Fourteen-year-old Sunshine O’Donovan of Merritt and Quilchena’s Thomas Manuel-Hanuse, 18, leave this week for Regina.

They are two parts of an eight-member B.C. rifle team that will be competing at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), a multi-sport festival that attracts upwards of 3,000 participants from throughout Canada and the U.S.

O’Donovan and Thomas are entered in the three-position .22 rifle event along with six other young provincial marksmen who hail from Chase, Vernon, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge and Campbell River.

The rifle team is coached by Tim Shepherd from Cowichan on Vancouver Island.

The younger O’Donovan and her 16-year-old brother, Dakota, first got involved in target sports several years ago, their mom Meg said.

“I enrolled them in the Saturday morning sessions run by the local Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club. It was the most amazing thing. Everything was provided — the facility, the equipment and the excellent instruction. Local gun shops even donated the ammunition.

“They started off learning all about gun safety before they ever got to fire a shot,” O’Donovan added.

Last September, Team BC began holding tryouts for the North American Indigenous Games and both O’Donovan youngsters attended a riflery tryout camp in Abbotsford. The two did sufficiently well that it was recommended that they seek out a shooting club with an indoor facility to connect with so that they could practice all winter.

The O’Donovans soon joined the Kamloops Target Sports Association (KTSA). The club has both an outdoor shooting range west of the city and an indoor range located underneath Memorial Arena in the downtown.

“Sunshine and Dakota began attending air gun and air pistol sessions on Tuesday and Friday nights, and .22 rifle practices on Thursdays,” their mom said.

Once again, everything was provided for the aspiring marksmen. They just paid between $3 and $6 for ammunition each time.

“It’s very affordable and they have a wonderful coach, Pat Landals, who has years and years of experience,” Meg O’Donovan said.

It was at these weekly sessions that the older O’Donovan’s focus began shifting to air pistol, an event that is not being held at the Indigenous Games.

“I just really liked it, and there is a demand for participants,” Dakota said. “Also, it’s less expensive and requires less gear.”

Dakota and five other members of KTSA’s Competitive Athlete Program (CAP) are currently vying for spots on the B.C. team that will compete at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.

“It’s a four-part sport, really,” Dakota said. “There’s the physical, the mental, the technical and the tactical. The mental part of the sport is incredible.”

Competition in both rifle and pistol usually involves 60 shots divided into strings of 10, with a time limit of one hour and 30 to 45 minutes. With a maximum of 10 points awarded per shot, a perfect score is 600.

“It’s the eye that tires a lot quicker than the body,” coach Landals said at a recent practice in Kamloops.

As for Manuel-Hanuse, his arrival on the scene was a late one. The avid hunter joined the KTSA in January of this year and has very quickly adapted to the nuances of target shooting.

All three Nicola Valley members of the KTSA took part in the B.C. Pistol Championships in Campbell River in the middle of May. Dakota placed first in the Junior air pistol while Manuel-Hanuse was second in the Junior sporting rifle. Sunshine topped the field in Sub-Junior sporting rifle.

Just recently the O’Donovan youngsters traveled to the Fraser Valley for a pair of training camps. Dakota went to the Langley Rod & Gun Club for a day of pistol training with other prospective members of the Canada Winter Games team.

“[Dakota] continues to learn a lot about training techniques and how to approach competitions from very experienced coaches like John Berta from Kelowna,” his mother said.

“He was pretty happy when I picked him up, and one of the people supervisors at the clinic said that he’s shooting well enough he could go to the Nationals in Ontario next month if he chose.

“Dakota won’t go to Nationals however. He wants to keep training for another year and try to pick up a second event.

“Because the KTSA’s CAP program stands down over the summer, Dakota would like to get over to Kelowna at least one day a month for training with John Berta.”

As for Sunshine, she too had a great day at the Ridgedale Rod & Gun Club. She shot a personal best 535 out of 600 in a mock three-position (standing, kneeling, prone) match.

The younger O’Donovan and Manuel-Hanuse leave for Regina and the NAIG on July 19. They will travel by charter plane from Vancouver.