at WIFSC ceremony
President of the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFSC) Captain Norris Gomez says rifle shooting needs new members if it is to survive in the region.
Gomez was speaking at the presentation ceremony of the WIFSC championships Sunday evening at Camp Ayanganna hosted by the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA).
“We need to get more young people involve in the sport, it is difficult to get the young cadets and young people to shoot now but we have to find ways to attract them to the sport,” he added. Many of the shooters have been involved in the sport for many years and he lauded one Jamaica’s young female shooters Karen Anderson who is better known on the squash circuit in the Caribbean but is now a member of the Jamaican shooting team.
Gomez lauded Guyana for the successful hosting of the championships and expressed gratitude to the local team for winning the championships.
He said for the sport to grow in the region there need to be more assistance from regional governments and the armed forces. GNRA President Commodore Gary Best said the local organization was extremely pleased to host the regional shooters and he offered his congratulations to the outstanding participants.
Guyana’s Lennox Braithwaite took home the lion share of prizes at the presentation ceremony after winning the ‘X’ grand aggregate for senior shooters with 388 points and 19 Vs.
He also won both long and short range aggregates and also copped three gold medals, one silver and three bronzes medals during the competition.
The newly-crowned Caribbean individual champion also also piloted Guyana to victory in both the short and long range team matches with outstanding performances.
Other major prize winners were Stephen Chung of Trinidad and Tobago who won the ‘O’ Class grand aggregate, another ‘O’ class shooter Lancelot Trotman of Barbados, Aubrey Yee-Sang of Jamaica national captain Mahendra Persaud, Dylan Fields and Jamaican Major John Nelson.
Guyanese shooters Braithwaite, Persaud, Fields and Ransford Goodluck finished in the top four of the grand aggregate. Two other local shooters Claude Duguid and Peter Persaud also won individual events.
Most of the shooters departed Guyana yesterday as they prepare for next year’s regional championships to be hosted by Barbados.
