DECATUR — A group of Decatur youth have formed a community trap shooting team with the hope that trap shooting will become a schoolsanctioned sport next year.
The team was practicing with the Gentry High School’s newly formed trap shooting team on Tuesday, in preparation for the upcoming regional and state tournaments.
Both teams are part of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program. The two teams practice together about once a week, according to Decatur’s coach Lisa Barrett. Brian Wilkins donated the use of his land north of Decatur to use as a shooting range.
Trap Shooting is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, according to Barrett. Arkansas had 2,500 shooters participate in the program last year, and 5,000 are participating this year.
“It’s doubled in just one year,” she said.
Colleges like Baylor University and Arkansas Tech are also starting trap shooting teams, she said.
The object of the sport is to shoot clay targets thrown at unknown angles from a trap machine. Teams form squadrons of five. During a round each member of the squadron gets five chances to shoot five times. Teams are scored by how many hits they have during a round.Either 12 or 20 gauge shotguns are used for the sport, Barrett said.
Students are required to obtain their Hunter Education certification before they can participate.
Parent Mark Burden said participating in the team is teaching his two daughters how to safely and responsibly handle guns.
“You always hear negative things about guns, but this is very positive,” Barrett said.
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Web site, www.agfc. com, any youth group, such as a school, church group or 4-H club can form a team. Students participate in junior divisions for grades 6 through 8 and senior divisions for grades 9 through 12.
The Gentry school board approved trap shooting as a schoolsanctioned sport last December. In Decatur, the trap shooting team remains a community club while the team waits for a school board to be put into place to approve the new sport.
Decatur superintendent LeRoy Ortman said he felt the decision to add a new sports program should be made by a community school board instead of one person, especially considering that the school was in fiscal distress and lost its football program last fall due to lack of participation.
“Starting a new organization may end up costing some money. I don’t think it’ll be all that expensive, but you never know ...That was not a decision an interim superintendent should make,” he said.
Even so, Ortman said he is fully supportive of the trap shooting team.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. As a student I would have been first in line to participate,” he said.
Barrett said about 20 students have signed up to participate on Decatur’s team. Gentry’s team has about 26 students, plus four more who have been to busy with baseball practice to participate yet, according to coach David Nelson.
Targets, ammunition, shell pouches, protective glasses and ear protection have been provided for both teams by a grant from the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program. The program has also provided Decatur’s team with two shotguns, Barrett said.
“The AYSSP aims to bring the joy of the outdoors and the rewards of safely learning to shoot to young Arkansans,”
“The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recognizes that today’s youth will be tomorrow’s sportsmen. Shooting sports, like many outdoor activities, are great sources of fun and relaxation when practiced safely and responsibly. The Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program is focused on providing a fun, safe environment for participating in shooting sports and reconnecting kids with the joy of being outdoors,” the AYSSP handbook states.
News, Pages 3 on 04/07/2010