That’s due to the club’s junior policy, which allows younger members to shoot for free.
Club president Lee Fitzgerald has had a focus on growing the club’s junior ranks since he took on the role more than a decade ago.
“The first thing we did was make it that juniors shoot for free and by having the juniors shoot for free that would encourage participation,” he said.
“That's what we did, and the numbers have just built and built as we’ve gone along, and now we’ve got to the stage where we’ve got a really good strong group of juniors.”
The club’s monthly shoot in February featured 10 juniors from Colbinabbin, Elmore and further afield.
In further attempting to grow the sport, each monthly competition is followed by a juniors-only shoot-off, featuring one-on-one coaching from the club’s more experienced members.
“They're great learners and listeners and because they’re country kids, they really are well-mannered and polite,” Fitzgerald said.
“I think the responsibility of shooting really instils a lot of those values into the kids as well, gives them a responsibility for something that not a lot of people necessarily get the opportunity to do.”
Fitzgerald said the focus on junior development continued to pay dividends.
“They go back to school and they tell their mates about it, and it seems that each month or two, there’s someone new pops up wanting to come and be involved,” he said.
The initiative has also become somewhat of a family affair, with parents getting involved around the club as well.
The club holds shoots on the fourth Sunday of every month. The next is scheduled for March 23.
New junior or senior members are welcome and can get in contact with the club via its Facebook page, or simply show up on the day to spectate and take in what the club has to offer.
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