SHOOTING IS MY OLYMPIC SPORT

[USA Shooting]

http://www.usashooting.org/news/2016/1/ ... mpic-sport

USA Shooting Introduces New Campaign to Rally Shooting Sports Community: SHOOTING IS MY OLYMPIC SPORT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (January 14, 2016)
With Rio in Sight, USA Shooting is launching a brand awareness campaign that it hopes will rally the entire shooting sports community now and in the future, asking members, fans and enthusiasts to declare shooting as their Olympic sport.

The campaign will consist of a two-phase engagement approach for fans and member clubs. The first phase will concentrate on connecting with all shooting sports enthusiasts by providing them with exclusive content and access, bringing together millions of like-minded individuals to cheer for ONE TEAM. The second phase will create greater synergy and enthusiasm within USA Shooting’s 400 member clubs through a membership drive and engagement effort.

“This campaign is an effort to better connect with our shooting sports industry,” said USA Shooting CEO Robert Mitchell. “The Olympic year provides the opportunity to rally around, become engaged and enjoy the Olympic experience. We have a great story to tell with outstanding athletes and proven success worthy of greater recognition.”

Accompanying the campaign is a newly-branded “Shooting is My Olympic Sport” logo the organization hopes the shooting sports industry will proudly embrace. Created to foster enthusiasm, patriotism and pride among USA Shooting team members, supporters and fans, the overall badge format gives the design a strong and forceful look and feel, while the central circular graphic creates a visual “unity” of the two distinct types of targets used in our sport. This symbolizes the “blending to oneness” among the disciplines and supporters of our sport. Strong, patriotic blue and red colors have been used within the logo, in combination with a steel gray shield. A horizontal flag strip wraps around the badge in a literal and symbolic manner. The two type fonts selected for use in the main badge text are contemporary and inviting, with a small touch of a “throwback” tone in a nod to the proud history of the organization. A Rio-focused tagline – “One Team in 2016”–has also been included below the target graphic, which customizes and focuses the message toward the upcoming Rio Olympic & Paralympic Games. An alternative Paralympic logo has been created as well to help spotlight athletes in the Paralympic discipline.

Despite the vast array of opportunity to compete and showcase skills valued by gun owners, the gold standard of marksmanship resides with the USA Shooting Team and their pursuit of Olympic and Paralympic medals. The tenets that have built the shooting sports into what it is today evoke passion, advocacy, nationalistic pride and tradition. There is no greater representative of those values for the shooting sports than the members of America’s Shooting Team. The USA Shooting Team carries on the proud tradition of medal-winning success and shooting skill unlike any other country in the world, exemplifying the greatest defense possible for protecting, preserving and promoting the shooting sports legacy of this country.

Beyond the headlines, the rhetoric and constitutional battles the common thread among gun enthusiasts is that they all simply love to shoot. No matter your age, sex or ethnicity, our bond is the joy we extract by pulling a trigger whether for sport, competition, meat or simply for fun. Thus, why declaring shooting as your Olympic sport is the unifying message this year.

Representing a sport misunderstood, underappreciated and overlooked, USA Shooting athletes don the Red, White and Blue across this country and around the globe in pursuit of Olympic and Paralympic glory. This pursuit happens in the shadows of a society with a deep-seated professional sports loyalty and an Olympic enthusiasm with a far greater attraction to swimmers, runners and gymnasts.

USA Shooting Team athletes won’t be included in the glitzy pre-Games promotions from sponsors nor the television networks, magazines and newspapers. In all likelihood you won’t find them on the primetime telecasts during the Games, nor will they be the front-page story.

The bottom line is this: Our athletes are the story. Collectively they represent everything that we love about the shooting sports. Their story can’t be told enough and as we cheer them on along their Road to Rio and beyond, we hope the shooting sports community will take the time to recognize what opportunity this next year provides to help change the narrative and to give the gun culture something to be proud of and stand behind: One Team in 2016. Go USA!



Categories: Press Releases
National Shooting Sports Foundation

[Misny]

It is important for the athletes to appreciate who it is who supports them. Many of us are ardent supporters of the 2nd Amendment and oppose the President's executive orders regarding gun control.

[nglitz]

Any plans for making that logo into a sticker?

[ChipEck]

I looked at the site and do not see any merchandise with that logo ( hats, shirts, etc.). If you start selling merchandise that will get the message out there quicker and can generate some revenue.

Chip

[toz35m]

I agree get some merchandise, sticker, polo shirts and such.

[Maxicooper]

Video documentary on junior rifle shooting, Rifle: The Sport https://youtu.be/SuVnffH4Gco

"Shooting is our Olympic Sport"

[SamEEE]

I am afraid that your marketing is somewhat preaching to the converted.

You need to catch your market in serendipitous ways. With Social this can be as easy as reaching an audience through chance by established platforms such as YouTube, or Blogspot, or Twitter, Instagram.

Food for thought?

[conradin]

Probably better if you add "target" in front of "shooting".

[nglitz]

Probably better if you add "target" in front of "shooting".

Is there another kind of shooting in the Olympics?

[rmca]

Probably better if you add "target" in front of "shooting".

Is there another kind of shooting in the Olympics?

Does the general public know that?

Most don't even know that shooting is an Olympic sport.
I would agree with conradin on this.

[nglitz]

Then let's say "target shooting at paper and clay and maybe just electronic, inorganic, gluten free, bran muffin based targets. No animals were inconvenienced by the noise of gunpowder burning or even the lovely smell of an expended shotgun shells"

Hint: the antis will never love us, never give us any credibility or media exposure, no matter how politically correct we try to be, no matter how TV friendly our finals try to be or even how restricted our blinders are so they can better see our lovely faces.

We're shooters. Don't make excuses.

[rmca]

I'm not making escuses, nor am I trying to convince the anti gun crowd, but this should be aimed to those in the middle.
You'll never convince the antis but you can gain simpaty with those in between and give shooters another argument in this never ending fight for your rights.

[jenrick]

I agree that adding "target" before shooting might be helpful. Down here in Texas if you shoot you are either hunting, plinking, or shooting one of the "action" type competitions. If you said shotgun shooting, well then at least they'd add trap and skeet to the list of possibilities. People down here know what benchrest shooting is, but haven't a clue on any of the Olympic pistol disciplines. Air guns are something you by you kid for their 5th birthday so they can move up to .22's the next year. Adding "target" will give people a rough idea of what you're talking about, and possibly make them intrigued.

-Jenrick

[conradin]

Shooting is not specific enough. This is not about the anti. This is about the uninformed. Most people do not know what a gun is and what shooting actually means other than movies...if at all, or they mix it up: putting a shotgun shell into a handgun and equates to killing children. Or they may have never seen a target in their lives...except an archery one. Some may equates "Shooting is an Olympic sport" as a tongue in cheek...simply because it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to imagine a gun can be tied to the Olympics in any form except the starting pistol (which is also not what they imagine anymore) Target Shooting specify what we are shooting at, and what we are doing.

[jenrick]

I work with several guys who shoot at the top levels of USPSA (or IDPA, I can't keep them straight). They knew there was shooting in the Olympics, but really didn't know anything about it all. To quote one of them "too slow. Not interested." That's fine, to each there own right? I finally got my FAS in so, so that I can start working on learning Rapid Fire, and suddenly I have a couple of guys hovering over my shoulder asking what it's all about. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and they're streaming ISSF videos at lunch of Rapid Fire. To quote the same guy "That's just really cool!" Even people involved in the shooting sports have no idea what all is an Olympic or ISSF discipline, and having a little more specificity couldn't hurt.

-Jenrick