Last weekend the team was due to have its first team training weekend. Not wanting to let a global viral pandemic get in the way of our preparations, the team held its first training weekend online. Once everyone got through the initial technological challenge, the Captain welcomed everyone to the team and set out our mission for next year. First and foremost to win! but secondly, to have fun in the process.

After the initial introductions the team adj. went through an outline of the itinerary so far and the details of various team jobs everyone had been assigned. Our Vice Captain then went through our plans for team training.

Obviously with much of the shooting calendar either cancelled or on hold, training for this tour will not be like any other. We hope to get onto the ranges as soon as it is safe to do so and government restrictions allow. In the mean time the need to train at home was emphasised whether that be SCATT or dry firing and especially getting good exercise. To help us in that last aim, Lucinda kindly set up a team Challenge on Strava: walk from Bisley to Bloemfontein!

Next we discussed the challenge of fund raising which will undoubtedly be more difficult in the current economic climate. However, some positive discussions have already been had with potential advertisers. In addition, with many more people now doing their shopping online, there is the prospect of raising significant funds for the team through the easyfundraising service. This is a fantastic system where retailers make a small donation to the team fund every time you shop at no extra cost to you! although each donation is small, added up across the whole team and their friends and family over the course of a year, significant sums can be raised. More details on how to use this service will be published in a separate post.

After a couple of hours of discussion our appetites for the tour were well and truly whetted. We finished our call with a round of advice from the more experienced tourists on the team and agreed that we would continue having regular virtual check ins over the coming months. Stay tuned for more updates! #LoveToTour

First team training weekend – sort of…