Kira’s shooting for success

KIRA Waldron, 17-year-old student from Meeniyan was asked by a friend if she’d like to come along and try out Clay Target Shooting to see if she liked it. 
It turns out she did. 

“I was pretty much hooked on it from that day on,” Kira said. 

That day was over two years ago and since then, Kira has evolved into an enthusiastic and talented shooter. 

Kira enjoys being a member of the Korumburra Gun Club and says, “I like shooting with a lot of different people because you pick up a lot of different things off them”. 

Kira’s love of the sport has led to a keenness to learn. 

“I’m always looking for advice on how I can improve.”  

Kira continues improving by attending and competing in many of the local competitions including at the Gippsland Sports Academy. 

Late last year she competed at the Clay Target Shooting State Championships in Lilydale, and success at this competition saw Kira make it into the National Skeet Championships in Wagga Wagga,

NSW, held earlier this month. Kira shot well over the week and achieved a place in C grade and Juniors with the 20-gauge. 

When Kira is not shooting and developing her natural talent, she turns her attention to helping out and advocating for communities locally, nationally and internationally. 

Her work earned Kira a nomination for Young Citizen of the Year for the 2023 South Gippsland Australia Day Awards, and she remains humble about receiving the award.

“I was nominated and very much lucky to get it… I honestly didn’t think I deserved it, because I had people telling me I was doing stuff, but it didn’t feel like it, it just felt like I was helping out the community.”

Kira assisted with making and hanging Christmas decorations in the town and organising children’s activities during the Meeniyan Garlic Festival. She represented her school, Mary McKillop College, in advocating on behalf of Haiti – a country wrought by humanitarian crisis and led a school assembly to adopt a new resolution to tackle rising sea levels and the destruction caused to small island nations. 

Kira’s community spirit and compassion for others also has her volunteering with the Meeniyan/Stony Creek Fire Brigade. 

She is a member of the Junior CFA program there and is looking forward to being able to head out with crews in Springtime. 

“I have just been doing a lot of the training and the course work to finish up my certifications and stuff like that so I can start going out on call with them.”

“Once it starts to get to spring this year I will definitely, hopefully, be out on the trucks helping out”. 

While Kira is busy with shooting competitions, helping out locally and globally and volunteering with the fire brigade, she is doing her Year 11 schoolwork.  With the same passion and drive she shows for helping others, Kira’s’ thoughts of her future career come as no surprise… 

“I’m hoping to get into uni’ for paramedicine.” 

As for her future in competing in Clay Target Shooting, Kira’s eye remains firmly fixed on the target and she says, “at the very least I would like to go overseas,” but ultimately, “I’m hoping to go to the Olympics”.