The argument for what is Oxford’s most well-known sporting club is undeniably won by the University Boat Club, but the case for which sporting club has been the most successful over recent years is more clouded. One club which must surely be in contention for this is the Clay Pigeon Shooting Club. In the last three years alone, the club has medalled at every BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) competition (winning in 2023). They have won the men’s Varsity against Cambridge twice, and came out on top at countless other national competitions.
What actually is clay pigeon shooting?
On the most basic level, clay shooting involves trying to hit a range of moving targets with a gun more times than your opponents can hit them. Think of it as if you were to throw a rock at a moving target: you’d intuitively throw the rock in front of the target as you need to account for the time it takes to get there, and this is where the skill of the sport comes in—it’s not just point and shoot! What’s so elegant about the sport is that anyone of any age or physique can take part, as the skill involved takes precedence over any singular physical attribute, making it accessible for anyone to compete at a high level with enough practice!
The targets we use are clay-based frisbees, about the size of a saucer, which are known as “clay pigeons”. These are launched at varying speeds, angles and distances. We use shotguns which, unlike a rifle, fire cartridges that contain multiple small pellets (approximately 350 of them!). It’s a bit like throwing a handful of gravel rather than a single rock—you’re more likely to hit something with the gravel. But as if this wasn’t hard enough, there are two targets in the air at once as the shotguns are double-barrelled, so they can fire twice.
Clay pigeon shooting more generally
The sport has a rich history, both at Oxford and generally: it made its first appearance at the Olympics in 1900, and since then the GB team has been incredibly dominant; Team GB has won countless Olympic medals in the discipline, such as Amber Rutter winning Silver and Nathan Hales winning Gold (and setting an Olympic record in the process) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Clay pigeon shooting at Oxford
At Oxford, the club has over one hundred and twenty members (as well as an active alumni contingent), competing in teams of four students. Both the men’s and women’s first teams are extremely competitive, winning multiple competitions in Hilary alone. The men’s team, for instance, won The Hartpury Challenge and the women’s team won The Bristol Challenge, with the club achieving “high gun” (the highest individual score) at both competitions.
But what makes the club so special, in my view, is that you’d be hard pressed to find another university-level sports club with such a high proportion of members who have picked up the sport since arriving at Oxford—over 50%! Throughout the year, the club runs “have a go sessions” where students can come along and try it out; we train and compete just outside of Oxford
Finally, it wouldn’t be Oxford sport without the infamous rivalry against ‘the other place’. Clay shooting’s Varsity match happens at the end of Hilary, and it is undoubtedly the biggest event in the club’s calendar. To the lucky few who are good enough on the day, a Half Blue can be won, and very rarely (if the competitor also competes at an international level, amongst other requirements), a Full Blue can be achieved.
For the more social-minded members of the club, the more vital competition comes once the guns are put away, and at the dinner afterwards: The Pint Of Port Challenge, against Cambr*dge…
So whilst we are training hard for Varsity coming up, as a club we are looking forward to this Trinity where we’ll be running Cuppers, more ‘have a go sessions’, and our regular socials! So, if you’re interested in a welcoming and social sport that’s skill-based rather than purely physically dominated, please head to our website to find out more—after all, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!