SSAA NSW

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 3 From Diana's Desk Our Branches Need You… It was really interesting to see the results of the SSAA NSW Membership Survey last year. Around 78% of the members who responded indicated that they felt access to ranges was an important benefi t of belonging to SSAA NSW. Just under 50% participate in target shooting competitions, but almost double that, 90%, indicated that they attend a shooting range. It takes quite a lot of hard work, effort and commitment just to run a Branch but add to that all of the work that goes into running a range that provides the opportunity for members to shoot and the workload more than doubles. Travelling around the State visiting Branches and their ranges I have seen fi rsthand the hard work done by many of the Committee members to provide these services for their members. Often this is done by the same few volunteers who are members of the Committee, Range Offi cers, Safe Shooting Instructors and fi ll the many other roles needed for a Branch to function. The survey indicated that only 18% of members are involved with their Branch in any way at all and that tells its own interesting story. If you're one of the many members that enjoy visiting your local range but haven't yet had the chance to assist your Branch Committee, you may want to think about volunteering some of your time to help. There are many opportunities for anyone that wants to get involved, and I'm sure your offer of assistance will be gratefully accepted. As the old adage goes… many hands make light work. You might want to think about helping out as a Range Offi cer, or if you have any administration skills perhaps a position on the Committee may suit you. If you enjoy introducing people to our sport perhaps becoming a Safe Shooting Instructor may be of interest, or if you're more of a hands on person perhaps assisting with range maintenance might appeal. No matter how much time you can spare, I'm sure your Branch Committee will welcome you with open arms. The survey results also showed that as well as access to ranges, members saw SSAA NSW as providing an important political voice for the shooting sports and was also considered an important source of information. Just over 83% of our members are involved in hunting with around half hunting between 1 and 5 times per year. A large majority of those members that responded, 70%, have a range within 50km of their home and less than 6% had to travel more than 100km to visit a range. More than half of our members, 56%, have family members that are involved in the shooting sports with around 75% indicating that either their children or parents are involved. We've taken on board the information gathered from the survey and also the various focus groups held throughout NSW and we're currently working on the future direction for SSAA NSW. It's very clear that there are four main areas that we need to continue our focus on; membership – including juniors and families; ranges – both developing new and protecting our existing facilities; hunting – providing more opportunities as well as improving the perception of recreational hunters amongst the general public; and representation – providing that strong credible voice for our sport. Keep an eye out for updates on what we're doing in future editions of the NSW Shooter. Diana Melham Executive Director - SSAA (NSW) Inc. The NSW Shooter is published by the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed are not necessarily those of SSAA (NSW) Inc. Attention: Branch Secretaries/Publicity Offi cers Editorial deadline for the September 2014 issue of the NSW Shooter is Thursday 28 August 2014. Editor: Diana Melham Graphic Designer: Craig Rogers Post all correspondence and contributions to: Newsletter PO Box 1001 ST MARYS NSW 1790 or email nswshooter@nsw.ssaa.org.au Cover: National Junior Challenge participants at Eagle Park Victoria – July 2014.

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