Scottish Target Shooting and sportscotland are delighted to announce three new staff appointments to the 2018 Gold Coast Performance Programme.
Shona Marshall joins the team as Assistant Performance Manager, with responsibility for Shotgun. Shona will work closely with Performance Manager Donald McIntosh and a team of Performance Coaches to develop and lead a Shotgun programme that emphasises the twin objectives of Commonwealth Games medal success in Gold Coast and the development of internationally competitive athletes who can play a greater role in British Shooting’s World Class programmes and international teams.
Shona Marshall
Shona has extensive international experience as an athlete to draw on, having competed at three Commonwealth Games, securing a Silver Medal in Delhi 2010. As part of Great Britain teams she won medals at European and World Championships and competed regularly at World Cup, European and World Championship level, with seven top 10 placings. Shona retired from international competition after the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Marco Micheli from Italy has been appointed to the position of Performance Coach for Olympic Trap and Double Trap. Marco has international experience as a personal coach, having worked with athletes from Oman, Egypt, India, Hungary and Qatar and has worked also within a variety of Shooting schools in Italy. He holds a ‘B’ Coaching license from the ISSF Academy.
Anne Grethe Jeppesen from Norway has been appointed to the position of Performance Coach for (ISSF) Rifle. Anne Grethe has considerable experience at the highest level, having been National Coach in Norway on a number of occasions, and a personal coach to a number of high-performing Norwegian athletes over a number of years. Anne Grethe was an Olympic athlete in her own right, taking 5th place at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The co-author of the book “Mental Training in Shooting”, she holds an ‘A’ Coaching license from the ISSF Academy.
The position of Performance Coach for Olympic Skeet remains outstanding, with an announcement anticipated in mid-to-end May.
Donald McIntosh, Performance Manager of the Performance Programme, said “I’m really pleased that we were able to bring Shona on board to lead the Shotgun programme. Whilst we have seen some progress in recent years, we still lag significantly behind our UK colleagues – primarily, but not exclusively England – who have consistently won the majority of the medals at recent Commonwealth Games. Great Britain is one of the leading nations in ISSF Shotgun Shooting, ranked sixth in the 30-year history of the World Cups, and with a track record of medal success at European & World Championships and Olympic Games. Much of this has taken place without any sustained or significant contribution by Scottish athletes, which we are determined to change. It is of mutual benefit to Scottish Target Shooting and British Shooting for Scottish athletes to challenge for more GB team places, and to go on to qualify for international finals and win international medals. Shona brings with her an unparalleled passion, intensity and commitment to Clay Target shooting in Scotland combined with a real understanding of what is required to perform at the highest level, and I look forward to working closely with her as she makes the transition from athlete to staff, and learns more about all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to create the environment that allows the athletes to perform at their best”.
“I am also really pleased that we attracted considerable interest from such a high class field of experienced coaches – domestic and international – for the roles within our programme. We are fortunate to have been able to appoint two excellent and experienced Performance Coaches to our team. I look forward to working with them, and sharing ideas and experiences as we continue to develop our ISSF Rifle and Shotgun programmes. We are highly ambitious, with great belief in the potential of our athletes, and with excellent support from our colleagues in sportscotland, we look forward to Gold Coast 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Durban 2022”.
“On behalf of the athletes and everyone in the support team, I would like to express my thanks to Sinclair Bruce, John Leighton-Dyson and Iain MacGregor – our former Performance Coaches for Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun respectively – who have done so much hard work over a number of years, and each taken their respective discipline forward to a level where we can set such high standards and attract such a high calibre of coaches”.