2004 National Youth Shooting Sports Leadership Conference

[Patrick Haynes]

Hi folks.

Of late, I've seen alot of posts about the decline of our sport, or why don't groups work together or what is being done on a (US) national level.

I've spent the last week at Camp Perry for the 2004 National Youth Shooting Sports Leadership Conference, hosted by the Civilian Marksmanship Program, USA Shooting and the National Rifle Association.

In a nutshell, the program was great. Coaches and state junior program directors gathered to learn more about the sport and how they could better deliver shooting programs. Of the many "internet" names that you'll be familiar with, Don Williams and Scott Pilkington were in attendance. Hosts and speakers present included Gary Anderson (CMP Director and Olympic Gold Medalist), Mike Anti (Olympic Silver Medalist), David Johnson (USA Olympic Rifle Coach) and Dr. Dan Durben (USA Paralympic Shooting Coach).

From a coaching perspective, Basic and Advanced Coaching (technical for pistol, high power rifle and smallbore rifle) curriculum was available, as well as the American Sports Education Program (ASEP) Coaching Principles Course. HQ Moody and Marcus Raab gave a great presentation on how to be a better coach. (Personally, I felt that it should be put on video and made available to anyone who asks.) Overviews of the Athens' Olympic and Paralympic Games were presented. Mike Anti talked about his personal experiences and development as a shooter. David Johnson talked about his Olympics, the experiences of Matt Emmons and how the USA team prepared for the Games.

There was a strong emphasis on content for the rifle folks (Camp Perry/CMP: makes sense.) Many of the classes were focussed on smallbore rifle, air rifle, or BB gun. There was talk though of the pistol program and how USA Shooting wanted to encourage the development of juniors to eventually fill the Olympic team's ranks. The youth air rifle and smallbore programs throughout the USA are relatively strong, and we saw the results at Athens' this year. The pistol program doesn't have the same foundation and they feel this produces a gap at the Olympic tryouts. As a result, the drive for juniors is underway. To assist this program, USA Shooting has come up with an innovative program to get Tau 7 Junior Air Pistols out to interested clubs. You can purchase them outright at a very attractive price, or if you are buying a few for your program, you can buy them on time after making an inital partial payment. Subsequent payments are spread out over the next 2 years. Speak with Martin Edmondson (http://www.usashooting.com/news/NewsView.cfm?id=217) for more details.

Being held at Camp Perry at the headquarters of the CMP, there was a Garand Match. Try to supress your chuckles at the vision of me, standing, hoisting a .30-06 Garand and kinda pointing it 200 yards downrange. In my defence, I hit it more than I missed solely because of some great coaching (Thanks, Tom!) Oh: before the match, everyone out on the range sang "Happy Birthday": Gary Anderson turned 65 that very day.

While it was a very full week, it was well worth it. I learned a great deal and enjoyed sharing knowledge with other coaches. If you get the chance to participate, you won't be disappointed. Watch the NRA Coaching website (http://www.nrahq.org/education/training ... chools.asp) for more upcoming events.

Good shooting!
Patrick
TargetShooting Canada

[WRC177]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your exerience at the conference with us. I often wondered what it was all about.

[durant7]

Great write up! Wish I could have made it. I know of three folks from Texas who went but have not heard anything from them as of yet. Any way that non attendees can benefit from what was shared? Your review just makes me wonder what we all missed.

Jud

[Patrick]

As I headed out the door, I overheard that several of the presentations will be made available on CD to conference attendees. Perhaps if you contacted the CMP, they would send you a copy? The material was quite interesting.

Patrick