Clay Pigeon Shooting
Clay Pigeon Shooting is one of the youngest sports at Solihull School. However, in the few years since the school team was formed, it has gone from strength to strength. This year we have taken part in three tournaments culminating in the National Schools Shooting Competition at Doveridge, Derbyshire. We finished a respectable 9th out of 18 teams. This was despite the 5-man and Emma Vincent team not shooting to their maximum potential and our most experienced shot, James Mansfield, missed the event with the flimsy excuse of representing Great Britain! James Hornsby was Solihull high gun with an impressive 38 kills out of 50 birds, ably supported by Piers Gilmore and Ben Wiseman who both scored over 30 in their first national competition.
James Mansfield was high gun out of 60 competitors in the recent Oxford Gun Club Schools’ Challenge, achieving 45 kills out of 50 in difficult conditions. The school finished 3rd overall with a score of 170 out of 300 thanks predominantly to both James Mansfield and James Hornsby, and a battling display by Mathew Browning. The team’s success is due to the dedication of Mr Wild, who introduced the sport to the school and has subsequently been Master in Charge for the past five years. His support, good humor and ‘indisputable’ advice for students at the shooting ground on both Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings will be enormously missed as he moves on next year. The shooting contingent wishes him every success for the future and we are extremely grateful for all the time and abundant energy he has put into helping us throughout his time at Solihull.
Matthew Gooden