The NSRA has for many years supported Junior National Squads for both rifle and pistol disciplines. The last development of these was the NSRA GB Talent Squads for both rifle and pistol which prepared shooters for an appropriate level of international competition and then on to enter the British Shooting World Class Programme National Academy.
British Shooting has now introduced squads which not only occupy the space in which the NSRA GB Talent Squads operate, but also a development layer below them. This obviously involves a number of the current performers at this level but also some of the coaches that support them.
These Squads are named the British Shooting Talent Academy and beneath it the British Shooting Development Academies.
Due to the introduction of these new elements to the shooter pathway the NSRA have decided to no longer maintain the Talent Squads. This is because the number of shooters and coaches at this level would not be sufficient to populate parallel systems effectively. It will also create a more linear pathway which will less confusing for shooters and coaches and hopefully allow more effective shooter development.
The NSRA will now concentrate its efforts within the Talent Pathway on Regional Squads and the new Performance Clubs system that will be launched in the near future. There are also other plans to establish training squads for disciplines and events outside the normal remit of British Shooting where shooters still need support to be the best that they can be.