Grace has aims to be a top gun

Grace has aims to be a top gun

12 September 2012

DOWNPATRICK sharpshooter Grace Coburn hopes to be going for gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.

Grace has been one of the poster girls of the Army Cadet Force and now she’s helping others to shoot to the top by training to be an officer and adult instructor.

But her ambitions don’t stop there and the 19 year-old is looking to be in Glasgow next year, gunning for gold.

Grace has set her sights firmly on sporting success and having taken up shooting as a hobby which she started seven years ago as a junior cadet, she has taken her prowess to new heights.

The local teenager is already recognised as one of the country’s top markswomen and is currently training in a bid to make it to the Commonwealth Games next year.

When it comes to Full Bore Target Rifle and Small Bore Shooting, Grace can and does hold her own with the best of them. She is currently Northern Ireland’s top female markswoman and has recently returned from major success in the celebrated South African Open Championships, bringing home six medals, including a team first and a second place in the hard-fought ladies’ section of the international contest.

Sergeant Instructor Alan Douglas, Detachment Commander of the Ballykinler Rifles Detachment to which Grace is attached as an adult instructor, said from the first moment Grace lifted a rifle on the training ranges “it was clear she had a prodigious talent.”

He continued: “Over the years, she has matched that talent with the sort of hard work and determination that are needed to make it to the top in any sport these days. We have little doubt that we’ll be cheering Grace on at the Commonwealth Games next year.

“Grace had a glittering cadet career, taking advantage of every opportunity that the movement offered to her. She excelled in shooting competitions here at home, nationally and even internationally and, at 19, is now looking to move from Under 21 categories into mainstream adult competition, a transition she will make seamlessly.”

Alan described Grace as a “very calm and disciplined person,” qualities which are perfect for shooting.

He continued: “It really is a pleasure to watch her shoot, for she remains cool, calm and collected, no matter how tough the competition or how grand the occasion. Grace is able to put her nerves aside which is a great attribute, letting her natural talent and preparation work do the rest.

“We are enormously proud of Grace and not only because she is enjoying

such success at her chosen sport. She is a fantastic role model within the Cadet movement and we’re delighted that having ‘graduated’ through the ranks she has chosen to return as an adult instructor.”

Alan said Grace’s lively sense of fun will be as welcome as her shooting skills and she will inspire cadets to see the potential to take shooting to the highest level.

For the moment, Grace is concentrating on the realities of training which involves long hours of practice needed to excel in the sport. The student also holds down two part-time jobs to help pay for ammunition, equipment, competition travel and accommodation. Finding potential sponsors to help her prepare to try for Commonwealth glory will be next on her agenda.