Straight Shooter
You may have noticed Tristram Allen around the office; he’s a hard fellow to miss. The former rugby player and champion clay shooter possesses a charming English accent, a ready smile that crinkles his eyes, and a firm handshake that are all helping him make – forgive us – hit the bullseye as a Sales Advisor selling vacation homes and RV rental sites here at Sun-N-Fun. And Tris couldn’t be happier doing it; getting to America is something he’s hoped to do since he was little. Now, at the ripe old age of 23, he’s achieved his goal. But then that’s nothing new for Tris.
When an injury to his knees at 15 ended a promising career as a rugby player, Tris took up clay shooting. And he quickly made – forgive us again – an explosive entrance into the sport.
Clay shooting is quite popular in Tris’s native England – he hails from Leicester about an hour and a half north of London where he grew up on his father’s sheep farm – and right from the start he showed a real talent for the sport. After completing a three-year course in Business Management at the University of Buckingham in just two years and graduating at 20, he got into shooting seriously and he was soon competing all over Europe.
As the only member of Great Britain’s under 21 team, he won a Bronze Medal competing against marksmen from all over Europe, shooting in France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. As part of a two-man team for England competing against the other countries of Great Britain – Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands – he took Gold. His success continued as part of England’s nine-man over 21 team, twice winning team Gold. He’s also won the prestigious Waterloo Cup as a senior – over 21 – for Great Britain competing against the other nations of the European Union. And he modestly admits to having won a few individual medals, all of which he keeps at his father’s farm.
It was while competing that his desire to come to America really started to take shape and his resolve strengthened.
“Loving outdoor activities made me want to come to the States because they just seem to be doing things right over here. I’d come to that conclusion because of all the stories I’d hear from fellows when I was competing on an international level. It was other competitors and friends that convinced me to give it a try,” is how he explains his decision.
He took a job with Bourne Leisure, the English company that owns Royalty Resorts, as a Sales Advisor at two of their properties on England’s South Coast. He quickly proved himself as adept a salesman as he was a shooter. He asked his grandfather, David Allen, to help him find something in the States and it was Sun-N-Fun’s good fortune that there was an opening here.
“The atmosphere here at Sun-N-Fun is really fantastic,” he says. “Everyone’s happy because everyone’s enjoying their stay and you feed off that energy. The team cohesion is really extraordinary. It’s an amazing place because everything is done so well.”
Nor has Tris been disappointed by his expectations of life here on Florida’s Gulf Coast. He’s gone fishing, caught a grouper and cooked it himself. He’s been to the Mote Aquarium to watch a friend, Frank Barbin, who operates a crane company weigh a Manatee and he got to feed it. This Thanksgiving he and Frank headed to Dallas to see the Cowboys play the Dolphins, an experience he looked forward to with great excitement. He’s even had the chance to keep his gun hand steady and his eye sharp; he’s been shooting out at the farm of a friend, at Clay Gulley and hopes to get over to the Knight Trail range south of Sarasota.
He’s also made friends with Jeff Dickson’s son, Scott, and Ian Wilbraham’s son, Greg. The three young men like going to Gulf Gate and Siesta Key, checking out the bars and listening to music. We were told we were a little too old to hang with them. Too bad.
Tris will return home for Christmas and then return to Sun-N-Fun in early January when he hopes to meet some of the folks he’s talked with about vacation homes and rented RV sites to. We’re sure we’re on the mark when we say they’re going to enjoy meeting this straight shooter as much as we did.
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