Dan Adkins
Staff Writer
Article dated Jan. 15, 1995

The Israeli shooting team will train at Pinetucky Skeet & Trap Club in south Augusta for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, local officials said Monday.

Meanwhile, Pinetucky and Greater Augusta Sports Council officials are awaiting word from shooting teams from China, Great Britain, France and Japan about using the club's facilities to prepare for the Olympics.

Phillip Christman, Pinetucky vice president, said the Israeli team will arrive next month for 10 days of practice prior to a World Cup shooting event in March in Cuba.

``They'll be back, I know, a couple more times before the '96 Olympic Games,'' Mr. Christman said.

Tammy Stout, acting director of the sports council, said the Israeli team's decision does not signal an economic coup for Augusta.

``The (Israeli shooting team) delegation is not going to be that large,'' she said, noting the squad will include six shooters, one trainer and one official who will train for the air-pistol and air-rifle events. They will be in town from Feb. 18 to 28, Ms. Stout said.

But the team's decision to use Pinetucky should not be underplayed, she said.

``It's more or less the prestige of being selected as a place to train'' that is important in this instance, she said. ``It's pretty competitive'' among areas trying to attract Olympic training teams.

The Israeli team's decision comes about a month after officials of the Spanish Olympic Committee rejected Pinetucky as a training site. The officials told The Augusta Chronicle that Pinetucky did not meet all their needs.

But the Israeli team apparently has no doubts about the club's facilities.

``They have not been here, but we furnished them with photographs'' of the facility, Mr. Christman said. He refused to say what other information was provided to the Israeli team.

Mr. Christman said the club has received information from the Japanese shooting team indicating it would like to use the club to prepare for the Cuba event.

He said the Chinese team has indicated it wants to spend two weeks next year at Pinetucky preparing for the Olympic Games.

Inquiries from the French and British teams indicate they are considering Pinetucky, he said.

Those countries were among 28 national shooting teams that received letters last August from Pinetucky officials. The letters provided information about the facility and were followed up with other correspondence, Mr. Christman said.