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Starting a College Marksmanship Club

Starting a College Marksmanship Club

AmmoLand Gun News

Manasquan, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Practicing marksmanship in college offers students of both genders the opportunity to engage in a fun and exciting activity while learning important lessons about gun safety and use.

It can also be a way for college students to earn credits for college courses and potentially even scholarships for their academic endeavors. Students at schools across the country from smaller junior colleges to Ivy League institutions are taking part in marksmanship courses, clubs, and tournaments.

While marksmanship programs are being offered in an increasing number of college and university settings, they aren’t as common as other extracurricular activities. Schools with ROTC programs might offer classes on gun safety and basics of shooting, but this isn’t true throughout the country.

In some cases, students interested in marksmanship will need to organize their own clubs in order to experience the many benefits they offer.

College shooting clubs can teach more young people about firearm safety.

Starting a college marksmanship program might seem daunting for students without a program on their campus, but there are resources available to help them out. Interested students can apply for grants through the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade organization for the firearms and shooting sports industries. They established the Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative grant program in 2009, which provides up to $300,000 in grants annually to accredited colleges and universities across the United States to create new or expand existing shooting programs.

Grants have been used by Jacksonville University to start a target shooting club, by Trinity College and Schreiner University to fund seminars for beginners on gun safety and target practice, and to create the New England Collegiate Clay Target Championship, featuring teams from Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Tufts.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation recommends students who want to launch a marksmanship or target shooting club at their school work closely with the safety or risk management office early in the development process. It’s a requirement for receiving funding through the Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative and an important step to ensure safety and institutional support.

With increased emphasis on gun safety in the wake of shooting incidents at several campuses in recent years, students will want to make sure their shooting clubs are following all campus rules and regulations on weapons before proceeding. Working closely with safety officers on campus and making them aware that marksmanship programs will teach safety and prevent gun problems can create partnerships that will help as programs go through the approval process with the school.

Students will also want to consider which students to address with their initial recruitment efforts. Launching a club as a recreational activity rather than a competitive endeavor will create a broader pool of potential participants. Programs will also need to find a faculty or staff member to serve as liaison with the school. The school’s ROTC is a good place to start. Another option is asking local firing ranges if they know of any faculty or staff from the school who are members.

While marksmanship programs aren’t for every college student, they can offer many benefits for those already interested in target shooting or who want to learn more about this activity. Skilled students can compete in tournaments that offer significant scholarships and other awards, but students at all levels interested in target shooting and gun safety can benefit from collegiate shooting clubs.

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Gander Mountain Store in South Charleston to Host Archery in the Schools Program Training in November

West Virginia DNR

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – -(Ammoland.com)- The next West Virginia Archery in the Schools (AIS) Program instructor training session will be Nov. 29 – 30 at the Gander Mountain Store in South Charleston, according to Krista Snodgrass, AIS program coordinator for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The registration deadline is Nov. 11.

The AIS Program is the DNR’s largest and fastest growing educational program. Since its inception in 2004, approximately 60,000 students have been introduced to archery as part of their physical education (PE) classes in 248 West Virginia schools. The program teaches Olympic-style target archery in both public and private schools’ Grade 4-12 PE classes.

“In order for schools to have the AIS Program, they must first have a certified instructor – preferably a PE instructor or coach who will introduce as many kids as possible to the joys of target archery,” said Snodgrass. “The DNR offers about four trainings a year; and, because class size is limited to 25, training slots are highly sought after. To ensure a training slot, we encourage PE teachers and coaches to apply as soon as possible.”

As an added incentive, teachers taking this training may be eligible to receive Continuing Education Hours.

This training will cost $25 for all school employees and $50 for non-school employees. This fee will be paid to “WV DNR – Archery in the Schools Program” by check, money order, or exact currency during the first morning of the training.

To register for the AIS training at the Gander Mountain Store in South Charleston please call Krista Snodgrass at 304-558-2771; Krista.R.Snodgrass@wv.gov

For general information on the AIS Program, visit the DNR’s AIS website at www.wvdnr.gov/archery.

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