Starting his shooting career as a cadet in 1971 Parramatta, UNSW alumni and UNSW Blue recipient, Reg Roberts, has since moved to the UK and competed with Great Britain and England teams, including stints as Captain and target coach for winning teams. His personal worldwide shooting achievements include 19 Queen’s final badges, 6 Grand Aggregate crosses and 11 St. George’s badges.

Born in Lindfield in 1956, Reg was the third child of the Managing Director of Fairfax & Roberts and Jewellers a domestic economist (the name he prefers to ‘housewife’). His father was a spitfire pilot in WWII and, at the age of 94, is still active in promoting scholarships for air cadets through the Spitfire Association for which he just retired as President.

Reg was a chronic asthmatic in his early years and spent two of his first six years of life bedridden. Having survived the ordeal, he then committed himself to playing every sport he could until the age of 14, as a way to develop his aerobic system more efficiently. During this time, he unfortunately lost three of his good friends to the same terrible disease. 

For his schooling years, he was originally placed in Sydney Grammar School in St Ives until 1967, then went on to secondary school at King’s School in Parramatta. Still an avid sportsman in his senior schooling years, Reg ruptured his Achilles tendon playing a game of rugby in 1970 – an injury that would debilitate him for over a year. 

It was suggested that, in his incapacitated state, Reg should try out for the rifle team, as his cadet scores had been quite promising. Reg gathered excellent skills from the sporting regimen and by the time he left school, he was Captain of the Small Bore Club (.22 calibre rim fire – 25 yards), he represented combined schoolboys and was awarded full Honour colours for the sport.

He enrolled at UNSW in 1974 to study Accountancy and Finance, and went on to represent the University at intervarsity for four consecutive years, becoming Captain in 1977.  The same year, he came eighth in Her Majesty’s the Queen’s Prize in NSW, and was junior Victorian champion. He also represented combined universities in that year, and for all these achievements was awarded the University Blue - the University’s highest sporting honour.

Additionally, for postal matches between all universities of the Commonwealth, Reg was awarded two Imperial Blues as part of the winning team. After graduating from UNSW, Reg entered the accountancy profession, joining a small progressive firm called Logan & Gottschald in Sydney. By 1981 he had achieved a management role and obtained his Chartered Accounting status. Later that same year, he married his lovely wife Jennifer, a New Zealander born and bred in the UK. 

While promised a promotion to the role of full practicing partner in his firm, with the introduction of torrid economic recession during the early years of the 1980s, the promotion was postponed and Reg was compelled to look overseas for opportunities anew. He and Jennifer immigrated to the UK in early 1983, and Reg was appointed Managing Director of a recruitment agency group called Bligh Appointments, which also had an office in the Dymocks building in Sydney. 

Reg stayed with this company for eight years, until leaving in 1991 to establish his own business services group as CEO and “general dogsbody” for Target Recruitment Solutions, which is still operating in the UK today. 

Since moving overseas, Reg’s shooting endeavours have only excelled. He participated at the ‘mecca’ of World shooting in Bisley, and has represented England and Great Britain in 38 international competitions, which saw him awarder two World Championship Gold medals in 2007 and 2015. Reg has won many trophies over recent years including England champion in 2016, which saw him inducted into the all-time “Hall of Fame” the same year. He has been Captain of Great Britain on two occasions; 2005 and 2016.   

Reg and Jennifer have had four together children, two of which are already avid fullbore shots. His business and sporting career continues to gather momentum and in recognition of my business and sporting skills, was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the National Rifle Association.