Page 5 - April 2020 emag final

From the Chair

Easter, for many of us, has involved the Nationals, time with the family and friends or
just simply a time of reflection; this was not to be for 2020, thanks to COVID-19.
My thoughts go out to the families and friends who have either lost loved ones or
contracted this insidious disease.
A special thanks to our hard working and dedicated medical teams and those on the
front line.

This issue has a mix of items primarily to provide more communication to you the member and to that end has the
summaries of the last two TRA Board meetings along with results of the Olympic selection trials for Rifle and the
current records, which will also appear on the website.

To all those who have worked so hard for nomination and selection for the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympic Games,
whether successful or not, you have done your family/support group, coaches and TRA proud. We wish you well.
Whilst on the subject I have included a letter written by National Coach Petr Kurka to the athletes which I think is
important to share. Thank you Petr.

A major activity was the meeting of the State Presidents to provide an opportunity for the States to voice concerns
and discussed the establishment of a Consultative Group whose role it will be to provide meaningful input to the
TRA Board.

From this meeting came the new (circulated) Vision and Mission Statements; the Presidents provided some great
ideas and it was pleasing to see the desire to work together for the future of the sport.

Attempts to fill positions on the various committees by calling for nominations over the past few years has not met
with much success; however I am confident the ‘buy-in’ from the States will assist this and provide enable the com-
mittees as discussed at the President meeting results.

The formation of a Finance Committee under Board member, Yvonne Hill, to assist our very capable Treasurer and
fellow Director in deliberations has been a successful committee.

Incidentally Yvonne who was an appointed Director is retiring at the upcoming AGM to pursue her many interests
and it would be remiss of me if I did not take this opportunity to thank Yvonne for her valuable input and support.
I look forward to catching up on a range somewhere.

Many years ago I had the good fortune to be involved in the Disability shooting program in South Australia, when
Judy Brittain (Wayne’s mum) was coordinating the shooting section, until to her untimely death. At that time the
numbers coming along to Wingfield for training were high and constant. More recently I note the numbers appear
to have diminished; this is unfortunate and we need to better understand the reasons to further develop this sector
of our sport.

Interestingly we do receive requests for rulings on whether someone who has this or that disability can shoot; often
these people are quoted the IPC rules which are very tightly defined around the SH1 and SH2 categories, when in
fact all we need is a clear guideline that enables them to shoot in a manner that leads to a level playing field. The
Board will address this and provide a way forward.

A recent email for Georgi Nekhaev from Belarus, with statistics the Paralympic Games, drove me to study this and
hence the article on Libby Kosmala. An interesting insight as to where we sit in the World of Paralympic Games in
this magazine.

A suggestion from Yvonne was the introduction of the Unsung Heroes Page/column. Let’s try and get this mov-
ing...maybe you know someone in your club who goes that extra mile.

To all, may you stay safe...follow the rules
Nick

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