Teens
Take Shot at Olympic Dreams
U.S. Coaches
Evaluate Young Talent at NSSF-Sponsored Camp
U.S. OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER, Colorado Springs,
Colo.ŻEighteen young trap and skeet shooters from 11 states
are a step closer to their Olympic dreams, after four days of
intensive coaching and evaluation at the U.S. Olympic Training
Center.
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Click
here for high-resolution photos of all of this
year's Junior Olympic Development Camp attendees.
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The athletes were selected by the National
Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to attend this year's U.S.
Junior Olympic Development Camp. All were among the top
talents in NSSF's Scholastic Clay Target Program, a national
youth shooting league with nearly 10,000 students competing in
2007. Selection involved an application and interview
process.
Shooters attending the camp, which concluded
Aug. 26, included:
Tim Baker, 18, La Porte,
Ind.
Justin Black, 16, Las Vegas, Nev.
Tanner Brooks,
16, Walkerton, Ind.
Morgan Craft, 14, Hughesville,
Pa.
Matt Fountain, 15, New Albany, Pa.
Owen Harris, 17,
Collierville, Tenn.
Jonathan Kacmarcik, 18, Fayetteville,
N.C.
Grant Meyer, 16, Carleton, Mich.
Alik Miller, 17,
Rochester, N.Y.
Kimberly Peters, 17, Surprise,
Ariz.
Cory Smith, 16, Dandridge, Tenn.
Daniel Tate, 16,
Ione, Calif.
Austin Tischler, 17, Sparks, Nev.
Clarence
Van Camp, 17, Marysville, Mich.
Garrett Walters, 15, Burr
Oak, Mich.
Collin Wietfeldt, 16, Hemlock, Mich.
Brittany
Wright, 15, Washburn, Mo.
Print Zutavern, 15, Broken Bow,
Neb.
NSSF sponsored a portion of the camp costs. USA
Shooting, the national governing body for Olympic shooting
sports, was a major partner.
At the camp, athletes
honed their skills in the international style of skeet and
trap shooting with U.S. Olympic shotgun coach Lloyd Woodhouse
and his staff.
"Without a doubt there are potential,
future Olympians at this camp. I've picked up several team
members here through the years," said Woodhouse. "Certainly
not all will care to continue the international style of
shotgunning because it is so difficult and so challenging. But
this is how we find those athletes who are willing to dedicate
themselves to the training it takes to excel in this
sport."
The national coach for over 20 years, Woodhouse
knows how to spot emerging talent and get the most from his
athletes in big matches. Olympic shooting includes rifle,
pistol and shotgun events, and of the past nine shooting
medals won by the U.S., six were by Woodhouse-coached shotgun
shooters.
Daily training at the Junior Olympic
Development Camp starts early and goes late. Most of the day
is spent at the U.S. Olympic Shooting Park at Fort Carson.
Skeet and trap shooters split into separate groups to work
with coaches who specialize in those sports. Various drills
help shooters fine-tune skills and, at the same time, help
coaches identify athletes with special aptitude as well as
attitude. Evening classroom work teaches goal setting, team
structure, physical and mental preparation for high-level
competition, and much more.
The young shooters were
housed in the athlete dormitories and fed in the athlete
cafeteria alongside scores of other Olympic hopefuls from many
different sports. With the 2008 games in Beijing now less than
a year away, the training center also buzzed with seasoned
Olympic veterans, including previous medal winners.
Top
U.S. shooters in both trap and skeet also met with camp
attendees.
Since its inception seven years ago, NSSF's
Scholastic Clay Target Program has grown rapidly.
Participation by students in grades 12 and under increased
nearly 20 percent, with youth competitions in trap, skeet or
sporting clays held in over 40 states, in just the past
year.
Woodhouse said, "I've not observed any other
shooting sports program that touches so many young people in
this country. I don't know of anything that even comes close.
It's just incredible. It's the greatest program that I can
think of in the shooting world."
He added, "the young
people selected for these camps are the highest caliber of
young people that I've ever encountered," but making Olympic
dreams come true is a special challenge.
"It's a long
road. To train to be a world-class athlete is very hard work.
You have to be willing to give up things that your peers are
enjoying. Your classmates may be going to a prom, but you have
to be willing to miss out in order to do that extra bit of
training, extra shooting practice, extra eye exercises. You
must be willing to do countless little things that might seem
insignificant, because it is always the seemingly
insignificant things that come together to make a champion,"
said Woodhouse.
Zach Snow of NSSF said, "It's only a
matter of time before we see a Scholastic Clay Target Program
shooter on the Olympic medals stand representing our sport and
our nation. In fact, several alumni of our program are now
among the top contenders for Beijing."
Nine volunteer
coaches from the Scholastic Clay Target Program also attended
the camp to learn advanced skills in coaching shooting sports.
Selected coaches included:
Mike Bonner, Cave Creek,
Ariz.
Tiffany Hester, Sublette, Kan.
Mike Hughes,
Manchester, Mich.
Hays Gilstrap, Scottsdale,
Ariz.
Russell James, Fort Worth, Texas
John Landry,
Jeanerette, La.
Ashley Lynch, Phoenix, Ariz.
Steven
McLennan, Holden, Mo.
Guy Thomas, Carlisle,
Iowa
NSSF, formed in 1961, is the non-profit trade
association for the firearms industry. NSSF directs a variety
of outreach programs to promote greater participation and a
better understanding of shooting sports, emphasizing safe and
responsible ownership of firearms. For more information, visit
www.nssf.org.
