Five Points for Building a Successful Youth Program The victories keep coming for the Army JROTC Rifle Team from Bogalusa High School in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Once a struggling program, the Bogalusa shooters have now won team and individual titles in the National Junior Olympic, American Legion and National Guard National Position Air Rifle Championships.

The Bogalusa team also won the honor of representing the United States at the 2002 British Junior National Championships in Bisley, England. Even with the disadvantage of having to compete using precision air rifles (they earned the trip by winning the National Guard Bureau Championship while shooting sporter air rifles) and facing a field of junior national teams from nine other countries, the Bogalusa team won a silver medal in team competition with a total score of 1,675, only 6 points behind the first place team from Ireland. In their biggest victory, Bogalusa team member Brandon Green won the individual gold medal at Bisley when he posted a score of 574. Members of the Bogalusa team who represented the United States in England were Brandon Green, Brian Phillips, Brandon Applewhite, Cody Cleland, Charles Henley and Eric Stevens.

Major Rick Fredieu, Senior Army Instructor at the Bogalusa, Louisiana High School Army JROTC unit, is shown here as he fires in the Garand Match that was held for participants in the National Youth Shooting Sports Leadership Conference at Camp Perry in October 2002.

The Bogalusa team now claims several recent National Championship titles and currently has their name on 14 Position Air Rifle National Records. Brandon Green was the American Legion Championship sporter class winner as a sophomore and won the National Junior Olympic sporter class title after his junior year. Green is the current national record holder in the sporter class three-position air rifle events and was the first junior shooter in the nation to earn the prestigious Junior Distinguished Badge. Teammate Brian Phillips won the National Guard National Championship last year. Both Green and Phillips are being actively recruited by college rifle coaches; Phillips has accepted a Senior ROTC Scholarship and a Rifle Scholarship to attend the University of Memphis.

The Bogalusa High School Rifle Team holds more Position Air Rifle National Records than any other school or club. Here, four Bogalusa High School shooters fire in the 2001 Gary Anderson Invitational enroute to setting a sporter class national team record.

Major Rick Fredieu, the Coach of the Bogalusa team, gave The First Shot an insider's view of how the Bogalusa program learned to win. Judging from the results, his five points can become vital steps for other junior teams to follow. Fredieu said that "if I had to list the things that I feel make us a winner, I'd start with

In 2002, the Bogalusa High School Army JROTC rifle team won the National Junior Olympic Position Air Rifle Championship and the National Guard Bureau National Championship. There reward for winning the latter tournament was an unforgetable trip to Bisley, England where they participated in the British National Championship.

1. Send your team to the CMP camps. We were a struggling program, much like most of the other programs that I see locally, until we went to the first CMP Camp. It was only after that first camp that we started making real progress. I personally learned what I needed to do to be a rifle team coach and our team members learned what it takes to win at the national level. Now we take as many cadets as we can to a camp every summer. And when we start our program in the fall, the cadets who attended camp all become assistant coaches to help teach our new shooters. 2. You need shooters who are willing to put the time in on the range. We practice five mornings and three afternoons a week. Not every shooter gets to practice every day. On average, each of the Bogalusa shooters gets 3 - 4 hours per week behind the rifle. I've also been fortunate enough to have shooters who have grown up around firearms and have hunted their entire lives. They bring a basic understanding of marksmanship to the table. It's my job to refine that understanding and apply it to three-position air rifle target shooting.

Bogalusa High School Cadet Brandon Green was the first shooter in the nation to earn the Junior Distinguished Badge that was inaugurated in 2001. Here he is presented Badge #1 by CMP Training Director Bob Foth. Major Fredieu stands behind them.

3. You must have a supportive parents group. Again, I've been extremely fortunate to work with a group of parents who are willing to travel and to raise money for whatever the team needs. They've bought new rifles and all of the equipment that is needed for shooting. The school and community also need to be behind you. Keep the student body and teachers informed of successes. Also keep the community informed through newspaper articles, talking to Rotary and other groups, etc.

4. Get your team to competitions. Travel and meeting other shooters is part of the fun of being on a team. Last year alone, we shot 22 rifle matches. The majority of these were shoulder-to-shoulder. Get your team to matches with good competition--preferably with shooters who are better than you are. This is what will eventually give you the edge. 5. Make shooting fun. If cadets are having fun, they try harder. Winning isn't everything, but we all know that its more fun than losing. Teach good sportsmanship, win or lose.

Bogalusa Cadet Brian Phillips won the 2002 National Guard Bureau Junior Air Rifle Tournament individual championship.

Major Fredieu concluded, "these are my rules for a good program. They're not all inclusive, but I truly believe that if rifle coaches follows this formula, they'll be successful."