I met Arran Eccleston at Doveridge Shooting Ground on a sunny Wednesday morning. He was waiting for me in the clubhouse, and the first thing he did was make me a nice, warm, sugary cup of tea – after a three-and-a-half-hour journey, some of which was spent attempting to avoid psychopathic Audi drivers on the M42, the simple gesture made me warm to him immediately.
I’ve interviewed a lot of young, successful shooters in the Olympic disciplines over the last couple of years, and it always strikes me how mature and composed they are for their age. At 21, I don’t think there was anything of much use going on in my head, and I certainly couldn’t have coped with the pressure of representing my country in international competitions.
Not so long ago, Christian Schofield (the British Shooting Shotgun Pathway and Community Coordinator), wrote an article looking at how involving young people in training and competition helps to create not just great athletes, but well-rounded, exceptional human beings… and I have to say, my experience of these youngsters absolutely confirms that theory.
Arran was no exception. Polite, friendly, quietly confident, articulate… all in all, a great guy with a very bright future ahead of him. I wanted to find out how he had coped with the transition into Seniors, which can be very difficult for some, often causing a temporary wobble for Juniors who had previously been on the podium regularly. Arran, in contrast, won Bronze for Great Britain at his first Senior competition, and has now been selected to represent his country at the World Championships in Croatia this year. Our interview looks at how his career has progressed, and how he achieved such success without falling off the radar… or the podium!
CS: How did you first get involved in shooting?
AE: My dad was a gamekeeper, so I think I got my first pheasant when I was about four! The estate dad worked at was neighbouring West Midlands Shooting Ground, so I’ve kind of grown up on and around that ground and was very lucky to have such a great shooting ground right on the doorstep. Dad told me that to get better on game, you need to get better at clays, so I started off with Sporting and I got up to A Class, I think.
I’d shot some English Skeet and enjoyed it, so I then attended a British Shooting Talent ID Day, and from there I got onto the Pathway Programme shooting Olympic Skeet... the rest is history, pretty much! You work your way up, and you get to a level where you need to focus on one discipline, so I focused on Olympic Skeet, which has been a journey. I started Olympic Skeet when I was 15, so about six years ago.
CS:What does the British Shooting Pathway Programme offer that training on your own doesn’t?
AE: I think the environment sets you up perfectly for going into competitions with six-man squads. Coming from Sporting, that’s something you won’t have experienced unless you’re shooting the majors. Having access to coaches regularly is a huge part of it, and it also offers the opportunity to progress. You start at the bottom of the ladder, and you can work your way up in a structured way.
CS: When did you first represent Great Britain, and what was it like?
AE: That would have been the Junior World Cup in 2018, as part of the Junior Team. I was nervous! I have worked a lot with the psychologists at British Shooting, but still the first time I felt the nerves all the way around. I still feel them now on the first peg, but it’s about controlling them, and understanding that if you’ve got nerves, you care.
I do like being part of a team; coming from a rugby background and going straight into an individual sport like shooting can feel quite lonely, so to have that team around you and to know you’re fighting
from someone else as well is something I really enjoy.
We’ve done three Junior World Cups since, and two European Championships. I got my first GB cap to go to the Grenada Grand Prix as a Senior in May this year, and I’ve literally just been selected for the World Championships in Croatia.
CS: So, you’ve moved into seniors within the last three months and have immediately been selected for the team…
AE: There was the European selection that I didn’t quite make and then I got my 122/125, which was the highest qualifying score, at the last selection shoot. This made me eligible for the Worlds and that got me into the squad. So, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind!
CS: I know that some people can be doing very well in Juniors, and then take a bit of a tumble when they move up to Seniors. That hasn’t happened for you, can you share how you prepared for the transition?
AE: I knew that, domestically, I was good enough to compete within the Seniors, and from there you just have to believe in yourself a bit. I know it can be a very difficult transition, so I was trying to get that transition done as soon as possible so the wait didn’t go on… I think the longer it goes on, the harder it is. I was pretty confident in my ability, but then you’ve got to be confident in this sport – if you don’t believe in yourself, no-one else will.
CS: Was being selected to shoot at the World Championships a goal for you? Did you consciously work towards it?
AE: It was definitely at the back of my mind that I wanted to target it, but I think if I’d have voiced that, everyone would have thought I’d gone mad. The score required to be selected for the Senior Team is 120, and I shot two 119s as a Junior, plus I was only missing silly ones so I knew I had it in me to do it. I spoke to Ben Llewellin, and he said if your target is 120 and you keep falling just short of it, make your target higher, like a 122 or a 123; then, if you fall just short of it, you’re still going through. That worked for me. It’s a change of mindset, and there’s a bit more maturity coming through for me now too.
I’m on the Academy now so we are training quite regularly, which has been invaluable, and I’ve been training a lot with Jeremy Bird who’s just stopped competing and is now focussing on coaching; his knowledge is invaluable, especially with him getting a bronze at the 2019 World Championships. Being on the circuit the whole time is tiring and you don’t get much of your own time to yourself. I was at University and having to go to the Grand Final during my freshers week and everything, which was tough, but you’ve got to make these sacrifices! It’s short-term pain for long-term gain.
CS: So, what does an average week look like for you in terms of your shooting and training?
AE: It does vary depending on what I have coming up. I’ve just come out of a quiet patch so I’ve been ticking over and just shooting on the weekends, but now in the build-up to the Worlds, I’m trying to get to the ground about three times a week. It’s been a bit of transition, finishing Uni in June and trying to get a job and also building in the training sessions… it’s been tricky but I’m getting there now.
CS: That must be a huge factor in making that transition to Seniors a difficult move for some…
AE: Yeah 100%. Right as you move up into Seniors with the bigger scores, you’re also having to hold down or find a job, you’re thinking about the future, and everything sort of happens at once.
I went to University on a shooting scholarship, and they had a team too, which was great for me. I really enjoyed shooting with them; it’s not Olympic Skeet, but I think my shooting improved anyway. You’re having fun, and you learn that love for the sport again… you can forget why you love it when you’re competing all the time and putting a lot of pressure on yourself.
I’m also lucky to have picked up a flexible job allowing me to average around three days a week at West Midlands shooting ground, and they are very supportive and flexible; I can’t ask for more than that really.
CS: Did you have any role models in the sport that inspired you?
AE: I think if you ask any young Skeet shooter who they aspire to be like, they’re going to say Vincent Hancock. Winning three Olympic medals out of four cycles is unheard of in our sport, so it’s him for me too.
Amber Hill is another for me – what she did internationally at such a young age is unreal. She’s just a phenomenal athlete and I have the utmost respect for her.
I’m also quite lucky that the people I looked up to at a young age like Ben Llewellin and Jeremy Bird are now my friends; they were my domestic idols, and now I’ll go and have a pint with them, I’m sharing hotels with them at camps and stuff.
I’m really looking forward to watching Vincent Hancock for the first time out in Croatia, and he’s shooting in the same class as me… it’s one of those, where I’m thinking “Yes, I made it to the Worlds!”, but also “Bloody hell, I’m shooting against Vinny!”
CS: What advice would you give a young shooter wanting to achieve what you have?
AE: Firstly, it doesn’t happen overnight. When we went to the first Pathway event, Allan Warren told us that this sport takes five years to learn; my dad was like “Surely not five..?” But Allan was right, it definitely takes at least that! And that’s just to learn it, not to master it. So, stick with it, do the basics right, and if you do that it’ll come. Trust the process, that’s important.
The Talent ID days and the Pathway are great things to get involved with. Olympic Skeet is not like Sporting where you can easily go and compete every weekend, so that training environment the Pathway provides is a great environment to be in – it is slightly competitive, because when you’re shooting against others you raise your game a bit, and it makes you push yourself to be the best in the group. To get involved in the Olympic disciplines and get access to great coaches, it’s the best environment to be in.
CS: You sound like you enjoy competition and are quite a competitive person; has this always been the case?
AE: Yes, I’ve always been very competitive. I was a little bit unlucky in a way… I was in the Worcester Warriors academy for a while, but I dislocated both shoulders during a game, and they basically told me it’s not going to happen from here on. I stepped back to playing club rugby, but every now and then I’d dislocate one of my shoulders again, which wasn’t very nice, so I stepped back completely and focused on my shooting instead. I still dislocate the shoulder every now and again, it’s still not quite right, but it did open this new door to me with my shooting career… so, every cloud has a silver lining!
I think being in that competitive environment is second to none. There is that old saying that it’s the taking part that’s important, but I’ve never felt like that – if I’m there, I’m there to try and win it, and I really enjoy the competition. I’m learning now that a win doesn’t always mean getting the gold medal, it’s about your own goal for that competition, which could be a certain qualifying score… but even with that in mind, I’m still there to compete; I’m always there to compete.
CS: What are your short and long-term goals?
AE: Now I’ve made the senior team, I’m very aware that it’s easier getting to the top than staying at the top, so I want to try to stay in and around the senior team. I might not be selected for all competitions, but if I’m selected for the majority, I’ll be very happy.
My long-term goal is to win GB a quota place at the Olympics, and from there to hopefully be selected. But that quota place is the next goal.
CS: What is the secret to success?
AE: Perseverance. The majority of things won’t go your way, especially in this sport. Whether that’s selection decisions or just having a bad competition, it’s the getting up and getting back on the horse and striving to be better after a disappointment that matters – that hunger to be better.
CS: What has been your biggest high and your most crushing low?
AE: The biggest high was probably this year at the Grenada Grand Prix. It was my first senior competition competing against multiple-times Commonwealth and Olympic medallists, and I made the senior final, knocking several of them out, and then went on to win the Bronze medal… that was a high! I shot the second highest score in qualification and a 50-straight on the second day, so I was a little bit on cloud nine. I might have had a bit too much sangria that night!
In terms of challenges, you go through moments where you doubt yourself, where you wonder if it’s worth it, where you don’t get selected for something; that was very tough initially. It’s not when you know you’re not getting selected that’s tough, it’s when you think you have a good chance, and you don’t quite make it – that can be a hard pill to swallow. But learning to deal with that, to keep going, and to have that hunger to get there next time is very good for personal character, especially in this sport.
Actually… winning the English Open this year was another big high for me! I won in Juniors, Seniors, and A Class while I was still a Junior… have a bit of that! Haha!
CS: Is there anything that you wanted to add?
AEIn this sport you’ve got to remember why you do it, remember why you love it. If you have a bad day, go out and have a bit of fun and remember why you enjoy it.
I also want to mention and thank all my coaches, past and present… even if it didn’t work out initially, they’ve all been part of the journey and I’m one for taking a little bit of information from everyone.
So, thanks to Jeremy Bird, Richard Brickell, Per Moen, Allan Warren, all the British Shooting support staff, and of course thanks to my mum, dad, and sister for always being there and supporting me through it.