Milwaukee, WI - Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) hosted its second annual Advisor Academy September 24-25, 2016, in America’s Dairy Land.  Thirty-seven key leaders from 15 states attended the two-day meeting focused on developing state and local level leadership, sharing best practices, and providing “grass roots” input to the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP). “State Advisors are the key contacts with our volunteer coaches across the country,” said Ben Berka, president and executive director of the SSSF.  “Advisor Academy is a perennial opportunity for our state and national leaders to gather in order to evaluate our progress and continue setting our course to put more youth into organized and safe shooting sports programs across the country.” In addition to SSSF, SCTP and SASP national staff and state leaders, Advisor Academy featured guest presentations from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the MidwayUSA Foundation.  

Register now for the 2016 SCTP National College Championship to be held Oct. 28-30, 2016. The 2016 SCTP National College Championship will be held at the Cardinal Center Campground and Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio. A special Fundraising Banquet will be held Friday evening, Oct. 28. Attendees can participate in raffles, an auction, a silent auction and door prizes. The price per ticket is $50. Click here for complete information about this championship event! So, make your plans to attend today. Online registration is now available through the SSSF’s SHOT system. Participating teams must be currently registered with the SSSF/SCTP for the 2016/2017 shooting season prior to attending. The event is shaping up to be one of the best in SCTP history and the organization is expecting an impressive turnout.  Participants are sure to have a blast, and as a bonus, the SCTP will award $140,000 to Team Endowment Accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation. To celebrate the Halloween weekend, the facilities will be decked out in “spooktacular” Halloween décor and participants can take part in a Saturday night costume contest. May the best ghoul win! Considered Ohio’s premier public shooting sports facility, the Cardinal Center offers impressive trapshooting and sporting clays ranges, as well as an indoor heated pool, lake for fishing, lots of outdoor activities, and great facilities for family camping, including 400 camp sites, with nine standard cabins and 20 deluxe cabins available to rent. Wifi service is available on the grounds as well. The center is located at I-71 (exit 140) and St. Rt. 61, just 30 miles north of Columbus. For those not keen on camping, there are a number of additional lodging options located within 15 minutes of the Cardinal Center. Please mention the “SCTP College National Championships” when making your reservations.

The SCTP banquet held in Grapevine, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, was a huge success due to the support and hard work of the Allen Eagles Competitive Shooting team and its fundraising staff, consisting of Bill Alford, Henry Politz and Richard Scott. Approximately 150 people in attendance and many more using the online bidding and ticket buying application were responsible for the anticipated record-breaking amount raised at an SCTP Banquet to date. Funds from this banquet and others like it are used for the SCTP’s Scholarship program along with other programs that it helps support. The team, led by Head Coach (and State Advisor) Jason Anderson, has been a huge supporter of the SCTP in Texas and one of the biggest reasons for the growth in the lone star state. If you are interested in helping the SCTP run a National Banquet, please contact the director of development in your area to inquire about the benefits and opportunities available.

The Wheeler County Rangers will host its first SASP Youth Shooting Clinic at Grayguns Shooting Facility in Spray, Oregon, on Oct. 29- Oct. 30, 2016. Attendees will be taught by a team of instructors, including former SASP National Champion Jordan Castro (and current member of Team SIG). This clinic will cover shooting safety and shooting fundamentals through advanced competition techniques and strategies. Instructors will cover the 4 SASP courses of fire, as well as numerous skill-building drills and exercises. For more information, contact Rangers Coach Michael Boyd at mboyd@co.wheeler.or.us

Don't wait. Get your tickets  today for the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) National Banquet, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, at the Carroll County Shooting Sports Park in Huntingdon, Tenn. Tickets are only $35 per person. Attendees can participate in raffles, the silent auction and the live auction for a variety of guns and gear. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and the buffet dinner, catered by Mallard's Restaurant, will be served at 6:30 p.m. For information, or tickets, call Rick Leach, 262-894-4284 or rleach@sssfonline.com.

Attention SASP coaches, athletes and adult volunteers, the new season has started.  Get your teams registered so that you can compete in three of the upcoming SASP matches.   Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 Southeast Fall Regional at the Carroll County Shooting Park 680 MCDOO CEMATARY RD, Huntingdon, TN  38258 $35 per entry rifle and pistol. (After the match join us for the Tennessee SASP Fundraising Banquet at the range)   Northeast Fall Regional at Camp Hind Boy Scout Camp 146 Plains Rd, Raymond, ME 04071 $30.00 per entry rifle and pistol Saturday October 29^th, 2016   Ohio State Halloween Match at the Cardinal Center 616 State Route 61, Marengo, OH 43334 $35.00 per entry rifle and pistol   Registration for all these events are open online in the SHOT system.  Any questions or registration assistance please contact Rick Leach 262-894-4284 orrleach@sssfonline.com    

Register now for the SASP/NRA/USA Shooting Level 1 Pistol Coaches School to be held Oct. 15-16, 2016, at the Pima Pistol Club in Tucson, Arizona. The coach school is for adults interested in getting involved in the SASP and for youth between 15-17 years old who want to get certified as Junior Trainers. The instructors use up-to-date materials and PowerPoint presentations to present the discipline-specific coach course. For more info, click here.  

We’d like to congratulate Jerry Glazebrook of Virginia for winning the SSSF GLOCK 30^th Anniversary Pistol. The highly engraved GLOCK G17 was part of a raffle package drawn on July 17 as part of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program National Championships in Marengo, Ohio. Glazebrook purchased the raffle ticket to support his daughter Jennifer’s Team LoCo Motion. To commemorate 30 years of GLOCK, 30 pistols have been uniquely hand-engraved by five master engravers. The exclusive SSSF pistol (S/N 30USA18) was presented to the SSSF for its significant contributions to the success of GLOCK. The commemorative GLOCK 17 was one of five prizes in the raffle benefiting both local SASP teams and the national organization.  Other great prizes included steel targets from Action Target, two Smith and Wesson M&P 9 pistols and a Volquartsen Ultralite rifle.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has partnered with the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SAS) to help promote competitive pistol shooting within the organization. "The Boy Scouts of America is pleased to partner with Scholastic Action Shooting Program to provide our Venturing youth with a challenging program,” Curt Palmer, BSA senior outdoor administration specialist, said. “Young men and women love to shoot firearms and this partnership will give them opportunities to learn safe handling while competing against their peers from around the country. It is an exciting way to teach them the values of Scouting while providing them an activity they love." The Boy Scouts will be using the SASP handbook, “Competitive Pistol Program Guidelines – For Participating in the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP)” in its efforts to instruct young shooters. The guide provides a starting point to help councils and crews develop competitive shooting sports teams. For more information on starting a shooting sports team within your council, contact Curt Palmer at Curt.Palmer@scouting.org or Tammy Mowry, SASP national director, at (724) 822-7390 or Tmowry@sssfonline.com..

Now’s the chance to honor your SCTP or SASP coach by nominating him or her for the PCA’s Double Goal Coach Award presented by TeamSnap. PCA presents this award to 50 coaches from throughout the U.S. who pursue both winning, and the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports. Prizes include $200, a certificate, recognition through PCA’s website, newsletters and media campaigns and a chance for an all-expenses-paid trip to accept the honor in California during PCA’s National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Auction and Auction presented by Deloitte. Don’t wait. This year’s nominations close on Nov. 30, 2016. To nominate your coach, click here.