The Fort Hays (NE) State Shooting Sports Club and Scholastic Clay Target Program are hosting a Collegiate Division Central Region Open Championship, October 17-19. The tournament will be at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Nebraska. Preregistration is required, and fees can be paid at check-in. Competitive shooting starts each day at 9:00 a.m. Entries will be limited to 200 participants. Each participating school must provide at least one five-person squad that shoots all events for a cumulative team score. Each participating school can enter as many squads (and individuals) as they choose. Team and individual awards will be presented. All SCTP participating schools will have $1,000 in endowment funds deposited to their MidwayUSA Foundation account. Winners will also earn endowment funds. See Event Flyer / Registration Form
Shotgun coaches have a new option for becoming certified as SCTP coaches with a new program from the National Sporting Clays Association's Certified Instructor Program. NSCA now offers a Scholastic Instructor category developed to qualify instructors to work with youth and beginning shooters in a safe and recreational manner. SSSF will be accepting the new course for SCTP coach certification. The course is the same as that offered for NSCA Level I instructors but has fewer prerequisites, such as registered target requirements. Scholastic Instructor courses will be offered around the country; the first class is scheduled for January 17-18, 2015, at Old Hudson Plantation in Sparta, Georgia. Other classes will be added regularly. NSCA instructor courses can always be found on the NSCA Instructor Certification Class Schedule. To learn more about the Scholastic Instructor program, see the course criteria on MyNSCA.com. For information about planning an instructor course in your area, contact NSCA Chief Instructor, Don Currie, at 407-697-6236 or NSCA@doncurrie.com.
Online registration is now open for the SCTP College Regional "Spooktacular" Tournament planned for Halloween weekend at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois. The 400-target tournament is open to any college team registered with the Scholastic Clay Target Program. The shoot will open on Friday, October 31 with sporting clays and 5-stand competition, as well as a Last Competitor Standing event and Halloween costume contest. Saturday will feature skeet, wobble trap, and 5-stand events. Trap and an awards ceremony will fill Sunday morning, November 2, before teams' departure in early afternoon. More than $80,000 in endowment funding will be available for contribution to participating and winning teams' MidwayUSA Foundation endowment accounts.
A new infographic from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) tells the story, at a glance, of the growing number of new target shooting enthusiasts and how they’re surprisingly different from established shooters. The report clearly affirms the premise of the SSSF that our programs present equal opportunity to shooters, regardless of age or gender. Newcomers — defined as those who have taken up target shooting in the last five years — are trending younger and female; also, they are city and suburban dwellers. In these ways, they are quite different from established participants and, as a result, are changing the face of target shooters in America. This influx of newcomers also underscores that the traditional pastimes of handgun, rifle, and shotgun target shooting continue to have a broad appeal to new generations of Americans. Driven by newcomers, target shooting participation has leaped by 19 percent, from 34.4 million in 2009 to 40.8 million in 2012. That’s a 6.4 million increase; by comparison, golf and some other traditional activities have seen their participant base decline by millions. Although they may be different in age and gender, newcomers share one important thing with established participants — their passion for firearms ownership and the shooting sports.
2014 Junior World Team Champions: Sydney Carson, Hannah Houston, and Dania Vizzi Three SCTP shooters comprising the Junior World USA Shooting Team have won a team gold medal and set an International Skeet world record last week at the 2014 World Shooting Championships in Granada, Spain. Dania Vizzi of Odessa, Florida, Sydney Carson of North Liberty, Indiana and Hannah Houston of Columbia, Tennessee, earned a Junior World Team title in record-breaking fashion with a world's-best score of 204, 11 targets ahead of second-place Czech Republic. In addition, Dania Vizzi won individual honors as the Junior World Champion in Women's Skeet. Sydney finished 5th overall individually, and Hannah finished 8th.World Champion Dania VizziThrough 75 shots of qualifying, Dania led her nearest competitor by three targets, an almost unheard-of advantage in skeet. While she wasn't as dominant during the semifinals and finals, she didn’t have to be because neither were her opponents. She connected on 13/16 targets in the semifinal to advance to the final where she’d again connect on 13 targets to her opponent's 12. “I’m very satisfied,” Vizzi said. “It was a hard day and I’m happiest that I stayed consistent and focused all day. My main goal was to compete better than I did last year, and the result was amazing.” Dania, who started competitive shooting as a member of the Tampa Bay Clays SCTP team, now shoots for the University of Florida, also an SCTP team. Congratulations to Dania, Sydney, and Hannah! We're proud of you!
We want to know what you think. With our 2014 SCTP and SPP National Championships recently behind us, we want to know how we did. Did we meet your expectations or leave you wishing for more? Were our new features hits or misses? We're already planning next year's Nationals, and you can help us make the events even better by giving us some input.
Didn't go to our Nationals events? We still want to hear from you! There are questions for shooters, parents, coaches, and everyone else who has reason to read this page. We've designed the questions so you can simply click to give your response, but if you have more to say, there are opportunities for you to get it all off your chest. To thank you for your input, we'll be drawing for eight (8) prize packages that will be won by respondents. Prizes include ammunition, logo clothing, and logo gear. Thank you in advance for your help in making next year's National Championships the best ever!
Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation made contributions of over $1 million this week to the MidwayUSA Foundation, Inc. accounts of 182 SCTP and SPP teams from 36 different states. The teams earned the endowment funds at recent national, regional, and state events. This week's total donation was $1,045,125. SCTP team accounts received $905,000 of that, which includes team earnings at the National Team Championships, regional events, and state shoots during the second and third quarters of 2014. SPP teams received $133,100, which included earnings from its National Junior/Senior Championships and recent state matches. “Through our broad membership base, we are fortunate to be able to support so many teams across the country," commented Ben Berka, SSSF President and Executive Director. "These donations will help provide a perpetual funding source for local Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Pistol Programs. The funding we provide to team endowment accounts is another way for us to thank all of the teams, coaches, and athletes for their participation and excellent performance in SCTP and SPP events!” In addition, $7,025 was donated via internally generated endowment money through SSSF and SCTP fundraisers. These funds will be matched by Larry and Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA. “By providing teams with fundraising tools at the local level, we are able to help contribute to team endowment accounts. At the same time, teams have the ability to raise operating money and awareness about their programs in the local community. The SSSF looks forward to providing more of these opportunities in the future to our SCTP and SPP member teams,” said Berka. The donations bring SSSF's contributions to $1,461,175 to date in 2014. SSSF expects its annual contributions to total more than $1.7 million by the end of 2014. SCTP and SPP teams are awarded endowment funds through participation in sanctioned shoots. SSSF contributes the funding to the MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Account Program on behalf of the teams. The purpose of the endowment program is to provide sustained financial support for youth shooting teams. Teams with an endowment account are able to draw a grant each year to use for team expenses.
Plans are coming together for the SCTP College Regional Spooktacular Tournament on October 31 – November 2 at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois. The tournament is open to any college registered with SCTP and will offer 400 targets. On Friday, teams can shoot a 100-target sporting clays course ($55) and 50 5-stand targets ($25). Shooters can enter a Last Competitor Standing event ($5) for a chance to win a shotgun. We're also planning a Halloween costume competition for Friday. Saturday's events will include 100 skeet targets ($50), 50 wobble trap targets ($25), and a second day of 5-Stand. An early dinner at the Main Events Building will also be included. On Sunday, teams will shoot 100 trap targets ($50) before awards at noon. All events, including the early dinner on Saturday, will be $225 per person. We expect to offer two divisions: Class AA for larger or more established teams and Class A for newer or smaller teams. Over $80,000 in endowment money will be available at this tournament, including $1000 in attendance endowment funding for each team. Online registration will open September 15.
Shotgunners wanting to improve their skeet shooting skills and gain an introduction to the Olympic low gun mount should reserve a spot in the 2014 Fall 2-day Intermediate Skeet Instructional Camp, October 25-26. The Colorado Bears Junior Shotgun Team will be hosting the camp at the Olympic Shooting Park in Colorado Springs. Mike Gutirrez and Lloyd Woodhouse will be the instructors. Make your reservations soon, as participation is limited to 15 participants. The camp is designed for intermediate through advanced participants wishing to improve their shotgun skills with an emphasis on skeet, with an introduction to the Olympic low gun mount. Participants should be physically capable of handling their shotguns safely and shooting 100 to 200 targets a day without fatigue or discomfort. Click here for full details and registration information.
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.
