Recovering Jory gets College coaching role
ELIZABETH COLLEGE’S aspiring shooters will benefit from a new coach of Commonwealth Games calibre once normality resumes.
Peter Jory had been appointed as the College coach only to see rifle shooting put on hold, and schools temporarily shut down, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Although Jory is yet to receive any clarity on when the full-bore scene at Fort Le Marchant will restart, even with social distancing measures, he is excited to be taking up the new post.
‘It’s a great opportunity, I suppose, to put something back into the sport and the potential to do well is absolutely proven by their past record,’ said Jory.
‘There’s no reason why that should not continue – I do not want something that has done well in the past to fall by the wayside, so this is an excellent opportunity of continuing that on the international stage.
‘To be honest, there’s not many sports in that sort of age group where they produce so many athletes and sportsmen.
‘I hope to continue to get the kind and generous support of the “OEs” and the Guernsey Rifle Club and other associations and clubs that assist, not to mention the effort that many volunteers put into the sport.’
Thankfully, the shooting stalwart also confirmed that he is well on the mend from a vertebral fracture sustained during the Resolution IT Guernsey Rally in late February.
But Jory is yet to hear from the Guernsey Sports Commission as to when shooting may start.
Even though sports such as bowls, golf and tennis have received the green light to go ahead with certain restrictions, he and his fellow competitors will have to hold fire for the time being.
‘We will have to wait and see and consider what they say about other sports,’ added the man who would dearly hope to emulate the coaching achievements of one of his recent predecessors as College shooting coach, Rick Le Page, who produced a swathe of exciting talent.
