The GOSA (Gun Owners South Africa) Girls on Fire top shot event was at the Wattlespring Sport Shooting Club in Bronkhorstspruit on August 26.
About 150 female competitors participated, with an all-women team of 37 range officers and range officer assistants.
“The competitors’ shirts carried the word ‘Warrior’ across the shoulders, and all of the competitors ended the day as true warriors,” said Lynette Oxley, the founder and director of GOSA Girls on Fire.
The event catered for women with no experience in firearms (amateur class), those who had little experience with firearms (semi-amateurs), and those who had competed in some sport shooting or more (professional).
They completed eight stages during the day.
“Our warriors were exposed to eight different sport shooting disciplines and shot a variety of firearms, from a small. 22 long rifle calibre to the biggest of them all, the mighty .50 calibre, one of our top favourites for the day,” said Oxley.
According to Oxley, the ammunition for this stage, Truvelo .50 cal and .308 bullets, cost more than R55 000 and was all sponsored.
“The gala event began at about 18:00, straight after the shooting day wrapped. Our MC, the inimitable PJ Powers, welcomed us and sang our Girls on Fire song, written and composed in the main by one of our Girls on Fire, Joslyn Greenwood,” said Oxley.
Keshna Schoeman, a home invasion survivor who started Ribbons for Justice, was the competition winner, followed by Olivia Jasriel, a survivor of tennis coach Bob Hewit and founder of the Jasriel Foundation, in second place and Vanessa Tedder Govender, an etv reporter and survivor of domestic abuse, in third place.
They did the medal handovers and lucky draws between dinner at the Wattlespring Restaurant. The prizes up for grabs included 10 firearms.
