Albany Clay Target Club president Bryn Westerberg hoping to boost numbers after successful come-and-try day

Albany Clay Target Club president Bryn Westerberg hopes to remove the stigma surrounding firearms and encourage young Great Southern residents to pick up the family-friendly sport. The club is located in Napier about 12 minutes north of Albany and boasts 25 members, but after a come-and-try day conducted at the weekend, Westerberg is eyeing a boost to those small numbers. The 36-year-old says it is an all-inclusive social sport which caters for people of all abilities and ages and the club aimed to remove the stigma surrounding firearms. “We just want to make the community aware that we are a local sporting club and all-inclusive for kids, ladies, disabled people, and as long as you can hold a gun safely, you can come and participate,” he said. “I just like how social it is. I travel three or four times a year to other regional clubs that have big shoots on and there are people there from 13 years old up to guys in their late 80s. “Seeing the smile on their face catching up with old mates, it’s just really good to see. “We’re a nice bunch of friendly people out here. “I think it’s probably a bit intimidating driving into a new club, especially a firearms club, but we are a small club, and we do have a couple of female members. Westerberg said clay target shooting was the ultimate test of both physical and mental durability and said the Olympic discipline was growing in popularity with younger players. “The hand-eye coordination and the mental challenge of it makes it fun,” Westerberg said. “You can see it as a competitive sport and compete against others, but half of it’s a bit of mental stuff as well and you’re always competing against yourself. “We have about 25 members but we should probably be sitting around, you know, 35 to 40 members. “We shoot once a month competitively, which you can come out and have a go at . . . but when you sign up to be a member, you’re also a member of the WA and the Australian association, so you can travel to any clay target club in Australia and compete.” The club’s come-and-try day was supported by funding from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries as part of the election commitment grant program.