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USA Shooting 2017 Biennial Coach Conference

Written on June 22, 2017.

USA Shooting is hosting the 2017 Biennial Coach Conference 25-27 August at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Deadline for registration is August 10th. Special rooming rates expire August 4th.

The keynote speaker will be Raymond Prior, the author of the Bullseye Mind. Tentatively USA Shooting is planning on the following topics: sport psychology, fundraising, ammo testing, USAS athlete panel – “what makes a good coach?”, how to coach millennials, a coach panel – “three things to make a successful youth program”, ISSF rules update, media training, USAS Youth Programs update, USAS Coach Academy update, pre-conference shotgun clinic at the USAS Shotgun range, just to name a few.

Click here for tentative conference schedule.

There will be a live Internet broadcast of the Biennial Coach Conference to those who cannot travel to Colorado Springs.

In the registration form you will have a choice of attending the conference in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) or register for the Internet broadcast that you can watch from home with no travel expenses. You will be emailed a link to the live broadcast a few days before the start of the conference.

Paid registrations will receive free access to all of the recorded presentations about 30 days after the end of the conference. These presentations will be available online in the USAS Coach Academy.

This year there will be a naming ceremony for the Lones Wigger Legacy Hall and Shooting Center on Friday evening 25 August and the Hall of Fame induction banquet on Saturday evening. A large turnout with VIPs is expected from allied shooting organizations and industry.

If you are working with disabled veterans in a shooting program, you may qualify to have your registration fee paid for by Bob Foth. Contact Bob Foth (bob.foth@usashooting.org) directly to see if you qualify for a free Conference registration.

USA Shooting has blocks of rooms at special rates at the Clarion and Holiday Inn Express. Those special rates and blocked rooms will expire 4 August. Reserve your room on or before 4 August.

Here is the link to the hotel information: https://www.usashooting.org/library/CoachAcademy/Clarion_Hotel_and_Conference_Center.pdf

Click this link to view the 2015 Coach Conference presentations to give you some idea of the past presentation content at the Biennial Coach Conference.

For more information contact Mike Theimer, USA Shooting Coach Academy Director. Click this link for more information about the USAS Coach Academy.

Wright Earns Junior National Team Invite at SCTP Internationals

Written on August 7, 2015.

The Scholastic Clay Target Program recently completed its National Championships for International Disciplines at USA Shooting’s International Shooting Park near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In all, 147 athletes from 46 teams in 21 states competed in the International event, registering for a combined 239 events, a record for the tournament.

International Skeet National Champion Trey Wright (Brookline Top Shots/Albany, Georgia) earned special distinction for his win by being invited to be a part of USA Shooting’s National Junior Team. The other two event winners including Hank Garvey (Minute Man Sharpshooters/Newburyport, Massachusetts) in Double Trap and Dustin McGowen (Arkansas Raze Shotgun Team/Greenwood, Arkansas) in Trap already have team status, with Garvey a member on the Junior Team and McGowen a National Team member.

Colton Evans (Bridge Creek Clays/Crawford, Georgia) and Katie Jacob (Lake Oconee Shotgun Team/Rochester, Michigan) joined Wright on the Skeet podium. Jesse Haynes-Lewis (Minute Man Sharpshooters/) and William Faeth (Midland University Shotgun Team/) joined Garvey on the Double Trap podium. Two shooters from CTC-Tennessee in Spring Hill earned podium honors alongside McGowen in Trap, including Grant Porter and Caleb Lindsey.

The five-day tournament was capped off with an awards ceremony and dinner at the beautiful Cheyenne Mountain Resort. As is traditional, a Shamrock Leathers shooting bag was given to an athlete through random drawing during the banquet. Speakers included Mike Theimer, youth program director for USA Shooting; Myles Walker, newly appointed member to the USA National Team and last year’s USA Junior National Team appointee via the SCTP Nationals; Hank Garvey, Jr., last year’s SCTP double trap gold medalist and Junior National Team appointee via the SCTP Nationals, and Lloyd Woodhouse, former USA national shotgun coach during six Olympic games.

See all the scores and winners.

Next year’s SCTP National Championships for International Disciplines are scheduled for July 24–30, 2016.

Special thanks to USA Shooting for event reporting and photography.

International Clay Target Shooters Invited to Western Regional / AZ Junior Olympic Championships

Written on May 2, 2015.

SCTP shooters who compete in the international disciplines are invited to participate in the 2015 SCTP Western Regional International Tournament, which will run concurrently with the 2015 Arizona State Junior Olympic Clay Target Championships.

Sanctioned by USA Shooting, the competition will be held at the USA Shooting Southwest Regional Training Center at Tucson Trap and Skeet Club in Tucson, Arizona. Competition will be May 16-17, with official practice the previous day. Invitations to the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships will be granted to some participants.

To be eligible for the 2015 SCTP Western Regional International Tournament, you must be registered with the Arizona Junior Olympic Clay Target Championships first, then register with the 2015 SCTP Western Regional International Tournament on www.sssfonline.org.

Endowment funds will be provided for the SCTP Western Regional International Tournament.

Click here to learn all the details and to register.

SCTP Shooter Hank Garvey Chosen as Brownells/NRA Youth Shooting Sport Ambassador

Written on January 15, 2015.

SCTP shooter and USA Shooting National Junior Team member Hank Garvey of Newburyport, Massachusetts has been chosen as one of six representatives for the 2015 Brownells/National Rifle Association (NRA) Youth Shooting Sport Ambassador Program.

The program gives NRA’s Co-op Youth group partners — including Boy Scouts of America, National High School Rodeo Association, Royal Rangers, Venturing (BSA), and USA Shooting — the opportunity to select the outstanding youth from their organization to represent them.

Garvey’s interest as an avid sportsman and as a rising prospect for the USA Shooting Team helped the 16-year-old Garvey stand out among the many junior athletes that applied, according to USA Shooting’s Youth Programs and Coach Academy Director, Mike Theimer.

“Our interests are well-represented by the influence this young man can have as a NRA Youth Ambassador,” Theimer said. “He’s well-rounded and as focused an individual as you can find at that age. He has a bright future in our sport, and I’ll be interested to see how he uses his experiences in shooting to help engage others to get involved and participate.”

A sophomore at St. Johns Prep, Garvey’s stock rose significantly throughout the 2014 shooting season, and he is now considered one of the elite double trap shotgun competitors within USA Shooting. He’s hoping to make continued headway in a discipline filled with talent, including current World Champion Josh Richmond, Olympic gold medalist Glenn Eller, and Olympian Jeff Holguin.

Competing in his first shotgun match when he was eight, Garvey has been on the fast-track ever since. His success in part has been formed through the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), culminating with his first national title last summer, which led to his appointment to USA Shooting’s National Junior Team. A strong junior competitor, Garvey distinguished himself in 2014 with several “open” accomplishments including a top-eight finish at the Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico, a top-five finish at Nationals, and a top-four finish at the recent Fall Selection Match. His performance in Guadalajara also helped earn him the Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) athletes need to be eligible to compete at the Olympic Games.

A self-described true sportsman, Garvey enjoys all sorts of hunting including ducks, big game, turkey, bird, and small game. Living near the ocean, he’s developed a fondness for fishing and enjoys boating, catching eels, clams, and lobsters. He also spends his off-time carving decoys, tying flies, and trick shooting, while also volunteering for the local Ducks Unlimited Chapter and banding ducks at the local National Wildlife Refuge.

“I feel honored to be selected as a youth role model for my sport and the shooting community,” Garvey said. “I understand this position comes with both tremendous responsibility and opportunity. I look forward to sharing the sport with others while helping to create a greater understanding and awareness for all of the shooting sports. I will uphold the high standard for which our sport should be measured.”

Next week during the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s annual SHOT Show, Garvey will attend along with the other ambassadors and will be introduced to industry leaders, interact with sponsors, and engage with the key industry stakeholders. He’ll also attend the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings in April in a similar capacity.

SCTP’s Myles Walker Takes Gold at USA Shooting’s Fall Selection Match

Written on November 26, 2014.

SCTP shooter Myles Walker from Burlington, Wisconsin has won the gold medal for bunker trap in USA Shooting’s Fall Selection Match. The match was held November 6-11 at the Delta Resort and Spa in Tillar, Arkansas.

Myles was one of four athletes awarded a spot on USA Shooting’s National Team as a result of his performance at the SCTP National Championship for international disciplines held in July in Colorado Springs. Hank Garvey and Nic Moscetti, who also earned their National Team spots at the SCTP Nationals, placed 4th and 5th, respectively, at the Fall Selection Match.

Six bunker trap competitors withstood the intensity of 500 targets and four finals matches to emerge as 2015 World Cup selections for the USA Shooting Team as a result of the four-day competition. The Fall Selection Match served as the second phase of selection for the first three upcoming World Cup competitions to begin 2015, including events in Acapulco, Mexico and Al Ain, UAE in March and Laranaca, Cypress in late April where the top three athletes will compete.

Fall Selection Match is also serving as the first of a two-part selection process for the Pan American Games (July), the last World Cup of 2015 in Gabala, Azerbaijan (August) and the 2015 World Clay Target Championships (September).

Myles, a sophomore at Lindenwood University, participates in SCTP as a member of his college team’s shotgun sports team. The win in Tillar places Myles in a great position to earn USA Shooting Team status come Spring Selection in April.

“SCTP has provided me with the opportunity to flourish both as an athlete and an individual,” Myles commented. “The benefit of the experience I have had surpasses any other activity I have been involved with.”

Congratulations to Myles, Hank, and Nic for earning their National Team positions and representing SCTP well!

USA Shooting Proclaims 10.9 Day

Written on October 9, 2014.

In this country, we take pride in making up days to celebrate anything – donuts, pirates, and even our bosses. USA Shooting knows a good celebration when they see one, and traditionally, that’s been as a result of medal-worthy performances set down by its athletes. But today, 10.9, USA Shooting has claimed the day as its very own.

In target shooting, a 10.9 is the mark of perfection, proof that excellence has been achieved. Excellence is a virtue of the USA Shooting Team, so on 10.9 (October 9), USA Shooting has encouraged its community to aim for excellence in all the shots you take in life.

“We’re recognizing those moments in time when the ordinary became extraordinary and when jaws were dropped,” says USA Shooting. “On this day, and every day thereafter, strive for excellence in all that you do, and may every shot you take in life be in pursuit of the highest mark, your 10.9.”

While not everyone has shot that elusive 10.9, what’s important is encouraging and celebrating people who help us on that path toward excellence. Encourage someone this week, and be sure to say “thanks” to someone who has encouraged you!

SCTP Shooters Take USAS Team to Gold Medal and World Championship

Written on September 19, 2014.

2014 Junior World Team Champions: Sydney Carson, Hannah Houston, and Dania Vizzi — 2014 Junior World Team Champions:
Sydney Carson, Hannah Houston, and Dania Vizzi

Three SCTP shooters comprising the Junior World USA Shooting Team have won a team gold medal and set an International Skeet world record last week at the 2014 World Shooting Championships in Granada, Spain.

Dania Vizzi of Odessa, Florida, Sydney Carson of North Liberty, Indiana and Hannah Houston of Columbia, Tennessee, earned a Junior World Team title in record-breaking fashion with a world’s-best score of 204, 11 targets ahead of second-place Czech Republic.

In addition, Dania Vizzi won individual honors as the Junior World Champion in Women’s Skeet. Sydney finished 5th overall individually, and Hannah finished 8th.

Through 75 shots of qualifying, Dania led her nearest competitor by three targets, an almost unheard-of advantage in skeet. While she wasn’t as dominant during the semifinals and finals, she didn’t have to be because neither were her opponents. She connected on 13/16 targets in the semifinal to advance to the final where she’d again connect on 13 targets to her opponent’s 12.

“I’m very satisfied,” Vizzi said. “It was a hard day and I’m happiest that I stayed consistent and focused all day. My main goal was to compete better than I did last year, and the result was amazing.” Dania, who started competitive shooting as a member of the Tampa Bay Clays SCTP team, now shoots for the University of Florida, also an SCTP team.

Congratulations to Dania, Sydney, and Hannah! We’re proud of you!

SCTP Athletes Dominate Top Scores at Junior Olympic Nationals

Written on August 7, 2014.

Scholastic Clay Target Program athletes have long made their mark in national and international competition, but perhaps in no year has SCTP produced as many of the top shooters in the Olympic development program as in 2014. In every discipline, SCTP was well represented among the medalists in USA Shooting’s 2014 Junior Olympic National Championships held in Colorado Springs last month.

In International Skeet, four of the top six women’s scores were shot by SCTP athletes, while 11 of the top 16 men’s scores were recorded by SCTP shooters.

Among Bunker Trap shooters, nine of the top 16 women were from SCTP. Men’s shooters had a similar top-16 count, with all of the top six athletes and eight of the top nine being SCTP shooters.

SCTP almost made a clean sweep in Double Trap. Nineteen of the top 21 shooters and all of the top 10 are from SCTP.

“We’re very proud of the achievements of these SCTP members, and we’re anxiously watching their progress as they follow in the footsteps of such SCTP alums as Olympic gold medalists Kim Rhode and Vincent Hancock and bronze medalist Corey Cogdell,” said Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. “The state, regional, and national competitions provided by SCTP allow athletes to learn their sport, improve their skills, and gain the competitive experience they need to move on to the world stage.”

SCTP is an official feeder program to USA Shooting for shotgun disciplines. The National Junior Olympic Program serves as an important element of USA Shooting’s pipeline development system in promoting the shooting sports. The goal of Junior Olympics is to allow skilled junior athletes to obtain national competitive experience for future development. The program also serves as an opportunity to appoint the top finishers to the National Junior Team. Click here for more information on the National Junior Olympic Program.

Tag: USA Shooting