FURNER sporting clays shooter Tasha Bellinger is set to don the green and gold when she represents Australia at the World FITASC Sporting Clay Shooting Championship in England this July.
Not only will she be the first South Australian woman to ever represent Australia in the sporting clays discipline, but will become a mother just two months before the event.
To add to the excitement, it will be her first overseas trip.
All those factors point towards what is sure to an experience of a lifetime, headlined by the opportunity to compete in the highest level of her sport.
Bellinger said she was “stoked” to make the team and it was by far her biggest achievement in sporting clays.
“I have made the state team three times and won a couple of state championships, but nothing that was going to send me overseas,” she said.
“There is going to be over 1000 shooters at the world titles, so that is pretty big.”
To make the three-woman sporting clays team, Bellinger competed in the Australian nationals late last year, where she finished third.
From there the top six competed in the FITASC Australian Grand Prix in Geelong on March 10 and 11, where another third-place finish saw her make the national squad.
She said she was happy to finish where she did, as she faced some tough opposition at the Grand Prix.
“The girl who got first won the world title last year, so she goes pretty well,” Bellinger said.
“And second place is not far behind her.
“I was pretty happy to get third behind those two.”
The world titles is as high as shooters can go in sporting clays and Bellinger is honoured to compete at the pinnacle of the sport.
Sporting clays differs to the Olympic “down the line” discipline of target shooting, as it aims to provide a more realistic simulation.
“We are simulated field and game, so the idea is we have a whole range of targets simulating duck shooting or pheasants and quail, whereas down the line is the same target over and over again,” she said.
“It is more of a focused thinking kind of thing.”
She said the variety of sporting clays interests her more, while the down the line discipline can “get a bit boring”.
“In sporting clays you go to different places and everyone throws different targets,” Bellinger said.
“If you travel around for down the line, you are going to see the same target everywhere you go.
“It is more of a reflex with a lot of our targets, while they know exactly where it is going every time.”
Bellinger has been around the sport for about 14 years now, but stuck to local events until more recently.
“I did not really start doing state stuff until probably five years ago,” she said.
“I just did a lot of local shoots and stuff like that.”
The sport runs in the family and she is joined by her father and grandfather on the range at local events, along with her husband.
She said the opportunity to travel and meet like-minded people is a big drawing point for the sport.
“You can go up to the middle of nowhere and there are still clay shoots up there,” she said.
“You get to meet people from everywhere.
“They are all pretty good people you meet and they are all interested in the same stuff.”
With a baby on the way, Bellinger said that weighed on her mind a little when she made the decision to travel overseas, but there will be plenty of help to lighten the load on the first-time mother.
“Mum and dad are both coming as well,” she said.
“They are treating it as a bit of a holiday, but they will be there to help.”
She said she views her pregnancy as a “lucky charm”, as the baby has been with her throughout the process.
“I was pregnant when I came third at the nationals, but I did not actually realise then,” Bellinger said.
The world event will be run over four days, from July 10 to 13, with shooters facing 50 targets a day.
There are several competitions in the world championship and it is split into both individual and team results.
“There are individuals and then there is the ladies team, which is just the three of us against whatever countries send a ladies team,” Bellinger said.
“Then there is the whole Australian team with the blokes in it as well.”
The lead up to the event promises to be an exciting time, with the baby due in six-weeks, followed by the trip to England and capped off with the chance to compete against the world’s best sporting clay shooters.
