Shooting Not Included for Birmingham 2022
The Commonwealth Games Federation’s Executive Board have announced that Women’s Cricket, Beach Volleyball and Para-Table Tennis are all to be added to the programme for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Those sports were three of five additional sports being considered - Shooting and Archery have missed out.
As a Rifle athlete this is a desperately disappointing outcome. Having been long-listed but ultimately not selected by Team Wales for the Gold Coast Games, the possibility of a Home Games was tantalising. The possibility of following in the footsteps of my medal-winning teammates and marking out a space on the Wall of Honour in Sport Wales was inspirational. But it is not to be - until 2026 at least.
However, this decision shows a worrying gap in the Executive Committee’s decision making process. Whilst this will be the first time Shooting has not been included since 1970, it is not a compulsory event and there has always been the possibility of it not being included. What is concerning is that its exclusion has not opened the door for a suitable replacement - such as Archery.
It surprises many to learn that Archery is a poor cousin of the Commonwealth Games, having only been included twice - Brisbane 1982 and Delhi 2010. Yet, Shooting and Archery both share an appeal that few other sports can replicate, and it is to one of the most under-served groups in sport - “the ones that aren’t sporty” or to whom bleep tests do not apply. We who lack either the genetics to be competitive in cardio-intense sports or the inclination to chase a ball around a field.
At the core of the CWG you have Athletics, Cycling and Aquatics. For the most part cardio-intense and - if we’re brutally honest - open to those who won the genetic lottery, as demonstrated by the domination of certain Caribbean nations in the sprints, and East-African nations in long-distance running. But even below world-class level, at every school there are the naturally “sporty” or “athletic” kids, and those who aren’t. Training can narrow the gap with improved technique and you’ll never get really good without blood, sweat and tears. But there’s no making up for having favourable bio-mechanics. Much has been made of the torso-leg ratios and build of swimming stars like Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps.
Outside of that core, there are of course many other sports. Boxing, Judo and Wrestling represent the martial arts, there’s a veritable bevy of net and racquet sports such as Squash, Badminton, Table Tennis and Volleyball, and then the classic team sports like Netball, Rugby Sevens, Basketball and Hockey. You’ll notice that literally all those involve chasing a ball around a field or court.
I don’t have anything against any of those sports individually, but it should be understood that they all require athleticism and agility. And you know what? Some of us struggle with that.
Come on, there’s really nothing in there for you?
Well, Lawn Bowls. Or Table Tennis. Maybe.
Here’s the serious part. I can’t run fast, or particularly long. I can hike all day over a mountain, but run? Nah. Bleep tests don’t actually work for me. I run out of legs before I hit my VO2 Max. I’ve never been good at team sports. I’ve never got the hang of positioning myself right or creating open space. Football bores the pants off me, I watch some Rugby and I enjoyed hockey at school - but I was terrible at it. I’ve likewise never really gotten to grips with racquet sports. It may sound strange coming from a rifle shooter but whatever subset of hand-eye coordination you need for tennis never came easily to me.
Shooting and Archery I can do. They require an analytical mindset, an attention to detail, disciplined focus and an awareness of one’s body and inner position. Shooting is something with which I have enjoyed moderate success. From the little Archery I have done, I feel like if I could make similar strides if I invested as much time on it as I have on Rifle.
Alas, by excluding both sports, the organisers of the Birmingham 2022 Games have developed a lopsided programme, and that is a very great pity because it is actively exclusionary. Beach Volleyball is a very fine sport, but does its inclusion mean the Games inspire a broader church than Netball and Basketball - or vice versa? To its followers then yes of course, but to the general public? Dubious. I could make more comparisons, which people may agree or disagree with but I think the point is clear, there is overlap in the programme, to the detriment of other segments which remain underserved, and that is a stain on the reputation of the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Birmingham Organising Committee and - if this report is to be believed - British Shooting (who appear to have tried to call the CGF’s bluff with an all-or-nothing gambit which I certainly would have bet against, given the circumstances of Birmingham’s appointment).
Of course there could yet be a stick thrown into the spokes - the proposals have to be ratified by 51% of the 2019 CGF General Assembly, which will be held in Rwanda in September. Let’s see if countries like Singapore and India - who have expressed very vocal support for Shooting - vote the way they talk.