As April comes to a close, we reflect on another month full of national and international competitions and activity.
Let’s recap April and have a look at what’s coming up. Plus, as always, some useful information and resources.
This month, a team of trap shotgun athletes represented Australia at the ISSF World Cup Shotgun event in Tangier, Morocco (25 March – 03 April).
The Australian Team was comprised of 7 athletes, including Molly Bretag, Kiara Dean & Catherine Skinner in Women’s Trap, as well as Benjamin De Pedro, Daniel Di Pietro, Cameron Ford & Craig Henwood in Men’s Trap.
This event was the first ISSF World Cup of the 2026 international season, bringing together 271 athletes from 43 federations, to compete across Trap (individual and mixed team) and Skeet (individual) events.
For our Australian athletes, the Moroccan World Cup was the first opportunity of 2026 to compete internationally on the World Cup stage, against talented competitors from across the globe.
Catherine Skinner started her 2026 World Cup season strong, finishing qualification in 7th and securing a spot in the Women’s Trap Final after shooting a qualification score of 112/125 targets. Catherine finished the final in 7th place overall.
For junior athletes, Benjamin De Pedro and Cameron Ford, this event also offered an opportunity for them to make their senior ISSF World Cup debuts.
To hear more from some of the athletes and to read the full article, please visit the link below.
To see the full competition results from the ISSF World Cup Shotgun – Morocco, please visit the ISSF website via the link below.
SEE THE FULL MOROCCO WORLD CUP RESULTS
The ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol also took place this month (5th – 13th) in Grenada, Spain. This event brought together 434 of the world’s best athletes across both the pistol and rifle disciplines.
Australia was represented at this World Cup competition by rifle athlete Jack Rossiter, who competed in both the Men’s 10m Air Rifle and Men’s 50m 3 Position events.
To see the full competition results from the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol – Spain, please visit the ISSF website via the link below.
VAPA ISSF STATE TITLES RESULTS
The TRA Nationals was also held this month between the 15th and 19th of April at the Melbourne International Shooting Club.
A tier 2 Shooting Australia endorsed event, the TRA Nationals brought together some of Australia’s best rifle athletes to test their skills against their peers over 4 days of fierce competition.
Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who made this event possible.
To see the full results from the TRA Nationals, visit the Shooting Australia webpage at the link below.
TRA NATIONALS FULL EVENT RESULTS
This month, Shooting Australia hosted a total of 4 training camps across the country to help athletes develop and refine their skills ahead of upcoming national and international competitions.
Three of the four camps held throughout April were shotgun camps, including a Skeet Representative camp in Melbourne (10th – 12th), a Women’s Skeet Development Camp in Brisbane (17th – 19th) and a Junior Trap training camp at Melbourne Gun Club (22nd – 26th).
Speaking to the purpose of hosting the skeet training camps for performance athletes, Shooting Australia’s Shotgun Program Manager, Adam Hosking highlighted that “Both skeet camps provided National Performance Coach, Renae Birgan, and Skeet Assistant Coach, George Barton, the opportunity to work specifically with these groups and were also the first touchpoints for the National Skeet Squad in preparation for the 2026 season.”
Reflecting on the success of the Women’s Skeet Development Camp, Hosking said “Women’s skeet is an area of focussed development for the coaching team and it was great to start putting coaching around this group.”
Explaining the Junior Trap Camp, Hosking, highlighted “This was the third instalment of the Junior Trap Camp and was targeted at athletes eligible to represent Australia at the Junior World Championships in Germany in June.”
“The Junior Trap camp was led by coaches Suzy Balogh and Jeff Richardson, and was attended by 14 athletes across 4 days at the Melbourne Gun Club. The camp also included a visit to the Victorian Institute of Sport which was a great opportunity for the group to get an insight into High Performance Sport.”
Shooting Australia also hosted a Pistol Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra between the 9th and 15th of April. The technical shooting component was held at the Canberra National Pistol Club.
This camp brought together 9 pistol athletes from across Australia along with members of Shooting Australia’s coaching and performance development staff, with the goal of refining competition skills through both physical and theory based development sessions.
Shooting Australia’s Precision Performance Program Manager and Para Lead, Catherine Berry, highlighted the success of this training camp, explaining “this camp was an amazing opportunity to bring our pistol athletes together under the guidance of expert coaching and performance support staff in the home of high performance sport in Australia.”
Berry continued, “The camp provided an opportunity for athletes to identify areas for improvement in their performance and to hone their skills ahead of upcoming domestic and international competitions. We are excited about the future potential of this group.”
Thank you to the clubs, ranges and facilities who support these activities, enabling athletes access to these opportunities.
This month also saw some major news from the International Shooting Sport Federation and the International Paralympic Committee, as they formalised an agreement regarding the transfer of shooting Para sport’s governance and operations from International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).
The agreement represents the first formal step towards unifying Olympic and Paralympic shooting sport and aims to:
To read the full story, follow the link below to the article on the ISSF webpage.
The competition dates for Sydney Cup 2 have been revised to deliver a more condensed program across fewer days. As a result, the “2026 ISSF World Championships Selection Criteria – Pistol/Rifle” has been updated to reflect the amended Sydney Cup 2 competition dates. Please refer to Clause 5.(a).(i) in the Criteria.
The revised Sydney Cup #2 competition dates have been outlined in ‘May Domestic Endorsed Events’ section of this newsletter.
2026 ISSF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SELECTION CRITERIA – PISTOL/RIFLE
The ISSF Almaty World Cup is scheduled to kick off on the 2nd of April, with our Aussie trap athletes set to begin competition on the 7th.
This Australian Team schedule highlights all the action for our athletes.
To view the full schedule and learn more about this ISSF World Cup, check out the link below:
KAZAKHSTAN WORLD CUP SCHEDULE & EVENT INFO
In April the team to represent Australia at the ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup – Munich, Germany was announced.
Vintage Open (Tier 2)
Where: Cessnock Pistol Club, NSW
When: 1-3 May
Discipline: Pistol
VINTAGE OPEN EVENT INFO
WA State Titles (Tier 2)
Where: Whiteman Park, Perth
When: 2-3 May
Discipline: Pistol
WA STATE TITLES EVENT INFO
TRV State Championships (Tier 2)
Where: Brisbane International Shooting Centre, QLD
When: 16-17 May
Discipline: Rifle
TRV STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT INFO
TPA Nationals (Tier 2)
Where: Brisbane International Shooting Centre, QLD
When: 17-23 May
Discipline: Pistol
TPA NATIONALS EVENT INFO
VIC State Titles (Tier 1)
Where: Melbourne Gun Club, VIC
When: 22-24 May
Discipline: Shotgun
Selection Overlay: Junior World Championships Selection Event #3 & World Championships Selection Event #1
VIS STATE TITLES EVENT INFO
SISC Cup #2 (Tier 1)
Where: Sydney International Shooting Centre, NSW
When: 4-7 June
Discipline: Rifle & Pistol
Selection Overlay: World Championships Selection Event #1 & #2
SISC CUP #2 EVENT INFO
QLD State Titles (Tier 1)
Where: Brisbane Gun Club, QLD
When: 12-14 June
Discipline: Shotgun
Selection Overlay: World Championships Selection Event #2
QLD STATE TITLES EVENT INFO
The National Team Selection Criteria and Selection Leaderboards can be found on the Shooting Australia website or via the link below!
TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA & LEADERBOARDS
Coming up in May, Shooting Australia will be joining the Australian Sports Commission in celebrating both National Careers Week (11 – 17 May) and National Volunteer Week (18 – 24 May).
Nationals Careers Week:
To learn more about National Careers Week and to access useful resources check out the National Careers Week webpage at the link below:
National Volunteer Week:
In May Shooting Australia is celebrating National Volunteer Week in collaboration with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). National Volunteer Week, which will run from the 18th and 24th of May, aims to celebrate the amazing volunteers who ensure that our sport remains safe, accessible and enjoyable for all.
To recognise the hard work and dedication of sporting volunteers across the country, The Australian Sports Commission is again putting volunteers on the map, by launching an interactive map of Australia, which displays the locations and stories of the unsung heroes of Australian sport.
Check it out via the link below:
VOLUNTEER WEEK INTERACTIVE MAPS
eSafety and Play by the Rules are continuing to host free educational webinars around safety and integrity in sports.
Upcoming webinars include:
Join the free webinar as the Play By the Rules Team discuss how this course can support local government agencies, national sporting organisations and state sporting associations meet their inclusion, equity and wellbeing outcomes with community sporting clubs.
When: Thursday 13th May 2026, 10:30am – 11:30am AEST
To learn more about this webinar and to register your interest, click the link below.
This session is for community sport leaders and volunteers who want tips to create safer online spaces and learn how to respond to online abuse.
When: Thursday 14th May 2026, 12:30pm – 1:15pm AEDT
To learn more about this webinar and to register your interest, click the link below.
This session is for athletes, coaches, officials and others in sport who want to set up safer personal social media accounts and learn strategies to respond to online abuse.
When: Tuesday 26th May, 1.00pm-1.45pm AEDT
To learn more about this webinar and to register your interest, click the link below.
ISSF Academy educational courses for coaches are back in 2026!
Check out the link below to see what’s coming up and to register for courses on the ISSF Academy website at the link below.
The Australian Sports Commission has developed courses and resources for both coaches and officials, covering the essentials to help you succeed in your role as well as masterclasses for those who want to boost their skills and make sport more enjoyable for the athletes you support.
You can find the resources and more on the Play by the Rules website or via the links below:
OFFICIATING COURSES & RESOURCES
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Shooting Australia TV on YouTube where you will be able to re-watch domestic event coverage, hear from athletes – post competition, and more! Best of all, it is free!
