History and Objective The league was
originally set-up in 1984 to offer a Winter 50 metre/50 yard
competition open to any shooter belonging to any club in
Europe following the request from several dedicated shooters
who 1) had moved to another European country and 2) who
wanted 50 meter practice/competition so that they could
enter the following summer better prepared. Few if any
Shooting Associations off the shores of the U.K. offer a
postal type competition. So the League, which at that point
did not have a name, was organized. The first Winter
Competition had nearly 360 entries.
The name “ Polar Bear “ originated from a chance
remark by several shooters on Jersey who at the time were
having some coaching by the English National Coach. The time
had come when they had to shoot the next round of the Open
50M/yd., as it was then called, in spite of the fact the
weather was definitely not typical of Jersey, it was blowing
and snowing and in fact very Polar. Why Bears? Well, only
Polar Bears would normally venture out into that sort of
weather but the rules state that each round must be
completed by a certain date and if that date, usually a
Monday, is imminent that’s it, one must shoot! The National
Coach did some coaching in freezing conditions and later
related the story to the co-coordinator and the name stuck.
The Objective of the League is to offer a low-key
competition with an acceptable entry fee to help alleviate
the boredom of practice. All too often during practice it is
easier to say ”Oh, that will do” when that is pointless and
a waste of money, time and ammunition. But if the resulting
hole has even the slightest consequence then the practice is
more meaningful and of course proves or disproves a
particular alteration. Without persistent and meaningful
practice one will never get any better let alone get to the
top of any class. From the top of Class D in three years one
could represent one’s Country.
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