Lester L. Greevy, Jr.
There seems to be increased interest in Olympic Trapshooting recently.
There
certainly has been an increase in the inquiries that I have received
concerning
training youth in the Olympic Trapshooting Disciplines. In the
past, such
training opportunities have been limited. That too is beginning
to change.
This year there will be two Summer Camps dedicated to teaching
young American
Trapshooters the Olympic Clay Target games of Trap and Double
Trap.
The first of these, the 2004 Shotgun National Junior Advanced
Shooting Camp will
be held Monday, June 21 through Thursday, June 24. This camp is
operated by the
National Rifle Association and the Youth Development Shotgun Team
with support
of and coaches provided by USA Shooting. I am the head coach of
this camp, as I
was last year.
The purpose of the camp is to identify young shotgunners with
potential and to
train them in advanced competition skills, including the International
Shotgun
Disciplines, Trap and Double Trap.
Eligible to participate would be Trap, Skeet or Sporting Clay
Shooters, boys and
girls, between the ages of 12 and 18 who have not previously attended
a Junior
Olympic National Shotgun Camp or Competition. The intent is to
find new shooters
and to introduce them to the Olympic sport and the USA Junior
Olympic activities
of camp and competition.
The North Mountain Sportsman's Association Bunker at Muncy Valley,
Pennsylvania
is the host club and campers will be housed at the Gray's Run
Club located near
Trout Run, Pennsylvania. Capacity is limited and only 18 spots
are available.
Cost is $285.00, which includes lodging, meals, instruction, targets
and shells.
We are able to keep this cost low because the camp is heavily
subsidized by the
NRA, that being possible as a result of a grant from a very generous
benefactor.
The camp program includes a lot of shooting and also lecture and
hands on
experience in creating training plans, keeping performance profiles,
setting
goals, visual training, nutrition, conditioning, and the mental
game, all of
which are as important to improving performance in the American
games as they
are in the Olympic ones. Coaching will be provided by USA Shooting
and will
include B. J. McDaniel, Assistant National Coach, and Lloyd Woodhouse,
Head
National and Olympic Coach.
At the end of the camp there will be competition. The top scoring
boy and girl
in Trap and the top boy in Double Trap will receive an invitation
to the 2004
USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championships at the US Olympic
Training
Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, to be held in August.
This was a very successful camp last year and I expect the same,
even better
this year. For those interested in applying, applications can
be downloaded from
the NRA Website (www.nra.org). Look under Youth Programs and then
under Shooting
Sports Camps. The applications along with a free one year membership
to USA
Shooting to those who have not received a free membership before
should be
posted there. If you can?t find it there, just e-mail me at les@greevy.com
and I
will get them to you and hopefully answer any questions you might
have.
Applications should be sent directly to: H.Q. Moody, NRA National
Coach Trainer,
11250 Waples Mill Raod, Fairfax, VA 22030 by May 1st.
The second camp is the USA Shooting's 2004 National Junior Olympic
Training
Camp. This camp is a departure from the practice the last 10 years
of holding
the camp for a few days immediately proceeding the Junior Olympic
National
Competitions. Coach Woodhouse told me that holding the National
Competitions
immediately after the camp caused a problem because at the camp
they want the
shooters to experiment and try new things, but with the championship
on the
line, the kids were reluctant to do anything different. With the
camp several
weeks prior to the championship, the kids will have time to work
on the new
things they learned there.
Camp is a full two weeks beginning July 24 and running until August
8. The cost
is $750.00 which will include room, all meals, local transportation,
USA
Shooting Rule Book, all targets, 6 flats of ammunition, training
classes and
expert coaching. The camp is for athletes only. No additional
access will be
granted.
The camp will be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC).
Athletes will
be required to stay on complex in the dorms for this camp where
USOTC deportment
and discipline rules will be strictly enforced. I have served
in this
enforcement role at the past two Junior Olympics and can guarantee
that campers
who cannot learn proper deportment will be sent home. Coach Woodhouse
is very
firm on this issue.
Shooting will take place at the US International Shooting Park
located at Ft.
Carson, just outside of Colorado Springs. The range includes 4
superimposed
International Trap and Skeet fields and is the nicest International
Shotgun
facility in the country.
To be considered for this National Junior Olympic Training Camp,
shooters must
complete a rather detailed application and follow all directions.
Within the
application is a schedule of competition information listing a
number of shoots
and inquiring of the scores in those events. The shooter who has
shot and done
well in other tournaments is invited to simply cross out the names
of shoots in
which he has not participated and insert those in which he has.
A committee will make the selections for invitation to the camp
based on the
information provided on the application form as well as recommendations
received. The Selection Committee will seek to identify those
shooters who have
demonstrated motivation and show potential to become future National
Team (NT)
and National Development Team (NDT) members.
The National Junior Olympic Shooting Camp is designed to provide
advanced
training to help athletes improve their technical shooting skills
and potential
for successful competitive performance at National and World levels.
Specific
objectives of the camp include,
to reinforce an awareness and application of fundamental shooting
skills,
to increase the athlete's ability to identify and apply advanced
shooting
techniques for improved performances,
to help athletes develop the ability to instruct, evaluate, and
refine
individual training programs,
to teach athletes how to analyze their performance and apply this
information
for improvement,
to help athletes establish, refine and focus on short-term, intermediate
and
long-term goals,
to motivate athletes to strive to reach their potential, and
to instill training spirit.
In addition to coaching and advanced instruction and shooting
techniques,
shooters will also receive instruction in mental and physical
training, rule
book and nutrition. Athletes will participate in inter-camp competitions.
One
day will be dedicated to recreational activities.
Eligible athletes must be Juniors as defined by International
rules (a person
may compete as a Junior to the calendar year in which he or she
turns 20).
Minimum age is 14. Participants are required to provide all of
their own
shooting equipment.
The National Team coaches, assistant coaches and resident athletes
will be
directly involved with the camp programs. Applications can be
downloaded from
the USA Shooting website (www.usashooting.com) and must be completed
by the
applicant in his or her own handwriting. All questions will receive
a rating.
All applicants must be individual members of USA Shooting. Also
on the USA
Shooting website is a form for 1st time Free Junior Membership.
So if you have
not been a member of USA Shooting, you should download that at
the same time.
Applications for the 2004 camp must be postmarked no later than
May 31, 2004.
Selection will be made in late June.
Both of these camps are great opportunities for young shooters.
They are
different and have different goals. The NRA/YDST Camp is intended
as an
introduction to new shooters, 4 days long and can only accommodate
18 campers.
It is a preparatory camp for Junior Olympic competition.
The USA Shooting Junior Olympic camp is designed for 100 shooters,
Skeet
shooters and as well as Trap shooters. It runs for 2 weeks and
is considered as
a developmental camp to help shooters already in the Junior Olympic
system to
move up to the National Development Team and the National Team.
Together, the two camps provide a continuium to identify promising
young
shooters, introduce them to International Disciplines and to the
system and
develop them so that they can represent the United States successfully
competing
at National and World levels.
It looks like 2004 will be a good year for International Shotgun
Sports.