Our Executive Director, Ben Berka recently spoke with College Shooting Sports Recruiting's Robbi Vincent to talk about the SSSF's efforts to advance youth shooting sports through program efforts and coach training curriculum. This is a quick talk that covers a lot!
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation‘s (SSSF) Reload For 2021 campaign raised $311,657, thanks to participating teams and donors! To date, this is the SSSF's most successful fundraising campaign, with funds benefiting teams totaling over $600,000! The Reload For 2021 campaign provides immediate funds teams can use for the 2021 shooting season AND provides funds to their MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment account to benefit teams FOREVER.
Total impact for the campaign amounts to just over $155,000 in cash grants going to SCTP and SASP teams, and over $366,000 being donated by SSSF to the participating team’s MidwayUSA Foundation endowment accounts! Funds that are MidwayUSA Foundation Match Eligible totaled over $78,000.
Congratulations to the teams that worked hard to compete in our team endowment bonus fund competitions of most dollars raised and most unique donors. The SSSF awarded an additional $60,000 pool of funding to teams claiming those accolades in places 1st through 6th, with those funds being allocated to team endowment accounts held at the MidwayUSA Foundation.
We are excited to announce additional match funding for SSSF's Reload For 2021 campaign! All donations received in the month of December will receive extra match funding from SSSF!
SSSF will provide a pool of $100,000 in match funding for the entire month of December. The ratio of that match will vary based on the number of total contribution dollars received in December for the campaign. For example, if SSSF receives $100,000 in donations in December, all donations will be matched 1:1.If SSSF receives $50,000 in donations for the month of December, all donations will be matched 2:1, etc.
This special SSSF December match will be directed to your team endowment account at the MidwayUSA Foundation. Also, keep in mind that 25% of each donation your team receives will be sent to the MidwayUSA Foundation where it will be matched under the current MidwayUSA Foundation matching program. See our official campaign page for details.
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) recently donated $451,258.50 to Team Endowment Accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation, providing assistance for youth shooting sports expenses. Teams earned funds by raising money through the SSSF’s Reload For 2021 campaign and the SSSF Member Matching Program. Teams purchasing ATA and or NSSA/NSCA memberships through the SCTP also had deposits made to their accounts.
So far, this year's donations have benefited 339 teams participating in the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) and Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), participating throughout 37 different states. The growth of youth shooting sports is apparent, as the number of benefiting teams has increased nearly four-fold since 2018. To date, the SSSF has donated over $6.9 million to SCTP and SASP team endowment accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation.
Please contact the SSSF for more information on how your shooting team can earn team endowment funding for their account at the MidwayUSA Foundation.
The Team Endowment Program at the MidwayUSA Foundation gives a community the ability to financially support a competitive youth shooting sports program or financially assist in the start-up of a new youth shooting sports program. The team can then request a grant of up to 5% of their endowment account balance once each year, in either December or June, to pay for team expenses. For more information about how the MidwayUSA Foundation is changing the future of youth shooting sports, please visit midwayusafoundation.org or call 1-877-375-4570.
Did you know that nearly $2,000 has been donated to the SSSF through AmazonSmile? When online shopping on Amazon, please consider using selecting the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation as your charity of choice!
Our supporters have selected the SSSF as their Amazon Smile Charity and continued online shopping as they normally do, with most purchases qualifying for a portion to be donated. Thank you to our community and even some of our sponsors, like America's Gunsmith Shop for selecting the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation as their AmazonSmile charity!
Here's how to shop AmazonSmile:
Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/20-8484121
OR
1. Visit smile.amazon.com
2. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials
3. Search for and select the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation Inc as your charity of choice4. Start shopping!
5. Add a bookmark for smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile
Hello SCTP & SASP Coaches and Teams!
The National office in conjunction with Florida Indian River Groves have put together the ultimate fundraising opportunity for you and your teams! Who doesn’t want fresh fruit especially when they can help your team raise much needed funds for this upcoming season?!
This opportunity is a no contact, no face to face, no door knocking way to help and support your team by just emailing friends, family and neighbors! 10% of all sales will come back directly to your team in the form of a check after the December 1st deadline for Christmas delivery.
The SCTP and SASP will furnish a list of prizes and places very shortly, so take the time now to register your team at the link below and we will handle the rest! Once your team is registered, it will take approximately 48-72 hours and you will be on your way to forwarding the link and website for supporters to place orders and help your team with funding!
Coaches, once you have registered your team, you will be able to set up your athletes and track their progress and total sales volume related to each athlete (salesperson)…..you can put up individual prizes and contests for your athletes as well!
We would like to thank Florida Indian River Groves for their support and help in providing this awesome
Opportunity to our teams, athletes and families!
Best of luck,
Your SCTP and SASP National Directors
To view a sample website, which shows available varieties, selling prices, etc., coaches may use this link:
(Note: This is NOT to be distributed by your membership or used for ordering. Each team will receive their very own, fully customized website, with a different link for online ordering.)
Sample Link: https://www.floridaindianrivergroves.com/ecommerce/1020824
Order Deadlines Are As Follows:
| For Guaranteed Delivery Prior To: | Orders Must Be Placed Online By: |
| Thanksgiving (November 26, 2020) | Friday, October 30, 2020 |
| Christmas (December 25, 2020) | Tuesday, December 1, 2020 |
In 2016 the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation launched a campaign entitled, “VISION 20/20” with the goal to grow national youth participation in the Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program to over 20,000 student-athletes annually by the year 2020.
Bonus Funding Opportunity
All teams participating in the Reload For 2021 campaign will have the opportunity to win BONUS team endowment funds! There are two competitions taking place:
For each competition, teams will be awarded team endowment funding to their MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment account as follows:
| The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is seeking a highly motivated individual to assume the role of Information Technology Support Manager. The successful candidate will have a broad background in IT support and be responsible for all aspects of information technology support for SSSF and its members. The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of information technology (IT) support for the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program. The successful candidate will play the lead role in supporting the organizations’ information technology needs. |
Download complete position description and how to apply here…
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.
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.
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.
Once given an introduction, First Shots participants were taken to the live fire range, receiving 1:1 guidance with a Coach, Instructor or RSO.
For the last 4 years, Titanium-Level Sponsor, Browning has provided SCTP National Championship athletes with the opportunity to earn the “Browning Scholarship”. This scholarship is awarded to the high school-aged top athlete in Trap Singles (male or female) shooting a Browning Shotgun.
"The biggest supporters of our program consistently go above and beyond to give back to these young athletes, said SCTP National Director, Tom Wondrash. "Since its inception, the Browning Scholarship has been a popular competition within the National Championship events. Every year we have athletes who shoot Browning shotguns sign up to see who comes out on top, receiving honors from one of our biggest program sponsors. This year was no different and we are very thankful to have Browning's support, creating another exciting aspect of competition for many athletes at Nationals."
Congratulations to Joey Donato of the Warren County Claybusters, shooting a 199/200 in Trap Singles! For his performance, Browning provided Joey with a Cynergy Gran Lightning!
© Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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.