SSSF Program Participation Regarding COVID-19 Concerns
Updated 5/8/2020
SCTP and SASP members,
It has been a challenging spring for all of us as a community. Although there has been time away from the range, our teams, and competitions, we remain optimistic, as a number of states are gradually reopening at this time. We have seen our SCTP and SASP members come together as a whole, encouraging each other to remain positive and stay focused towards the sport you love. The SSSF is proud to see our community embody values that the SCTP and SASP programs are founded upon.
While the bulk of competition seasons for some of our teams have been delayed, or in some cases canceled, we are happy to report there are still opportunities to compete for our members yet this season. As a reminder, seasons run through August 31st, and virtual competitions will be offered this summer. These competitions will be open to every member team across the country and will allow athletes to compete virtually from their home shooting range against other teams.
SCTP will be conducting two, four-week virtual competitions before and after the National Championships:
SCTP Summer Virtuals Round 1: June 1st and runs through July 5th.
SCTP Summer Virtuals Round 2: July 20th and runs through August 30th.
SASP will be conducting two, four-week virtual competitions before and after the National Championships:
SASP Summer Virtuals Round 1: May 25th and runs through June 21st
SASP Summer Virtuals Round 2: August 3rd and runs through August 30th
The SCTP and SASP Nationals will be conducted in July. At this point, it is to be determined if the championships will be in-person at the Cardinal Center in Ohio or conducted virtually from your team's home range. The SSSF will make an announcement as to which format the championships will follow by June 1, 2020.
We realize that this restricted season has been disappointing, but in appreciation of the incredible positive outlook we have seen displayed by our community, we have a couple of exciting new benefits to provide our members:
- Member Rewards Drawing: The SSSF and its generous program sponsors have assembled an exciting package of items to go back to our members. There are no tickets to buy, no entry forms to fill out….all you have to do is be a current member of the SCTP and/or SASP. This is open to both athletes and member volunteers alike. Prizes will include pistols from Ruger, GLOCK, and some heavily upgraded rimfire and PCC race setups from Ruger that have been Tandemized by Tandemkross. We are working hard to increase the size and variety of these prizes available to our members and will provide updates as we get closer to the drawing. We will be announcing the winners of the Member Rewards Drawing on September 1st, 2020.
*Any winner under the state and federal age required for firearm ownership requires a parent or legal guardian, legally permitted to own a firearm, to assume the role of transferee pursuant to 18 U.S. Code § 922(x).
- Grow your team endowment account at the MidwayUSA Foundation via our member incentive program and realize 5:1 and 7:1 matching! See link for more details: https://sssfonline.org/save-up-with-member-matching-from-the-sssf/
We appreciate our members standing by us during this difficult time. While we hope our teams spent time on the range before the pandemic or can get to the range before the end of August, we realize circumstances are different from state-to-state and team-to-team.
Please contact the following program staff for more information:
Scholastic Clay Target Program:
Director Of Development, Eastern US:
Chet Tuinstra
Phone: 262-498-4260
Email: ctuinstra@sssfonline.com
Director Of Development, Western US:
Jeff Morrison
Phone: 712-330-6115
Email: jmorrison@sssfonline.com
Scholastic Action Shooting Program:
Kelvin Walton, Director of Development
Phone: 262-693-7374
Email: kwalton@sssfonline.com
We look forward to getting through this together and seeing you back on the range.
While we wait out this unprecedented season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, please know that our members’ safety is, and always has been our #1 priority. Never have we had to deal with a situation like this and, quite frankly, we hope that we will never have to deal with something like this again.
As of this writing, many of the stay at home bans are in place through April 30 and some are into May. We have noticed that some gun ranges are starting to reopen on a very limited basis with strict cleaning and no contact rules in place. We are hopeful that this situation will turn itself around sooner rather than later and as a result, we are planning on the National Championship being held July 9-18 at the Cardinal Center in Marengo, Ohio as originally scheduled. Of course, this situation is fluid and we will certainly do the right thing to keep all our athletes’, teams’, parents’ and coaches’ safety our #1 priority.
To be clear, the SASP and SCTP National organizations have not suggested to any state groups to cancel their state championships at this time but postpone and reschedule when restrictions are lifted. For many of our young athletes, 2020 is their last season with us. We want to responsibly and carefully address members’ concerns of prematurely canceling events, which would bring their last season to a disappointing and abrupt end. Additionally, if state matches are canceled, athletes would lose the opportunity to compete for All-State honors. To accommodate any postponements and social restrictions, the SASP/SCTP National organizations have relaxed the “6 practice” requirement for this year as outlined in the SASP and SCTP Official Handbooks. The SCTP has relaxed the “must attend their state shoot” requirement as outlined in the SCTP Handbook.
Due to delays and cancellations related to COVID-19, SSSF is extending the grace period between the time of online course completion and range day attendance. Those completing the online portion of the SSSF Basic Shotgun Coach or SSSF Basic Action Shooting Coach course will now have 12 months to attend the required in-person range day component.
As concerns of the COVID-19 virus evolves, our commitment to our members includes keeping communication clear, transparent, and current. The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation is actively monitoring recommendations at the national level and is keeping regular communications with our coordinators and coaches at the state level. At this point in time, we do not anticipate canceling any regional or national matches in the SCTP and SASP programs.
In order to further accommodate our members in areas where conducting practices are currently difficult due to state mandates regarding COVID-19, we will be waiving the rule in each program that states team members must attend a minimum of six (6) team practice sessions to be eligible to shoot in State, Regional, or National Championship events representing that team.
Please refer to your program state advisor for information regarding events held in your local state to be held in the immediate future as we adjust to these uncertain times. As a reminder, our shooting sports are inherently low risk for transmission. Our matches and shoots are always held at outdoor ranges and athlete participation in limited numbers per squad for sake of match flow also lends to avoiding congregation of large amounts of individuals. We recommend referring to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention regarding COVID-19.
As a youth shooting sports organization, the SSSF and its SASP and SCTP programs continually put safety at the forefront of participation and continue to do so in light of current events. Please refer to this document for updates as recommendations from the CDC regarding COVID-19 affect participation in SCTP and SASP events.
CDC resources for COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
