What would you think of a high school shooting team?

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If they (the school admins) have a meltdown over a gun shaped cookie, or a picture of a gun, or even making a gun with your hand, I can't imagine how they could have a shooting club/team without their totally losing what little sanity they have at this point.
 
JROTC shooting matches?
Since the NCAA sanctions firearms and air gun matches why wouldn't high schools? Liberal nonsense aside, scholarships for sports with balls are okay but not pellets and bullets?
 
We have two school associated Trap teams in my area. One is sponsored by FFA (Future Farmers of America) and the other is sponsored by 4H. Not sure about the 4H team, but the FFA team received $30K in grants from the NRA over two years. They bought 15 shotguns as well as two electric traps.

They practice at my local club.
 
There are several organizations promoting youth shooting sports of one sort or the other: JROTC (air rifle and in some places small bore rifle and pistol) Boy Scouts (shotgun sports, small bore rifle and a few are doing handgun sports) 4-H (through the local Ag agent)(shotgun, rifle, handgun, archery) NSSF started the SCTP many years back for shotgun sports. I think it's now separate.
Sources of funding?
Local groups here do raffles for guns, hunts, coolers, tv's etc. Donors - adults that support the youth shooting sports are out there, everything from little $20 donations up to big stuff. NRA Foundation, through Friends of NRA fundraising efforts in each state. Here in my part of Texas, Friends of NRA hands out $250,000 - $400,000 each year in grants mainly to youth shooting sports groups. Not to mention that we also give out college scholarships to those kids that have participated in youth shooting sports of some sort to the tune of $35,000.00 each year.

I know of two young ladies that are currently on the TCU women's shooting team that were both 4-H shooting sports members.

In short, there are resources out there if you're wanting to start one. The biggest problem I see is finding adult leaders to go through the training to teach the kids.
 
I've known a few around. Even helped out with them. But, now that I think about it, they were all non-public schools. I do know of a few public colleges with shooting teams and/or clubs.

For high schools, it is simply much easier to organize the students without any kind of official sanction from a public high school. Most NRA and other events that support "team" concepts for students under 18 do not require affiliation with any kind of school. Just get a group of teens who want to shoot, get their parents' permission, and away you go. I see no need or benefit to involving the local public school with a shooting team of local students. Leaving the school out of it also allows the team to be comprised of students from different schools.
 
hemiram wrote:
If they (the school admins) have a meltdown over a gun shaped cookie, or a picture of a gun, or even making a gun with your hand, I can't imagine how they could have a shooting club/team without their totally losing what little sanity they have at this point.
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Don't assume that sensationalist reports from individual schools here and there are indicative of a national mood.

Back when the "godlessness" of public schools was higher up on the right wing agenda we had someone come to church on a self-anointed mission to warn us about the public school teachers teaching atheism to our children even though five school teachers were sitting there in the congregation. Yeah, some principal somewhere goes ballistic over a gun shaped cookie and suddenly every one in the nation thinks exactly the same way.

Do you not see that you are doing to school administrators EXACTLY what the anti-gun lobby tries to do to us? One person uses a gun in a crime so all gun owners are criminals.
 
hso wrote:
They already exist here.
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But not every place.
  • In some places, the political climate won't permit them.
  • In some places there's a lack of participants.
  • In some places, there's a lack of funding.
  • And in some places, there's a lack of sponsors and volunteers who are willing to come in and work with the school district to organize, staff, direct and oversee a shooting program. I think it would be like having a high school band or swim team with the added complication of potentially lethal weapons.
Starting a school shooting team would be a tremendous undertaking. Given all the headwinds it would face, only the most motivated, enthusiastic and hard-charging individuals would have a chance of success. I respect anyone willing to take it on.
 
hdwhit said:
But not every place.
  • In some places, the political climate won't permit them.
  • In some places there's a lack of participants.
  • In some places, there's a lack of funding.
  • And in some places, there's a lack of sponsors and volunteers who are willing to come in and work with the school district to organize, staff, direct and oversee a shooting program. I think it would be like having a high school band or swim team with the added complication of potentially lethal weapons.
Starting a school shooting team would be a tremendous undertaking. Given all the headwinds it would face, only the most motivated, enthusiastic and hard-charging individuals would have a chance of success. I respect anyone willing to take it on.
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This pretty much sums it up, I think. With so much of the public education system in this country controlled by anti-gun liberals, I think the private schools are the only reliable reservoir with much potential. And that's sad.

Thomas Jefferson was once asked by Peter Carr what is the best exercise. He replied:

" A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefor, be your constant companion of your walks."

True in 1785 and just as true today.
 
We had a club in the late 60's in my day. But, alas....with todays politically correct climate, it would most likely be frowned upon.
 
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: Good luck with that one. Lawyers, Liberals and Gun Nazis.:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: I'm sure the Chicago School district is chomping at the bit to start that one.
It's a nice thought though, I think it could steer a lot of kids in the right direction.
 
I know that you mentioned getting away from traditional Olympic disciplines like air rifle and air pistol. I think that would be a mistake, particularly if going to be a true "school" team, and not just a youth shooting club. The air disciplines (10m air rifle and pistol) are college scholarship sports and Olympic events that the students can engage year round. The school needs no extra facilities, and any space that can be opened up to 10 m and doesn't have cross traffic can be used. It is a very good "starter" shooting sport for schools, particularly in areas where there isn't an established shooting culture. Putting little lead pellets (or lead free if that's an issue) through a round circular bullseye, with a very quiet air gun, is a very good way to begin to get people to move away from preconceived notions of firearms. Yes it is a vastly different from how most of us enjoy shooting and competing, but it teaches extremely solid fundamentals that transfer to any other discipline with firearms. Small bore would be the logical follow on from there, particularly if you get community buy in (sending a kiddo to the Junior Olympics for instance), though it now moves into needing a real range, lead control issues, etc.

-Jenrick
 
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Jenrick said:
I know that you mentioned getting away from traditional Olympic disciplines like air rifle and air pistol. I think that would be a mistake, particularly if going to be a true "school" team, and not just a youth shooting club. The air disciplines (10m air rifle and pistol) are college scholarship sports and Olympic events that the students can engage year round. The school needs no extra facilities, and any space that can be opened up to 10 m and doesn't have cross traffic can be used. It is a very good "starter" shooting sport for schools, particularly in areas where there isn't an established shooting culture. Putting little lead pellets (or lead free if that's an issue) through a round circular bullseye, with a very quiet air gun, is a very good way to begin to get people to move away from preconceived notions of firearms. Yes it is a vastly different from how most of us enjoy shooting and competing, but it teaches extremely solid fundamentals that transfer to any other discipline with firearms. Small bore would be the logical follow on from there, particularly if you get community buy in (sending a kiddo to the Junior Olympics for instance), though it now moves into needing a real range, lead control issues, etc.

-Jenrick
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We've had a bunch of cases where schools have said ABSOLUTELY NOT to air rifles and pistols on school grounds (including college campuses). In many cases, schools are as adamantly opposed to air rifles and air pistols as they are to combustion driven arms.

There really are not many college programs where a program in a specific discipline with college competitions and scholarships are available to say those disciplines are better choices. I'd pick any training program based more on local interest and the ability to attract and retain student participants rather than the hope of feeding into one of the rare college programs out there.

Among the high school students I know, the action pistol disciplines, tactical rifle (AR style), rimfire challenge, and F-Class hold 10 times more interest than air rifle and air pistol, which are seen as sports for elementary school students who cannot be trusted yet with real guns. The teens I know want to smell burning gunpowder, or they just are not interested. They will practice with air rifles and air pistols to build skills, but only when they have a chance to compete burning gunpowder. By 11th and 12th grades, even the 22LR disciplines seem boring for some and they strongly prefer the centerfire disciplines. Gotta hold their interest, or they won't even show up for practice or competition.
 
Berger.Fan222 said:
There really are not many college programs where a program in a specific discipline with college competitions and scholarships are available to say those disciplines are better choices.
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Let's not be so consumed by our embattled positions that we don't make an effort.
http://crpa.org/crpa-competitive-shooting-sports/airgun-2/
https://usashooting.sport80.com/widget/clubs

The only college and school programs out there are either clay shotgun competitive sports or small bore or air rifle. There are scholarships and sponsorships for them. My Friends of the NRA has donated over $100,000 towards the ones in East Tennessee every year I've been a member. Other FNRA orgs do the same. Then there is the industry industry support I see. It isn't difficult to find success if we just make the least effort to look.

I'd bet real money that reaching out to Kim Rhode in California (remember, multi Olympic multi medalist) to ask for guidance would get a very gratifying response. I also imagine folks in our Competitive Shooting forum can help as might 9mm Epiphany and Frank Ettien. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?forums/competition-shooting.27/

https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2015/7/28/how-to-get-a-shooting-scholarship/
No matter how far along you are in high school, you’ve probably been told by at least one person that your high school years will fly by quickly, and that senior year will go by even faster. Whether you are excited or nervous to get out on your own, planning out what to do after you throw that graduation cap can sometimes be overwhelming. Fortunately, the shooting sports are growing in popularity at the collegiate level and can be a familiar part of your life that will stay with you during this transition. Even better, shooting may be able to help pay for your education. As colleges expand and add shooting programs, the amount of money available for exceptional shooters is also increasing.
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That's "better" by any objective standard.
 
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High School shooting teams were common back. in the '60s-'70s
 
hso said:
The only college and school programs out there are either clay shotgun competitive sports or small bore or air rifle.
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Uh, no. It may be true that most college and school programs are small bore, air rifle, or clay shotgun, but there definitely are high power, service rifle, and combat programs out there. For example:

https://ung.edu/military-college-ad...izations/service-rifle-and-pistol-program.php

We also had a student we trained a few years back (with an F-Class focus) receive a $12,500 shooting sponsorship, and the student's participation in the shooting sports played a big role in their full ride college scholarships.

Also, the military academies (both the US service academies and state military academies) highly value experience in the shooting sports (other than air rifle and small bore) when they hand out their scholarships even for students who may not compete in intercollegiate shooting sports. Excellence in NRA high power (incl F-Class) and the action pistol disciplines can definitely bring home the bacon at college scholarship time. (Of course, certain academic requirements must also be met, and the requirements of the US service academies are high.)
 
My son's high school in Lincoln, Nebraska has a trap shooting club. My son has opted for the archery club instead. They have to call both groups "clubs" instead of "teams" because weapons obviously aren't allowed on school grounds. They have to practice elsewhere.

As I recall, the ROTC group at my high school (40+ years ago) had rimfire rifles for training, and the guns were kept at school. I'd have no problem with this at all, but inevitably some scumbags would break in to the school to steal the guns. I don't know, maybe ROTC groups still have guns at school, but I'm guessing they don't.
 
They used to write books about the high school shooting team. William Heyliger, 1884 - 1955, was well known for the book Detectives Inc. and also wrote the short story, Clutch Man, about a boy who learns the value of keeping cool both on the range and when pitted against nature, where it counts a bit more. Depicting a high school shooting team match, the caption under the picture says, "Nothing mattered but the gun and the round, black ball of the bull".

Illustration credit to Lloyd Rognan whose work is worth a Google images search!

IMG_0279.JPG
 
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My mother graduated from high school in 1974...South Lewis Falcons, Turin, NY. Their rifle team was and still is a DCM/CMP qualifying club. Back then they shot M1 Garands in indoor matches.
 
They were once commonplace when JROTC actually was about training along with military schools. They have also been sponsored through organizations like 4H, and the Boy Scouts have (had?) a marksmanship merit badge. The idea is not new- just the opposition that would be encountered most places today. When i was in junior high and high school (early 80's) we did archery for a few weeks for PE. On the football field! .
 
I was a part of a high school 3 position rifle team. Graduated in 2010, team was founded following WWII, and is still going strong. We never won nationals but kept the other top dogs concerned.

While my school was a unique situation (all boys/catholic), nonetheless represented a rifle team in the city of St. Louis.

I lived in rural Missouri for a few years as well. Many high schools and most 4H organizations have teams.

After you show administrators how dangerous football is and have your insurance group to back it, with community support it isn't a big deal.

HB
 
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