HARRY RIGHT ON TARGET IN SOUTH AFRICA

1st (NI) Battalion Army Cadet, Harry McCaughey, has been earning sporting honours in South Africa, as part of the elite GB Under 19 team and as an individual competitor.

The Ballymena Cadet who has long been a shooting star with Cambridge House School Army Cadet Force Detachment was selected for the three week trip of a lifetime to South Africa and the challenge of competing in the prestigious South Africa Bisley Union at Bloemfontein.

Harry and his team mates won the Junior International Protea and the Junior International Long Range Match trophies, breaking all records to become the most successful team ever in the competition.  Harry also earned personal glory, shooting his way to first place in both the Short Range Aggregate section and the President Cup.

He says, “It was fantastic to be selected to travel to South Africa in the first place and I was thrilled to make the Under 19 team.  I thought things couldn’t get much better, but winning was the real icing on the cake, particularly when standards were so high.

“Rifle shooting is a big sport within the Cadet movement and I’ve had some fantastic training and preparation locally. Getting experience of international competition however has made me even keener than before to do well in my chosen sport and I reckon I’ll be spending even more time practising on the rifle range now!”

While Harry spent much of his three week South African trip honing his sharp-shooting skills and competing, he and fellow team-mates also found time to enjoy the region’s attractions, spending an acclimatisation week in the celebrated Elgro River Lodge and finishing his trip with adventure training, a visit to an animal rehabilitation centre and a safari experience.

He says, “It was all amazing but, for me, the absolute highlight was being able to hold a 3-day-old baby lion.  I felt like David Attenborough!  It was fantastic to get up close to so many African animals: a real privilege and something I will remember for ever.”