A very big congratulations to Mark Magill of Concord Rifle Club (NSWRA) for his award of a 2024 Student Sports Scholarship from Macquarie University for Full-bore FClass FTR. It is a fabulous achievement for Mark and also in support of our NRAA target rifle shooting disciplines.
The Scholarship
Mark’s scholarship is part of the Macquarie University’s Sports Scholarship and Elite Athlete Performers scheme. The scheme is focused on assisting athletes in their desire to combine high-performance sports involvement with tertiary education.
Macquarie University Sport Scholars have access to high level support to assist them in achieving sporting and academic success during their time at University. Mark has been awarded as an Emerging Scholar and advised NRAA:
“I am honored to have been endorsed as an Emerging Scholar in the Macquarie University 2024 High Performance Athletes Sports Scholarship Program. My sights are now set on the 2026 ICFRA F Class World Championships, the learning curve now dialed to exponential, and the camaraderie of being a member of an elite squad of Aussies vying for a spot in the team pursuing the World Teams Win is simply inspiring!”
Involvement with NRAA and State Teams
Mark was part of the 2024 F Class Trans Tasman team which travelled to NZ in January 2024 and successfully won the Trans Tasman trophy. He was also successful with his first international individual win, at the Wellington NZ Rifle Association’s Annual Championship.
Mark’s Journey
With memories of watching his father shoot Target Rifle at the ANZAC Rifle Range in the seventies, Mark ventured into Full-bore F Class shooting in 2019 with Concord Rifle Club (est. over 100 years ago), experiencing welcoming supervision, support and world class expertise from the Club.
“I quickly recognized the joy to be found in reloading, developing and competing in F-Class precision shooting. After beginning a Bachelor of Biodiversity and Conservation (anchored in Biological Science) undergraduate degree in 2020 at Macquarie University ( pursuing exotic feral pest eradication (in particular Sus scrofa) and saving the Koala’s), the parallels between full-bore rifle sports and the scientific method became apparent, including researching, evidencing, data analysis, interpretation of results and control for bias, the competitive spirit was ignited and the quest had begun.
Climbing the results ladders in the annual Queen’s (now King’s) Championships over the years led to my nominating and selection for the victorious 2024 Trans-Tasman Australian Team (a sensational learning experience, thanks Team! The Macquarie University culture of flexibility and inclusion has allowed my parenting, academic, business and sporting pursuits to coexist.”
A very big congratulations to Mark for his inspiring journey and great success.
