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Sammy Halsey is crowned first female champion in Talent Pool

  • Buckinghamshire-based event planner, Sammy Halsey has beaten 20 finalists to be crowned winner of Talent Pool™ 2018. This groundbreaking competition, now in its third year, aims to find one talented person with real potential to be mentored and fully trained with a view to competing in a top national competition at the end of their annual journey.

  • Organised by Southdown Shooting School and Edgar Brothers in Findon, the annual competition involves applicants attending a series of selection days, shoot-offs and gruelling interviews. This year organisers widened the net to include more shooters by lowering the age limit from 16- to 14-years old and changing the grading of shooters from CPSA C class to now include B class shooters too. However entrants did not have to be a CPSA member at all to enter.

  • The glittering year-long prize fund, which is worth more than £15,000, includes the loan of a brand new Zoli shotgun, 12 one-to-one professional coaching sessions, membership at Southdown Shooting School, NSI cartridge allocation, selected entry fees and expenses, Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) membership and branded clothing. Plus the winner will be personally mentored by Southdown’s head coach, Simon Arbuckle.

  • Relatively new to the sport, 29-year old Sammy, couldn’t believe she had won. “I started shooting roughly two and half years ago after some friendly competition with my brothers who all shoot and have done forever! So I snuck off to get some lessons and got hooked. As a woman in shooting l have had a huge amount of support from fellow shooters on grounds. I have progressed over the last year and reached a point where l felt l had the confidence to enter Talent Pool. I am still totally overwhelmed that I’ve won this year! I’m not quite sure it’s really sunk in yet! I am very excited to try the Zoli Z-Bella and NSI cartridge combination. The support from Southdown and Edgar Brothers is going to be invaluable, they have already welcomed me in to the family and l’m really looking forward to working with them and taking everyone through my shooting journey.”

  • Director of Southdown Shooting School, Shaun Miller, added: “The big change this year was number of female entries, with around 25% of the finalists being women, they were all really credible and defiantly challenged the men. Sammy ticked all the boxes in the Talent Pool final but what impressed me most was her raw talent, which we hope to help her improve with our mentoring programme over the next year.”

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