The 2016 Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program National Championships, which were held in Marengo, Ohio, last month, continue to make the news across the country as word spreads of the youth shooters' wins, awards and recognitions. See below for a few examples of our athletes in the news.

• The SCTP Nationals was recently featured on Growingdeer.tv (10:23 mark). Dr. Grant Woods attended the Nationals with his two daughters who competed in the event. Results coverage is featured here (13:27 mark).

• The Brandenton Herald recently featured a piece on the FishHawk Dynasty’s participation and title win during the 2016 Nationals.

• The Jefferson Daily Union boasted of the Jefferson Sportsmen’s Club Youth Trap Team’s 19^th place finish and numerous awards at the Nationals.

• On Go545com, the Lake County Action Shooters offer a sincere “thank you” to Justin “Buffy” Brannan, the Carroll County Shooting Sports coach, who stepped up and offered to lend the team a competition trigger group when one of the team’s rifles experienced a significant trigger problem.

• The Commercial Appeal and NSSF Bullet Points newsletter posted a piece about the Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program's shooters winning 100 individual and team awards and 23 national championships.

• The Johnson City Press and WCYB.com both featured Unaka Shooters and siblings, Jacob and Sarah McInturff, from Johnson City, Tenn., who both took top honors, earning national championship wins in skeet shooting in their respective divisions.

Each year at the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Team National Championships, young shotgun shooters line up shoulder to shoulder for what may be the single largest Last Competitor Standing (aka “Annie Oakley” or “Knock Out”) trapshooting competition in the world! The 2016 SCTP Nationals in Marengo, Ohio, proved no different when 525 and 810 young athletes toed the 27 yard line on July 13 and July 15^th respectively. Three skilled high school seniors earned college scholarships compliments of the National Rifle Association (NRA) as follows:

• $1,000 Ellie Winder – IL
• $1,000 Riley Denes – OH
• $2,000 Zachary Smith – MO (winning both Wednesday and Friday’s competition)

“The NRA has been a longtime supporter of all shooting sports, including the youth shotgun sports,” said Bill Poole, managing director of education and training for the NRA. “We are extremely proud to support one of the finest youth shooting programs in the country, the SCTP. We sincerely hope that our support has made a difference in the future of shooting!” “We embrace the dedication and longtime support of the SCTP,” said SCTP National Director Tom Wondrash. “The funding provided by the NRA for college scholarships is crucial in the development and building of our program and its athletes!” View all of the Last Competitor Standing winners here. You can also check out the drone footage from Wednesday night’s competition compliments of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Purchase tickets now to attend the SCTP National Banquet and Scholarship Fundraiser to be held Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, at the Grapevine Concourse Event Center in Grapevine, Texas. Attendees will get to enjoy good food, fellowship and the opportunity to bid on fantastic guns, gear and trips during the live and silent auction and to win prizes during the raffle. A sample of the guns for auction:

• Remington Versa Max
• Winchester SXE
• Remington 700 CDL. 270
• CZA-USA Sharp Tail

A sample of the live auction items include:

• Trophy Wolf Hunt—Ontario, Canada
• 8-Day Combo Hunt
• Spring Eastern Turkey Hunt—Ohio
• 3-day youth Turkey Hunt—Missouri
• Lake Gogebic, Michigan Fishing Trip (5 day/6 nights)
• 4-day African Safari—South Africa
• Alaska Fishing Trip—McDougall Lodge
• Alaska Fishing Trip—Waterfall Resort—Prince of Wales Island
• Blacktail Hunt—Washington State
• Zeiss Binoculars
• 6-day / 6-night stay in Cabo San Lucas for up to 8 people
• 3-day / 3-night Argentina Dove Hunt at  5 star resort  in Cordoba Valley
• 6-day / 6-night stay in St. Thomas
• 3-day / 3-night stay in Argentina at an Exclusive Duck Hunting Lodge for 4 people
• 6-day / 6-night stay in Playa Herradura – Playa Hermosa Costa Rica for up to 8 people
• 6-day / 6-night stay at the Pristine Caribbean Island of St. John for 6 – 8 people
• 6-day / 6-night stay in Belize for up to 8 people

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. For additional information, check out the flyer, email events@allenshootingteam.com, or visit  www.allenshootingteam.com or www.sssfonline.org.

The SASP invites College SCTP Nationals participants to also take part in the Ohio State SASP Match that same weekend of Oct. 28-30, 2016. Both events will be held at the Cardinal Center Campground and Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio. “The SCTP college teams that are attending College Nationals at the Cardinal Center can also form an SASP team and compete with us that weekend,” Tammy Mowry, SASP national program director, said. “They will be able to join as an SASP team and then register for the SASP match on the SHOT system, like they do for the SCTP match.  This will give teams more opportunity for competing during this weekend.” Don't hesitate. Register to take part in both events on the SHOT system!

Want to learn more about the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SAS)? Then, click here to check out the SASP DVD. This two-hour educational video is geared toward coaches, parents and athletes interested in getting started in the SASP. The video covers all aspects of the program including safety, equipment selection, action shooting fundamentals, coaching new athletes, the SASP competition format, season planning, and much more!

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) would like to encourage teams to share their 2016 Nationals stories with their local news media outlets. The SSSF has written 57 individual press releases highlighting all of the championship coverage from Marengo, Ohio. These press releases are easily downloadable, so you can simply email the coverage to your local news team, along with your photos from the event. If your team gets coverage, please let us know by sending us a link at info@sssfonline.com! Click here to follow the link to all of the 2016 Nationals Press Releases and download the copies you need.

The Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), a Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) member state, continues to set new records for participation each year. For the 2016 season, SCTP athletes in the Hawkeye state fired upon 1,852,750 clay targets in the course of competition. This total represents a 700,400 target increase over the 2015 season. Much like other traditional sports, Iowa’s clay target league consists of face-to-face competition led by local volunteers with events happening the first of September through the end of May.  In all there were 518 league matches conducted at 65 different shooting facilities supporting the 100+ SCTP teams across the state. League play in Iowa is facilitated by the SSSF’s Shooting Organization Technology (SHOT) system, which provides coaches with the registration, league and shoot management tools needed to navigate the season smoothly and efficiently. The Iowa DNR serves as state advisor for both SCTP and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) and has invested in these programs since 2006.  The Department provides ongoing program administration, shooting coach education and staffing for the state championships and other major events.  When the department took up the program in 2006 there were about 400 student athletes involved.  Today there are almost 3,400.

“We are excited to see the continued growth of the shooting sports in Iowa,” said Chuck Gipp, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “The shooting sports play an important role in connecting Iowa’s youth with the outdoors. This program is successful because of the local volunteers who spend countless hours recruiting and coaching our youth in these sports, and without them the popularity and growth of this program would not be possible.” As state advisor, the Iowa DNR is supported by the Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program, Inc. and by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation’s SCTP staff members. "With close to 2 million targets thrown at over 60 clubs, Iowa remains one of the leaders in SCTP activity across the country,” said Carlton Nether, SCTP western region director of development. “With the continued support of the IDNR, SCTP looks to continue its growth in the state, across the western region and the entire US." The league season in Iowa culminated at the SCTP state championship events during the month of June.  The championships attracted over 2,200 athletes over four separate weekend events totaling over 3,200 entries to conclude the in-state season. Many Iowa teams continued on to compete successfully at the SCTP national championships in Marengo, Ohio, July 9-16. Complete results for the Iowa state championships and other SCTP shoots around the country can be found at www.sssfonline.org then navigating to the results section of the website. About the SSSF The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is responsible for all aspects of the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) across the United States. SCTP and SASP are youth development programs in which adult coaches and other volunteers use shooting sports to teach and to demonstrate sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork, and other positive life skills. SCTP was developed as a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) until the SSSF was created in 2007 to operate the SCTP. In 2012, SSSF created the SASP and became the managing foundation of both programs. For more information about SSSF, visit www.sssfonline.org.

Ankeny, IA - Fourteen coaches from five different Iowa Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) teams attended a unique training opportunity with world champion action shooting competitor and coach, Manny Bragg (www.mannybragg.com). The course was hosted by the Dragoon Chapter Izaak Walton League and Central Iowa Scholastic Shooters and sponsored by the Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program, Inc. Coaches spent two days on July 26-27 learning the fundamentals of shooting accurately at speed, and more importantly, how to coach those fundamentals to SASP athletes shooting rifles and handguns. Coaches spent the first day in a blend of classroom and range time reviewing fundamental shooting skills such as grip, presentation to the first target, accuracy, trigger control, transitions and the mental game. Day two was spent role-playing, diagnosing and troubleshooting common errors action shooters encounter and practicing useful drills and coaching techniques to develop the proper skill sets. “This is just one more step in creating a great experience for our youth and the shooting sports” said Brian Hood, head coach for the Central Iowa Scholastic Shooters and board member of Iowa SCTP, Inc. “As coaches we have the responsibility to first promote and train firearms safety, secondly sportsmanship and the desire to compete.  With the new knowledge and skills provided by Manny we can better help our athletes excel with proper coaching.”