Alongside the national team camps which took place last week, some stars of the future were also being born at Whiskey Flat, Mount Hotham.

The 2024 Biathlon Future Stars Camp brought together young athletes looking to try their hand at the sport, many of them doing so for the first time.

The Camp was customed to the athletes ages and abilities, with participants aged under 12 using laser rifles, while those over 12 were introduced to the .22 calibre rifle.

The action packed Camp saw morning and afternoon sessions with time spent concentrating specifically on both skiing and shooting.

“The Future Stars Camp is a really enjoyable week, and it is amazing to see how much progress the kids make when they’re living and breathing the sport day in, day out,” said BA coach Toscha Stopar. “Mornings were spent on the range and afternoons skiing on the trails in the village at Mt Hotham as that was the only snow we had.”

Stopar led the Camp and was assisted by Rob Findlay, Ro Packet and Andy Croke.

She said ensuring the Future Stars Camp is an enjoyable experience can make a real difference in a young athlete’s decision to pursue the sport either seriously or recreationally.

“We work on having a lot of fun with the youngsters while working on the fundamental skills,” she said. “We start the sessions with warm-up games which often have the flavour of the  technique we will be working on that session.

“Having the concurrent days of training sees great progressions and of course they see the big kids (development team) training hard.

“It's great to watch the big kids ski past on the trail. 

“All of our young kids moved from classic to skating technique this year.  A great achievement for all.

“I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing many of last week’s participants around the sport for many more years to come.”

Looking to get into Biathlon but don’t know how? Click here to find out how to get started.