USA Shooting Seeks Applications for Athlete Endowment Grants
USA Shooting and the Bunker Club established the Colonel D.D. Behrens Athlete Endowment Fund to create a reliable and predictable cash flow to fund developing athletes to ensure that United States teams remain strong in the face of increasing competition from other countries. 2018 Athlete Endowment Deadline - January 30, 2018 In 2005 the Athlete Endowment Fund was established by Colonel D.D. Behrens with the intention of awarding grants to shooting sport athletes to help offset the cost of competitions, equipment, ammunition, travel and training in hopes of maintaining USA Shooting’s competitive excellence well into the future. The goal of the endowment is to build a strong foundation of USA Shooting athletes by assisting with development of their shooting skills needed to become high-level competitors and Olympians. In 2015, eighteen athletes were the first grant recipients from the endowment. Since then the number of athletes receiving grants have doubled. As the endowment continues to grow with the help of generous donors, the number of athletes impacted will continue to rise. The goals of the Athlete Endowment are already being realized with several success stories from awardees, including 2016 Olympic champion Ginny Thrasher and Junior Olympic Champion Will Shaner. Recognizing the need for USA Shooting to build its own base of financial support, Col. D.D.Behrens started fundraising within a small inner-circle of hunting buddies which has now blossomed into a very loyal and dedicated group. The Bunker Club was established at a time when USAS was in a tight financial position. There was an immediate need to replace bunker trap machines at the International Shotgun Range in Colorado Springs. The Bunker Club members successfully raised $200,000 to complete the project. After the initial fundraising task was completed, Bunker Club members then decided to make a long-term commitment to USA Shooting athletes. They set forth to establish an endowment of $3 million in which, to date, have successfully raised $1.7 million. Their continued support of athletes is amazing, and we are forever grateful. To build on this level of achievement, USA Shooting must create a strong base of financial support to ensure that our athletes can not only compete successfully in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also to build an athlete base and opportunity for young shooters to achieve success into the future. The Athlete Endowment will award athletes with grants to help cover training, competition expenses, equipment, ammunition, and travel. Payments will be made for eligible expenses on a reimbursement by receipt basis during same calendar year as awarded grant. Application criteria are as follows:
- Applicants must have a current USA Shooting event classification;
- Demonstrated potential in both skill and commitment are required;
- Applicant must be a USA Shooting member, click here for membership.
- Members of the National Team, Development Team or National Junior Team (past or present) are not eligible for Endowment grants.
- Members of the Junior Olympic Squad (Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun) may apply for grants.
- Members of the USA Shooting Team who are already receiving financial assistance are not eligible for endowment grants.
- A grant application must be received at USA Shooting no later than January 30, 2018. Download the application form here.
- Please include an athlete headshot with your application.
- Applications can be mailed to the below address or emailed to resourcedevelopment@usashooting.org.
231 athletes of representing 25 teams from 15 states made up over 700 registrations at this year’s College Nationals! Throwing over 125,000 clay targets in Trap, Skeet, Sporting Clays, Bunker Trap and 5-Stand kept the Cardinal Center staff quite busy for a few days. This year’s tournament experienced some very “terrifying” weather thanks to Mother Nature! Rain and snow coupled with temperatures dipping into the low 30’s made for some very interesting rounds! Division 1 teams comprised of this year’s (HOA) champions, Lindenwood University of Missouri! Runner up, Midland University of Nebraska gave them a tough battle as did 3rd place Bethel College from Tennessee. Division II teams included this year’s champion’s Martin Methodist of Tennessee (who had the overall HOA high score for the 2nd straight year), runner-up Ft. Hayes State University of Kansas followed by Hillsdale College of Michigan. Division III schools were represented by this year’s National Champions Emanuel College of Georgia, Runner-ups University of Alabama Clay Shooting Team and 3rd place team, Eastern Kentucky University. 
This year, the SCTP added Division IV. This newly added division will consist of 2 Year Colleges of which was won by Roane State Community College of Tennessee with Runner-up, Hawkeye Community College of Iowa! Individuals turning in stellar performances included Ladies HOA winner, Paige Denny of the Midland University Shotgun Team and Men’s HOA winner, Riley Ross representing Ft. Hayes State. These athletes won Shamrock Leather Shooting bags compliments of the SCTP and Shamrock! Other notables were a perfect performance shot in the Skeet event (200 Straight) by Eli Christman – Martin Methodist College! Braving the snow and frigid temperatures all day at the 2017 SCTP College Nationals on Saturday, athletes found some energy to compete in a “Spooktacular” Last Competitor Standing competition along with a costume judging contest (by their peers)! For the costume contest, coming in 1st place and dressed as a Panda Bear was Darrien Lettman. 2nd place went to Noah Adair dressed as a clown and 3rd place went to a chicken worn by Mark Beardsley! These athletes were awarded shamrock leather products and ammunition provided by Fiocchi. Congratulations and great job by all of our costume wearing athletes!! Competing in the Last Competitor Standing competition and toughing out the below average temperatures of a late October evening were the following athletes: Dressed as a “T-Rex” and fighting off all competition was the champion and “Last Competitor Standing”, Christian Salvanera! The Runner up award was won by Andy Carey with 3rd place going to Ty McCaskey, 4th awarded to Marcus Draves and 5th going to Nathan Hembree!
Great job to all of the competitors and we sure hope you all had a wonderful time! “Great facility, great teams/coaches/athletes/parents and cold weather! The SCTP Team worked very hard and thoroughly enjoyed working with these great teams. We are extremely excited and looking forward to next year’s tournament!” commented Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. “We received the final score sheet at about 2:00pm on Sunday, started handing out awards at 2:15 and were finished (waving good-bye) to the teams and athletes by 3:00pm! It just doesn’t get any better than that for these teams!” For a full list of results and finishes in all disciplines, please see our website at 
“What an awesome opportunity for SCTP athletes to gain first-hand knowledge from the likes of these coaches!” Said Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. “I have been part of these camps for 8 years now and they just keep getting better and better. Thank you to 
NRA Coach Development Schools are the heart of the NRA Coach Education Program. The instructors use up-to-date materials and multimedia presentations to present discipline-specific coach courses. The registration fee includes a copy of the discipline-specific coach school student study guide and other materials to help you with the details of coaching. Upon successful completion of the coach school you will be a Coach (Level 1) (or Youth Trainer if under 18 years old) in that discipline. Once approved, coaches may print their coach certificate and wallet card for their use. What Is Taught In The School? The Level 1 coach school is two days of sports-specific lessons and practical coaching exercises designed to teach the coach candidate the basics of coaching beginning and intermediate shooters. The following general subjects are taught: