Elgin Miniature Rifle Club News - Season 2009-2010

 Our shooting year runs from 1st September to 31st August, and during the Season just finishing we entered three teams in the Moray & Nairn Winter League, two teams in the Banffshire Winter League, one team in the Aberdeen Winter League, and one team in the Perthshire Summer League.

 In the Moray & Nairn Winter League Elgin ‘A’ won Division 3 and Elgin ‘B’ won Division 8.

 We also entered teams and individuals in a variety of Pairs, Veterans, Juniors, Association Cups and other postal competitions run by the various leagues.

 J.C.Manson won the Aberdeenshire Veterans Competition with 299 v 290.

J.C.Manson and J.Little were Runners-up in both the Aberdeenshire Pairs Competition and the Banffshire Pairs Competition.

T.Blyth gained 2nd place in his class in the Inverness Clach postal shoot.

 We also have a number of Club Competitions, and this year the Club Champion was J.C.Manson and the Junior Champion B.McKenzie. T.Blyth, S.Mackenzie, A.Manson and M.Hay were among the trophy winners.

At our AGM in early September we will be setting dates for Guest Nights, which give people the opportunity to try out Smallbore Target Shooting – at these all equipment is provided for a small fee, and ammunition can be purchased to shoot extra cards.

 If you are interested in attending one of these Guest Nights (at the Range at 9, Perimeter Road, Pinefield Industrial Estate), please contact our Secretary, Athole Manson, on 01343 843878 to book a place.

Scottish Archery Association Under 21’s & Novice Championships 

Moray Archery scooped a total of four medals at the recent Scottish Archery Association Under-21s and Novice championships with two gold's, a silver and a bronze making their way back to the area with the successful competitors.

In the Novice Ladies Compound, Jacqui Alexander claimed first place with a total score of 555 points while Courtney Scott also won gold in the Junior Girls Under-13s Recurve with her score of 366 points enough to see her come out on top.

There was a second place for David Sweeny in the Men’s Novice Compound as he racked up a score of 553 while in the Men’s Under-18s Recurve bow, Kyle Scott finished in third with a total score of 535.

Elgin Junior Ice Hockey club

Elgin Junior Ice Hockey club are on the look out for new members and are looking to recruit any budding young Ice Hockey players in the area.

The club caters for players up to the age of 16 and would welcome and fresh interest but are on the lookout for potential players between the ages of six and 10 in particular. Club chairman Marek Durkacz said:

“New members must have a basic level of skating and the club can do the rest. We loan equipment to assist new starts to save parents paying out for equipment only to find their child does not continue with the sport.”

The club was formed in 1993 and have three teams in the Scottish League at under-12s, under-14s and under-16s age levels. Training takes place at Moray Leisure Centre Ice Rink on Thursday at 7.00 pm and Sunday at 8.00 pm and Mr Durkacz urges anyone who is interested in joining to come along. He added:

“We are recruiting players for all age groups but especially under-10s as they are the future of the club. We have just over 40 members just now and we have a total of five L2 coaches and five L1 coaches, who help with training sessions and attend at games.”

Joining up may be the start of a successful career in the sport as the club has established a good reputation for producing players who go on to play ice hockey at a national level.

This year, a total of 14 Elgin players were put forward for Scotland trials and five still remain in with a chance of representing their country when the final cut is made on February 10^th. Mr Durkacz stated:

“Last year the under-13s Scotland team captain and assistant captain were from Elgin Junior Ice Hockey Club and historically we have had players selected most years for the national team.”