DCRA Team to Barbados 2013 - Captains Report

It was with great pleasure that I accepted the DCRA’s kind offer to

captain a team of Target Rifle shooters to visit Barbados in May 2013 to

compete in the West Indies Full Bore Shooting Championships, an annual

event, and an ICFRA Australia Match.

Mr. Paul Archer from Ontario ably assisted my captaincy in the role of

Adjutant to the team. His local knowledge proved invaluable and his hard

work and thoughtful attention to detail resulted in a very well organized

and smooth tour experience. I am sure the whole team will join me in

thanking Paul for his efforts.

The team comprised:

Ric Melling, Captain Paul Archer, Adjutant

Alpar Katona Paul Dudzinski

John Chapman Murray Sloane

Gord Hulbert Tom Maynard

Gian Garro Stefan Isaacs

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Before describing the events of the tour I would like to record our thanks

to those who made our participation possible. At risk of omission, our

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thanks go to Des, Jim, Kathy and the DCRA team, Paul Bawden for the

team shirts and hats (the hats were a great idea), the ORA, ICRFA, the

BRA and of course the officers and staff of the Barbados Defense Force.

Thanks also to Stefan for maintaining the team Facebook page.

The tour commenced on May 8th with ten Canadian shooters and a

handful of family members meeting at Pearson airport from quite distant

locations in the Prairies, British Columbia, Ontario, the USA and Hong

Kong. We travelled to Barbados directly where William Murrell, the ‘man

who made it happen’ from the Barbados Rifle Association met us and

completed all formalities with great efficiency, taking us to our hotel by

mid afternoon. Our two rental vehicles arrived soon after and a short

foray to the local supermarket enabled us to stock up on provisions to

take advantage of the self-catering facilities at the hotel.

The next day we went to Paragon Range to assemble equipment and get

zeros at 3 distances with only the Australian team and our hosts for

company.

For the technically minded, the ammunition we used was HPS from the

UK, loaded soft for the ambient temperature and using the Sierra 2155

bullet. ICFRA targets were used throughout. We enjoyed a second day of

practice at which almost all competitors from Australia, Great Britain, The

Channel Islands and of course the West Indian countries; Antigua,

Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad, had gathered. The clubhouse

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was for sure a busy place. This was followed by a Meet & Greet at the

Barbados Garrison hosted by the Commander in Chief of the Barbados

Defense Force, a gracious host and a strong supporter of both the Cadet

movement in Barbados and the Barbados Rifle Association.

We held a team meeting each evening in one of the hotel rooms and

discussed the pertinent facts of the day and our team strategy for the

coming days. By the close of day two we had all come to the inevitable

conclusion that the pace of the event would not be the same as the crisp

’to the minute’ arrangements we normally experience in Canada.

Information was provided on a just-in-time basis and the clock hands

travelled at a variety of speeds. This was not a problem. One learns the

questions to ask and to adjust one’s expectations then all is well with the

world.

Day 3 represented the start of the West Indies Championship individual

event. After an opening ceremony and the firing of the traditional first

shot by ‘The Colonel’, shooting got under way in earnest.

In order to fit 136 participants into a 16 target range the event had been

organized to allow for two distances per day, a 2+10 and a 2+15 with

each competitor shooting either in the morning or in the afternoon and

allowing for a half day of relaxation on each of the four days of individual

competition. By the end of the first day of competition Canada had three

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shooters listed on the ‘first page’ of scores, led by Al Katona and Paul

Dudzinski. This was a good showing when you consider that both GB and

the Australians were fielding sizeable teams of ‘heavy hitters’ with the GB

team having been touring the Caribbean for three countries prior to

Barbados and were thus quite acclimatized to the heat (a little warmer

than the several feet of snow some team members left behind in

Winnipeg). We were also up against the ‘best of the West Indies’ on their

home turf. So three names on the first page was a pretty good start for

our small team of enthusiastic Canadians! We maintained that standing.

The four days of individual competitions went by only too quickly, with the

expected domination of the lists by some very familiar British names. The

best of the West Indies were from Guyana, with the Canadians mixing it

in among the local countries. It certainly proved a fertile learning ground

for all the team, most particularly those who had not toured before. High

heat, high humidity, vivid light levels and sunburn galore made acquiring,

maintaining and concentrating upon a good sight picture quite a

challenge.

As a team we had decided to savor the challenge and not focus needlessly

on scores. If we mastered the conditions, each of the team members

were capable of achievement and indeed each of us managed creditable

scores at various times, but we were being realistic about the quality of

our opposition who had come to Barbados to lift the Australia Match

crown. Our daily team meetings focused upon the more experienced

members coaching the team through the challenges we all faced in a

constructive and collaborative way. Careful applications of ‘coaching oil’

were administered to the team as a whole.

The West Indies Championships Team Matches, one day at long range

and then a second at short range, were keenly shot on what were our 7th

and 8th consecutive days on the range. The format was teams of eight for

both days, with Paul Dudzinski and John Chapman volunteering to coach

our remaining eight participants. No need for anyone to stress over

whether they had ‘made the team’ because we needed all hands on deck

for shooting, scoring, register keeping, running errands, sight checking,

rehydration and everything else the team has to do. We did prevail over a

couple of the West Indian country teams, but alas not all of them. Our

position relative to the Old Country and the Aussies was as expected.

Remember, we were focused on participation, not numbers, so if you

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want the scores, you will have to refer to the NRA UK website. They were

really focusing on avoiding the dreaded ICFRA 4 ring!

With the West Indies Championships over we elected to skip the one-day

practice session on the Friday and instead opted for a relaxing tour of the

island. This proved to be the right decision as some of our performances

were dwindling day by day due no doubt to the exhaustion and

dehydration. We had elected one of the team to keep a very careful watch

on his, if not everyone else’s electrolyte levels. Very important when

consuming, and losing several pints of water a day. Man cannot live by

water alone. It needs some additives. Being Barbados, the commonest

additive was sugar.

So come the day of the Australia Match and Team Canada was on the

range ‘looking our best’.

Our team of 17 contained the same 10 names each 1.7 times. That was a

workload that was guaranteed to cost us some points. Tom Maynard and

the Captain joined Paul and John in the coaching chairs but despite our

best efforts we could not keep up with the team employing dedicated

coaches, plotters, central coach, a Doctor and an Armourer. We were far

from competitive in every respect but we did achieve what we set out to

achieve. Canada was represented, stayed the course and indeed posted a

number of Highest Possible Scores at long range on the day. Tom

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Maynard’s 50.7 at 900 yards was the best on the range. Well done Tom

on the gun and John in the chair.

We were ‘pipped’ in the Australia Match by a couple of points into 4th

place behind the West Indies team. That said, it was a good match, in

excellent conditions, with a fair wind and an absolute ‘stair-rodding’ of

rain half way through the 1,000-yard stage that we followed upon restart

with a plumb V bull.

The Prize Presentations were held at the Barbados Museum on the

evening of the last day. There were a lot of prizes to present, Barbados

having preserved their West Indies closed prizes and effectively

duplicated the prize table to allow for ‘open prizes’ as well. As is

customary in the West Indies, each team gives mementos to the other

teams and Canada focused its contributions on the West Indies teams.

How can one summarize a report on the 2013 DCRA tour to the West

Indies? Excellent camaraderie, Good humor, First class team spirit, Best

efforts by all, Great hospitality, Excellent shooting, First class

sportsmanship, Great people! Canada needed to be there not only to

continue a long standing friendship between our country and the various

West Indian shooters and to advertise shooting in Canada, but to support

the efforts of these smaller National Associations to keep the sport of Full

Bore Target Shooting alive internationally. Canada was there! We played

our part as a team and every man on the team played their part to the

full and in the best of spirits and I would like to thank every one of them

for being such a wonderful team and such great ambassadors for Canada

and the DCRA. Team Canada, you did yourselves proud!

Ric Melling

Captain.