One Britains most exciting shooting stars has a list of titles as long as your arm, British Open Sportrap Champion, British Open English Skeet Champion, English open English Skeet Ladies Colt Champion, Third place Ladies at Beretta World – backed up with numerous county championships. She has also secured a place in the Ladies English Skeet Team this year. A monumental list of achievements, all at the age of 14 for Berkshire shooter Amber Hill.
Ahead of Amber, is the potential of Olympic shooting in the future – working with an Olympic coach to prepare for future tournaments like the Summer Olympics in 2016 or Commonwealth games in 2018 and beyond. We managed to get some time with Amber to find out how a little about her shooting, her hopes for the future and what it feels like to have all those titles under her belt ahead of her GCSE’s!
ShootClay : Lets go back to the beginning – when did you start shooting? Who introduced you to shooting?
Amber Hill : I starting shooting when I was 10 years old just for fun at first, by the time I reached 12 I started to enter more major competitions and really enjoyed it doing them. My grandad got me into it and still shoots with me occasionally which is nice.
SC : Where do you live, and where do you usually shoot? Do you have a favourite shooting ground?
AH : I live in Binfield, Berkshire. At the moment I shoot all over the place so I can practice a variety of different targets which helps with my Sporting. I like a number of shooting grounds such at Southern Counties and Royal Berkshire Shooting School but I wouldnt really say I have a favourite.
SC : Who is coaching you? What kind of training regime do you have?
AH : Since I started shooting I havent really had a coach. My grandad taught me the basics and had the odd lesson. Now that I am thinking of doing more Olympic Skeet, I have recently started having lessons with Joe Neville. I don’t currently have a training regime just lots of practice!
SC : We know that you spend a lot of time shooting with your Grandfather Bill – are you both really competitive? Who usually wins when you shoot together?
AH : We are both competitve when we shoot together even though I normally win but I do have to occasionally let him win so he thinks he’s still good!
SC : What’s your equipment set-up?
AH : I currently shoot a Ceasar Guerini as I they kindly sponsored me. I really like my gun and am very lucky that they decided to sponsor me. I am also sponsored by Eley Cartridges so I use Eley Blues which I am getting on well with at the moment. Mac Wet also kindly supply me with my gloves.
SC : Now that you have series of titles under your belt, what is next? What ambitions do you have for the future?
AH : Even when I first started shooting I set goals that I wanted to achieve which pushed me to do better. I have a lot of goals that I would like to achieve in the near future but I would really like to get into the GB team and then hopefully go on to shoot in the Olympics.
SC : Thanks for your time Amber – we wish you much luck as you progress in your career.
