Tibor Gonczol

After a lifetime of contribution to the Melbourne International Shooting Club and the preceding Pistol Shooting Organisations and to the wider Australian and International competitive shooting field, Tibor Gonczol has been awarded with an Order of Australia Medal in the recently announced Australia Day honours list.

Tibor is a dedicated and passionate contributor to our sport.  His commitment is genuine and his time commitment has been above and beyond expectations we may hold for any club member. His contribution to the sport has been across all areas as a:
–    Competitor;
–    Coach;
–    Technical delegate to the world body International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF);
–    Team official;
–    Competition official; and
–    Club member – President – to this day.

In the lead up year or so before and particularly in the six months up to the March 2006 Commonwealth Games, Tibor’s commitment was full time and then some.  He was part of the committee tasked to bring the club up to world standards and host the Commonwealth Games.  His was an unpaid role and was to ensure as far as possible that the “Games” went ahead without issues of an organisational or technical nature being raised.  I spent the month of March on the range and can report that no issues of any substance were raised by competitors nor officials in the lead up practice days (5), followed by the lead up competitions (5 days), then the 10 days of the Commonwealth Games.  A magnificent feat.

To get to this point, Tibor’s long time world wide experience, technical knowledge and understandings of major world standard events, gave him a vision long ago that put us in a position superior to any other club in Melbourne to host the Commonwealth Games.  14 Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were awarded to the pistol and rifle winners at our club.  In recognition of his stature within the sport Tibor was asked and did present some of the winners with their gold medals as the events were decided.

His abilities and repute is international as I believe he holds three prestigious awards for his dedication to Shooting by the U.I.T. now known as International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) for his Technical and Coaching expertise and achievements.  Tibor was awarded a ‘Master of Sport’ award by Hungary, which tells me his achievement has been very significant on an international level.

The State shooting body, the Victorian Amateur Pistol Association granted Tibor Honorary Life membership long ago as did Melbourne International Shooting Club Inc. Tibor has been quite selfless in all of his time as a club member.

Below is a quick summary of his history:

Competitive Experience

Prior to coming to Australia – Member of Hungarian International Team 1952 – 1955
Member of State Teams    – 1958 to 1974
Member of Australian Shooting Team at many events including:

Contribution to the sport and its development:

Coaching Qualifications:
A.C.C. Level High Performance Coach (Level 4)
U.I.T. International Coach (highest level)

Coaching Experience:

Coach / lecturer at Olympic Solidarity Coaching courses in Italy & Germany including assisting setting up of the National Coaching Systems in New Zealand, P.N.G. India, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam, W. Samoa.

Sport Administration Contribution:

Club Level

State Level

National Level

International Level

Australian Team Official