The New England Girls’ Schools’ Target Rifle Club has been bang on target, gradually increasing the presence of the fairer gender in shooting.

Eight mostly experienced girls from Years 10, 11 and 12 recently spent a week shooting it out in Sydney. The girls are proudly earning respect in what remains a male dominated sport, particularly at the junior levels.
NEGS Target Rifle Club Coach, David Rose, said shooting is important to the school. “New England Girls’ School has had a Rifle Club since 1996. This was the 10th time that we’ve competed at the annual AAGPS Rifle Shooting Premiership, alongside the competing GPS schools,” Mr Rose said. “It is a sport in which girls can compete on an absolutely level playing field, with males and opponents of all ages and experience. It is a good sport for people aged 12 through to senior years. Mentally, it is very demanding. The girls get a huge kick out of being able to compete alongside their male colleagues, or a guy who has been shooting for 40 or 50 years.”
The NEGS team was shooting with four brand new, state-of-the-art, target rifles, funds for which were raised by the school’s ‘Qld Young Old Girls’.
“The modern target rifle is a very specialised machine, assembled from selected components. The NEGS rifles include barrels from Scotland, actions from New Zealand, stocks from India, butt plates and bits from Germany and triggers, sights and accessories from Australia. The parts were supplied and assembled by Triple J Imports and Keith Hills, however the essential fine tuning was done by Fred Lawlor and the barrel conditioning or ‘shooting in’ by David Willis and the girls themselves,” Mr Rose explained. “After fourteen years of using hand-me-down rifles, the girls finally had no excuses for a mediocre performance, and this became the inspiration for the eleven-day training camp and five matches in which they competed.”
The team, comprising Clare White [Captain], Casey James [Vice], Christine Pointing, Rowan McNaught, Polly McDouall, Sophie McKenzie, Zara Babington, Rebecca Cushway and Millie Inglis joined the top shooting schools in the State for a week-long practice shoot at Anzac Range, Malabar where they shot alongside boys from the likes of The Scot’s College, Sydney Grammar School and Sydney High School. The coastal winds can easily put a shooter off-target, so they were among the coaching focal points.
The top five NEGS shots competed in the Fiona Reynolds All Schools Match, shot over 300, 500 and 600m. This year, 14 teams from the GPS schools and NEGS entered. The TAS ‘Gold’ Team won the match with 710.42 from Shore on 687.36. The NEGS team of Clare, Polly, Rowan, Sophie and Casey, wind-coached by Christine, came fourth overall. Top individual shot was Toby Crothers [TAS] with 147.11 ex 150. Rowan came in fourth with 142.10.
The GPS Premiership then took place at Hornsby. In the Rawson Cup, fired at 500 and 600m, NEGS came in 6th, but Rowan McNaught emerged as the top shooter, with a score of 119.11 ex 120. NEGS then placed 5th and Rowan was again the top shot in the prestigious 300m Buchanan Shield.
Rowan was presented with the Bisley Bullet, a trophy for the highest individual score among NEGS, TAS and Sydney High. It is the first occasion that NEGS has won this trophy. At the Shore Rifle Club Dinner that evening, she also collected the Burl Trophy for the highest individual Shore/NEGS score at the All Schools Match.
Rowan could not name the secret to her success but accredited much to her wind coach, Christine. She said the appeal of fullbore target shooting is that it is different. “There are not many girls that shoot. It is good to do something different, that people often don’t know much about. You meet a lot of great people in this sport.”
“Rowan’s performance was a very big deal. There were over 60 kids shooting and she was the best,” Captain, Clare White said. “I think we are the only girls’ school in Australia competitively shooting, so it means a lot to us.”
In training, the team shoots small bore (20-50m) every Friday at TAS and fullbore (300-800m) every Sunday at the Wollomombi range.
Rowan and Polly now return to Sydney this weekend to join the Under 25 Country Team to shoot against City.

Story: Gary Fry