High school trap team deadline is March 1st

[mnclaytarget]

If your high school is considering joining Minnesota's fastest growing high school sport – the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League for 2013, the deadline to commit is March 1st with student athlete registration ending March 15th. Already added more than 50 new teams so far... learn more at http://www.mnclaytarget.com

[PileDriver]

Already added more than 50 new teams so far...

This is great!

[goda0301]

mnclaytarget guy: what steps would one need to take to get a team to shoot on private land? Does the mnhsl have rules on specific clubs? I have 2 possible options. 1st where i currently shoot (private land) we have an offical length trap set up with one house. We built this setup ourselves and Im not sure if there is some type of outfit that comes in and sanctions your setup or what, i understand the biggest issue is going to be the insurance. 2nd option is a local club has pistol, rifle and a couple different throwers. (back in the day they had a small sporting clays setup but i believe they sold alot of those sporting clay throwers) they do not have an offical trap house setup. Im only asking because the local highschool is starting a trap team this year, the dude who is starting is having the kids travel almost 30 miles one way to shoot at this specific club. Option 1 is currently 2 miles from school, Option 2 about 6 miles. Is there a limit as to how many schools can shoot at a specific club? Can the league shooting take place on weekends? I know that both of these options are long shots but i feel strongly that the number of kids would greatly increase if the travel distance was lower.

[Timmer2183]

I coach for Edina, and the limiting factor for the sport is ranges to shoot at. Since last year alone, Trap has grown 341%. If you have ideas about how to get more teams involved that's great!!! Teams can shoot on the weekends. There is no limit to how many schools can shoot at a specific club at all. The limiting factor is space and time. Clubs are reluctant to have HS teams interrupting their weekly leagues, however the twin cities clubs are realizing that HS shooters are going to be their bread and butter in years to come and are making arrangements to give everyone space. The state tournament up in Alexandria is outstanding!!

Timmer2183

[mnclaytarget]

Participation must be at a gun club. The original intent of the League was to save gun clubs when we discovered the average age of members at gun clubs was over 55. If nothing was done about it then, the average age would be over 60 by now. Gun clubs provide the facility, mentoring members and insurance necessary for schools to be comfortable with their kids participating at. We ask that clubs become a "high school friendly environment" and go tobacco and alcohol free while the kids shoot for the League.
The limit of the number of kids on a team is limited by the number of coaches available to help (10 athletes per 1 coach required) and gun club capacity. Some gun clubs are currently at capacity and I would estimate that these clubs are collectively turning away 300-500 kids this year. Teams range in size from 5 to 130.
Teams can shoot any day of the week. Gun club capacity requires teams to either shoot on the weekend or shoot 2 days a week.
Just a few years ago, gun clubs were closing at record levels. Now, we them back open. Many clubs that have hosted teams for a number of years are now enjoying their best years ever!

[FJ540]

This is awesome!

I would've done anything to be in a gun club in HS.

We need to foster the shooting sports all we can. The more people who enjoy trigger pulling, the better off we'll all be.

[shooter115]

I just stumbled across the linked article from our local paper. It was printed a month ago, but figured some trap shooters here might enjoy it. The Morris area just started the trap league this year and it was a great success. I think in our first year we had 34 high school shooters. In fact we even recruited one of the high school shooters as a member on my regular trap team. Right now 2/3rds of the way through the season has a 22.5 ave

If you have the ability, please get involved with this program......getting the shooting sports back into our high schools is pure win!! And for 2014 it will be a sanctioned sport, and recognized as such, just like football, baseball or hockey. Talk about a leap twards neutralizing some of the stigmata about "how guns are bad". Who knows what could happen in 10 years if we throw our backs into it.....High School USPSA league or High School 3-gun league.

From the article:
The Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta clay target league just wrapped up its first season by competing in the 2013 State Tournament this past weekend in Alexandria

The league has been in existence for 10 years and this year the league had more than 3,400 participants in the state. This past winter, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) approved an official partnership with the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League (MSHSCTL). Starting in June of 2014, trapshooting will be recognized as a sport like all other high school sports. Minnesota will be the first state high school athletic association in the nation to host a sanctioned high school trapshooting state tournament.

See more here:
http://www.morrissuntribune.com/content/local-youth-compete-state-trap-league-tournament

[Heffay]

Such good news!

[FJ540]

Very cool!

[Hoot]

Our club hosted a team for Mound/Westonka ISD for the first time this past spring. It was such a success that they came to our Board meeting last night, presented us with an appreciation plaque and cemented a Fall League to start in early September.

These kids are our future.

Hoot

[shooter115]

These kids are our future.

Hoot

Exactly. Most the members of our trap club are pretty ....well...um..."seasoned" to say the least. If we can't continue to bring in new blood the future of our club is looking pretty dismal. Guessing it's the same situation at many of the trap ranges around the state.

[Thunder71]

At the age of 40 I think I was about half the average age of our trap club members.