SUMMER SHOOTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR JUNIORS

By Gary Anderson, DCM

For many junior shooters, summer is the time to take a break from shooting. But for many other juniors, summer offers some of the best and most rewarding shooting opportunities of the whole year. Summer can be a time for national championships, junior shooting camps and several national junior invitational competitions. Without the time demands of school work, summer vacation periods offer more time to do extra training and have time to travel to other parts of the country to compete in the most important championships of the whole year. All of these opportunities can combine to raise shooting scores to a higher level and let young shooters experience some of the most enjoyable experiences in shooting.

In this article, we will take a look at many of the shooting opportunities that can make summers such a great time. We will review ways that you can encourage the junior shooters you work with to use their summers to improve their skills and enter the fall-winter junior shooting season with valuable new experiences and higher scores. We encourage you and all junior shooters to seriously consider using your summers to participate in National Championships, go to shooting camps, participate in one or more of the national junior invitationals or have a quiet summer at home getting in some extra practice that just was not possible during the school year. As you read about special summer shooting opportunities that might interest you and your juniors, you will want to refer to the chart on page 15 to obtain more information about those activities. It should also be noted that many of these activities like the CMP Junior Rifle Camps and NRA National Junior Smallbore Camp are already filled for this year and that some competitions use qualifying competitions that took place in the winter and spring months. In those cases, you need to add those events to your list of activities to plan for in 2005.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The highest priority goals of top junior shooters often are focused on national championships that take place during the summer months. While some juniors go to these championships to win open and junior national champion titles, many others go because that’s where the best shooters are or just because competing in them is such a great experience. National championships attract the best junior shooters and the best senior shooters. They determine who the best shooters in the country are in competitions for prestigious trophies and titles that usually have fascinating histories and traditions. Almost every national shooting championship offers junior titles as well. Many have reduced entry fees for juniors as well as other program features to encourage more juniors to attend. Championships taking place in the summer that are of particular interest to junior shooters are:

USA Shooting National Championship.

This is the national championship for all Olympic and world championship shooting events in rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target. Each of the events on the program has both open or senior titles that juniors can and sometimes do win, plus junior titles that only juniors can win. The Olympic events include three-position and prone smallbore rifle, air rifle standing, air pistol, free and rapid fire pistol, running target and skeet, trap and double trap. The members of the U. S. National Team and U. S. National Development Team (national junior team) are selected at this competition. For juniors who want to compete for honors in collegiate shooting or who dream of developing themselves for a chance to make our country’s Olympic team, this is a must-attend championship.

CMP National Trophy Rifle Matches.

The overall top six junior shooters in the National Trophy Rifle Matches are named to the National Junior Service Rifle Team; their names are permanently engraved on the Deneke Trophy.

Juniors who compete in service rifle matches or who are interested in trying highpower rifle shooting will find plenty of reasons to attend these competitions at Camp Perry, Ohio. The National Trophy Rifle Matches offer opportunities for brand new highpower shooters as well as the best junior highpower shooters in the country. Experienced junior highpower shooters start the week by attending the popular USMC Junior Highpower Service Rifle Clinic. Junior shooters with no highpower competition experience begin their week at Camp Perry by attending the Rifle Small Arms Firing School taught by the U. S. Army Rifle Team.

National Trophy service rifle competitions include the President’s Match, the National Trophy Individual Rifle Match, the Whistler Boy Junior Team Match, the National Trophy Team Match and the unique experience of the National Trophy Infantry Team Match. In 2003, 218 junior service rifle shooters competed in the entire week’s program. Many other junior shooters completed in one or more events during the week. Many state rifle and pistol associations train junior highpower teams to compete for the Whistler Boy Junior Highpower trophy, which is for two-person teams, for the Minuteman Trophy that goes to the high six-person junior team in the National Trophy Team Match and for the Junior Infantry Team Trophy awarded to the high junior team in the National Trophy Infantry Team Match. The most sought-after individual junior honors are winning a place on the National Junior Team as one of the overall top six junior shooters in the National Trophy Rifle Matches.

NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships.

The NRA National Smallbore Rifle Position and Prone Championships are always popular competitions for juniors. As many as 40 percent of the 350 or so competitors who attend these traditional smallbore competitions are expected to be juniors. NRA smallbore championships offer juniors several daily events with junior competitors divided into classifications. Newer or less skilled competitors compete for awards in the Marksman, Sharpshooter and Expert classes. A major appeal of these competitions is that they are part of the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Camp Perry is located in an enjoyable vacation area and features a commercial row lined with shooting equipment suppliers. It also offers lots of chances to meet other juniors from all parts of the country.

CMP & NRA National Matches for Pistol.

Both the CMP National Trophy Pistol Matches and the NRA National Pistol Championship at Camp Perry now feature events for juniors who fire .22 caliber pistols. The 2003 winner of the CMP National Junior Pistol Trophy was 12-year-old Heather Depp of San Antonio, Texas. She was congratulated by 96-year-old Col. Walter Walsh, a legendary National Matches champion.

The three big summer competitions for junior pistol shooters are the USA Shooting National Championships, where competition in the Olympic pistol events is staged, the NRA National Pistol Championship and the CMP National Trophy Pistol Matches. In 2003, the CMP switched its junior competitions in the President’s Match, National Trophy Individual and National Trophy Team Matches from service pistol to .22 caliber pistols. The Junior Team event was also switched from a four-person team to a two-person event. This change recognized that most junior pistol shooters are not ready for heavy-recoil service pistol shooting. Juniors who compete in these events in 2004 can fire any .22 caliber standard or sport pistol.

The NRA has adopted a similar approach. Juniors who shoot in the 2004 NRA National Pistol Championship will have the option of firing the entire 2700 point aggregate in a “Made in America Junior Championship Program” where junior pistol shooters must fire .22 caliber “made in America” pistols.

JUNIOR SHOOTING CAMPS

One of the best possible ways for junior shooters to improve their competition scores is to attend a junior shooting camp. The CMP, NRA and USA Shooting all sponsor outstanding shooting camps that are led by instructors with long lists of teaching and competition credentials. In addition, there are many regional and local camps that offer opportunities to learn and improve skills. Shooting camps typically last three to five days and let campers learn new or advanced shooting techniques from expert instructors and spend lots of time on the range practicing what they are taught. Camps typically have counselors or coaches who are accomplished competitors and who provide lots of hands-on coaching during the range sessions. Almost all juniors who attend camps report significant improvements in their shooting scores.

CMP Junior Rifle Camps that take place during the months of June and July host up to 60 juniors in training experiences that feature expert instruction and intensive practice with lots of individual hands-on coaching.

The CMP Junior Rifle Camps focus on three-position air rifle shooting. The camp director and chief instructor for the 2004 camps is former National Rifle Coach Dan Durben. He will be joined by 1996 and 2000 Olympian Jayme Dickman and 2004 Paralympian Dan Jordan, plus a staff of 12 counselors who are all current college rifle team members. The CMP camps always fill up early.

The NRA conducts or sanctions a wide variety of camps that are organized both by the NRA Education and Training Division and by local organizations. The NRA features a series of National Camps in rifle, pistol and shotgun that offer advanced instruction and intensive training. The NRA National Junior Smallbore Camp, which takes place each summer at Camp Perry, is another camp that always fills early. Over the years, it has introduced hundreds of juniors to advanced and National Matches smallbore competition.

There are also prestigious National Junior Olympic Camps in rifle, shotgun and sometimes in pistol that the top juniors aspire to attend. USA Shooting, as the Olympic national governing body, is the lead organization in these camps that take place at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, but the NRA also plays a supportive role in helping to organize these camps.

NATIONAL JUNIOR INVITATIONAL COMPETITIONS

The firing line for three junior invitational championships in the summer of 2003 was set up in a gym at Ashley High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky is hosting two of these same competitions in 2004.

The summer shooting season is when most of the national junior invitational competitions have their final competitions. All but one of these championships have qualifying competitions that take place in the winter and spring so it is important to plan well ahead to make it possible for your juniors to take advantage of the unique experiences these events offer. The one competition that is open to all interested juniors is the Daisy Air Gun Invitational. Junior air rifle and air pistol shooters who are still looking for an exciting competition challenge for this summer would do well to look into this competition that takes place this summer at Bowling Green, Kentucky.

National Guard Bureau Junior Air Rifle Tournament.

The National Guard runs a major postal competition during the months of January through March with sporter-class three-position air rifle and precision-class standing air rifle events. The top teams in both classes are invited to a national competition, which this year took place at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, the home of the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center. The winning precision team in this competition wins a trip to Bisley, England to participate in the British National Championship.

National 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational.

This competition, which will take place this year in Columbia, Missouri, is open to 4-H Shooting Sports Clubs. Individual 4-Hers are limited to participating in this national event for just two years. The Invitational features a variety of shooting sports events that are practiced by 4-H clubs including archery, silhouette rifle, air rifle, pistol and shotgun. One of the smallbore events on the 2004 program is the CMP Rimfire Sporter event.

Daisy/U. S. Jaycees International BB Gun Championship.

For 4-H and other junior programs that offer BB gun shooting, this is the national championship. Teams must qualify in state competitions. The BB gun championship is for youth 15 and younger and often includes juniors as young as nine or ten. The competition includes a 100-point educational test and a 4x10 5-meter BB gun course of fire.

Every summer many new team and individual champions are recognized in junior national championships that are sponsored by the CMP, NRA and USA Shooting. In this presentation, the Shelby County (KY) High School Rifle Team receives the CMP “Tatanka” Trophy for winning the precision scholastic team competition in the National Junior Olympic Championship.

Daisy National Air Gun Open Championship.

The Daisy air gun competition is the oldest youth air gun championship in the country. It is open to any school-age junior and has both team and individual events in sporter and precision air rifle, air pistol and air rifle running target. Many juniors got their first taste of national competition by entering this popular event.

National Junior Olympic Air Rifle Championship.

This competition, which is sponsored by USA Shooting and the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council, is now the major national competition for junior programs that shoot three-position air rifle. Teams and individuals must qualify in state championships that take place in the winter or early spring. Teams competing in this championship must be either scholastic teams representing a single school or club teams where team members are regular participants in that club’s program. All-star teams are not permitted. Sporter and precision class team and individual titles won at this competition have become especially prestigious because almost all of the top junior shooters now try to qualify for this event. The 2004 championship will be held at Bowling Green, Kentucky in July.

The top 15 sporter and top 15 precision class juniors in qualifying competitions are invited to participate in the American Legion Junior Championship that takes place every August in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center.

NRA Junior Air Gun Championship.

The NRA also sponsors a major national air gun championship that now includes both three-position air rifle and air pistol. Teams that enter this competition may be all-star teams where team members are selected from different clubs or schools. This year’s competition will take place in Pocatello, Idaho in July.

American Legion Junior Air Rifle Championship.

The last major junior competition of the summer is the American Legion National Air Rifle Championship that takes place every year in early August at Colorado Springs. A two-stage postal competition, which begins in the fall, is used to qualify the 30 individual juniors who participate in sporter or precision class three-position air rifle.

OTHER SUMMER ACTIVITIES

Summer is a Time for Extra Practice.

During the school year, when academics and school activities take precedence and the time available for shooting practice is often limited to a few days a week and often with only one or two hours of range time in those days, it is difficult to do enough training to accomplish especially challenging goals. Even if they work in a full or part-time job, junior shooters typically have more time available to devote to marksmanship training during the summer. Some JROTC units and club teams make their ranges available for team members to train on week days during the summer. Juniors who own their own air rifles can easily set up a 10-meter range in a basement, garage or utility room; all that is required is a minimum clear distance of 35-38 feet where outside entrance can be restricted. With a range at home, young shooters can train just as much as they are motivated to train. Devoting three to five hours a day to improving firing positions and techniques can pay huge dividends when the shooting season starts again in the fall.

Sometimes Summer is a Time for Taking a Break from Shooting.

Anyone familiar with the principles of athletic training knows that rest is part of a good sports training program. For most junior shooters, the shooting season begins in the fall shortly after school starts. If the fall, winter or spring has been filled with lots of competitions and regular practice, they might just be ready for a break. The best way to decide whether juniors are ready for more shooting during the summer is to evaluate their motivation for more shooting. Are they eager to get back to the range and do more shooting? Are they excited about going to a big match? The answers to those questions will tell you whether your junior shooters are ready for a break this summer or are ready to take advantage of some of the great summer shooting opportunities that are available to them.

A GUIDE TO SUMMER SHOOTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR JUNIOR SHOOTERS