Scholastic Clay Target Program success stories

Shelby Township, Mich. – It has been a year of successes for many of the thousands of youth participants in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) since the nine-year-old nonprofit organization was taken over by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF). The program, created to introduce youth to the fun and excitement of shooting, was originally administered by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The NSSF handed the reins over to the SSSF last year in a move that would allow the new foundation to better focus on the needs of SCTP’s youth participants and coaches and further grow the program.

Notable successes and individual achievements under the SSSF’s guidance over the past year include:

• Allyson Brugioni, a sophomore at Ankeny High School in Ankeny, Iowa, won top honors for female shooters at the Iowa State High School State Trap Shoot in Cedar Falls last June. Brugioni was one of 315 high school participants in the competition.

• Another Iowa competitor, Justin Fey, a junior from Maquoketa, showed true grit in his desire and ability to competitively shoot. Following an October 2008 accident in which he lost part of three fingers on his right hand, Fey was back shooting with a new form less than five months later. Then in May, he broke his leg, which forced him to compete at the end of the season from a sitting position and at the state championships while still in a cast. Despite this, Fey maintained his position on his school’s First Team and went on to help them win the Iowa Cup along with first in league and first in state.

• Two 14-year-old members of the Georgia Claybusters squad, Matt Fisher and Will Hinton, enjoyed an exceptional year of competition. Fisher earned eight 1^st-place divisional and competition honors and six 2nds and placed in nine others, while Hinton won 10 divisional or overall competitions including Georgia State Sub Junior Champion and Georgia Games Junior Trap and Sporting Champion. Hinton also took 2^nd-place honors in four competitions and placed in eight others.

• The competitive fire and accomplishments of Sydney and Steve Duncan of the Gaston Young Guns was featured on NRA News’ World Wide Web radio program.
• In an effort to raise much needed funds to send two squads to the SCTP Nationals, all of Massachusetts’ young shooters have banded together to hold a fundraising “Shoot-A-Thon.” The cost of sending just one squad is estimated to be around $7,000. The teams hope to raise as much as $17,500 and agree that one of the squads to go to Nationals will be the overall winner at the State Championships this June. The second team will be selected at random from the 1^st-place squads in the remaining divisions.

The pride, determination and competitive fire demonstrated by all of these young competitors and many others like them, as well as the urgent need for funding to support their efforts as exhibited by the Massachusetts’ shooters, underscores the vital need for continued donor support.

To date, more than 30,000 middle and high school students have participated in the program, which includes trap, skeet, sporting clays, Olympic trap and international skeet competitions. Without continued corporate and individual contributions to the SSSF, which is responsible for all aspects of the SCTP, including participant registration, coaches, state coordinators, state and national championships, promotion, communications, websites, public relations and growth strategies, many of these young shooters stand to miss out on the great opportunities the program affords.

“We are asking NSSF members in particular to stand up and directly support this wonderful program, which will ultimately benefit their business and industry as well,” says Dr. Bill Christy, Executive Director of the SSSF. “A lot of members think because they support the NSSF, that their money also goes to support the SSSF and SCTP. That’s not necessarily the case. While the NSSF remains one of our biggest supporters, they have a number of other important programs to fund. A contribution directly to the SSSF is the only sure way to support this program. It is a contribution in our industry’s future and the futures of these deserving, young competitors.”

To learn more about how your company can become an SSSF donor and to learn more about the SCTP, visit their website at www.sssfonline.org.

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