SCTP National Team Members Sharpen Their Mental Game
In the pause between finishing their finals and finishing their Christmas shopping, members of the 2018/2019 SCTP National Team gathered at Fairfield Sportsmen’s Association in Cincinnati, Ohio to take advantage of an extraordinary opportunity to work with sport psychologist, Dr. Jason Selk. These International Trap and Skeet athletes alternated classroom time with live-fire training; in other words, learning, then applying, the fundamentals of Dr. Selk’s mental workout.
“Our intent was to give these athletes the tools to develop a strong mental game before next year’s competition season begins. For most of them, that will be USA Shooting’s Spring Selection Match at the end of February,” shared Coach Terri DeWitt. “Jason Selk is a dynamic speaker and his mental workout program is rock solid. We’re extremely grateful that we were able to have him here. I’m really excited for these kids next year,” she smiled.
Assistant Coach Joe Buffa adds, “I really think Dr. Selk brings a different outlook on how to attain mental strength. He makes his students understand that they can train themselves to be mentally strong. I feel that if our shooting athletes implement his techniques, we will see their level of competition rise!”
A little over 3000 trap and skeet targets were thrown over two days in spite of a persistent, bone-chilling rain on Saturday. But the weather was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of these athletes. Skeet team member AJ Nomina was pragmatic, saying, “Training your shooting mechanically is always a must before the next match. Everyone needs practice. However, this was the first time I learned what I can do to prepare myself mentally before a match. The mental preparation aspect of this camp was what I’ve been looking for.”
Peter Meola, Trap team member, seemed to give voice to what everyone was feeling as the camp drew to a close on Saturday afternoon. “It was a great experience and I was happy to have the opportunity to participate in it,” he said.
The SCTP National Team will meet again in just two short weeks, this time in Gainesville, Florida in preparation for USA Shooting’s Spring Selection Match in Tucson, Arizona.
National Championships. Of those 200 young athletes, nine were wearing SCTP National Team vests: Maddy Bernau, Heather Broski, Jack Brosseau, Trevor Evelhair, AJ Nomina, Molly Sheehan, Mark Shields, Madeleine Taylor, and Tyler Theide (Cole Barrett withdrew from Men’s Skeet due to illness).
After a week of capricious Colorado weather that included extreme heat, strong winds, lightning, and hail, four SCTP National Team members will be trading their SCTP vests for a USA Shooting Junior Team or Junior Squad vest. Consistent with the mission of the SCTP National Team program as a pipeline for USA Shooting’s upcoming junior talent Bernau, Brosseau, and Shields have graduated to the major leagues. Bernau and Brosseau both fought their way to silver medals in Women’s and Men’s Trap, respectively. Their second-place finish places them on USA Shooting’s Junior National Team. Mark Shields, with his fourth-place finish in Men’s Skeet, will be added to USA Shooting’s Junior Squad. Heather Broski also made the Women’s Trap final, taking home the gold medal in the J2 age category (age 15-17). In addition, Broski and teammate Jeff Holguin (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) finished 5th out of 21 teams in USA Shooting’s first Mixed Team Trap Selection Match.
Next year’s SCTP National Team will be selected at the 
