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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
On The Mark
Western Arkansas, AR
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Huntsville Trapshooting Team Aims To Compete
Steve Johnson may coach trap shooting, but he’s got a bigger target than a small clay disc in mind.
Johnson, an Agriculture teacher at Huntsville High School, heads what has the makings of a mini-dynasty at the Madison County School. In its two years of existence, the Eagles’ trap shooting team has won two state championships. This October, Johnson and team member Cord Riley, will be among a hand full of coaches and shooters traveling to the U.S. Olympic team training facility in Colorado for training and competition.
While he’s happy with the success the team has had, Johnson says his goal in starting the squad was much simpler, and much more important.
“I just wanted to keep kids in school,” Johnson said. “If they have something to do, they’re more likely to stay in school, and I thought this was something that might help.”
Riley, a junior on this year’s team and one of Huntsville’s top shooters may be a poster child for his efforts.
“His dad told me he used to come home every day crying and saying he wanted to drop out of school,” Johnson said. “But now, he may not like (school), but he’s sticking with it so he can stay on the team.”
Participation has never really been a problem for the team. Johnson’s first word-of-mouth recruiting campaign drew 30 kids to the program, and last year 100 would-be shooters signed up for the squad. That’s more than most schools Huntsville’s size draw for the football program.
“When we had 100 kids, I thought ‘what am I going to do with all of them’” Johnson said. “But after we had them do the paperwork and go through the NRA (National Rifle Association) shotgun safety class, we got down to about 40 for tryouts, and we got that down to 20 for the team.”
Johnson said the prime trap-shooting season runs from January through August. While he declines to say how many times his team practices in a week, he says squad members will work up from firing 25 rounds a session early in the year to about 100 a day by the end of the season.
Team members provide their own shotguns, but the school and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Youth Shooting Sports Program pay for shells, targets and safety equipment.
While there are other tournaments, including the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Scholarship tournament, the team’s big event is the state high school championship competition, held in Lonoke. The event draws about 900 competitors and more than 60 prep teams.
“The first year we just wanted to finish in the top 10, but when the scores kept coming in, we started noticing we were winning this thing,” Johnson said.
That Huntsville even has a team is almost a complete coincidence. Johnson said a speaker from a Tulsa, Oklahoma trade school mentioned Oklahoma had high school trap shooting teams during a presentation he made to one of Johnson’s classes.
“I thought that sounded interesting, and when I got back to my office, there was a letter from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission talking about the (high school trap shooting) program,” Johnson said.
Coaching a trap shooting team is a new experience for Johnson, who has completed coaching training courses provided by the state Game and Fish Commission and USA Shooting. And while his teams have had plenty of success, he has a little confession to make about the sport.
“I am not a trap shooter,” Johnson said. “Well, let’s just say I shoot at it.”
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