My local shooting club youth program has gone from a training ground for new shooters to a youth come out a plink for the day program.
New shooters are also being graded on their performance by how well they shoot targets from a bench rest position.
The new director of the program is also using the Winchester/NRA shooting program to award tabs and metals to new shooters. He is also telling the parents of these new shooters that by earning these Winchester/NRA tabs and metals will get them into a good College when the time comes. Our Club has three NRA shooting events that the young shooters could be involved in, but he does not participate in any. We have High-power XTC, Small Bore Prone and 3-Position as well Conventional NRA Pistol.
Has something changed, last I knew college coaches were looking at the potential college shooter based upon their shooting record from competing in either NRA or USAS tournaments and what classification they held.
Is this information that the youth director is telling the parents correct.
RJ
Youth College Program Question
Moderators: pilkguns, Marcus, m1963
In my experience (little) I see that collegiate coaches will give any shooter a fair look ... even the 4-H ones (grin).
In rifle, they look at two primary events:
1) 60 shot International style (standing) air rifle
2) 3x20 50ft or 50yd/m Smallbore rifle
to some extent also:
3-Position Air rifle ... focusing mainly on the precision side of the event
Also, how well do they fit into a "team" environment ...
Most of these events are shot in some manner in all of the governing bodies: CMP, USA Shooting & NRA.
What counts are scores and work ethic ... not necessarily the baubles.
Brad Donoho (CMP) has written a superb series of articles on this subject for the "On The Mark" magazine ..... link here:
http://www.odcmp.com/Comm/OTM.htm
Mike Theimer (USA Shooting JR Director & former Olympian) has also done an article and has a section of the USAS website:
http://www.usashooting.org/membership/youth-programs
There are not a whole lot of "slots" in the intercollegiate rifle, pistol & shotgun programs (only Rifle is an NCAA sport) and coaches are not only looking in the USA for talent, but on the world stage as a whole.
In my summary of the comment: The coach is not telling the whole story only a small part, but that small part may be enough to get all the "players" working together.
It is lots of work to get selected for a collegiate scholarship and in order to do so a shooter/parent/school/coach team must all work together to plan and achieve this goal.
In rifle, they look at two primary events:
1) 60 shot International style (standing) air rifle
2) 3x20 50ft or 50yd/m Smallbore rifle
to some extent also:
3-Position Air rifle ... focusing mainly on the precision side of the event
Also, how well do they fit into a "team" environment ...
Most of these events are shot in some manner in all of the governing bodies: CMP, USA Shooting & NRA.
What counts are scores and work ethic ... not necessarily the baubles.
Brad Donoho (CMP) has written a superb series of articles on this subject for the "On The Mark" magazine ..... link here:
http://www.odcmp.com/Comm/OTM.htm
Mike Theimer (USA Shooting JR Director & former Olympian) has also done an article and has a section of the USAS website:
http://www.usashooting.org/membership/youth-programs
There are not a whole lot of "slots" in the intercollegiate rifle, pistol & shotgun programs (only Rifle is an NCAA sport) and coaches are not only looking in the USA for talent, but on the world stage as a whole.
In my summary of the comment: The coach is not telling the whole story only a small part, but that small part may be enough to get all the "players" working together.
It is lots of work to get selected for a collegiate scholarship and in order to do so a shooter/parent/school/coach team must all work together to plan and achieve this goal.
I really doubt that a college will use the Winchester/NRA rating to determine the suitability of a shooting athlete for their program.
Looking at this from the program description: http://mqp.nra.org/
Looking at this from the program description: http://mqp.nra.org/
I would think that college coaches are looking for masters and experts that have entered into should to shoulder competition. Especially in USA Shooting selection level matches and or NRA sectionals/regionals at a minimum.The courses of fire in the qualification program are designed to take shooters from beginning skill levels (Pro-Marksman, Marksman) through intermediate levels (Marksman 1st Class, Sharpshooter, Expert) up to a nationally recognized skill level -- Distinguished Expert -- the pinnacle of the program. By the time a shooter completes the Distinguished Expert rating, he or she has attained a proficiency level paralleling that of a competitively classified Sharpshooter.
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bpscCheney
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:11 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
I know that being at the top of Sharpshooter in SBR will get you looked at by some colleges but if you're below Expert in AR forget it. Expert isn't even competitive at the top of collegiate shooting either, they're all ranked Masters (At least the ones who win events)
Edit: Not the NRA/Winchester system, the 'real' NRA system.
Edit: Not the NRA/Winchester system, the 'real' NRA system.
I think Mr. Martin outlined it well. In our 4-H program for the shooters that are interested in a possible collegiate career I incorporate the 4-H/USAS Passport program instead of the NRA/Winchester. It gets them used to Olympic Offhand and 3P, they start shooting USAS PTO's which starts their records of shooting events and gives them goals to achieve. It's a transitional program so the goal is to grow from grass roots fundamentals program to more formal competitive level. Usually when they hit Silver or Gold star they are pretty competitive on a national level and well on there way to score consistency colleges seem to be looking for.
Another very good indicator is the USA Shooting Junior Olympics.
If you are a shooter between the ages of 15 & 20 (J1-J2) you should have the goal of an invite to the JOs in April. 14 & below if you can get an invite and shoot in the middle of the J2's (or above!) you're doing very well.
(go to the following link for the invite lists & scores)
http://www.usashooting.org/7-events/njosc
You are really in a good spot if you are invited BOTH in Air and Smallbore.
You don't have to win the thing (nice though!) ... remember some of the J1s are currently collegiate shooters, getting the invite and shooting upper half will certainly get you a good look from a collegiate coach.
Another thing to know (and I don't have all the info and numbers on this) is that very few (if any) collegiate shooters are on a "full ride" for shooting. Each school only has 3.6 "equivalent" scholarships to distribute to their programs ... that can easily end being split up, in various percentages, to 10-12 shooters in some of the larger programs. The academic side is VERY (and MORE) important. If you are not a good student, and end up academically ineligible during the year, you are of no use to that shooting program that has "paid" you part of those 3.6 scholarships.
If you are a shooter between the ages of 15 & 20 (J1-J2) you should have the goal of an invite to the JOs in April. 14 & below if you can get an invite and shoot in the middle of the J2's (or above!) you're doing very well.
(go to the following link for the invite lists & scores)
http://www.usashooting.org/7-events/njosc
You are really in a good spot if you are invited BOTH in Air and Smallbore.
You don't have to win the thing (nice though!) ... remember some of the J1s are currently collegiate shooters, getting the invite and shooting upper half will certainly get you a good look from a collegiate coach.
Another thing to know (and I don't have all the info and numbers on this) is that very few (if any) collegiate shooters are on a "full ride" for shooting. Each school only has 3.6 "equivalent" scholarships to distribute to their programs ... that can easily end being split up, in various percentages, to 10-12 shooters in some of the larger programs. The academic side is VERY (and MORE) important. If you are not a good student, and end up academically ineligible during the year, you are of no use to that shooting program that has "paid" you part of those 3.6 scholarships.
This would of course depend on what he is implying: If he is implying that by going through this qualification program these shooters will some how be in the hunt for an athletic shooting scholarship at one of the NCAA shooting schools he is either misinformed, deluded or openly lying. There are very few of those scholarships to be had and those who have stated that coaches are going to use them to recruit shooters with portfolios that show proven abilities on the collegiate courses of fire are spot on.He is also telling the parents of these new shooters that by earning these Winchester/NRA tabs and metals will get them into a good College when the time comes.
If on the other hand he is implying that by participating in the program and seeing it out to its completion that this might help the juniors fill in some of the all important extra curricular activities when applying to college, he may have a point, proof that they participated in something and saw it through to the end might help get a student admitted to a college but not much more than that. A club coach may be able to put in a word of interest to an admissions board but will not really have any sway nor any scholarships to offer.
'Dude