SCTP International Team Training Camp Highlights

_{Pictured back to front, left to right:
Zach Hinze, Matthew Peterson, Cole Prince, Jerrod Croley, Westley Kiter
Lacy White, Emily Rasmussen, Gracie-Marie Hensley, Ramsey Bodeen, Caleb Cutlerex}

With a year-long shooting season, the SCTP closed the calendar year with two training camps to hone skills and prepare for important events down the line. Sponsored by Winchester Ammunition, the SCTP International Team is made up of some of the best SCTP athletes in the country. These athletes showed they were ready to earn their spot when it came time to the finals shootoffs, held at SCTP Nationals each July.

As the official youth feeder program for USA Shooting, the SCTP International Team focuses on preparing for high-level events. The team’s Head Coach, Terri DeWitt, a former Olympian herself, sets the team up for success by providing a breadth of additional training that includes sports science topics and realistic conditioning.

In early November, the team traveled to Crossville Shooting Sports Park, in Crossville, TN for the first training camp of the season. Joining the coaching staff for the camp was SCTP alumna, Caitlin Connor-Royer, an 8X ISSF World Cup Silver Medalist, 2018 World Champion, 2022 World Cup Gold Medalist, and 2022 President’s Cup World Cup Final Gold medalist. Caitlin provided world-class instruction for the team’s International Skeet athletes.

Serving as an introduction to performance skillsets (technical, tactical, mental, physical), the camp incorporated range time with sport-specific stretching, core and balance exercises, vision training exercises, and discussions about the importance of self-talk and mental strategies. Always focused on realistic conditioning, or “practice like you play”, this training embraced cold and wet weather. “In spite of less than ideal conditions, I think we got some excellent training in the sense of accepting the things you can’t control, adapting to the situation and still getting the job done,” said DeWitt.

Closing out the calendar year was a trip to Tucson, Arizona for preparation of USA Shooting’s Selection Match in February, 2023. “We wanted to get some training time on the same ranges they’ll be competing on,” commented DeWitt. “In addition to setting look and hold points on each field, we emphasized pressure training in the form of finals practice. Athletes also started building their individual mental workouts, based off of Dr. Jason Selk’s book, 10-Minute Toughness, setting one or two outcome goals for next year with process goals in place for each.”

Returning again to instruct International Skeet athletes was former SCTP athlete, Caitlin Connor-Royer. “The 2022 SCTP camps were great, we have a lot of talented young athletes across both international disciplines of trap and skeet,” said Connor-Royer. “I am very excited to see each of them accomplish their goals in 2023 and beyond.”