As the year comes to a finish, the STS Olympic Shotgun Shooters follow in the steps of William Wallace and head to lay siege on York for the BS SGS British Championships.

The event took place over the weekend of the 30th September to the 1st October 2023 at East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground, one of the UK Premier Grounds for Clay Target shooting.

Representing Scotland were Issy Mackintosh, Ewen Ross, Ewen Patience, Allan Ritchie and Keith White.

Weather conditions over the weekend made the Scots feel at home, with a mixture of warm sunshine and rain, a typical Scottish summer. Conditions where good during qualifying, but the rain started to fall as the finals began, which put the team in a challenging, but good environment.

Junior Ladies

Issy Mackintosh, last year’s gold medallist, put in another great performance in the junior ladies shooting a 103 ex 125 to make the finals. After a hard fought first 25 targets, sadly Issy was eliminated.

We asked Issy, how was series and final?

Excellent. Although a little disappointed not to have medalled at the final, I was pleased with my overall performance throughout the series. Standards have risen, and this has set a benchmark for me to develop from. My thanks must go to STS and Marco for his input and support.

What about next year?

Hopefully next year will bring greater success, and perhaps further selection to represent the GB Junior Ladies.

Senior Mens

The senior men’s section saw both Ewen Ross and Ewen Patience put in great performances, clearly showing the strength of the Scottish team, and the development that has taken place this year.

Not on par with his Scottish Senior record of 123 ex 125, but 118 still showed his abilities to compete with the best the UK / World has to offer.

We asked Ewen, What next?

The series for me has been excellent, I feel that my shooting has developed further, and I am on track to meet my goal of representing GB at Major Competitions in the further. Many thanks to STS for the support, and Marco for is input that has clearly aided my development.

Alongside Ewen, was Ewen Patience, who again put in a great performance shooting a personal best of 119 ex 125, that placed him in a shoot off for the finals.

Digging deep, Ewen performed well and achieved Bib 4, given that the senior males is the hardest and most competitive section of the BS Series, this is an achievement on its own.

We asked Ewen, how he felt about such an achievement?

Over the moon and feels surreal that I achieved the finals of the hardest fought section of shooters. The work put in over the last year, has been pinacol in my end of year success. To shoot against 2 x Olympians and a World Record holder and hold my own is some achievement. Somewhat disappointed to only achieve 4th, but to be only 1 target behind thr current finals world record holder is an achievement in itself. I’d like to offer my thanks to both STS and Marco for the support and encouragement over the last year, and looking forward to next year, where I have medals in sight for the BS series.

Para Trap

Down on strength this year, Scotland only had Allan Ritchie and Keith White able to attend (sadly Michael Drever had just returned from the WSPS World Champs in Lima, Peru with his 4th place success was unable to attend) to hold the fort for Scotland.

Returning from a period of injury, Allan has had a mixed year.

We asked Allan how did it feel to back in competition?

Amazing, and I must admit I never thought it would happen. To be away from a sport I love for nearly 18 months due to injury, takes allot of effort to get back into the mix.

How has the year gone for you?

Better than expected. I realised that I would not simply return and compete at my previous standards. But, with good input from Marco and the support of my fellow shooters, it happened, and words cannot describe how that feels. I am a little disappointed with my performance at the BS SGS Championships, but this has set a good benchmark as to what standard I am at and what I need to achieve next year to be back on the podium for Scotland.

Keith White has had a mixed year, we asked Keith to reflect upon 2023.

The year was ok, but not as planned. Never made it to the WSPS World Cup due to flight issues, and had a very disappointing performance in Lima, Peru at the WSPS World Championships. But that said, the BS SGS series has been excellent. I manged to attend all four of the qualifying rounds, winning Silver, Silver, Gold, and Bronze. The Championship weekend was straight after my return from Lima, and to be honest, I did not expect to perform at all due to food poisoning, but somehow, I manged to find that little extra and make bib 1 in the final.

How did the final go?

Beyond belief is the only way to describe it. The weather changed to rain so I felt quite at home, the training a that Marco has provided kicked in, and I put in a world class performance shooting 45 ex 50 for the final. This not only secured me the gold medal and the retention of my previous years title of UK Para Trap Champion, but also a new Scottish Record for a Final, which I am extremely pleased with. I could not have done this without the support of STS, with the input and support from Marco our coach. And I have to say, the support from my fellow shooters have been excellent, and thank you to all for that.

All at STS would like to congratulate all our Olympic Shotgun Shooters, not just for a great performance throughout 2023, but the effort that they put in to progress their shooting abilities.

We are looking forward to their continued growth and success throughout 2024.

Report by Keith White, STS Performance Programme Athlete