The Junior Air Rifle Camps have been a staple in the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) summer program lineup for over a decade. The highly popular camps and clinics train high-school age (9-12 grade) junior shooters on intermediate and advanced air rifle marksmanship skills through various exercises and demonstrations.
Last year, around 700 junior athletes fired at the camps throughout the summer – the largest attendance in the camp’s history. To meet the demands of the growing program, the CMP has hired even more qualified leaders for this upcoming summer’s sessions.
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Collegiate shooters on current NCAA air rifle teams are hired to work one-on-one with the juniors at each summer camp. This year, a record number of college athletes were recruited in order to provide even more personal attention to each camper.
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Student athletes from the top NCAA rifle teams in the country, many of whom participated in the camps themselves as juniors, lead the camp goers in discussions and drills. This year’s program will feature 26 of the top collegiate shooters in the country – the highest number of student staff members ever for the camps – allowing even more focus on the individual campers at each location. Also assisting in the educational experience are highly trained and accomplished CMP staff members.
Sommer Wood and Dan Durben are the chief instructors for the camp programs, with over 20 years combined air rifle summer camp counseling experience between them. Wood is a graduate of Clemson University, where she was an athlete on the air rifle team, while Durben is an Olympic athlete and former U.S. Olympic Rifle and Paralympic Shooting Team coach.
During the course of the camp, juniors will learn tips for both the physical and the mental aspects of competition shooting. Topics to be discussed include proper positioning, goal setting, anxiety control, efficient training and how to optimize equipment performance. Juniors will also take a look into competition and finals performance and learn leadership roles and how to build self-confidence on the firing line, among many other points.
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Collegiate shooters on current NCAA air rifle teams are hired to work one-on-one with the juniors at each summer camp. This year, a record number of college athletes were recruited in order to provide even more personal attention to each camper.
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Each group or athlete must be accompanied by an adult leader (coach, club leader, parent, etc.) for the duration of the camp. Recent high school graduates are not eligible to partake in the air rifle activities, but may attend as an adult leader. Chaperones are to provide transportation for the campers each day and are encouraged to attend the coaching sessions in order to gain a sense of the outstanding education their athletes are receiving.
This year’s camps will be held in Alabama, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Washington, Colorado, Montana and Arizona. For a list of dates and more detailed camp information, visit http://www.thecmp.org/3P/camp.htm.
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