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College student targets success
Promising small bore shooter Stephanie McNair was surprised to be announced Fonterra NZ Rural Youth Sportsperson of the Year at the recent Rural Sports Awards. She talks to Neal Wallace.
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: From left, Fonterra’s farmer services manager Jamie Smith, Fonterra NZ Rural Youth Sportsperson of the Year winner Stephanie McNair and Farm4Life’s Tangaroa Walker at the recent Rural Sports Awards.
SMALL bore shooting is not a sport normally associated with teenagers, requiring a blend of physics, selfcontrol and discipline.
But 17-year-old Palmerston North Girls High School pupil Stephanie McNair has all those attributes to be ranked as one of the country’s most promising shooters.
Last year the daughter of Dannevirke farmers Robbie and Ruth McNair broke the 50m outdoor shooting record with 623 points out of a possible 654, and now she has her sights set on emulating her mother.
Ruth McNair (nee Stuart) represented New Zealand at two Commonwealth Games – Victoria in Canada in 1994 and four years later at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
In addition to her mother being a national representative shooter, Stephanie’s father is also a small bore shooter.
“I kind of grew up with it,” Stephanie said.
She is already in the top grade for both outdoor and indoor shooting, having only started the sport in 2018 in the introductory level D grade.
By the end of 2019, her scores were such that she had pushed her way into the A grades in both codes, missing B grade altogether.
A successful season last year culminated in being named the Fonterra NZ Rural Youth Sportsperson of the Year at this year’s Rural Sports Awards.
Unlike many other sports, shooting puts males and females of any age in the same competition. Competitors are based on their grade, which is determined by results.
Stephanie’s favoured competition is the indoor 25 yard .22, in part because it is not weather impacted, but allows her to utilise her penchant of being a rapid shooter.
“I shoot quite fast and you only have 12 minutes to shoot a card, which is 10 shots plus three sighters,” she said.
The sport of small bore shooting is a deceivingly involved process.
The single-shot .22 rifles she uses are expensive, costing from several thousand dollars up, but allow shooters to make multiple fine adjustments to make it comfortable and stable.
Shooters wear a special jacket which has a sling that helps make the fitting snug and to take some of the weight off the weapon.
Although she is right-handed in everything else she does, Stephanie shoots left-handed – just like her father.
Lying prone on a mat, she says competitors get three sighter shots using a special scope to check accuracy and to make final fine adjustments before beginning to fire scoring shots.
It is a sport that requires patience, especially outdoors where wind and the mirage impact from hot weather are a shooter’s biggest enemy.
She says the key is to maintain a consistent firing routine, but on outdoor ranges where wind can be a factor, they try to pick a pattern and fire when the wind direction and strength is similar.
Their other tactic is shade aiming – aiming to account for the influence of the wind on the projectile.
“It’s quite a process, getting down in the prone position, relaxing and breathing a few times, and doing what you normally do,” she said.
“You try to be consistent.”
It is shaping as a busy year for the Year 13 student.
She is also preparing for the North Island Open, Junior and Women’s shooting teams, from which she can then qualify for New Zealand teams, including the Oceania Games in Brisbane at the end of the year, covid-19 restrictions willing.
Stephanie will also be shooting for the title of top secondary school shooter for 2021 during the Secondary School nationals held in September.
To improve her chances of selection, she is adding a new string to her bow, indoor air rifle shooting.
It is a section included in the Oceania Games that involves competitors standing and firing at the target 10m away.
Representing NZ at the Commonwealth and/or the Olympic games is her ultimate goal, and she hopes attending university next year will not preclude that goal.
She hopes to be able to balance studies, possibly law, with shooting competitions and the five hours-plus a week training.
She says small bore shooters are a small, tight knit but social group who celebrate each other’s success, and that makes the sport enjoyable.
While delighted and surprised to have won the award, Stephanie is also pleased at the profile her winning gives to the sport.
“It’s cool to see rifle shooting up there,” she said.
Stephanie McNair Small bore shooter
Rural Sports Awards winners announced
JUDGING panel convenor Nathan Twaddle says he was thrilled to be celebrating so many people who had provided a lasting impact and benefit to the rural sporting community.
“The Norwood New Zealand Rural Sports Awards honour everyone from young athletes to lifetime achievers, including those who work behind the scenes to make sure rural sports survive,” Twaddle said.
“This year, once again, we had an incredibly impressive lineup of finalists for each category showcasing the strengths of rural sports in Aotearoa.”
He says that although the quality of entries were high across the board, the nominations for the Toyota Lifetime Legacy Award proved so high that the judges couldn’t decide on just one winner.
“We were simply blown away by the quality of nominees represented across a range of rural sports in the Toyota Legacy Lifetime Award. After receiving the highest ever number of nominations for that category, we didn’t think it fair to select just one winner.
“Many people were deserving of this award and so we’ve decided to recognise all five of our finalists as equal recipients of the award.”
Norwood chief executive Tim Myers congratulated the winners and finalists of the awards.
“It’s been inspiring to hear the dedication and commitment of our rural athletes to their sport and the standing they have on the international arena, especially our up and coming athletes like Stephanie McNair who has been shooting her way through the ranks” Myers said. Zealand Rural Sports Awards winners are: • PTS Logistics NZ Rural
Sportsman of the Year: Rowland
Smith • Skellerup NZ Rural
Sportswoman of the Year: Keryn
Herbert • Fonterra NZ Rural Youth
Sportsperson of the Year:
Stephanie McNair • Levno Outstanding
Contribution To Rural Sport:
Joint winners – Murray and
Deneece Goldsworthy, and
Warren White • Toyota Lifetime Legacy To Rural
Sport: Joint winners – Sally
Mallinson, Curly Troon, Greg
Herrick, Nick Liefting and
Sheree Taylor • Norwood New Zealand Rural
Sports Supreme Award:
Stephanie McNair • Sir Brian Lochore Memorial
Award: Tom Walsh.
IMPRESSIVE: Stephanie McNair won two awards at the 2021 Rural Sports Awards in Palmerston North.
