The Aberdeen University Rifle Club is one of four student rifle clubs competing in the

Scottish Student Sport Scottish Student Sport (SSS) formed in June 2005 as Scottish Universities Sport is the professional body for delivery and furthering of sports at university and college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institutio ...

Rifle Competition Circuit. The club currently trains with Robert Gordon's University Rifle Club. The

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

are known to have entered The Aberdeenshire and District Smallbore Shooting Association regional shooting competitions as far back as 1919 under the name of the "OTC". These competitions are now being won 90 years later by the Aberdeen University Rifle Club. The club used to be known as the Aberdeen University Small Arms Club (AUSAC).

Facilities

The club originally shot under

Elphinstone Hall Elphinstone Hall is a large hall belonging to the University of Aberdeen, located at their King's College campus in Old Aberdeen. It is a 20th-century building which replaced the "Common Hall" and is named after Bishop William Elphinstone, the ...

in the heart of the

campus, with a later move to the Portlethen Club where they shared the range. In the 1990s the Aberdeen University Rifle Club moved to the Denwood Target Shooting Centre, which boasts a 20 lane 50m range, a 20 lane 100 yard range and a multipurpose indoor 25 yard range with the capacity for 10m air rifle. The club room includes a kitchen, pool table and large social area. This facility is unequalled in Scotland and is the finest range in Scotland.

Domestic competitions

The Aberdeen University Rifle Club currently competes in

and

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

as core competitions. Outwith the university competitions, the club has members that compete in NSRA, STS and county association competitions. The stand out success being defeating Bon Accord Rifle Club, who hold the British Record and were defending champions in the British Club Championships in 2008. The university team recorded the highest score in the country for this round.

University competitions

The Aberdeen University Rifle Club has been a standout sport for the

in the past. The club led the SUS competition table for numerous awards and often completed clean sweeps in the SUS competitions. In recent times, success at the Aberdeen University Rifle Club has been illustrated by individual members taking medals in the

Rifle Grand Prix Series and Championships as well as a bronze medal in the 2018 BUCS Indoor Championships.

University of Aberdeen competitions

The club's success has been recognised in past years by either the club or a member winning all five of the universities sports trophies on at least one occasion. The AJM Edwards Memorial Award- Awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to University sport over a number of years. Centenary Cup- This cup is presented to an individual or team who excels in a single event during the previous sporting season. The Sandy Morrison Memorial Trophy- Presented to an individual who has performed to an exceptionally high level at his or her chosen sport. The Allender Memorial Trophy- This is awarded to the most deserving club at the discretion of the Blues Committee, which consider competitive performances, as well as fund-raising, social events, training and tours. Basically it's our club of the year trophy. Furthermore, significant recognition has occurred with SUS awarding two of their three prestigious awards to the Aberdeen University Rifle Club. This is against all 17 Scottish Universities approximately 500 club and representative teams. Gordon Cox won the first ever volunteer of the year award in 2007 and the club won best team award in 2009
Victoria Walls
was the 2017/18 winner of the Sandy Morrison Memorial Trophy, crowning her Athlete of the Year.

International representation

The rifle club has a long history of international representation. There are many British an

held by past and present students of the club. Currently nine past and present students of the

can be found in th
Scottish national squad
Many of these have gone on to represent Great Britain on the world stage. There have been notable ad hoc success for the club's members such as the Scottish Commonwealth youth runner up and the award for the best City of Aberdeen sporting student.

World Cups

There have been numerous representatives from the

but currently the only medal winner is Neil Stirton who won silver at Munich World Cup 2008.

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games

2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games

University representation

Great Britain

The Aberdeen University Rifle Club has had members represent

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

at the World University Games. These students have included Heather Rudd, James Paterson and Jonty Barron.

Scotland

The

Scottish Universities There are fifteen universities in Scotland and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees. The first university college in Scotland was founded at St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by H ...

Smallbore Rifle team would annually contain numerous

students. It has not been unheard of for the winning Scottish team at the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

international to be made up of and captained by 75%

students.

References

Munich 2008 World CupScottish Smallbore Rifle AssociationNational Smallbore Rifle AssociationScottish Target Shooting FederationCommonwealth Games Council for Scotland2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games2010 Delhi Commonwealth GamesBritish University and College SportScottish University Sport
{{University of Aberdeen University and college sports clubs in Scotland University of Aberdeen Rifle shooting sports