SSSF News and Information Archives - Page 26 of 43

High School Seniors: Apply for NSSA-NSCA Scholarships

Written on January 23, 2017.

High school seniors, apply now for National Sporting Clays Association (NSSA) and National Skeet Shooting Association (NSCA) scholarship money. NSSA-NSCA has increased the number of scholarships being awarded to graduating seniors in 2017, and it’s doubled the amount of money to fund the scholarship program. Each organization will award four $2,500 scholarships for a total of eight recipients.

Applicants for the 2017 scholarships must be 2017 high school graduates with plans to enter a four-year college program by this fall. They must also be active participants in NSSA or NSCA.

The application process will also occur earlier for the 2017 program. The application deadline is March 1, 2017, which will allow the NSSA-NSCA to determine winners in time for presentations by school year-end and to help recipients make financial plans for their college education. Click here for applications.

Conservation Career Fair and Shooting Sports Clinic – February 18, Minneapolis, MN

Written on January 19, 2017.

Register now to attend the Conservation Career Fair and Shooting Sports Clinic taking place at Pheasant Fest on February 18th from 9:00AM to Noon at the Minneapolis Convention Center. All registered coaches and youth will be receive free admission to Pheasant Fest.

Pre-registration by February 1st is required! Register now!

This year’s keynote speaker will be professional shooter Steve Gould of Long Prarie, MN. Steve will inspire you to be intentional about your future by creating a vision, getting focused and pulling the trigger!

Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) national staff members are also included in the lineup of presentations and SCTP will also have a booth at Pheasant Fest for folks to drop by.

Attend our presentation and/or stop by the booth to learn more about the SCTP in 2017, new competition and fundraising opportunities plus MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment opportunities through the SCTP.

As a bonus, Pheasants Forever will be providing a $1,000 donation to your MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment account when you sign up for a MidwayUSA Foundation fundraising item at the show!

Pre-registration by February 1st is required! Register now!

MidwayUSA Foundation Matching Program 2017 Fundraising

Written on January 18, 2017.

All year the MidwayUSA Foundation will match donations, 2:1! The match for donations generated using the MidwayUSA Foundation’s FREE fundraising items is structured slightly different. All funds will be matched, but the size of the match is determined by the contribution made to a MidwayUSA Foundation Endowment.

After you’ve received your free item(s) and conducted your fundraiser, please complete the check donation form that corresponds with the item(s) to donate funds to your endowment. If this donation meets or exceeds the recommended donation for that item, you’ll receive a 2:1 match! Contribute less than the recommended donation and still receive a 1:1 match! The recommended donation amounts are listed with each item on our fundraising page.

The MidwayUSA Foundation wants to reward teams for growing their endowment, but the foundation also knows teams have expenses, today. Choose what works best for your team or program. Many items are available to use for fundraising and more are coming. Check out the fundraising page to see what your shooting program can use. For more on the Fundraising Matching Program, download this flyer or email fundraise@midwayusafoundation.org.

SSSF Donates Over $1.4M to MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Accounts

Written on January 18, 2017.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) recently donated $98,500 to Team Endowment Accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation to complete all 2016 donations. Last year the SSSF donated over $1.4 million to benefit 244 teams participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) across 35 different states.

The SSSF plans to donate over $1.5 million in 2017 to participating SCTP and SASP Team Endowment accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation.

The SSSF provides SCTP and SASP member-teams the opportunity to earn MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Account funds through placements in SSSF-sponsored competitions and by participating in SCTP and SASP fundraising activities benefiting local shooting sports communities. Please contact the SSSF for more information on how your shooting team can participate in 2017.

The donations from SSSF to MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Accounts established to benefit SCTP and SASP member-teams are made possible, in part, by grants to the SSSF from the Tulsa Community Foundation Youth Shooting Fund established and funded by the generosity of Larry and Brenda Potterfield.

The Team Endowment Account 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. There are no fees associated with a MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Account.

About MidwayUSA Foundation

The MidwayUSA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity working to sustain the shooting sports industry by providing long-term funding to youth shooting teams. Every donation made is 100% tax deductible and supports the mission to help communities and organizations raise funds to support their youth shooting team.

For more information about the MidwayUSA Foundation, Inc., please visit www.midwayusafoundation.org or call 1-877-375-4570.

Stop by SCTP Booth at Fishing & Hunting Expo For Chance to Win Gun

Written on January 4, 2017.

Register for the chance to win a Tristar Setter over/under shotgun when you visit the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) booth at the Fishing & Hunting Expo on Jan. 7-8, 2017, at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Those who visit the booth will also learn more about the SCTP, where to find an area team, how to start a team, about competition opportunities, fundraising and MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment opportunities through the SCTP.

Visit www.rockinghamexpo.com/ for more info on the expo.

Check Out “Inside SSSF” Newsletter for a 2016 Year in Review

Written on January 3, 2017.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation is excited to release its 2016 year in review digital newsletter, Inside SSSF!

Inside you’ll find stories and exciting images highlighting SCTP, SASP and SSSF events, programs and happenings in 2016.

You’ll read about the Vision 20/20 Campaign, get a recap on the 2016 Nationals and SCTP International Championships, learn about the 2016 scholarship and gun winners, find out 2016 program stats and much, much more!

“We want to thank everyone who participated in and generously contributed to our programs this year,” SSSF President and Executive Director Ben Berka, said. “We wish you all a happy and prosperous 2017!!”

Read the 2016 edition of Inside SSSF online now.

Annie Get Your Gun, You Too Taylor

Written on July 14, 2016.

Participation by women – in this case perhaps girls – here in at the SCTP and SASP National Championships is, well, high. Girls account for nearly 1 in every 5 shooters with 19.3% of the total. By sport the numbers are more interesting.

In the shotgun sports of SCTP the girls make up 17.7% of the shooters. But when it comes to the pistol and rifle sports of SASP, girls are now 30.7% of the total shooters.

One of those girls helping to drive up participation is 11-year-old Taylor Diener of the Union Grove Shooting Club in Wisconsin.

Taylor started shooting trap two years ago and just this past March made the leap into rimfire rifle competition in preparation for this year’s SASP Nationals. On the range she’s hard to miss, unless of course she’s surrounded by a cluster of adults who all tower over her. Cute and confident she seems totally unfazed by either the flood of attention given to young new shooters like her or the pressure of competing at the national level.

Even when her rifle magazine has a feeding issue, a world ending disaster in the minds of many competitive shooters racing the timer, Taylor calmly keeps working the action and pulling the trigger.

A lot of the young shooters, and several of the young girls shooting, demonstrate this same poise under pressure. And after, rather than voice any frustration or disappointment, Taylor focuses on the future, as in next year when she plans to add doubles trap, maybe sporting clays and even rimfire pistol to her shooting schedule.

No wonder participation by girls – and of course women – continues to grow in the shooting sports.

Tennessee Beats Wisconsin…

Written on July 14, 2016.

When it comes to who has the largest number of shooters here at the 2016 Scholastic Clay Target Program National Championships, the Volunteer State is once again dominant. This year Tennessee accounts for 23% of all those competing in the shotgun sports.

First!

Written on July 13, 2016.

Add the name Jacob McInturff to the history books of the Cardinal Center in Marengo, Ohio. The 18-year-old shooter from Johnson City, Tennessee, had not broken 100 straight in skeet in a few years but that didn’t seem to phase him as he took to the brand new skeet fields and ran not just 100, but 200 straight, ensuring his place in the history books as the first shooter to do so here at the facility.

Earlier in the competition Raymond Nagro of Gurnee, Illinois left his own mark as he claimed the honor of being the first shooter to run 100 straight.

McInturff is here with the Unaka Shooters and back home is a regular on the skeet fields at the Unaka Rod & Gun Club where is he frequently outguns his elders. They sometimes resort to a little good humored gamesmanship to get in McInturff’s head, hoping to throw him off his game. Sometimes it works, and sometimes, the young shooter admits, he gives as good as he gets.

When it comes to head-to-head competition club members might not be pulling for McInturff to win, but when it comes to representing the club in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), there is no mistaking their support.

“They’ve been very good to the team,” says Mark McInturff who is both Jacob’s father and the team’s coach.

When the senior McInturff talks about the Unaka Rod & Gun Club it’s clear how much he and the team appreciate the support they get. It’s support he hopes to repay with future leaders. McInturff sees SCTP not simply as a youth shooting program but also as a training ground to develop and prepare young men and women to someday take over the management of their home shooting clubs, and eventually return to the SCTP Nationals with new shooters and new teams.

This long term view probably explains why the current Unaka Rod & Gun Club president jokingly refers to Jacob as the ‘future club president.’

For now though, he’s just the guy sitting atop the leader board with the only perfect 200 score in skeet…and he’s OK with it staying that way through the rest of the championship.

Coaches Earn Credentials During the Wisconsin NRA Level 1 Coaches Class

Written on February 10, 2016.

Nineteen coaches earned their NRA coaching credentials during the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Level 1 Coaches Class hosted by the Daniel Boone Conservation League in Wisconsin on February 6-7, 2016. The Shooting Coach Program is a cooperative effort of the NRA, USA Shooting, and the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The NRA Level 1 Pistol Coaches Class now includes action shooting as one of the disciplines. The Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) is the model for action shooting.

The additional coaches were needed to address the huge growth several of the Wisconsin teams have experienced since last year. One team actually has grown from 15 last year to 50 this year and that growth was seen even before the new rifle program was announced. Congratulations new coaches and good luck on a successful season with your athletes.

The next pistol coaches’ class on the schedule is in Plymouth, Michigan, April 2 & 3, 2016. Are you looking to host a coaches’ class in your area? Contact SASP Director of Development Rick Leach at rleach@sssfonline.com.