IF NOT YOU THEN WHO? The end of the year is approaching and as it does we must once again start thinking about forming a new committee for the coming year. The number of people on the Committee is limited by the SAFGA Constitution to 12 people. This is not enough to run a club such as ours which has set such a high standard for itself. Rocky Gully now has a well deserved reputation as being one of the leading sporting clay clubs in Australia. This is on the back of the development of our facilities and the proven ability to present great targets and to back that up with excellent organisation. We have run a series of very successful major events including several national championship and most recently the 28th FITASC Oceania Sporting Championship earlier this year.
The next really big project is going to be the construction of a new amenities block including showers, toilets and facilities for people with a disability. We also need new furniture for the club house dining area and shade over the deck. There has also been talk about creating DTL and skeet layout and perhaps even a Trench layout. It needs to be remembered that Trench (Olympic Trap) now comes under the auspice of FITASC and SCA and opens a path to the Olympic Games. Who knows what the future holds? We only know that it will be different from what we have now.
The point being that we need a lot more than 12 people to be able to do this. Thankfully we have a team of helpers who regularly come forward to assist with big events. Without this group we simply could not put on the big events. We need to nurture both this group of helpers and our long term committee members some of whom are approaching that time when they will need to step back. The Committee has worked hard over the past few years to attract and keep new members to its ranks and has been successful in bringing several new people on the Committee and they and the long term members of the Committee deserve a big vote of thanks from all Sporting Clay shooters.
However this is an ongoing and unending task. Each year we must attract new people onto the Committee and into our merry band of helpers. If we do not, or cannot, we risk the long term future of our Club as the arteries thicken and the pulse slows, eventually the workers burn out.
With this in mind this coming Saturday the Committee is trying a new approach to target setting as a way of trying to attract more people into this critical aspect of running our Club. Saturday is the Set Up Day for our July shoot and new people are encouraged to come and try their hand at setting some targets. A Planning Meeting will be held at 9.00am sharp led by our President and July Shoot Coordinator Patrick Torrens. Small teams will be formed and under the guidance of Patrick and the more experienced people will each set one or two stands (depending on the number of teams). After lunch, which will be provided by the Club, Patrick will inspect the stands and give feedback to the setters. This will provide a vital learning opportunity as people will get real hands on experience and feedback so they can actually start to learn the dark art of target setting.