Author: Tom Davis

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is proud to announce the promotion of John Leach as the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) National Director. Leach previously served as the SASP's Programs Manager for three years, working closely to assist the previous National Director with high-level duties, making him the perfect candidate for promotion into this role.

As part of the SSSF's initiative of youth development, Leach was the second former athlete to join our SSSF staff and the first to move into a leadership team position within the foundation. As a former SCTP and SASP athlete, Leach was one of the original SPP athletes when SSSF added pistol sports, his squad winning the first SPP Senior Division Centerfire National Championship.

Prior to joining the foundation, Leach was an Operations Manager, running multiple companies. Volunteering in the very program he once was an athlete in, Leach coached at the youth level with the Ozaukee Scholastic Shooting Sports team in Wisconsin and then started the first SCTP and SASP teams at Concordia University of Wisconsin as their Head Coach. Under his leadership, Concordia won two SASP Collegiate National Championships.

John will take over as SASP National Director on January 1, 2026. Former SASP National Director Rick Leach will assume the sole responsibility as the Foundation’s President and Executive Director.

Reflecting on this announcement, John commented, "As a former athlete who grew up in both of SSSF’s youth development programs, I have received a lot from my participation in shooting sports. It is humbling that the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation’s Board has the confidence in me to select me for this position.”

Board Chairman Ed Fitzgerald stated:

“In business it typically takes 20 years for a generation to be established and to replace the eldest generation, taking on the performance of tasks in an ever evolving and more complex business environment. As SSSF continues its upward trends in creating experiences in youth development by involving competitive shooting sports as the core program deliverable, the SSSF Board of Directors is pleased to promote John Leach to become the fourth National Director of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program. Following in the footsteps of Scott Moore, Tammy Mowry, and then Rick Leach, John has shown an accelerated career acumen that makes him the logical leader of the Program that he grew up with and competed in. We look forward to the generational leap the program will take under John’s leadership.”

Leach further commented: “It is an honor to get to continue working with all of our great athletes, coaches, adult volunteers, and parents while continuing to grow SASP, SCTP and youth shooting sports. I’m excited to pass on and instill the values I was taught as an athlete in both of SSSF’s programs. I look forward to seeing more former athletes join me with SSSF as we look towards the future of growing youth shooting sports."

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) would like to congratulate our athletes that competed at the 2025 NRA World Shooting Championship (NRA WSC). This year due to the generosity of Federal Ammunition, for the first time ever SSSF paid the entry fees for six our athletes to attend the NRA WSC. We had another two of our athletes also attend on their own. The six athletes that had their entry fees paid by Federal Ammunition were selected based on their finish at our Top Gun Challenge at our National Championships. Top Gun Challenge is decided by the athletes scores in trap, skeet, and sporting clays in our Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and iron sight pistol, fastest rifle, and 1911 pistol in our Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP).

Our eight SSSF youth athletes were competing in their first ever NRA WSC, where this year 166 athletes from around the world competed in 12 shooting sports disciplines using provided factory firearms and ammunition. Athletes are not allowed to use their own firearms that they are familiar with. For their first trip to the NRA WSC, our athletes shined. Of the athletes attending we had six junior amateurs, one adult amateur, and one adult pro athlete.

The highest overall placement was Connor Knapp from Wisconsin at 15th overall. Connor is an athlete for our SASP team at the University of Arizona. Connor is a pro athlete sponsored by SSSF Blue Diamond Sponsor RUGER. RUGER is also a Founding Partner Sponsor of our SASP.

Sydnee Young from Wisconsin, who shoots in both SCTP and SASP for the Muskego Warriors, may have been the lone SSSF female athlete attending, but she didn’t let that stop her from having an outstanding competition. Sydnee finished 4th place overall female. The NRA WSC breaks that down between pros and amateurs, and Sydnee finished 1st Place Female Amateur, winning that division by just under 100 points. In individual stages Sydnee showed how the tough competition in SCTP has made her a great shotgun athlete. Sydnee was top overall female in Sporting Clays and FITASC, beating all the pros. She also was first amateur female in NRA ACR level one, IDPA, and Cowboy Action. Sydnee had top 5 amateur female finishes in all 12 events.

Jesse Grant of Florida, who shoots for the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol SASP team, finished 5th overall amateur. Jesse was the youngest SSSF athlete, turning 16 just before the event. Jesse took 1st place as amateur in NRA ARC 2 gun and USPSA stages, 3rd in IDPA, and 5th in Cowboy Action.

Jackson Schmidt of Missouri, who won the SSSF 2025 Top Gun competition, finished in the top ten amateurs with a 9th place finish at the NRA WSC. Jackson, who shoots for the Ballisticrats SASP and the Saint Louis Interceptors SCTP team, was the top amateur in the Cowboy Action, 2nd in USPSA, and 4th in FITASC.

James McElroy of Missouri, who is a teammate of Jackson’s on the Ballisticrats and the St. Louis Interceptors, finished 15th overall amateur. James also finished 1st place on the IDPA stage.

Tanner Gibson of Tennessee, who shoots SCTP and SASP for the William Blount Shooting Team, finished 1st in our SSSF Top Gun Challenge in 2024 and 2nd in 2025. Tanner finished 27th amateur overall and took 2nd place amateur on the IDPA stage.

“Looking at just the junior amateur athletes, our SSSF athletes finished first through 6th. Although our athletes did well in the competition, as a youth development program, we are even more excited about how they represented SSSF and our programs,” stated Rick Leach SSSF President and Executive Director. “I received calls from several people involved in the event, including adult pro competitors. They wanted to tell me what great young adults our athletes were. They said they were a joy to talk and compete with and that the future of shooting sports is in good hands if our athletes are the example of future competitors.”

SSSF is excited for next year. We have already spoken with Federal Ammunition and they are ready to help us send SSSF Top Gun Challenge winners to the 2026 NRA WSC. We cannot thank Federal enough for all their support of our programs and youth shooting sports.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation is thrilled to announce its official partnership of the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) First Shots^® program. First Shots is the introductory and refresher target-shooting program made available through host target-shooting ranges across the country.

Under the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation’s administration, the Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Action Shooting Program are national youth development programs that build marksmanship skills and enjoyment of recreational shooting. The programs, which serve tens of thousands of participants, rely on adult coaches and other volunteers who use the shooting sports to teach sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork and other positive life skills.

NSSF has a shared history with the SCTP, having launched the program in 2001 as a competitive trap shooting activity that quickly expanded to include skeet and sporting clays. In 2007, the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation was established as the governing body to oversee SCTP. The SASP program soon followed with action shooting on steel targets with pistols and rifles, later adding 10m air rifle and 10m air pistol shooting for youth competitors.

“Given NSSF’s longstanding connection with scholastic shooting, it’s gratifying to see these partnerships with SCTP and SASP—programs that have done so much to popularize youth target shooting and firearm safety across the country,” said Zach Snow, NSSF Director, Member Development.

“The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation’s approach of teaching young athletes about safe and responsible firearm handling and introducing them to clay target, handgun and rifle shooting sports aligns perfectly with First Shots’ mission of supervised introductions,” said Rick Leach, SSSF’s Executive Director. “This is a mutually beneficial partnership if I ever saw one.”

As part of its partnership, the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation will encourage teams to use First Shots to introduce newcomers to the challenge and fun of recreational shooting. First Shots will serve as a recruitment, community outreach and potential fundraising tool for participating teams.

In addition to its student-athletes enjoying shooting competitions for all skill levels, SCTP and SASP serve as feeder programs for national governing bodies like USA Shooting, National Skeet Shooting Association, National Sporting Clays Association and the Amateur Trapshooting Association.

NSSF invites other organizations associated with the shooting sports and industry to consider becoming a First Shots partner. The benefits to the organization and to the future of the shooting sports are considerable. Learn how to become a First Shots partner by contacting Zach Snow at 203-286-5681. To become a First Shots host range and or instructor, contact Ann Gamauf at 203-426-1320 ext. 247.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) has grown youth shooting sports to new levels over the course of 10 years at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio. Between the SSSF's clay target and action shooting programs, 39 states were represented at the 2025 National Championships, which saw over 2 million rounds safely fired without incident. 

The SSSF's dedication to tirelessly providing shooting sports education and youth development to its athletes throughout the country is realized with a 153% growth over the course of the past decade. This strong increase in shooting sports participation year-over-year is a testament to the clear mission statement of the SSSF and the industry-wide sponsors that stand behind it.

With a decade of history at the Cardinal Center, the SSSF's National Championship has secured its reputation as the largest participated shooting sports event in the world, doing so exclusively with youth athletes.

In 2025, the foundation's Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) National Championship saw over 2,500 entries, with those athletes safely firing over 416,000 rounds of ammunition in competition without incident. Numerous opportunities of side matches, sponsor demos, and practices tallied in additional hundreds of thousands of rounds.

At the Cardinal Center's shotgun facilities, the foundation's Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) had nearly 3,000 athletes and over 14,000 event entries during the twelve-day event schedule. In order to conduct a clay target event at such a large scale, well over 2 million White Flyer targets were thrown in competition, side matches, and practice.

Shooting sports continues to be a level-playing field where winning can be achieved without being the strongest athlete or the fastest runner. Athletes come from a wide range of backgrounds and some that do not find their place in traditional ball sports often find success in shooting sports. Athletes also find enormous success in youth shooting sports, regardless of gender. The SASP's National Championships saw 32% female participation, a 1% increase from 2024's event.

A staple of additional activities at SCTP Nationals is the Last Competitor Standing or "Annie Oakley" event. This massive-scale elimination event saw over 450 clay target athletes lined up across the length of sixteen trap fields to determine who would come home with bragging rights and impressive prizes from SCTP sponsors. Enduring and persevering through fierce elimination, the men's champion, Cody Lang and the ladies champion, Madison Krumney were awarded Browning Silver shotguns and custom Shamrock Leather pouches for their achievement.

Exploding in popularity, the Make-A-Break competition was expanded to four fields, attracting nearly five-thousand participants. For the team championships, the Hunting Hill Hawkeyes retained their title as champions, once again taking home the Ray Forman trophy. On the individual side, Taylor Hilliard once again beat out the ladies and continued on against the top male to retain her title as overall champion for the second year in a row.

These youth also find the clear social benefit from the team-based environment the SSSF's two programs offer. The SASP and SCTP programs focus on team-based youth shooting sports as the catalyst for youth development into high-quality, responsible young adults. SCTP and SASP members benefit from a year-long season, with local, state, and regional events, culminating in the National Championship each July. As the largest youth shooting sports event in the world, the youth development programs hold industry-wide support, with many sponsors present on site to support the event such as GLOCK, Remington, Ruger, Winchester, Browning, Federal, Vortex Optics, Kolar, Beretta, and more.

Both programs serve as official youth feeders for the respective sports of USA Shooting. Athletes competing in the international disciplines of the SCTP and SASP often have Junior Olympic and Olympic goals in mind, with the youth feeding programs fostering those ambitions with additional opportunities. Currently over a dozen SSSF athletes and alumni represnt the USA on National or Junior National Teams. The most well known SCTP alumnus is Vincent Hancock, a now four-time Olympic Skeet Champion, four-time World Champion, 30-time ISSF medalist.