INCEPTION

There is a special kind of silence in the Põlva shooting range. It is not an empty or inactive silence, but one in which a person tries to control their breathing, gaze, body, and thoughts all at once. Here, a millimetre can change the result, and a poor shot must be put out of mind before the next one can even be taken. Several generations of Põlva shooters have learned this skill in the building at 7 Metsa Street. One of them first came here as a 14-year-old girl. Her name is Maire Tiisler.

Maire began shooting practice in Põlva in 1986 under the guidance of Liia Nigul. Later, she was coached by Viktor Ovtšinnikov. At first, she had to master everything that spectators often overlook when watching the sport: how to stand, hold the firearm, breathe, squeeze the trigger, and remain calm after a poor shot. Only the result can be seen on the target, but behind it lie hundreds of hours during which athletes learn, above all, to master themselves.

Maire found her way into shooting through her sister, who briefly attended rifle practice. At first, Maire also tried rifle shooting, but once she had fired a pistol, she realised that it was the right discipline for her.

Maire learned quickly. In 1990, she won an individual silver medal in the 40-shot air pistol event at the Soviet Union Youth Championships. In the sporting system of the time, simply qualifying for such a competition was already an indication of a high level of achievement. Returning to Põlva with a medal showed that the work being done at the Metsa Street shooting range reached far beyond the boundaries of her hometown.

Following the restoration of Estonia’s independence, Maire represented the Estonian national team in pistol shooting from 1992 to 2002. She competed for Estonia at the European Air Weapons Championships in 1995, 1997, and 1998, and took part in the World Championships in 2002. Ten years on a national team do not come from one good competition or a lucky success. An athlete must be able to perform consistently even when they are not feeling their best, the competition is long, and the shooters beside them are at least as strong.

In domestic competitions, Maire became an individual Estonian champion once and a women’s team champion ten times between 1989 and 2002. She set an individual Estonian record in 1991 and helped establish three team records. These are impressive figures, but in shooting, great achievements are always built from very small details: one calm breath, a steady wrist, and a trigger squeezed at precisely the right moment.

At some point, every athlete must ask what comes next. Maire did not leave shooting behind; instead, she stepped away from the firing line and took her place beside it. She became a coach—someone who no longer has to achieve the result herself, but must know how to help someone else achieve it.

Maire first gained a few years of coaching experience immediately after secondary school, from 1990 to 1992. She returned to coaching for the longer term in 2004, when she was offered a position as a shooting coach at Põlva Sports School. Maire accepted the offer and has worked there ever since.

Maire has now worked as a shooting coach for many years and holds the professional qualification of senior coach. She works at Põlva Sports School, where she trains young athletes at the indoor shooting range at 7 Metsa Street—the very place where her own journey in the sport began.

Being an accurate shooter is not enough to make someone a good coach. A coach must be able to tell whether a young athlete’s poor result is caused by an incorrect stance, a rushed trigger pull, fatigue, or anxiety about competing. One athlete needs more guidance, another less. Some need to be held back, while others need encouragement. The hardest part is not always teaching someone how to handle a firearm, but helping a young person believe that their next shot can be better.

Maire says that the greatest joy in coaching comes from hardworking and motivated students. Just as important is the opportunity to feel proud of their achievements and to see consistent practice begin to produce results.

Maire Tiisler’s best-known student is Olympic shooter Peeter Olesk, who comes from Põlva. He began training at the Metsa Street shooting range in 2004 and spent five years under Maire’s guidance. Olesk later became a European junior champion and represented Estonia at three Olympic Games. In addition to Olesk, Maire has trained numerous medallists at the Estonian Championships. Her students have included Mihkel Kasemets, Mariliis Tiisler, Merje Tenso, Kelly Elias, Hanna Renata Kottise, and Helle Leis, as well as, in recent years, Robin Kahre, Kristjan Kahre, and Kristo Käo, who has attended the Audentes Sports Gymnasium since last year. Robin and Kristjan have won medals at both European and Estonian championships, while Kristo has ranked among Europe’s leading young shooters and won several medals at the Estonian Championships.

When people look at an elite athlete, they usually see the final years of training, the national team tracksuit, and the result listed in the official records of a major competition. The beginning is usually much more modest. It might be an old shooting range in a small town, a first practice session, and a coach who teaches the athlete how to hold a firearm correctly. For Peeter Olesk and many other Põlva shooters, that beginning was on Metsa Street.

Of course, not all of Maire’s students will become Olympians or members of the Estonian national team. That does not mean that what they learn in practice is ever lost. Shooting teaches concentration, responsibility, and patience. It teaches that a shot already taken cannot be changed, but that you can compose yourself again for the next one. These skills are also valuable outside the shooting range.

Maire’s advice to young people interested in trying the sport is simple: come and see what it is like. “Perhaps shooting is exactly the sport that suits them,” she says.

Maire is more than a coach at 7 Metsa Street. She has been a shooter, coach, and judge with the Põlva Shooting Sports Club, and the Estonian Shooting Sport Federation has described her as a highly respected shooting judge. She has also served as an official at major international competitions. This means that she understands the sport from several perspectives: as an athlete on the firing line, as a coach standing beside the shooter, and as a judge responsible for ensuring that a competition runs properly.

Her work has also been recognised beyond the shooting range. In 2019, Maire received the Põlva Municipality Education Award. It was an important honour in view of her profession, because a sports school coach is also a teacher—the classroom is simply replaced by the firing line. In 2023, the Estonian Shooting Sport Federation named Maire one of its Coaches of the Year, and she has continued to receive recognition in subsequent selections of Põlva County’s best coaches.

Maire Tiisler’s story ties together the different eras of the building at 7 Metsa Street. She came here as a young shooter, became an Estonian champion, a record holder, and a member of the national team, and then remained in the same place to teach the next generation. Young athletes who began beside her have gone on to become Estonian champions, European medallists, and Olympians.

Within a single building, Maire’s first training sessions, the beginning of Peeter Olesk’s sporting career, and the achievements of today’s young Põlva athletes all come together. Each generation adds something new to the story of 7 Metsa Street, while also passing on what came before.

That is why the Põlva shooting range does not live only in its illustrious past. Athletes continue to practise on the firing line, new shots continue to appear on the targets, and Maire continues to teach young people to make each shot a little better than the one before.

Great achievements do not begin only in major sporting centres. Sometimes they begin at the far end of Metsa Street in Põlva—quietly, steadily, and one shot at a time.

Members of the Põlva Shooting Club. Maire Tiisler is fourth from the left. Also in the picture are Andreas Maspanov, Anne Vasarik, Andres Hunt and Anneli Patrail.
Photo: Taavi Nagel