SPP Blog Archives - SSSF - Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation

SASP Team Introduces New Shooters With First Shots Program

Written by SSSF Staff on August 26, 2020. Posted in New SSSF, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The NSSF's First Shots and +ONE initiatives have aimed to introduce new groups and individuals alike to shooting sports. With August being declared National Shooting Sports Month, these resources have been utilized by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation's SASP and SCTP members as a means to grow their teams for the upcoming season.

The SASP team, WildGats at the University of Arizona got their start in 2015 thanks to an NSSF grant and have been an enthusiastic partner for NSSF initiatives ever since.

This youth shooting sports team has been focused on sharing their sport via First Shots events for several years and just put on their latest introductory event on August 22nd. Along with event partners Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range and Pima County Parks and Recreation, the WildGats put on a wildly successful event.

"We had a 127 sign up in the first hour before we could announce that it was full," said WildGats Head Coach, Bill Perkins. "Talking to our guests, I was surprised. At our first five events, we have had ~50% new shooters. When I asked for a show of hands at our latest First Shots event, ALL the hands went up in all three groups. We also saw very high participation by women. I would guess over 80% this year."

Event staff greeted participants, with each group signing in and going through a quick temperature check. From there, new shooters were oriented by a First Shots powerpoint, staff introductions, gun safety rules, and future shooting opportunities.

*First Shots participants being introduced to gun safety and county range rules*

From there, the University of Arizona WildGats athletes taught new shooters the fundamentals of grip, stance, sight alignment, and trigger squeeze with visible laser SIRT trainers. NextLevel Training, Platinum Sponsor of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program, manufactures training tools, especially helpful for new shooters.

*Introducing the fundamentals of pistol shooting with training tools gave new shooters the skills and confidence to progress before hitting the range*

Once given an introduction, First Shots participants were taken to the live fire range, receiving 1:1 guidance with a Coach, Instructor or RSO.

Krasulak Defends Top Gun Title At 2020 National Championships

Written by SSSF Staff on August 17, 2020. Posted in New SSSF, Slider, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The honor of being the "Top Gun Champion" of the SCTP and SASP National Championships is claimed for the second year in a row by Jack Krasulak from the Young Guns of Quail Creek team in Okeechobee, Florida.

Since its inception in 2018, the CZ-USA Top Gun Challenge has recognized the commitment, stamina, and multi-discipline mastery of athletes who compete in both the SCTP and SASP National Championship events. These athletes challenge themselves by preparing for two vastly different shooting sports and must perform at the National Championship level over multiple days and events.

In the 2020 CZ-USA Top Gun Challenge, competitors were scored in trap, skeet, a rifle discipline of choice, and a centerfire pistol (iron, optic, or 1911), with their scores from each event being compiled to calculate the winners. Due to the unusual season, all 2020 SASP Nationals were held virtually from home ranges across the country. While SCTP National Championship events were held in-person at the Cardinal Shooting Center, the Virtual National events were scheduled in conjunction with the events in Ohio to provide flexibility for teams unable to travel.

Of the 15 athletes vying for the title of Top Gun, Jack Krasulak once again came out on top.

In the SASP events, Jack went back and forth for the fastest overall scores in the Centerfire and Rifle disciplines with 2nd place Bailey Lueders of the Arnold Junior Shooters/Brass Bandits. Tied with Bailey in the SCTP Trap events with 189's, it was Jack's strong score of 190 in Skeet that allowed him to pull away from the competition and secure the title of Top Gun for the 2nd year in a row.

Graduating in 2021, Jack will be defending his title of Top Gun one more time at the 2021 SCTP and SASP National Championships next July.

Thank you to CZ USA and our other generous SCTP/SASP program sponsors for their support of our Top Gun competitors!

1^st Place Jack Krasulak shooting for the Young Guns of Quail Creek of Florida repeats as CZ USA Top Gun Challenge Champion. Jack wins a CZ USA Drake shotgun, a RUGER 10-22 Rifle, and a Browning Buckmark Camper pistol.

2^nd Place Bailey Lueders of Arnold Junior Shooters SCTP /Brass Bandits SASP in MO finished just 12 points behind to be the highest finishing female ever in the CZ USA Top Gun Challenge. For her efforts she wins a CZ Drake shotgun.

3^rd Place Wyatt Young of the Muskego Warriors of WI wins a certificate for a GLOCK of his choice for SASP Founding Partner Sponsor GLOCK

4^th Place Jordan Zeircher of the Arnold Junior Shooters SCTP/Brass Bandits SASP in MO. Jordan wins a Mossberg Blaze rifle.

5^th Place Ethan Michek of S.E.a.L from WI. Ethan wins a case of Winchester Shotgun shells and 1000 rounds of .22LR CCI Mini Mags.

6^th Place Alex Parker of Dewey, Hittem and Howe SCTP/ Holyoke SASP in MA. Alex wins a RE Ranger shooting glasses and Walker’s Hearing protection.

SASP Announces Winners In The 2020 All-State Finals

Written by SSSF Staff on August 14, 2020. Posted in SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

During this year’s SASP National Virtual Championships, athletes from 17 states competed from home ranges to help their state become the top state in pistol or rifle and have bragging rights for the next year.

Athletes of their respective SASP State Championships were considered in the following disciplines:

Rimfire Pistol Iron
Rimfire Rifle Iron or Optic
Centerfire Iron
PCC

At the National Virtual Championship, the 2020 All-State Athletes not only competed for the National title with their team, but also represented their state in Rifle and Pistol teams to crown the top states in the nation.

The Missouri All-State Pistol Team, edged out Tennessee by just over one second to become the top state in the nation for SASP pistol disciplines.

Ohio All-State Rifle Team members claimed their title by over four seconds, becoming the top state in the nation for SASP rifle disciplines.

2020 SASP All-State Finals

Pistol	State	Time
1st	MO	212.47
2nd	TN	213.53
3rd	IN	225.16

Rifle
1st	OH	141.42
2nd	TX	145.85
3rd	WI	148.95

2020-SASP-Final-All-State-Team

SASP Breaks Records Again with 2020 National Virtual Championship

Written by SSSF Staff on July 30, 2020. Posted in New SSSF, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The sound of bullets ringing steel were heard all over the country over a three week period in July, during the 2020 SASP National Virtual Championship. Over 248,000 rounds were sent down range as SASP athletes competed virtually from their home ranges in the midst of an unusual season.

Just last year, the SASP National Championship surpassed the Glock Shooting Sports Foundation (GSSF), to become the largest Action Shooting Match in history. Despite a heavily altered season, the SASP community continued to break records for participation with 1,656 event entries for the National Championship in 2020.

Traditionally held at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, OH, the decision to hold Nationals in a virtual format for 2020 came as a difficult but necessary decision by the SASP national staff. "In order to protect the safety of our athletes, coaches, and families, we had to proceed with a virtual format for the National Championship this year," said SASP National Director, Rick Leach. "The nature of our sport puts athletes and range officers in close proximity, which we could not in good conscious do with thousands of athletes in Ohio this year. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful community and are constantly inspired by the SASP athletes, adult volunteers, and families. We received hundreds of photos and videos from teams competing in Nationals from their home range. Almost all gave shootouts to our program sponsors and our National staff on social media and thanked us for giving them the opportunity to compete."

The silver lining of moving the in-person event to a virtual format was accessibility. "This year we saw participation grow to states that are not always able to make the journey to Ohio each year for Nationals," said SASP Director of Development, Kelvin Walton. "Although the spectacle of teams converging on the Cardinal Center to compete is part of the Nationals experience, the SASP community made the most out of an unusual season. The ability to compete at Nationals from their home range gave teams all over the country the opportunity to finish the season as a team, competing for the national title."

Media from member-submitted photo and video can be viewed on Facebook or Instagram by exploring #saspnationals2020

For scores and leaderboard information from the 2020 SASP National Virtual Championship, please see the following link:

https://app.sssfonline.com/nationals/sasp

2020 SASP All-State Team Members

Written by SSSF Staff on July 22, 2020. Posted in SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The Scholastic Action Shooting Program is happy to announce your All-State Team members for 2020! Athletes who participated in their SASP State Championship were considered for the 2020 All-State Teams in the following disciplines:

Rimfire Pistol Iron
Rimfire Rifle Iron or Optic
Centerfire Iron
PCC

All-State Team members will receive a designating jersey, sponsored by GLOCK, CZ-USA, and Ruger. Athletes on the respective All-State Teams who shoot in the 2020 SASP Virtual National Championship will have their scores compared to other All-State Teams to determine the top Pistol and Rifle teams in the nation. The winning Pistol and Rifle team athletes will receive medals for their achievement of best in the nation.

2020-SASP-All-State-Teams-

SSSF All Scholastic Team Members Announced

Written by SSSF Staff on July 15, 2020. Posted in New SSSF, SCTP Blog, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is proud to announce members of the 2020 All-Scholastic Team! Nearly 300 student athletes from 27 states have been named to the team this year!

The All-Scholastic Team recognizes the top student-athletes in the SSSF’s Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Action Shooting Program for their achievements in the classroom, on the range and in their communities. Through an application process, 2020 All-Scholastic Team Members have proven academic excellence by posting 3.0 or better grade point averages, shooting excellent scores in recent competition (95% in trap or skeet, 85% in sporting clays, 80% in international trap/skeet or 65 seconds or less for SASP) and by demonstrating outstanding community involvement.

Congratulations to all qualifying team members!

2020-AST-

2020 SCTP & SASP National Championships Program Now Available Online

Written by SSSF Staff on July 1, 2020. Posted in Events, SCTP Blog, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

View and download the 2020 Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program National Team Championships event information book today! Check out all this culminating event has to offer including:

Schedule of events
Event and program sponsors
Camping and golf cart rentals
Awards and recognition
Sign up for event text alerts
And much, much more!

Primary Arms Optics Signs On As Silver-Level Sponsor of the SASP

Written by SSSF Staff on June 11, 2020. Posted in SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

Youth shooting sports finds another huge supporter with Primary Arms Optics signing on as a Silver-Level Sponsor of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP).

"Primary Arms is dedicated to growing the firearms community, and we are proud to support the Scholastic Action Shooting Program," says Dina Sanders, Primary Arms’ Brand Manager. "At a time where misinformation is everywhere, youth programs help grow the next generation of advocates."

"Primary Arms was eager to support SASP ahead of the National Championships this year," said Rick Leach, SASP National Director. Key support from both big industry names and newer companies alike gives our mission of youth development through shooting sports continued momentum. We have seen consistent growth in both athlete participation and sponsor support throughout our existence. The future of youth shooting sports looks bright, no matter the current circumstances!

About Primary Arms

Started in 2007, Primary Arms began as an optics manufacturer focused on delivering the absolute best performance optics for any budget. Today, Primary Arms continues that legacy, expanding to provide best-in-class service for wholesale, LE/MIL sales, and online retail. Wherever your needs lie Primary Arms wants to be your first choice and favorite partner. For more information on Primary Arms, visit the company website at www.primaryarms.com or contact:

Dina Sanders
Brand Marketing Manager
dsanders@primaryarms.com

2020 SASP “Virtual” National Championship

Written by SSSF Staff on June 1, 2020. Posted in Events, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

SASP members,

The SASP national staff would like to thank you very much for your patience as we carefully evaluated the possible scenarios for the 2020 SASP National Championships in July. The SASP recognizes that our athletes have lost so much this year, but in good conscience cannot hold Nationals in person at the Cardinal Center this year. Understanding the importance of a National Championship experience, we will instead proceed with a virtual match over a three-week window, July 5^th-July 26^th, complete with awards being sent to our winners. Registration is currently open and closes July 2^nd at 12:00 PM CST.

This decision took careful consideration of a number of factors. This spring we kept a very close eye on how COVID-19 affected our communities and youth sports as a whole. It took time to get our bearings on the situation in a way we could confidently evaluate the logistics and safety of holding a large sporting event.

The safety of our members, staff, volunteers, partners and spectators is our first priority. Social distancing in our sport is extremely difficult. Our national staff has been carefully utilizing information from the Morrow County (OH) Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and representatives from the Cardinal Center. We were also lucky to have advisement from some of our members that are medical professionals who deal directly with COVID-19 in their communities. Additionally, we surveyed our coaches across both programs to get their feedback. With over 400 responses, this survey helped give us important member-driven data that helped shape our decision to proceed forward with the 2020 SASP National Championships as a virtual event.

Although we will not be able to come together for a physical match, the competitive spirit of the SASP National Championships is very much alive in virtual format. This format gives those who cannot yet travel due to local mandates or those who are uncomfortable with the thought of doing so the opportunity to compete at the national level. If the logistics of your team traveling to Ohio was previously a barrier to compete, you now have the opportunity to participate in a national championship this year. Already the largest action shooting event in the world, this gives the potential opportunity for our national championship to be bigger than ever.

This three-week window also allows for teams who participate in both the SASP and SCTP, the ability to participate in both National Championship events and the opportunity to compete in the CZ-USA Top Gun Challenge. Athletes competing in the CZ-USA Top Gun Challenge will shoot trap, skeet, a rifle discipline of choice, and a centerfire pistol (iron, optic, or 1911), with their scores from each event being compiled to calculate the winners.

Participating teams should observe their local guidelines and general best practices published by the CDC which is meant to supplement the respective local laws, rules, and regulations with which youth sports organizations must comply.

SASP Virtual Series FAQ

Written by SSSF Staff on May 20, 2020. Posted in SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

Virtual Series Matches:

-Can be set up by coaches and open to invited teams or all teams

-Can be set for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly competitions.

-Can run up to 52 competitions in a series (if you run weekly events for the entire year)

-Uses team scoring where the top 4 athletes, regardless of classification, on your team are selected to be the team score. There are no set squads.

-When you enter your team into a league it will list all your registered athletes. You only enter scores for the athletes that shoot in a round/match. DO NOT ENTER 0.

-Each round’s/match’s top 4 athletes per team are combined for a cumulative team score at the end of the series.

-Scores you enter for each athlete are the stage scores (best 4 of 5 strings). This can be done on paper or using a tablet to record them and then entered in SHOT system (or SHOT).

-Scores are entered by the coach for everyone into the virtual scoring module in Shot. This must be done by the end of the grace period (date is listed in the match for each round/match).

-Shooting can be done on your home range or at another team’s range if they can host you for a little head-to-head action for the virtual.

-There is no fee for the virtual series matches. (If teams want to run virtual leagues of their own and do awards they can charge a fee outside of SHOT.

-The stages for the match are set by the match host. Those are the stages that must be shot.

-Disciplines to be shot will be based on the match host’s selection and listed in the match.

State and national championship virtual matches (if run):

-These matches will be run if in-person championships are not feasible due to restrictions in place because of the pandemic.

-Matches will be built in Shot by national staff and administered with the assistance of state advisers.

-Matches will be shot at your home range, or possibly at another team’s range if they can host a team, based on restrictions in place.

-This is a onetime match that will be shot over the course of a week or several weeks.

-Disciplines to be shot will be selected by the match director and provided to all teams.

-These matches will be done with traditional squadding (4 athletes in the same classification) as noted in the rulebook.

-State Matches Scores will be entered in tablets if possible and emailed to the state adviser. Paper scores can be sent if a team does not have scoring tablets.

-There will be instructions on how to set up the tablet with the PractiScore file if we do any of these matches.

Nationals virtual if held, scores will be submitted via PractiScore to back to SASP National staff. All four stages must be shot back to back just as they would be at the nationals match. They cannot be split up over multiple days.

We have created a video tutorial on how to get started in the Virtual Series within the SHOT system: