SHELLYANN HINDS CAN HIT a long-range target with great accuracy and precision.
The number one female rifle shooter in the Caribbean has been a member of the Barbados Rifle Association (BRA) for many years but her introduction to shooting came at 11 years old when her father Louis King joined the BRA at Paragon base in 1991.
Hinds recalled that she was intrigued by the sport from the early days of spending every weekend at the range with her father – she was always close to him, she added. “Everything that he did I wanted to do,” she said.
Now she shoots a full-bore rifle 7.62, an outdoor rifle which can reach 1 000 yards.
The former student of St James Secondary School (now Frederick Smith Secondary), who is a hairdresser, has participated in competitions around the world.
Though she shoots as a hobby, she said many people across the world shoot as a career because they get financial support, but local shooters hardly get any assistance.
Referring to it as a “labour of love”, Hinds said: “We do not get paid for doing it and most of our competitions we have to foot the bill ourselves. We might get a little bit of help from the Barbados Olympic Association or the National Sports Council for certain competitions.”
However, she said that whenever they leave these shores they represent the country, get as many medals as possible and wave the Barbados flag high.
“I do not think that it is fair to us that we do so much; work so hard and then we do not get the recognition for it. Then when we do well you hear everybody singing our praises and come on board. but when people are struggling they need to get help and we do not get that assistance,” she said.
Nonetheless, Hinds is undaunted in the quest to perfect her shooting skills. Over the years her interest has not waned, but she has grown a lot more passionate.
“I am very serious about my shooting; over the past two years I have settled down a lot. Before, I used to just do it but since I started competing and travelling on behalf of Barbados and get to international competitions and see people who are really serious about shooting – actually for them, it is a career – I am more serious,” she said.
Top five
Last year, when she competed at the Regional Palma Games in Antigua, she was the only female in the top five shooters and now holds the standing of number one female rifle shooter in the Caribbean.
She also travelled to the National Capital Region Rifle Association, a rifle and pistol shooting club in the Connaught Ranges in Canada, where she placed in the top 100 among shooters from all over the world.
“My goal there was just to be in the top 100 and I was able to achieve that. I placed 67,” she said.
With those accomplishments under her belt, Hinds is thirsty for more and spends every Saturday at Paragon improving her skills.
Many variables
“Every day is not the same. I can go today and shoot and have a perfect day and five minutes after it can go horrible – it all has to do with the timing, the wind, weather, atmosphere and a lot of variables can change the whole shoot. So getting it right does not mean the equipment but getting the practice in,” she said.
However, Hinds said that is challenging since it is a costly sport. Amidst her efforts to encourage more women to participate, Hinds said the ammunition used is $3.50 per round and she has to use 20 – some people can only afford to shoot ten rounds and that is all for the day and that is not enough practise, she said.
Her bid to get more women involved comes from her belief that women make better shooters. “To me women are better shooters; they are more disciplined than men,” she said.
And for those who think women cannot handle rifles, Hinds loves them and find them more relaxing than pistols.
“Pistol is moving around too much; rifle you have to be still and I like being still and settling my mind,” she said.
The skill she has honed over the years also makes her the target of a lot of questions – since she is a woman.
Very open
She said the guys are also very open to her and the three other women who shoot at Paragon in every discipline. “Everybody treats us as one; I don’t get harassment, only this is before they would say, ‘Oh, you let a girl beat you’, but everybody has gotten accustomed to having you around and everybody lives as one family.”
With two upcoming shooting competitions, one in Canada in July-August and the Guyana centenary shoot in October, Hinds said some assistance in training as well as contributions towards the cost of participating in these events would be welcomed.
She also has her sights set on going to the Commonwealth Games in 2018. She is hoping through these trips to bring some more recognition to the sport and to women who are involved.
