I blogged this time last year about the stress and worry I experienced when I took my air cadet squadron’s marksmanship team to our zone match. It was both an exhilarating and exhausting match but the cadets shot much better than they did the year before and so were very happy with their performance.
The run-up to this year’s match was no less stressful, mainly because we couldn’t practice. Our squadron only has one certified RSO and he’s been away on work since October. The CO of the local sea cadet corps chipped in to run our squadron marksmanship day in late January and we squeezed in two other firing practices in February and that was it.
It was also really disappointing, as I’d convinced the squadron to buy shooting jackets and gloves so the team would stand a better chance of advancing to the regional match in Winnipeg in April. But the cadets only got to try them on and have two practices before this year’s match.
The rules for unit teams are clear: you can have five shooters, two of whom must be juniors who won’t turn 15 before May 15 of the calendar year. If you don’t have two juniors a unit can pick three individuals to compete for the composite team at the regional match. This was all spelled out and I’d read all the orders, but when we arrived at the match it was quickly pointed out to me that we only had one junior.
Oops. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
But I didn't, and then I had to choose the three cadets that I thought could qualify for the regional match – before anyone had started shooting. So I made my choice, explained to the cadets how I had screwed up and then held my breath to see how they did – and it all worked out in the end.
Our top cadet finished fifth overall with a 346/400, a 27 point improvement over his 2010 performance – he was a happy camper and stands an excellent chance of advancing to the regional match. The other two cadets also shot well: one fired a 339/400 and finished ninth, a 32-point improvement over 2010; the other fired a 338/400 for tenth place, a whopping 46-point improvement over 2010!
In the end, our unofficial team score of 1340 (top four of five, including the top junior, count for the team overall) would’ve earned us third place. We were 12 points out of second and just 32 points behind first place – a 112-point improvement over last year and a 338-point jump since I started coaching the team. Nice!
So needless to say, I’m pretty proud of them. I should be in uniform and have my RSO certification by next November, so our only obstacle to winning next year should be funding to rent time to train. Every time we shoot we do so much better that it just propels the cadets along, which is great to see. Look out 2012!
The run-up to this year’s match was no less stressful, mainly because we couldn’t practice. Our squadron only has one certified RSO and he’s been away on work since October. The CO of the local sea cadet corps chipped in to run our squadron marksmanship day in late January and we squeezed in two other firing practices in February and that was it.
It was also really disappointing, as I’d convinced the squadron to buy shooting jackets and gloves so the team would stand a better chance of advancing to the regional match in Winnipeg in April. But the cadets only got to try them on and have two practices before this year’s match.
The rules for unit teams are clear: you can have five shooters, two of whom must be juniors who won’t turn 15 before May 15 of the calendar year. If you don’t have two juniors a unit can pick three individuals to compete for the composite team at the regional match. This was all spelled out and I’d read all the orders, but when we arrived at the match it was quickly pointed out to me that we only had one junior.
Oops. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
But I didn't, and then I had to choose the three cadets that I thought could qualify for the regional match – before anyone had started shooting. So I made my choice, explained to the cadets how I had screwed up and then held my breath to see how they did – and it all worked out in the end.
Our top cadet finished fifth overall with a 346/400, a 27 point improvement over his 2010 performance – he was a happy camper and stands an excellent chance of advancing to the regional match. The other two cadets also shot well: one fired a 339/400 and finished ninth, a 32-point improvement over 2010; the other fired a 338/400 for tenth place, a whopping 46-point improvement over 2010!
In the end, our unofficial team score of 1340 (top four of five, including the top junior, count for the team overall) would’ve earned us third place. We were 12 points out of second and just 32 points behind first place – a 112-point improvement over last year and a 338-point jump since I started coaching the team. Nice!
The team + me
So needless to say, I’m pretty proud of them. I should be in uniform and have my RSO certification by next November, so our only obstacle to winning next year should be funding to rent time to train. Every time we shoot we do so much better that it just propels the cadets along, which is great to see. Look out 2012!
Hey Jason! how is the prone going?!
ReplyDeleteKinda slow, actually, between cadets and work. I'll be in the 'Peg this weekend for the regional cadet match with two of my cadet shooters and I'm hoping they do well -- our squadron's never sent more than one to this stage before.
ReplyDeleteBut you won't me see out for a match until late June at the earliest -- too many other weekend commitments until then (mostly cadets). No nationals either this year but I should be there for the MB provincials. :)
JJ