The rifle shooting program at The Armidale School will be enhanced with a $10,500 grant from the Department of Sport and Recreation, which will go toward upgrading facilities at the school’s small-bore range.
Used by the TAS Rifle Club and other groups, the 25m range in Brown St, east Armidale, is the home of a sport that TAS has offered since the 1890s.
As part of the funding under the government’s Safe Shooting Program, the base of the target gallery will be concreted and lit, a security system installed, and a shipping container purchased for the storage of shooting equipment (but not firearms or ammunition).
TAS Shooting coordinator Trevor Thatcher said the grant will significantly assist in shooter safety, technical training and comfort.
“Rifle shooting is a precise and technical sport that requires participants to maintain a calm and self-controlled demeanour, in addition to a good technical knowledge of the rifle and its sight adjustments, weather conditions, and ammunition fired,” he said.
“The promotion of close teamwork is also a characteristic of the sport at TAS, as the boys not only compete as individuals at events, but also as teams at prize meetings and the AAGPS Shooting Premiership.”
The funding is part of an almost $40,000 project that is also being funded by the TAS Old Boys’ Union, Parents and Friends Association, TAS Rugby Supporters Group and TAS Foundation.
