The end of last year was chaotic in both shooting and business, not to mention the kids various end of year festivities.  I am sure this is something all of you can relate with as it seems to me everyone runs around crazily at that time of year.

I do hope that you all had a good holiday season!  Christmas and New Years seem to be for most people a time to have a break and get away. For us, it is a great chance to stay home and catch up on the odd jobs that don’t seem to get done through the year.  It was also a great time to get focused for a very busy year ahead.

2012 is now here!  What a year I face with excitement of what I hope to achieve.  The year is off and running with the National Championships already completed for me.  I have trained intensely for this event, which I consider one of the most prestigious to win.  Thankfully the training has paid off for both Russell and I, and we were both able to retain the National Championship title for another year. National Championships are always great to win but both Russell and I are realistic that we need to compete abroad to assist us in achieving our goals. We therefore plan on committing a large proportion of our time overseas.

We have two National Olympic Qualifying events remaining.  One in Adelaide in February followed by another a few weeks later in Melbourne. Following that we will pack the kids, our guns and our competitive spirits and head to Arizona for the first World Cup in March.  While we are there we will cram in?some much needed quality time with my family before we then head to London for some training followed by the final Olympic Qualifying event, the test event for the Olympic Games.? I will endeavor to keep in touch better as in another 3 months we will know?our fate of our Olympic campaign.  Fingers crossed all goes well for us.

Lauryn

My apologies for the delay in writing this Blog.  A lot has happened sense the last time I posted news…After a disappointing World Championship result I have had to spend some time reflecting on ways to help increase my overall competition performance.   Continue Reading

This week I am scrambling to get my self in order for the World Championships. I depart on September 4th with my competition on September 10th.  After my Australia Cup competition on Saturday once again bringing me mixed results I will need to do a lot of training prior to my departure.  Unlike Brisbane where I started strong and finished poorly, I did exactly the opposite at this event.  I was very slow to get started but finished strong.  I managed to win but only narrowly after shooting off against my fellow World Championship team member, Laura Coles. The goal now is to perform consistently at a high standard for the whole event!

On top of wanting to increase my training prior to my departure, our business is gaining momentum with a lot of events in the next couple of weeks and an increased administration load with plenty of event enquiries coming into the warmer months. Based on the World economy at the moment this is in no means a complaint!  I am thrilled to see the business growing and hope to keep up with the demand.

I also have a few children in need of some quality time with their parents. One thing I am finding is that the busier I get the more I appreciate and value every minute I get with my lovely children.

I would however appreciate anyone that can tell me how to get more then 24 hours in a day???

Part 1 – 30 July 2011

As expected the time since I last wrote has been a little chaotic. It seems that I am always in transit when I get the opportunity to sit down long enough to clear my thoughts and put my life on paper. I have just completed the Australia Cup in Brisbane, yet another Olympic Qualifying event. One good thing about writing straight after the events is that I can write the way I truly feel about the experience.

I shot 69 today, again one off of the qualifying score. I shot the first two rounds on target for a personal best with a 24, 25 to open. Unfortunately I then followed with a 3rd round of 20. The club offered fairly tough conditions today with lighting and wind playing a big factor to all competitors. I proved in the first two rounds with the correct mindset, I can achieve great results regardless of the conditions. I also showed my need for more competition experience to ensure that I can make it the distance.

Thankfully with almost exactly 12 months until the Olympics and plenty of National and International events to go I have the time to further evolve in my shooting and gain the strength to finish as strong as I am currently starting.

Tomorrow I am headed to the Collingwood President’s lunch where we have been fortunate to be in a position to donate one of our Corporate Shooting Stars, Corporate events in an auction that will hopefully capture a large price. The cause is for ‘Finnan’s Gift’. For those of you that are not aware that is a charity that has been created after Alisa Camplin sadly lost her baby from a rare heart condition only days after being born. The charity is trying to raise funds for a machine that will be able to assist in the future survival of babies with the same heart condition.

With this event at the front of my mind, I admit that sport does get put in perspective. I am grateful for all I have, mainly two healthy kids and a happy marriage … sport is just a great bonus.

Best wishes to Alisa, a wonderful women in sport and in nature that deserves more then anyone I know a break for genuine personal happiness…my thoughts are with you. x

Part 2 – 31 July 2011

After a very emotional event today I would like to update everyone on the wonderful success of ‘Finnan’s Gift’. Alisa Camplin attended the lunch today with here husband Oliver Warner. She spoke an emotional but strong message at the lunch telling Finnan’s story. Admittedly I cried at a Corporate function but they were just tears I could not hold back …  I have now come to realize that I admire Alisa Camplin more then ever as she stood up on that stage as any proud mother would and told of her wonderful moments with her son. She then explained that the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital ‘the best in the World’ required a heart machine to stop other families from suffering the same pain, a price of $300,000. A pretty small price for families that just wish they could have one more moment with their precious baby.

Following her speech, with the crowd still emotional and Eddie McGuire as auctioneer, they managed to auction our Corporate Shooting event for a wonderful price of $21,000. Much to my amazement 2 others matched the bid which means we were able to assist ‘Finnan’s Gift’ with an additional $42,000, a total of $63,000! With other auction items the Collingwood Football Club raised $74,000. The VIS (Victorian Institute of Sport) and VOC (Victorian Olympic Committee) athletes were also prominent on the grounds with tin cans raising further needed funds. I am confident that Alisa and Oliver are now well on their way to fundraising the much needed machine for the Royal Children’s Hospital.  One amazing and inspiring family!

http://finnansgift.com.au/