In this episode, we review upcoming events and fundraising efforts for youth shooting sports. Our interview for the episode is with SASP Athlete and Junior Shooter Magazine writer, Abby Jackley. We discuss her first visit to SHOT Show as a media representative and her plans for the future!
The final results of the Reload for 2022 campaign are in! We are pleased to have another incredibly successful campaign, which signals strength of support and health of youth shooting sports as a whole. By utilizing far reaching networks, teams throughout the country have set themselves up for success during this current season and for years to come. Participation in the annual Reload campaign is an incredible opportunity that uses multiple mechanisms such as the MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment accounts to compound donations down the line.
| This year we saw record-breaking numbers in the bonus races that show the power of tapping into your networks for a huge advantage. Our Total Donation winners, Rio Salado Target Terminators added over $20,000 to their 2021 efforts, netting them a bonus $10,000 to their MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment account. Last year's winners, Williams County Target Busters also improved their totals from last year by over $10,000. Our Unique Donors competition saw teams move the benchmark of what is possible for fundraising through your team's network. Congratulations to our winners, the Greenville Hurricanes who collected fundraising donations from 366 unique donors, nearly tripling last year's record. Our 2nd place team is the Rio Salado Target Terminators who doubled their previous year's efforts and then some! The teams listed above in each bonus competition will be awarded team endowment funding to their MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment account as follows: 1st Place -$10,000 2nd Place- $8,000 3rd Place- $5,000 4th Place- $3,000 5th Place- $2,500 6th Place- $1,500 |
| Congratulations to our bonus funding winners and all teams who participated in this monumental fundraising campaign. Your efforts will have a positive effect on your 2021-2022 season and continue to provide benefits well into your team's future.The incredible willingness to support SCTP and SASP teams bodes well for the future of youth shooting sports all over the nation. |
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY BY ITEMIZING DEDUCTIONS WITH GIFTS TO CHARITY. PRIOR TO THE CARES ACT, THE MAXIMUM DEDUCTION WAS 60% OF AGI
THIS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR 100% DEDUCTION OF AGI APPLIES TO CASH DONATIONS TO PUBLIC CHARITIES.
SOME DONORS REACH 100% OF AGI BY GIVING A PERCENTAGE OF AGI TO THEIR DONOR-ADVISED FUND AND THE REMAINING AS CASH DIRECT TO PUBLIC CHARITIES. PUBLICLY TRADED STOCK MAY ALSO BE UTILIZED TO REACH 100%, SOME DONORS MAY ELECT TO GIVE 100% CASH DIRECT TO PUBLIC CHARITIES.
EVEN IF YOU DON’T ITEMIZE, THE CARES ACT STILL PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY.
EVERY INDIVIDUAL CAN DONATE $300 TO CHARITY AND RECEIVE THE CORRESPONDING BENEFIT. MARRIED COUPLES CAN DONATE $600 TO CHARITY AND GET THIS “ABOVE THE LINE” DEDUCTION. IT’S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE TO SUPPORT YOUTH SHOOTING SPORTS.
STOCKS OR MUTUAL FUNDS.
BY ALLEVIATING YOUR CAPITAL GAINS TAX, THIS MAY BE A MORE ADVANTAGEOUS ASSET TO DONATE BASED ON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
DONOR-ADVISED FUND
YOU CAN ITEMIZE CONTRIBUTIONS TO A DONOR-ADVISED FUND, AND DESIGNATE A GIFT TO SUPPORT SCHOLASTIC SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION
SIMPLE DONATION FROM A CHECKING ACCOUNT.
MONEY SAVED IN OTHER AREAS CAN SERVE AS A GIFT FROM YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT, WHICH PROVIDES IMMEDIATE, MEANINGFUL SUPPORT TO THE HEALTH OF YOUTH SHOOTING TEAMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
IRA QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS
YOU CAN GIFT UP TO $100,000 ANNUALLY FROM YOUR IRA, CALLED A QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION (QCD) AND ARE EXCLUDED FROM YOUR TAXABLE INCOME.
ANYONE AGE 72 OR OLDER AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2021, MUST TAKE THEIR REQUIRED MINIMUM DEDUCTION (RMD) BY YEAR-END. THIS INCLUDES INHERITED IRAS. IF IT IS YOUR FIRST RMD, YOU HAVE UNTIL APRIL 1, 2022.
RMDS MAY ALSO BE TRANSFERRED TO A QUALIFIED CHARITY.
INDIVIDUALS 701⁄2 YEARS OLD AND UP TO DONATE UP TO $100,000 DIRECTLY TO CHARITIES OR A DESIGNATED FUND. THIS GIFT ALLOWS INDIVIDUALS TO INCREASE THEIR GIVING WITHOUT INCREASING THEIR TAXABLE INCOME.
THOSE WHO ARE 591⁄2 YEARS OLD CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY BY TAKING A DISTRIBUTION FROM THEIR RETIREMENT ACCOUNT AND CONTRIBUTING CASH UP TO 100% OF AGI. THIS ALLOWS THE 100% OF AGI OPPORTUNITY TO BE ATTAINABLE FOR MANY PEOPLE.
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
In the season-opening episode, we chat with a familiar voice, John Linquist to discuss new SSSF and MidwayUSA Foundation initiatives that begin growing your team's funding future immediately, each season. We are also joined by a SCTP athlete whose team is hard at work, preparing for next month's College Nationals.
In this episode, we recap the various records broken at the 2021 National Championships, review USA Shooting at the Olympics, and get the perspective of a Nationals volunteer who previously did not have any experience in team-based youth shooting sports.
Each year in July, thousands of youth shooting sports athletes converge at the Cardinal Shooting Center for their National Championship. To support the monumental ten-day event, team coaches, adult volunteers, family members, sponsors, program staff, vendors, and others all do their part to ensure each youth shooting team's Nationals experience is unforgettable. Affected by an abbreviated close to last year's season, the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) both saw the prestigious National Championships come roaring back, with teams from 33 different states setting all-time records for attendance. A new bar has been set and the outlook for youth shooting sports is looking brighter than ever.
On the front end of Nationals were the international events of Bunker Trap, International Skeet, Air Pistol, Air Rifle, and Sport Pistol. As the Official Youth Feeder Programs for USA Shooting, the SCTP and SASP provide many opportunities for competition and development for athletes chasing their Olympic dreams. The American sports of Action Shooting, Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays followed with a 10-day event schedule.
Just over 2,700 SCTP athletes competed in their respective clay target sports, totaling 7,658 entries. These participation numbers clearly solidified 2021 as the largest SCTP National Championship to date. To put this into perspective, over 1.4 million White Flyer clay targets were thrown at the 2021 National Championship events with an additional 357,000 targets thrown during sponsor demos, shoot offs, last competitor standing, practice, and side games. That is 10 semi-tractor loads, stretching beyond the length of a football field!
On the pistol and rifle side, the SASP opened up with international events with the 2020-2021 season being the first to offer the international disciplines of 10 Meter Air Rifle, 10 Meter Air Pistol, and Sport Pistol. The expansion of shooting disciplines offered by the SASP realizes the SSSF's mission to serve as a feeder/pipeline for organized, sanctioned shooting organizations and teams. 2021 saw SASP's record for the largest action shooting event in the world definitively set for the third consecutive year. Over 700 participants competed in a staggering 2,000 entries where well over 320,000 rounds were fired in competition and over 180,000 additional rounds were fired at sponsor side matches, demos, and practice bays. To accommodate this spike in participation, the Cardinal Shooting Center expanded its action shooting facilities from eight to a total of twelve shooting bays in anticipation of another world record event taking place.
After the final shots were fired at the 2021 National Championships, it would not only set program records but it would also go down as the largest shoot in the history of the Cardinal Shooting Center. Youth shooting sports bounced back from 2020 and we look forward to the new season in August.
Although the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics did not allow in-person spectators, the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) had a lot to cheer about. Program alumnus, current athletes, and staff were among the incredible lineup of USA Olympic shooting athletes on the big stage in Tokyo. These representatives of Team USA and USA Shooting competed in their particular disciplines of International Skeet, Bunker Trap, 10 Meter Air Pistol, and 10 Meter Air Rifle. These sports are also practiced in the respective team-based youth shooting sports programs of the SCTP and SASP. With 3 Gold medals, 2 Silver medals, and 1 Bronze for USA in Tokyo 2020 Olympic shooting events, let's take a look a deeper look at each:
The 20-year old air rifle athlete from Colorado Springs headed to the final on July 25th after placing 3rd in the qualifier earlier in the day. His sixty shots scored for a 630.8, just 1.9 points behind the #1 qualifying athlete. William went on to set a new Olympic Record in the Finals, with his 24 shots scoring a 251.6 to edge out China's Lihao Sheng by 0.7 points. The University of Kentucky student previously won Gold at the 2021 ISSF World Cup in Croatia and as part of the Men's air rifle team at the 2021 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
1st Lt. Amber English of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, is also a Colorado Springs native. Growing up in a shooting family, Amber began shooting at the age of six. Program representatives recall that 1st Lt. English attended early Scholastic Clay Target Program training camp events on her way to her destiny of becoming an Olympic Gold athlete. On day 1 and 2 of the Women's Skeet Qualification, Amber put up impressive scores before heading to the final on July 26th. There, she set a new Olympic Record of 56 targets, dethroning 2016 Olympic champion Diana Bacosi.
Vincent Hancock, an athlete alumnus of the Scholastic Clay Target Program set a new Olympic Record of 59 targets and became the first Olympic athlete to have won three gold medals in skeet. Hancock attended the very first SCTP training camp on his way to becoming an Olympic athlete. In 2005, at age of 16, Hancock won his first World Championship title in Men's Skeet and went on to win the prestigious International Shooting Sport Federation's Shooter of the Year award.
Hancock's shooting career continued on a path to Olympic gold after participation in the SCTP youth shooting sports program. At the age of 20, Hancock won the Gold Medal in the World Championships in 2009 and continued on to serve in the Army's coveted Marksmanship Unit.
As a proud alumnus, Hancock has conducted training clinics for SCTP members and made appearances at National Championship events to meet and support the next generation of young athletes. His Gold medal victory in Tokyo provided a clean sweep for USA in the Skeet events after Amber English's respective Gold medal performance earlier that day.
Kayle Browning began her journey in sporting clays where she made the open All-American Team at just 12 years old. The following year, she attended a Junior Olympic Development Camp where she became focused on bunker trap when she realized it was a sport at the Olympics. In 2007, won the bronze medal in the National Junior Olympic Championships. Her performance in Tokyo secured a Silver medal for the US, breaking just one target less than the event leader from Slovakia.
In response to International events being held on the front end of Nationals, Kayle attended the 2020 SCTP National Championship to provide coaching for youth athletes focused on Bunker Trap. Kayle covered the National Championship in her podcast, Beyond The Podium. Listen to the episode here: Beyond The Podium: SCTP Nationals
Madelyn or "Maddy" Bernau began her path to becoming an Olympian when she joined the Waterford Wolverine Shooting Team, participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program. In the Spring of 2014, Maddy attended an SCTP development camp as a team member on the SCTP International Team, held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The camp was designed to introduce young SCTP athletes into the Olympic disciplines of shotgun sports by subject matter experts, including team coach, Olympic trapshooting medalist Terri DeWitt.
"We try to provide a structure and open doors for all our athletes," said Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. "Maddy has walked through that door and climbed to a new level. She's setting an outstanding example of where our kids can go."
Madelyn's Bronze medal came after a heartbreaking qualification round of Women's Trap, missing the cutoff by one clay behind her USA teammate, Kayle Browning. For the Mixed Team event, Bernau was one of only two shooters to break all 75 targets. Alongside Team USA and event teammate, Brian Burrows, a shootoff against Slovakia came down to a dropped target that opened up the opportunity for Maddy. A brief moment of performing her pre-shot routine was all she needed to execute, breaking the next target and securing Bronze for the US.
After placing 6th in their respective 10 Meter Air Rifle events, Mary Tucker and Lucas Kozeniesky competed in the Mixed Team event on July 27th. With both US mixed teams making it to the second stage of qualification, Mary and Lucas went on to the final with a score of 418, outshooting the ROC for Silver.
The Scholastic Action Shooting Program’s own Director of Development for International Disciplines, James Hall represented Team USA in the 10 Meter Air Pistol and Mixed Team events. Hall’s journey to the Olympic stage began at Jacksonville State University, where he was a four-time All American, Team Captain, and USA National Rifle Team Member. Hall secured the first U.S. quota spot in air pistol for the Olympics in Tokyo with his Gold medal at the 2018 Championship of the Americas. James was just one point from making the 10 Meter Air Pistol final and shot more x’s than all but two athletes in the qualifier. Hall placed 10th in the mixed team event alongside teammate Sandra Uptagrafft.
As the official youth feeder program for USA Shooting, Hall quickly established and continues to expand the SASP’s new international disciplines of 10 Meter Air Rifle, 10 Meter Air Pistol, and Sport Pistol.
Scholastic Action Shooting Program athletes, Jackson Leverett and Henry Leverett are sophomores of the Ohio State University Pistol Team. Prior to joining the pistol team at Ohio, Leveretts set four USA Shooting national records in junior men’s Rapid Fire and junior men’s Sport Pistol. Henry won the U.S. Olympic Rapid Fire quota spot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after placing 5th in the 2019 World Cup Bejing, while Jackson helped Team USA win gold medals in Air Pistol and Rapid Fire in the 2018 Championship of the Americas. As current SASP athletes, both Jackson and Henry are SSSF College All Americans, having secured their spots on the 1st teams for international air, sport, and standard pistol. Henry and Jackson Leverett placed 22nd and 25th in the 2nd qualification stage, respectively.
Iowa is considered by many to be one of the premier white-tailed deer hunting destinations in the United States. Dreams come true in the Hawkeye State every year as hunters consistently harvest mature, corn fed bucks that reach well over 200". Getting a tag, however, is easier said than done. Now you can guarantee your tag and promote state and local conservation efforts through the Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program Non-Resident Deer Tag Auction, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
This auction is for One Iowa Special Non-Resident Deer Tag, good Statewide for Archery, Gun season one, Gun season two, or the Late Muzzleloader season during either 2021 or 2022 Iowa deer season (hunter's choice). The deer tag includes 1 'any sex' deer and 1 'antlerless' deer. For seasons and hunting information, go to: http://www.iowadnr.gov/
This Iowa tag is currently open for pre-registration and preview. The auction will begin on July 31st at 12:00PM CST and ends on Friday, August 13 at 12:00PM CST.
The winner of the auction receives a tag that includes 1 any-sex deer and 1 antlerless deer. This non-resident deer tag is good statewide; however, Landowner Permission is required before hunting on private land. The winner of the auction is required to purchase an Iowa nonresident hunting license and pay the non-resident habitat fee.
The tag may be used either in the coming 2021-2022 season, or next year in the 2022-2023 season. The hunter must declare which year and one of the following standard seasons at the close of the auction and no later than September 25th, 2021.
2021-2022 season dates can be found at https://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Deer-Hunting. 2022-2023 dates have not been confirmed at this time but will be similar to 2021-2022 dates.
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The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to providing shooting-sports education and opportunities to school-age youths around the United States to encourage young athlete personal growth and development.
Tax-ID number 20-8484121.