Christiaan Steyn (21), a third-year law student at the University of Pretoria (UP), will be representing South Africa in clay target shooting in the British Open, the European Open and the 15^th International Clay Target Shooting Federation’s World Down-the-Line Championship – all taking place in the town of Morpeth in Northumberland, England.

Steyn has one clear goal in mind: “I'm aiming to win the Junior World Championship,” he says without hesitation.

He won the Junior British Open title in July 2022, in the event held in Northern Ireland, where he “shot an almost perfect score”.

“It would be lovely to win the whole world competition, but at this stage, I would be content with winning the Junior World Championship,” says Steyn, who has a final chance of competing as a junior.

What makes Steyn’s achievements even more remarkable is that he trains only once or twice a month, not out of laziness, but because it is too expensive otherwise: he needs to shoot about 150 rounds at each practice which, with the cost of ammunition and range fees, comes to about R3 000 a session.

Even more remarkably, he has never had a coach.

“I was only influenced and nudged into a certain direction,” Steyn explains. “But most of the talent and skill I got was from practising – through trial and error, and seeing what works for you as an individual shooter. Not everybody wants to be coached and not everybody wants to coach.”

This, among other things, makes him the outlier.

“It’s hard to compete on the same level as the other competitors, who have sponsors and whose countries support them so much – their plane tickets, ammunition, accommodation and food are paid for,” he says. “Sports psychologists and physios travel with them. When it comes to the South African team, it's just the shooters. My dad can’t come with me this year because it is too expensive. That's really one of the big problems with this sport: you need money to compete at a high level.”

Yet Steyn is not bitter, neither do these realities detract from his confidence and positive attitude.

He first came across clay target shooting in primary school, when a relative invited his dad, his older brother, Willie, and him to shoot at the Wattlespring Sports Club in Babsfontein, which is still his range of choice. His parents felt he was too young to take part, so he just watched that first day. Willie, however, was a natural, and is now a five-times Protea in the sport.

Steyn started clay target shooting in Grade 8 and immediately shone. Soon trapshooting took priority over the rugby and swimming he also competed in at Helpmekaar College in Johannesburg.

He is now a three-times Protea champ – even though he had to wait a while for that honour the first time he qualified, when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from travelling overseas to formally clinch the accolade.  

Steyn takes his success in his stride.

“We come from the Free State, and spent weekends on my grandparent’s farm there. So we have always been around guns, and shooting and hunting.”

He explains how clay target shooting is an umbrella term for different variations of the sport, including the one he takes part in, which is trapshooting, and specifically down-the-line trap.

“Basically, one station throws the clays in front of you, and you shoot that station from five possible stands. Each stand shoots at the clays from a different angle. And the clays are thrown in three different directions: one at a left angle, one at a right angle and one straight.

“When you practise, you have to shoot the same clay over and over and over, 1 000 times, so when you get to a competition, you know precisely where to shoot each clay, at each angle, at each speed, 100% of the time.”

Clay shooting has enriched his life. A cursory look at his Facebook page shows the number of people he has met from around the world.

“I'm not an extroverted person, so this has helped me a lot with meeting new people and seeing the world, which I'm thankful for. And I’m very thankful for my parents – even though it's hard for them financially, they still sponsor me and pay for everything.”

Steyn loves studying at UP, with the only drawback being that it is a four-hour drive to his family in the Free State. But he will be visiting them before he leaves for the UK, as well as spending time with his girlfriend, who he has been with since Grade 11.

After the competitions, he plans to focus all his energy on preparing to qualify for an Olympic title. Clay shooting in the Olympics is slightly different.

“You have 15 machines in front of you covered in a trench, so you don't see them,” he explains. “There are three machines in front of each stand, and they are thrown at a much quicker pace than what I'm shooting now.”

Aiming for the Olympics would mean more overseas trips to qualify, but that’s a hurdle for another day, and one which Steyn is sure to master. In the meantime, he is psyching himself up for victory and mentally preparing himself for the competitions by shutting out the stress, which he does by listening to music, everything from hip-hop to rock and heavy metal.