By Deanne Jeffers
TATURA’S Craig Fitzgerald was inducted into the national Hall of Fame last month, at a dinner held at the national grounds in Wagga Wagga.
The Australian Clay Target Association’s (ACTA) Trap Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to recognise the outstanding achievements of Australia’s greatest trap shooters.
Craig was presented with his certificate and green jacket by Steve Atkins, who is a 10-time national champion and who represented Australia in March at the World Down the Line event in South Africa.
Steve, who has known Craig since he was a toddler and knew his father who was also an avid hunter and shooter, described Craig as the “best shot out of Tatura and District,” he’d ever seen.
“What he has done, particularly at the start of his national career, is extraordinary.”
“He won three national titles within three or four years, when most people it would take them about 10 years to get one. He was also the runner-up for a world title,” said Steve.
Both members of the Echuca Clay Target Club, former club secretary, Ian Phillips, resounded praise for both Fitzgerald and Atkins, who was inducted in 2012.
“Steve must be the most decorated shooter the ACTA has had over the last 30 years,” he said.
“To be inducted into the Hall of Fame, shooters must be successful at a regional, state and national level. Craig has been a long-term member and has shown excellence in all of the above.”
“We have monthly competitions at the club, and while we all shoot well, they shoot a cut above the rest,” Ian said.
