This year, 21-22 October, at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley, GLSW saw Scouts and Scouters from 1st Hampton Hill (1HH), 3rd Hampton Hill (3HH), 1st Hook (1H), 1st North Sutton (1NS), Royal Kingston (RK), Erik Armstrong (Erik) and Peake take part in the National Scout Rifle Championships.Wow, what a weekend! While international sport was unkind to us, the weather was better than expected and our scouts did their very best. There were approx. 600 competitors which always creates an unexpected range of results, because you just never know who’s going to have a good day! A huge well done to everyone and especially Lauren, Evie, Digby, Matilda, Matt and Jamie.

As a County, we came away with 24 medals and five trophies, including the Junior Connaught for overall national U14 champions.The coveted Junior and Senior Connaught trophies, were originally presented to Robert Baden-Powell from his friend the Duke of Connaught (Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria’s third son). The Senior Connaught is one of the oldest known trophies still active in Scouting, first presented in 1911, while the Junior Connaught was presented in 1925 and has also been won by teams in South Africa, Jamaica, Canada and New Zealand.

Here are our highlights (junior is U14 and senior is 14 and over, unless stated otherwise):

  • Knock-out Senior: Bronze – Wend (3HH)
  • Turning Target Senior: Gold and Surrey Goblet – Jamie, Bronze – Robin (RK) out of 35
  • Smallbore Advanced: Bronze – Lauren (Erik), 4th Tilly (3HH) out of 42
  • Smallbore Sharpshooters Shield U18: Gold – Lauren (Erik, for the 2nd year running) and Silver – Tilly (3HH)
  • Target Sprint Senior Beginners: Bronze – Edward (1HH) out of 21
  • Field Target Senior: Bronze – Alan (1HH) out of 268
  • Advanced Field Target: Gold – Matt (1NS) and Bronze – Keiran (1NS) out of 33
  • 10m Sporter: Tilly (3HH) came 4th out of 81 (missing out on a tie-break for 3rd and just one point behind 2nd)
  • O18 6yd rifle: Bronze – Matt (1st NS) out of 143
  • Pistol Junior: Silver – Digby (3HH, just 2 points behind 1st), Bronze – Evie (3HH) out of 235
  • The Chief’s prize is awarded to the scout U14 achieving the highest aggregate score, adding rifle, pistol and field target together. Out of 242, 3HH had Scouts in 2nd and 3rd place (Evie and Digby respectively, with Evie just 2 points behind 1st)
  • Team pistol is comprised of each group’s top three U14 scouts on the day, combined with the top adult: Gold – 3HH (Digby, Evie, Matilda and Wend) out of 33 teams
  • Team rifle is comprised of each group’s top three U14 scouts on the day, combined with the top adult: Silver – 3HH (Matilda, George, Evie and Wend) out of 33 teams.

The Connaught trophies are the pinnacle of the event defining overall national champions U14 and O14. Each team comprise three Scouts, pre-nominated ahead of the event, whose rifle, pistol and field target aggregate scores are combined:

  • Senior Connaught: 4th Saken Mukan, Tilly and Thomas, out of 51 teams missing out on 3rd by just one point (put into context that’s one point difference from a combination nine events); and finally
  • Junior Connaught: Gold and overall national U14 champions – 3HH (Evie, Digby and Matilda a clear 40 points ahead of 2nd).

Needless to say, a massive well done to all!