SSW001 BCA Newport.indd 12 20/07/2018 15:19 S S 1 5 : 1 9 SS 15:19 COMPETITION SCENE 012 SlingshotWorld H ello! My name is Keith Dighton, I’m one of the original co- founders of the BCA, (British Catapult Association) and a hardcore catapult enthusiast. It gives me great pleasure to be asked to provide a write up of our first event of the 2018 season for Slingshot World magazine, held in Bassaleg, Newport, at the Graig Community Centre hall. This is our fourth year organising shoots throughout the country that provide a fun and competitive environment to enjoy the sport of catapultry. We are going from strength to strength. In our first year, we had only thirty-odd competitors. This year, we had more than ninety. What’s good, is that catapulting has become a very cheap and accessible sport for most people to get into. It is very easy to pick up but very difficult to master. With people travelling to Wales for the shoot from all over the UK and abroad (Scotland, Norfolk, Spain!) to come to our event, the support for the BCA and catapult events in general, seems to be snowballing. The Newport shoot has always been a fun shoot. There is a serious side to it, but year-on-year, the standard of shooting just gets better and better. As time progresses, we have gone from one or two select individuals who have always been a very good shot, to there being so many talented shooters, that it is now anyone’s game. You really have to be on your ‘A’ game to win nowadays. People who consistently win, deserve the utmost respect in my book. The first event of the day we had, was the Juniors and wow, can those juniors shoot! Some are self taught, some are being taught by seasoned professionals (dad) and each year, the juniors never cease to amaze me. Juniors of less than thirteen years old are putting scores in that some of the top adult shots were doing five or six years ago and winning tournaments with. Lots of new faces winning the trophies and silverware is brilliant. The buzz surrounding the shoot was bigger than it ever has been. The BCA is gaining momentum all the time, with people wanting to come to shoots. Once they have, they tend to want to come again. It is an enjoyable day out. We are very family-friendly. It provides a safe and fun (and competitive) environment for everyone just to have a go at catapults. The good thing is, the BCA has two tiers. I have been to shoots in the past where it puts people off by having seasoned expert shooters up against newbies that have no chance of winning any silver whatsoever. That’s not the case with us. We have a PRO Tier for all the seasoned shooters to go into and a SemiPro Tier as well as Juniors. This year, we are in a Catch-22 situation, it is both good and bad. Good, the sport FLINGIN’STEEL FORSILVER!The British Catapult Association Shoot, Newport, Wales, March 2018 Frank Wass at the oche SSW001 BCA Newport.indd 12 20/07/2018 15:19