As a reminder, September 1st marks the beginning of a new season with the Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Action Shooting Programs. Membership renewals for coaches and athletes are required to retain member benefits including liability insurance, use of the SSSF SHOT system and eligibility to participate in all of the great SCTP and SASP events at the local, state, regional and national levels. In addition, membership is required to take full advantage of all of the SCTP/SASP deals and promotions and fundraisers as well as camp opportunities, scholarships and the All Scholastic Team.
NOTE: If starting a new team, the head coach and/or team administrator should initiate these steps. In most cases the head coach/team administrator will also coordinate registration for all members of their local team. New teams are encouraged to watch our video tutorial on how to register.
Requirements for team and volunteer registration are as follows:
Pay your $35 registration fee for each volunteer. Fees can be paid online through the SHOT system individually or in bulk.
Ensure your background check is current (a new check is required every two years) by logging into the SHOT system to verify the last date approved.
Requirement for registration of all athletes are as follows:
Complete and return a 2019/2020 athlete consent/waiver form for SCTP and/or SASP for each athlete. Head coaches must keep a copy of the signed form and return the original to the program office listed on the form.
Complete and retain the 2019/2020 Sportsmanship Contract form for SCTP and/or SASP for each athlete.
Complete and retain the 2019/2020 Medical Consent form for SCTP and/or SASP for each athlete.
Update the athlete information pages in the SHOT system. Ensure all contact information is correct and update the School Class and Classification information for each athlete.
Pay the $25 athlete registration fee for each athlete. Fees can be paid online through the SHOT system individually or in bulk.
Join and/or renew memberships with the National Governing Bodies (NGB) for skeet (NSSA), sporting clays (NSCA) and / or trap (ATA). NGB membership is a requirement to participate in SCTP state, regional and national championship events. PLEASE join or renew through the SHOT system as a portion of the membership fees sold through the SHOT system are retained for the SCTP Scholarship Program.
If you were anywhere near central Ohio last week, it was easy to see and feel that something “special” was taking place. The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) was in full force from July 13th thru July 20th at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio
The SCTP Program had its largest event on record with over 6,300 entries in Skeet, Skeet Doubles, Trap, Trap Doubles, Handicap Trap, Sporting Clays, and Bunker Trap. 2,343 athletes, coaches’ volunteers, and family’s from 240 teams and 30 states showed up to be part of the almost 2 Million targets that were thrown for competition, practice and side games……the most in SCTP history!
Grace Marlen became only the second female athlete in SCTP history to shoot 200 straight at Nationals (Reanna Frauens did it in 2018) in addition to winning the $7,600 Browning College Scholarship!
AND…, the sweltering heat and humidity contributed to another unique National Championship title, the largest number of bottles of water ever consumed at an SCTP National Championship event.
Of course, Congratulations to all our 2019 National Championship Individual and Team winners. Many teams came to the Cardinal Center to defend their previous year titles and left holding the “top spots” again for 2019. Still, many of this year’s individual and team winners were on the podium for the first time. It was easy to see that all our SCTP teams had worked hard all year to get ready for the intense competition that is always a part of their National Championships.
The Cardinal Center and staff were fantastic again this year and for everyone involved it was an amazing week! It’s now time to start planning for our next record setting National Championship event, July 11-18, 2020!
For a complete list of the 2019 SCTP winners, click the Results Tab on the menu bar of the www.sssfonline.org website.
About the National Championships Complete information, participation, statistics and stock photos can be found at: https://sssfonline.org/news/media/
The North
Scott Trap Team are heading to the 2019 SCTP National Championships in Marengo,
Ohio focused on adding to their 2018 accomplishments. Last year, at the 2018
SCTP National Championships, North Scott Trap Team finished first in Handicap
Trap Doubles for the 3rd year in a row, First in Trap Singles High
School, First in High Overall, and First Place in Skeet for the 2nd year in a row.
North Scott Senior Varsity Red squad members Andrew Troje, Hunter Frerichs, Jaydon Biles, Hunter Block, and Thomas Keeshan leave the field after a round of trap singles. The squad fired a 496×500 in the first half of the 1,000 target squad event on July 19.
Eleven (11) athletes, their parents and coaches have made the trip and are excited to get started. The North Scott team has 65 athletes in the program, ranging from 6th grade to College.
North Scott Senior Varsity squad member Andrew Troje fires on a target during the trap singles event.
North Scott Head Coach Eric Long talked about his team’s chances for 2019. “This year our theme has been “a perfect effort” each time we take the line. We understand that in a sport of perfection we will not always be perfect, but we do give a perfect effort every time and that is what has driven this group of athletes to succeed at the national level. I am proud and honored to be part of this program and to be able to watch these athletes move through our program and to wherever their next chapter takes them after high school.”
The North
Scott Trap Team is very active in the community, participating in many civic
events throughout the year. In addition, the team has an active fundraising
effort to make sure the resources are there for regional, state and of course
the National Championship trips.
Look for the North Scott Trap Team’s athletes at the top of the leaser board again this year!
One of the most popular attractions at the Scholastic Clay Target Program National Championships each year is the elimination style competition called Last Competitor Standing – often called “Annie Oakley”.
This elimination-style shoulder to shoulder competition is so popular the SCTP offers it on Wednesday and Friday during the National event.
For the last two years in a row, SCTP has found a modern day Annie Oakley at Wednesday nights’ competition in a young lady named Reanna Frauens from Corral Springs, Florida. Frauens, the 2018 champion bested nearly 400 other competitors on Wednesday to regain her crown this year.
Wednesday Night’s Last Competitor Standing Champion Reanna Frauens
The Cardinal Shooting Center trap fields were lined up with shooters of all ages and sizes to compete for some great prizes and the ultimate title of last man or lady standing. The elimination process continued until only one man and one lady shooter remained.
In a head to head battle of the sexes competition, 1st Place Ladies Division Champion, Frauens, bested Men’s Division Champions, Gavin Wright and was awarded a case of Winchester ammunition and gift certificate for a set of custom earplugs.
Prizes were also awarded to the Top 8 Finishers in the Men’s and Ladies Division and the Top 2 Finishers in the College Division.
LADIES
1st Reanna Frauens FL Quail Creek SKB IS300 – Belt Buckle
2nd Madeline Corbin WI Sauk County Youth Shamrock Leather Shooting Bag
3rd Gianna Patti PA Mason Dixon Claybusters RE Ranger Phantom Shooting Glasses
4th Ava Downs WI Muskego Warriors Shamrock Leather Shell Holder – 2 case Ammo
5th Raylee Bishop IA Ankeny Centenial Shamrock Leather Shell Holder – 2 case Ammo
6th Olivia Krauss MI Fudd Dusters 2 – Case Winchester Ammo
7th Makayla Scott NC Carolina Clays 2 – Case Winchester Ammo
8th Amber Hadley MI Lowell Red Arrows 1 – Case Winchester Ammo
MEN
1st Gavin Wright WI Beaver Dam SKB IS300 – Belt Buckle
2nd Triston Schroder MI Fudd Dusters Shamrock Leather Shooting Bag
3rd Cody Miller WI Central Falcons RE Ranger Phantom Shooting Glasses
4th Ricky Fabry WI Muskego Warriors Shamrock Leather Shell Holder – 2 case Ammo
5th Kolby Pinkerton WI Muskego Warriors Shamrock Leather Shell Holder – 2 case Ammo
6th Levi Crook GA Central Georgia Elite Shooters 2 – Case Winchester Ammo
7th Kyren Kain MI Flat River Conservation Club 2 – Case Winchester Ammo
8th Austin Rechlin WI Jefferson Sportsmans Club 1 – Case Winchester Ammo
COLLEGE
1st Eric Long IA Shamrock Leather Shooting Bag
2nd Justin Miklaszewski WI 2 – Case of Winchester Ammunition
3rd Aimee Spiering WI 1 – Case of Winchester Ammunition
Congratulations to all the Top Finishers in each division and good luck to all those who compete in Friday evening’s Last Competitor Standing competition!
Twenty seven (27) Youth Athletes from the Sparta, Georgia Lake Oconee Shotgun Team are here at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio with one goal in mind! Equal or better that 2018 performance at the SCTP National Championships at the 2019 SCTP National Championships. In 2018, Team Oconee was the HOA Team for all three shotgun disciplines, trap, skeet, and sporting clays. In addition, Lake Oconee finished 4th overall in trap.
Steve Lane,
Head Coach of the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team says, “our team worked very hard
this season to prepare for the National Championships. Most of our athletes have
returned from last year so we are heading into the Cardinal Center ready to
perform at our best”.
In addition
to the 27 athletes, Lake Oconee Shotgun Team has almost all the parents and
even a few grandparents make the trip to support their youth athletes.
The Lake
Oconee Shotgun Team has athletes from 5th grade through seniors in
high school. Three of the team’s seniors are graduating this year, two of those
graduating seniors will be members of the
Emanuel College Shotgun Team following graduation.
SCTP Teams
from across the United States (29 states to be exact) are planning, packing,
practicing, and getting ready to head with their families, teammates, and
friends to the 2019 SCTP National Championships being held at the Cardinal
Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, July 13-20, 2019.
“We may
reach that 2 million target mark!” Said SCTP National Director, Tom Wondrash.
“That’s 11-12 Semi loads of Clay Targets thrown in just this week! This will be
the largest National Championship in the history of the SCTP and I’m sure White
Flyer (manufacturer of the clay targets and founding sponsor) is quite pleased
to see this!”
Teams will be competing in Trap, Skeet, Skeet Doubles Sporting
Clays, Double Trap, Handicap Trap and Bunker Trap. Most would think that would
be enough however for 2019, SCTP has added several additional competitions for
SCTP Teams to participate in including…
Make A
Break Competition – Athletes have a chance to win a case of
ammo each day by competing in the ever popular Make A Break! Winners will be
awarded daily and the finalists will compete head to head on Saturday, July 20
where the grand Prize winner will receive a Fabarm XLR 5 Velocity 12ga.
Skeet
Doubles Competition – Athletes that compete in Friday, July 19th’s
event of Skeet Doubles at the SCTP Nationals, will have the opportunity to have
their number drawn to compete Saturday for a final round of Skeet Doubles and
have the chance to win the Beretta A400 Action KO shotgun being donated by
Beretta for this event! At the end of competition on Friday, several numbers
will be posted and those athletes whose scores end in that number will be
eligible to shoot another round of Skeet Doubles where the highest shooter will
win the Beretta Shotgun!
Last
Competitor Standing– All athletes are eligible to compete in the
Last Competitor Standing events being held Wednesday evening after opening
ceremonies as well as Friday evening after awards ceremonies for Handicap Trap,
Trap Doubles and Bunker Trap. Wrist bands to compete are only $5 and athletes
will have a chance to win firearms from our partners at Legacy Sports and SKB
Shotguns! A total of 6 guns to be given away along with many other great prizes
including about 60 cases of ammo, shooting glasses compliments of RE Ranger,
leather shooting bags from Shamrock Leather and much more!
In addition, SCTP youth athletes, families and friends can enter the 2019 SCTP National Raffle where over $30,000.00 in prizes will be won including a Kolar Max O/U Shotgun and 6 additional guns. And like last year, individuals or teams can participate in the Flurry Shoot where prizes will be awarded every day.
For more information on the 2019 SCTP National Championships visit www.sssfonline.org.
The SCTP National Championships being held at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio July 13-20, begin in less than 2 Weeks!
SCTP National Raffle tickets featuring the Kolar Max can be purchased on-site at the Cardinal Shooting Center starting July 13, 2019. Visit the registration building or several other vendor stores to get yours. Vendor stores include the Kolar Arms store, along with the Blaser USA store, Browning and Beretta stores. Vendor trailers/tents that will also have these tickets available include CZ USA, SKB and Legacy Sports.
Don’t miss your chance to win the Kolar Max O/U or shotguns from Blaser USA, Browning, CZ USA, Beretta and SKB or a Howa Rifle compliments of Legacy Sports. The total value of all prizes is in excess of $30,000.00.
Drawing for these fine firearms will be held Saturday, July 20th. Winners will be notified and must provide an FFL for shipping of their firearm. All winners will have their firearms shipped after August 1st, 2019.
The Scholastic Clay Target Program is
pleased to announce the addition of two new SCTP College Scholarship Awards at
the SCTP National Championships, July 13-20, 2019 at the Cardinal Shooting
Center in Marengo, Ohio.
Browning (a longtime supporter of SCTP)
has for the last 3 years been the sponsor of the “Browning Scholarship”. This
scholarship is awarded to the top athlete in Trap Singles (male or female) shooting a Browning Shotgun. In the past, this
scholarship has been as much as $7,500!
For 2019, Blaser USA will be
sponsoring the “Blaser Scholarship”! This scholarship will be awarded to the
top athlete in Sporting Clays (male or female) shooting a Blaser
Shotgun!!
In addition, also for 2019 SCTP
National Championships, Beretta USA will be sponsoring the “Beretta
Scholarship”! This scholarship will be awarded to the top athlete in Skeet (male or female) shooting
a Beretta Shotgun!
Athletes competing in these events at the SCTP National Championships just need to complete an online survey before their event starts.
Tom
Wondrash, SCTP National Director made the following statement. “We are thrilled
that Browning, Blaser USA and Beretta USA wanted to provide scholarship
opportunities for our SCTP high school aged athletes. Providing scholarships is
a mainstay of the SCTP program and adding these additional opportunities will
impact even more of our SCTP family’s. We cannot thank Browning, Blaser USA,
and Beretta USA enough for their support of SCTP and these scholarship
opportunities”.
The
SCTP is hosting the Scholastic Clay Target Program’s International Style
National Championships on July 22-27, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the
International Shooting Park on the Ft. Carson Army base. Registration by SCTP
team coaches opens on Saturday, June 15 in the SHOT System.
Here
is the event schedule for the competition:
Monday July 22rd – Open Training
for Bunker and Skeet
Tuesday July 23rd –Open Training for Bunker and Skeet
Wednesday July 24th – I-Skeet
Competition 75 Targets
Thursday July 25th – I-Skeet
Competition 50 Targets & Finals
Friday July 26th – Bunker Trap 75 Targets
Saturday July 27th– Bunker Trap 50 Targets & Finals
*There will be an awards ceremony and banquet being
held at the Hotel Elegante on Saturday, July 27th starting at 6:00pm
following the Bunker Trap portion of the National Championships. Please contact
Amanda Wondrash at awondrash@sssfonline.com to make reservations
and confirm your attendance. Parents and kids 12 years of age or older are $20
and kids under 12 are $10. Participating athletes and coaches are free!
Coaches: The competition
registration will open on June 15th for this
tournament. You will need to squad your athletes prior to Thursday, July 19th so that they can be placed
on random shooting squads for the competition. Walk on’s will generally not be
allowed unless there is room available.
Top 3
placing athletes in Men’s and Ladies Bunker Trap as well as top 3 placing
athletes in International Skeet (12 total athletes) will earn a spot on the
2019 SCTP National Team. Athletes must meet a minimum qualifying
score (MQS) of a 90 x 125 or better in the qualification rounds, regardless of
finals placing, in order to be eligible for a National Team spot.
If
all athletes in the final have achieved the MQS, then finals placement will
determine the top 3 athletes. However, if there are athletes in a discipline
final who have not attained the MQS, those athletes will not be
eligible for the National Team, regardless of finals placement. At their
discretion, The Head Coach and National Director will then fill any open Team
slots with eligible athletes.
A
limited block of hotel rooms has been secured and are available for immediate
booking at the Hotel Elegante’ – Colorado Springs. Room rates are $99 for
a single or a double. Please contact the Hotel Elegante’ directly at
1-719-576-5900 or 1-800-981-4012. When making your reservations, please
reference “USA Shooting / SCTP Nationals”, code #2392040. (this
includes breakfast) The cutoff date is July
1st but we would not recommend
waiting that long as these rooms will fill up fast, especially at these prices!
You can upgrade to different rooms at additional price. See additional information for booking your room and
about the Hotel Elegante.
Looking back to April 2019,there were 26,678 student clays-shooting competitors from 1,042 high school teams across 25 states who participated in the USA High School Clay Target League.
That program isn’t the only game in town for youngsters looking to become the next George Digweed, Kim Rhode, Bill McGuire or Anthony Matarese, Jr.
There’s the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), which offers kids from elementary grades through high school and college the opportunity to participate in all the major clays sports.
Tom Wondrash, National Director of the SCTP.
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation introduces school-age youth to the shooting sports. To a large extent the SSSF has become a de facto feeder program to USA Shooting and the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team.
Likewise, the USA Shooting Youth Programs is focused on grooming junior athletes to someday represent the U.S.A. in the Olympic Games, Pan American Games, World Shooting Championships, Paralympic Games and other international competitions.
And let’s not overlook the National 4-H Shooting Sports and Boy Scouts of America as pioneers that initiated kids into shotgunning sportsmanship and safety.
It seems that everyone credits women with the biggest percentage revenue gains in the shotgun sports. However, a comparative perspective might show that youth shotguns and related purchases might be just as lucrative – or even greater.
Some of the Pointer Phenoma semi-automatic shotguns that are available in youth models.
When the influential National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) released its Industry Intelligence Report on the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) in 2016, the results were a real eye-opener regarding the potential of the youth market in sporting clays, skeet and trap.
The NSSF survey indicated that SCTP participants had spent more than $8 million dollars in 2016. Better yet, 93 percent of SCTP parents surveyed said that the program had had a positive influence on their children.
From 2014 to 2016, the publicly available National Rifle Association Foundation’s tax returns showed that the organization allocated more than $4 million in cash and equipment grants to schools and groups that support scholastic shooting sports.
America’s boom in youth shooting programs hasn’t been lost on Andy McCormick, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Legacy Sports International in Reno, Nevada. Through their Pointer line of over/under and semi-automatic shotguns made by Zafer Arms Company of Izmir, Turkey, Legacy Sports International has quietly become possibly the largest provider of kid-friendly shotguns.
“We’ve always focused on the youth market and we’ve done well in that department because it’s something we believe in,” Andy explained. “There’s a way of looking at it as a future market for customers, but it’s also the future of the industry. It’s the stewardship of trying to make it easy to get people out in the field with a quality product.”
Andy McCormick, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Legacy Sports International.
Legacy Sports International imports and distributes firearms and shooting accessories in the U.S. In addition to the Pointer shotguns, their brands include Citadel pistols and tactical shotguns, Howa Precision Rifles, Lithgow Rifles and Nikko Stirling optics.
Of the 54 Pointer models sold by Legacy Sports International, 12 of their over/unders and semi-automatic shotguns are specifically designated for youth. These models are characterized by a shorter barrel, shorter stock and sub-gauge ammunition. The packaging reduces felt recoil and helps improve results through better fit and softer ballistics.
For example, the Pointer Arista over/under is available in all popular gauges with 28-inch barrels. The youth model has 26-inch barrels and only comes in 20 gauge and .410.
Price-wise, new Pointer youth shotguns are hitting the sweet spot – costing from $539 to $1,279, although the average is about $880.00.
The 20-gauge Pointer Arista youth over/under.
“Last year we sold a surprising number of 20-gauge over/under youth models – as many as our standard models,” Andy said. “Dealers are really stocking them. We try to keep production ramped up especially during the summer into fall, and the holidays.”
The thing about Andy is that he’s an avid hunter who fully understands the importance of getting youngsters outdoors.
Legacy Sports International just signed on as an SCTP Gold Sponsor in response to the interest in the Pointer line by youth shooting coaches at the 2019 industry SHOT Show held in Las Vegas January 21-25.
“We had a lot of the coaches stop by looking for 12-gauge youth models,” Andy said. “We have entry-level Pointers that cost under $1,000 with adjustable combs, ejectors, ported, five extended chokes, mechanical triggers and high ribs. We’re working on getting sample guns out to them in the next few weeks.”
The youth version of the Pointer SCT Deluxe single-barrel 12-gauge trap gun.
Sporting shotguns priced at the wallet-friendly $500 to $1,000 are a critical factor in enabling families to get their kids enrolled in scholastic clay target programs.
For example, CZ-USA, which also sells affordable shotguns, is again sponsoring the SCTP Top Gun Challenge in Marengo, Ohio July 13-20. While CZ-USA doesn’t have youth shotguns per se, they sell several models marked as “reduced length.” And the mid-range Italian shotgun maker F.A.I.R. became an SCTP Silver Sponsor for 2019 through its American importer, the Italian Firearms Group.
When it comes to getting kids involved in the shotgun sports, few people understand the calculus of affordability and participation better than Tom Wondrash, National Director of the SCTP.
“At first, the parents don’t know how serious their kids will be about it,” he explained. “And parents don’t want to spend a lot of money on a shotgun unless they know their kids will be serious about the sport.”
At the 2019 SHOT Show, Andy explained that he learned from SCTP coaches one of the appeals of clays shooting to kids and parents is that, unlike school team sports where parents invest a lot of money in gear only to find their kids sitting out the season on the bench, everyone on a youth shotgun squad gets to participate.
“Everyone is engaged and in the game,” Andy said.
Regardless, when it comes to introducing kids to the shotgun sports, spreading urbanization, higher hunting costs, habitat loss and draconian regulations can dampen parents’ enthusiasm for getting their kids engaged. Even when it comes to clays shooting, youngsters today are suffering from the decades-long, downward spiral in hunting.
The Pointer SCT Deluxe Clay over/under has a model designed to fit youngsters.
In 1970, more than 40 million Americans bought hunting licenses. By 2016, America’s hunting population fell to 11.5 million. Today, fewer parents can simply reach into the safe for a family shotgun that will get junior out on the skeet field.
“We’re getting more and more athletes and their and families involved in our program that have not been involved in the shooting sports and they don’t own a shotgun,” Tom said. “They’re not from hunting backgrounds.”
And here’s where Legacy Sports International is filling the breach.
Of their 12 youth shotguns, the Pointer SCT Basic clays gun features an adjustable comb on an oil-finished walnut stock, five extended chokes, ported, ejectors, raised rib and fiber-optic front sight for $989. The standard models come with 30-inch barrels but the youth version has 28-inch barrels. The Pointer SCT and SCT Deluxe are the only 12-gauge shotguns they sell as youth models.
The Pointer SCT Basic Trap 12-gauge for kids.
The Pointer Arista over/under youth field gun is available with 26-inch barrels in 20 gauge and .410 with engraved nickel action and walnut stock and forend. It sells for $589.00.
The black synthetic Pointer Break Action shotgun for kids is a 20 gauge or .410 with 26-inch barrels priced at $223.00
Although the Pointer Phenoma semi-automatic line features several different models in 12, 20, 28 gauge and .410, the youth models are 20 gauges with prices that start at $539.00.
And the prices get better for SCTP parents. Legacy Sports International is cooperating with SCTP for pricing incentives that will get more kids into clays shooting.
“What we’ve put together with Legacy is buying program if you will,” said Tom. “The teams or families can purchase these guns at a reduced price. It gets more people involved and families involved who all stay involved longer. I think the relationship will help fill the niche of purchasing a firearm that won’t break the bank because the youth are the future of our sport.”
Irwin Greenstein is the publisher of Shotgun Life. You can reach him at contact@shotgunlife.com.
