for agreeing to be the pioneers of a brand new system. A number of other clubs have already applied to follow Leicester's lead. It looks as if our Focus Club Administrator, DSP Volunteer Dave Poxon, is going to be kept very busy for some time, keeping up with the demand.
Target Shooting as a sport has very little data about both the disabled and less-able people who are taking part in it, and the grass-roots organisations that are catering for them. Until very recently none of the national governing bodies held any such information, and due to the limitations of existing computer systems it is going to be some time before they can start collecting it and assembling statistics.
Meanwhile, not unreasonably, Sport England want to know what is being achieved with the money it is providing for development of disabled target shooting. In addition, we often need information about participation levels to provide support for funding bids, planning applications, and so forth.
Now that our Vimeo and YouTube channels are up and running alongside our Flickr album, the DSP will be very grateful for contributions of video and/or still photographs relating to any aspect of disabled target shooting. If you are able to let us have suitable material, or know someone else who can, please read on - and spread the word.
Because these are the first awards, naturally there are many people and organisations that deserve recognition, and the process of selecting these inaugural recipients involved a lot of difficult decisions. Those who nominated candidates not selected this year should not be disappointed; there’s always next year, when we may also introduce more categories.
26th October 2013
The DSP's exploratory workshop conference on how target shooting can cater for people with intellectual disabilities was extremely interesting and useful. An article about it is in Major Events.
Our YouTube channel was set up a while ago, and has been used to gather Playlists of video published by other people that is relevant to the DSP's work. This is a resource that we will continue to expand as more material becomes available, so if you find anything on YouTube that could useful be added to our channel, pleasesend DSP Co-ordinator Liz Woodall a link to it.
We are now delighted to announce that a Vimeo channel has been set up for us by NoneSucheMedia, who are working with us on production of a range of videos about disabled target shooting. Available now on this channel are:
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