CEO Update – April

This CEO Update aims to keep you informed on a range of matters that Shooting Australia has been working on over the last week.

  1. Olympic Team Announcement
    2.       Australian Shooting COVID-19 Working Group
    3.       Staying connected

Olympic Team Announcement

Since completing the Olympic Nomination Series on March 22 and then hearing days later that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were being postponed, we had to suspend the team nomination process while discussions took place to determine a revised date for the Games.

Now, with the announcement this week that the Tokyo Olympics will be held in July and August next year, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has granted us an extension to the Team Nomination date.

It is now planned that the names of the nominated athletes will be forwarded to the AOC on April 9, with the AOC to officially announce the team soon after the Easter Long Weekend.

As you can imagine, there are many factors that weigh into these decisions. But I can assure you that we have been in close contact with our athletes over this period to ensure that they are fully informed, staying safe and maintaining their mental health and wellbeing.

We will be back in touch when we have a confirmed date for the Olympic team announcement, and we are working with the AOC to ensure we make a big deal over this announcement even with the current social restrictions that have been imposed by Government.

Australian Shooting COVID-19 Reference Group

Shooting Australia has taken the proactive measure to establish the Australian Shooting COVID-19 Reference Group to assist Member Organisations, State and Territory bodies and Clubs through the current health crisis.

The newly created Australian Shooting COVID-19 Reference Group will hold a weekly teleconference which will be a forum for member organisation representatives to participate in open discussion, share information and resources, and be a reference group for decision making.

Following the Australian Government’s directives regarding community sport, social distancing and public gatherings, it was important that all shooting member organisations work collaboratively and co-operatively to best safeguard community health during these extraordinary times.

These are exceptional and challenging times for all sports at all levels – elite, state, club and social – and the sport of shooting is no exception. Shooting Australia recognises the immense value of community sport in fostering a sense of wellbeing and social interaction. However, in times like this, we must make health the number one priority.

Like all sports, shooting relies on volunteers and the Shooting Australia COVID-19 Reference Group has been created to assist members and clubs at all levels.

Shooting clubs, like all sports clubs, are experiencing financial challenges. For the immediate period and until further Government advice, clubs will be without income from competition, events, memberships and social gatherings. The financial status of organisations and clubs is a key agenda item. The forum will actively share information and resources on how to best assist member organisations through the current situation.

If the shooting sport community wishes to add to this agenda, we ask that they make contact with their relevant member body. A reminder to you all of Shooting Australia’s Member Organisations;

–          Australian Clay Target Association
–          National Rifle Association of Australia
–          Pistol Australia
–          Sporting Clays Australia
–          Target Rifle Australia

Staying Connected

While our community is in a period of isolation as we aim to stop the spread of COVID-19 and stay healthy, our best means of community connection – our sporting clubs – are unable to operate due to the government guidelines on social distancing. However, technology provides us with great platforms to stay connected with each other and it has been great to see the online initiatives that are keeping the shooting community connected.

The Shooting Australia Team has been working with our athletes to stay connected and if you check out our social media, you can see what they have been up to recently.

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Shooting Australia TV is a great way to see our best athletes in action and you can watch all the live-streamed finals from the 2019 Oceania Championships and from the recent Olympic Nomination Series plus all the athlete interviews on the SATV platform via Epicentre.tv

It is FREE to subscribe to SATV and easy to sign up. Just go to https://epicentre.tv/shooting-australia and follow the prompts. If you have any trouble, just email us at [email protected] and we can help you out.

We really encourage you to stay connected at your local level as well and to help you, here’s a list of your Member Organisation social media platforms;

Pistol Australia
Australian Clay Target Association
Target Rifle Australia
NRAA
Sporting Clays

Stay connected and stay well everyone,

Regards,

Luke van Kempen
​CEO – Shooting Australia

Shooting Australia