Leah Southall
Born: 13th July 2003
Based: West Midlands
Gun: I currently own a Miroku MK38 12g Trap gun and a Browning Ultra XTR Prestige 12g Trap gun but I only use my Browning.
Ground of choice: I mainly shoot at Mid Wales Shooting Centre, I shoot there most weekends. It is set in 300 acres of Welsh countryside and has the status of a Premier Plus ground. The ground hosts many prestigious shooting competitions throughout the year such as the Krieghoff DTL, Welsh selection shoots across all disciplines and the Perazzi Sporting Grand Prix to name but a few.
How did you get into the sport? I got into shooting by shooting the sporting layouts (targets in varieties of size, speed, angles and distances) with my dad in 2015. I didn’t really like the sporting discipline because the targets are too varied. One ground that I used to go to with my dad had a DTL layout, at the time I didn’t know what DTL (down the line) was, but I instantly clicked with the discipline and it’s gone from there.
Wins:
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Best Newcomer 2016
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Ladies silver medal in the West Midlands Inter counties and Lady High Gun 2016
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Junior DTL County Champion 2016
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Lady and Junior Double Rise County Champion 2017
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Lady Single Barrel County Champion
Staffordshire county DTL championship lady/junior champion 2017
Staffordshire County Shooting Team – Ladies gold medal in the West Midlands Inter counties
English open single Barrel, Bywell shooting ground silver medal colts 2017
Bywell classic 200 DTL 2nd colts silver medal 2017
2nd place Colts at Fauxdegla Shooting Ground for the DTL Grand Prix
Top lady in Staffordshire
CPSA ranked 7/45 in Colts 2017
CPSA ranked 25/88 in C Class ladies
Coach: I am currently coached by Lee Kirby (current England DTL shooter who has been selected for the Home Internationals and the European Championships 2017 and the World Championships in Australia 2018). Lee has coached me at Mid Wales Shooting Centre since I started shooting in March 2016.
Goals: My goals for the future are to be selected for the England Ladies DTL team, representing England in the European and World Championships in the near future, progress through the classifications and to hopefully start shooting on the GB Talent Pathway for Olympic Trap.
Shooting Highlights: The highlight of my shooting career so far is shooting the Krieghoff DTL in May 2017. The Krieghoff has been the biggest competition that I have shot so far which was held over 3 days.
Inspiration: Amber Hill is the shooter who I look up to. I know she shoots a different discipline, but I admire her because she shows that girls and ladies can succeed in a male dominated sport.
Advice: My advice for any up and coming shooters is just enjoy it and take whatever challenge is thrown your way.
