Fort Hays State University and Scholastic Clay Target Program hosted the 3rd SCTP Central Region Collegiate Championship event at the Heartland Shooting Park in Grand Island, Nebraska on October 17-19. The 500-target event included 100 targets each in trap singles, wobble, skeet, skeet doubles, and sporting clays. A total of 95 student athletes from 11 colleges participated in the event.
The top five placing colleges were:
HOA Champion
Fort Hays State University
Runner-up
Lindenwood University
3rd place
Midland University
4th place
Trinidad Junior College
5th place
Hastings College
Other participating colleges included the University of Central Missouri, Colorado State University, Concordia University, Kansas State University, Pratt Community College, and Wichita State University.
SCTP provided $26,000 in endowment funds for the event and will deposit the funds into the schools’ endowment accounts at MidwayUSA Foundation, Inc.
SCTP joined with Jacksonville University (FL) and the Jacksonville Skeet & Trap Club on October 18-19 to host the 7th annual Southeast Collegiate Invitational Regional Championship Shoot. With 131 athletes from nine universities participating, this has become one of the largest collegiate regional shoots in the country. The teams competed in American Skeet, American Trap, International Wobble Trap, and Sporting Clays.
Emmanuel College was the High Over All (HOA) team by four targets over runner-up Jacksonville University. The University of Kentucky, Clemson University, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively.
Other colleges participating included Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Florida State University, University of North Florida, and Stetson University.
$40,000 in endowment funding was provided by SCTP for the event and will be deposited into the teams’ endowment accounts at MidwayUSA Foundation, Inc.
HOA Trap, Skeet, International Wobble Team Results:
Among the uninitiated, there is a common misconception that where there are guns, there must be accidental discharges and deaths as a result. But the facts could not be further from the truth! Findings of the National Safety Council show that unintentional firearms fatalities remain at historically low levels. In fact, the number of unintentional firearms-related fatalities has declined by 57 percent over the past two decades. The statistics prove that firearm safety training is effective.
Some of the interesting findings in the 2014 Edition of Firearms-Related Injury Statistics, compiled by the NSSF, include:
Firearms are involved in fewer than 1⁄2-percent of all unintentional fatalities in the United States. In a side-by-side comparison, firearms rank among the lowest causes of injury.
Firearms are involved in less than 1.8 percent of unintentional fatalities among children 14 years of age and under and are among the least likely causes of unintentional fatality.
As firearms safety education programs have increased, the number of unintentional firearms-related fatalities has decreased.
Over the past 10 years, the unintentional firearm fatality rate per 100,000 population has declined by 33 percent; since the beginning of record-keeping in 1903, this rate has declined by 94 percent!
Among fatal accidents at home, firearms rate well below poisoning, falls, natural heat and cold, mechanical suffocation, and many other categories.
NSSF has compiled statistics from agencies independent of the gun industry, such as the National Safety Council, to demonstrate the relative safety of firearms ownership and the effectiveness of firearms safety training as a deterrent to accidental discharges. We suggest that you download and print the report to keep handy for those times when you need facts to support your assertions about firearms safety training.
If your team has an endowment account with a balance of any amount with the MidwayUSA Foundation and you haven’t yet received a grant this year, you have until December 15 to apply for a grant for up to 5% of your account balance.
Grant funds can be used for team expenses such as ammunition, travel, uniforms, range fees, and more. The funds cannot be used for firearms purchases or political lobbying.
SSSF regularly makes endowment funds available for SCTP and SPP events and contributes them to participating teams’ endowment accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation. Since 2011, SSSF has donated funding to several hundred team endowment accounts across 48 states. This year to date, we have already contributed over $1.5 million to MidwayUSA Foundation accounts.
The goal of the MidwayUSA Foundation is to provide permanent financial support for shooting programs. Grants are the vehicle that makes this goal possible.
Even if you have a small account balance earned at a shooting event or through your own deposits, you can draw a grant. If the funds are not needed, you can put it back into your team endowment account to have matching funds applied.
Teams may apply to receive up to 5% of their account balance once per calendar year. MidwayUSA Foundation accepts grant applications in June and December, and applications are reviewed and decided upon by its Board of Directors at January and July board meetings. If you did not apply for a grant in June, you are eligible to apply by December 15.
The latest version of our SHOT online registration and scoring system is set to launch on November 10, giving teams more control over their own records management, providing new capabilities as event hosts, and paving the way for an upcoming paperless system.
Scholastic Pistol Program participants, who previously have not used the SHOT system for event registration and scoring, will now be able to manage these functions electronically. For coaches with multiple teams in either program, the new SHOT V.5 will simplify access by allowing one login to be used for all teams, rather than a separate one for each team.
Another important benefit of SHOT V.5 will be competition management tools for teams to host and manage shoots, leagues, and conferences. Plus, every team will be able to have its own website hosted on our system.
SHOT V.5 will be a user-controlled environment that will allow coaches to register online, setting your own login information and controlling the information stored there. If you lose your login information, you will no longer need to contact us to retrieve or reset it; you will be able to reset it immediately yourself.
The first time you access the system on or after November 10, you will be prompted to create new login information. This will be very similar to many other sites where you set up your own login and use it each time you shop or manage your account.
For now, head coaches will continue to have forms completed by athletes and parents and will enter the information collected into the SHOT system. It will be the head coach’s responsibility to make sure each person is properly registered online. Because this system is designed for user management, our staff will no longer be entering registration information into the SHOT system on behalf of coaches and athletes.
Since this is the first time many SPP coaches have registered on the SHOT system, these coaches are reminded that you will now need to register on the site, complete your background check, and take the Double Goal Course. If you need help, you may contact Tammy Mowry.
Don’t worry about the need to learn something new and complex. While we don’t think you’ll find it difficult to use, we have created some video tutorials to walk you through the system’s functions, and we’ll remind you of the steps you’ll need to follow to fully operate in the new environment. You can view the tutorials here.
When the paperless environment is in place in 2015, coaches and teams will realize some immediate benefits. Athletes, parents, and other volunteers will register themselves in the system. Coaches will no longer need to collect paper forms and juggle duplicate records, sending copies to SSSF and maintaining copies for themselves. That will mean no more time and expense of copying and mailing records to SSSF. Instead, all records will be stored online. Likewise, SSSF will save money, space, and staff time that is now spent on records management — resources that can be spent on your SCTP or SPP team instead!
We recently closed our National Championships survey after several hundred of you gave us your feedback on our year’s big events. As promised, we have drawn the names of eight (8) respondents to win a prize from SCTP or SPP. Congratulations to these winners:
Aiden Belongia – SPP shooter from Wisconsin SPP water bottle, patch, and pin
Houston Unsell – SPP shooter from Alabama SPP water bottle, patch, and pin
Darin Bruski – SPP and SCTP shooter from Wisconsin SPP water bottle, patch, and pin
William M. Seifert – SCTP shooter from Michigan Case of Nobel Sport ammo
Dakota Bishop – SCTP shooter from Texas Case of Fiocchi ammo
John Michael Baggett – SCTP shooter from Tennessee SCTP hat and t-shirt
Edward Rowland – SCTP coach from Tennessee Weather Writer System
Terry Brookman – SCTP coach from Missouri SCTP lanyard, coffee mug, and hot/cold pack
Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey and provide us with valuable information that we will use to make future events even better.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation offers three important tips for shotgunners that can help you shoot better, hit more targets, and enjoy your day on the course more.
Note: This is the first in a series of shooting and competition tips from the SSSF staff.
While working with an ammunition company several years ago, I joined members of our sales and marketing team at a police pistol range for some training on a bitterly cold January morning to gain a better understanding of officers’ needs in ammunition and the dangers they face in the field.
A tactical course was set up, with the officer required to shoot accurately, correctly distinguish the good guys from the bad guys that were popping up and moving into the course of fire, rescue a partner who had been “shot” without also getting shot, move to a safer area, and more — and do it all FAST.
I was seriously out of my element. Although I was a shooter, I had no law enforcement or tactical expertise, nor did the rest of our team. The range officer brought in an expert to demonstrate the course. But not just any expert — it was the officer who held the record for shooting the course. He dazzled us with his speed and accuracy as he performed every challenge perfectly. Then it was our turn.
Several members of our staff went through the course before Randell’s name was called. Underdressed in his warm-weather clothes and loafers, Randell approached the starting box. Tap, tap, move. Tap, tap, move. Minutes later, Randell had not only stunned all the spectators, but he had broken the course record the first time he shot it!
His secret, he explained, was that it wasn’t the first time he shot the course; he had spent the previous half hour visualizing the course and mentally shooting it. In his mind, he placed every shot, moved to the next challenge, took every step, rescued the downed partner, took cover, and developed the rhythm he needed to do it quickly and smoothly.
We all learned something important from Randell’s performance. It was too late to help me that day — I was the next shooter — but I’ve practiced it many times since then, not just in pistol shooting, but in shotgunning and other active pursuits. I haven’t broken any records, but I’ve benefited every time I have visualized the process.
As another year starts to wind down, we are inching closer to the MidwayUSA Foundation matching deadlines. Don’t miss your chance to double, triple, even quadruple your money!
Funds returned to the MidwayUSA Foundation stemming from one of their recent promotions (Zeiss Binoculars, Browning Knife Set, Winchester 280, SKB RS300) by November 30, 2014, will be matched 3:1. Funds returned from previous promotions (Our Family Legacy, Silver Sporting) are matched 1:1. See MidwayUSA Foundation’s promotions page for additional details.
General donations are also matched. Donate to the team of your choice and your donation will be matched 2:1 by Larry and Brenda Potterfield! Find your team here. Your donation is tax deductible, and 100% of your donation will go to your local shooting team. But hurry — this match also ends November 30, 2014.
According to MidwayUSA Foundation, in 2015 they plan to bring new incentives to your teams to grow your Team Endowment Accounts. They also hope to offer another matching program, but don’t miss your chance this year! Donate today!
The U.S. isn’t the only place where clay target shooting is enjoying growth among student athletes. In Jamaica, the shotgun sports are experiencing an upward trend, and youth are responsible for much of that growth.
In 2011, Jamaica’s national coach initiated a junior shooting program with only five participants. Now, 65 to 75 youth shooters regularly participate in events. At a recent inter-school competition, 12 school teams competed, and there is a movement in place to gain representation in skeet shooting at the Olympic Games.
With the growth of interest in shooting among high school students, the Jamaican program has sought guidance from none other than the largest youth shooting program in the U.S. — the Scholastic Clay Target Program. Among other areas of development, the Jamaican program is hoping to open doors that will lead to the availability of shooting scholarships for its students at U.S. universities.
Who knows, you may someday meet your Jamaican counterparts at an SCTP event or even have them as teammates on college teams! Stay tuned.
