17 / 32
Airsoft in
Serbia
Rick Haslam
BTP Branch.
We were invited to Kikinda, Serbia for an air rifle
shooting competition in September. I accepted the
invitation and had a fabulous time. I’m retired, I’ve
been visiting Romania on and off since 2008 and
have lived there since August 2015 so it was easy
for me to attend this event.
I
located my B&B/restaurant
with the help of a friendly English
speaking local. The President of IPA Kikinda, Pavle Rajkov had spotted
my Romanian car registration, helped me find a parking space and
welcomed me with a friendly bear hug. We joined the others that had already
arrived, three members of the Financial Police and two Police Officers from
Sibiu Romania, plus a few local off duty officers. Others trickled in and at
about 9 pm we all sat down to dinner. I was representing Section UK and
others who attended came from Timisoara Romania, Poland, Macedonia
and of course the locals.
After breakfast on tournament day, the shooting started. When not shooting,
members and their families relaxed outside in the shade or sunbathed (it
was 30 degrees all weekend) and drank beer, water, chatted, met other
members and there were rolls for lunch. I won’t tell you how dire my shooting
was, but I didn’t come last!
When the shooting was over, we were given a walking tour of the pretty
town, a couple of beers and back to the hotel for a shower and a change of
clothes. We all met up and made way to the party venue in convoy. This time
there were over 100 people and through the evening I made some great new
friends .The music was Balkan and there was lots of dancing and drinking.
IPA Kikinda/Serbia would not allow us to buy ANY drinks over the 2 days of
festivities, their hospitality generosity and friendliness was fantastic! It made
it a memorable first IPA visit for me. As a guest I only had to pay for the B&B
which was only 7000 RSD (about £40 for a twin/double).
This is a bi-annual event. I would certainly recommend attending. There is
always someone around that speaks English and the Romanian and Serbian
sections really appreciated me representing Section UK. I was told by many
that on other IPA trips they had not met a UK IPA member and would like to
meet more.
As a result of this event I have an invitation to visit Sibiu on March 25th
2017 for the National Police Day there and an open invite to visit
Kikinda again.
Sergeant Danny Graham said: It was an honour to lead our Volunteer
Police Cadet team on the trip to the twin-town of Krefeld. I was extremely
grateful to the IPA and Leicester City Council Town Twinning Department
for the invitation and massive support in making this trip happen. Our
German hosts were extremely generous and could not do enough for us.
The Police Cadets were a credit to themselves and Leicestershire Police.
I was most grateful to my fellow IPA member, PCSO Tracey Ward, for her
assistance as a second Cadet Leader during this wonderful experience.
I will always have fond memories of this trip to Krefeld and would love
to build on the relationships made both with new friends overseas and
within our happy travelling party too.
17
Article
POLICE WORLD
Vol 62 No. 1, 2017