The teen target-shooting trio taking on the world
Good eyesight is the first thing that comes to mind for shooter Henry Wesley while listing off the key skills needed to master clay target shooting – something he doesn’t have.
The 16-year-old joked that he didn’t naturally tick that box because he wore contacts, but that hadn’t stopped him from working his way to the top.
The Lincoln High School student is a part of a three-person junior U21 national team all hailing from Canterbury. They will compete at the European Open, British Open, and World DTL Championships in Bywell, England next month – Wesley’s first international tour.
Timaru Boys’ High School’s Lachlan Lovett, 16, and former Lincoln High student Lachlan Wallace, 17, round out the trio.
While 20/20 vision is a huge advantage, they all agreed mental strength was the most important thing for successfully shooting flying targets known as “clay pigeons” or “clay targets” with a double-barrelled shotgun. “You’re thinking a lot,” Lovett said.
It took “concentration and a lot of patience”, Wallace added. One missed shot could throw a shooter off their game.
Wesley picked the sport up from his dad and “grew up in the gun club on the weekends”. Eventually that passion pushed aside the time he spent on devices and video gaming.
Lovett’s father also passed the skill on to him and he particularly enjoyed getting to travel around New Zealand and overseas. He picked up a junior title at the Australia nationals earlier this year in May.
Wallace picked up the sport at high school and stuck it out because it was “different” to mainstream sport options.
All three believed the sport was becoming more popular among their peers though.
At Lincoln High, the number of shooters had almost doubled from 20 last year to near 40 this year, Wesley said.
Shooting as a team required finding a rhythm, which was helped by living in the same district so they could practise together.
“It can be quite distracting when someone’s really slow and the rest of the squad go really fast, so it’s key to have a good tempo,” Wesley said.
They would each have to shoot four rounds of 25 targets – catapulted 15m into the sky – each day over the three competitions. Because hundreds of the world’s best shooters would be present, the pressure was on to “hit every time”, Wallace said. “There’s going to be some very good shooters over there that won’t miss,” he said.
Wesley said it was a huge achievement just to make it to the events. Lovett hoped to get near the junior world championship title, while Wallace’s goal was centred around a single word – “win”.
“If you shoot well for yourself you're also helping the team, so it's a win-win,” Wesley said.
New Zealand teams are competing across juniors, open men’s and open women’s grades at the three events taking place between July 8 and 13.
“There’s going to be some very good shooters over there that won’t miss.”
Lachlan Wallace
Former Lincoln High School student