A competitive target shooter from Roland will be heading to South Africa in March to take part in his first world-class event. Scott Kyle, who grew up in Boissevain, will be participating individually and as part of Team Canada at the Rutland Cup. Team Canada consists of seven competitors and four shooters noted Kyle.
"This is a world-class event, it will be over three weeks in Bloemfontein, South Africa. There will be the individual competition with a few hundred of the best shooters in the world."
Kyle says he's competed in the American Southwest Nationals, as well as the Western Canadian Championships, but nothing on this level.
"I'm part of the Manitoba Provincial Rifle Association (MPRA) and we actually trace our routes in Manitoba back to 1872, and as part of formal British target shooting back hundreds of years, the MPRA started as a way to train the militia in 1872, and then has evolved into a sporting organization, after the militia went away, and has then morphed from formal British style target shooting into this F-Class target shooting, which is a Canadian offshoot of the formal British system."
Although Kyle has only been competing in F-Class target shooting since 2019, he's done very well in the sport. "I'm getting there. I had a very successful year as part of the team," noted Kyle. "We took third in the U.S. Southwest Nationals and 4th in the U.S. Nationals in October. Then we also went to a regional match in Benton City, Washington this spring, and were successful there."
On the individual end, Kyle won the North Dakota long-range and mid-range state championships and came in fourth in the Western Canadian Championships. "It's been a very, very good year being able to shoot across Western Canada and down into the United States."
Kyle has been a target shooter for many years but said he prefers the F-Class target shooting. "This is far more formal and disciplined, as opposed to just launching rounds down, and hoping for the best. It's far more methodical, and you can actually track your results. And quite honestly, it is a very welcoming community across Western Canada. We're not a huge number of individuals, but you can show up to any of these matches, and it is a very welcoming community, and you end up with a really good group of friends, and then start traveling around, and it all kind of escalates from there."
"That's the hope," added Kyle when asked how he expects Team Canada will do in Bloemfontein. "Individual is anybody's game because it is such a tight race at the top. As a team, I would hope we have a better than average chance at coming home with the gold medal."
