4-H Shooting Sports and its Importance
By: Sadie Smith
In 4-H there have been many programs that encourage kids and others to participate in hands-on events that teach them lifelong skills. One of these programs that Tom Davidson founded in 1980 was the Shooting Sports Program. The Shooting Sports Program first started in the state of Texas
and later spread throughout the nation, creating the National Shooting Sports Program. This program was created in hopes of promoting youth development, and teaching kids responsibility, confidence, and leadership in oneself. Alongside this, it teaches kids how to safely and responsibly handle firearms, archery equipment, and marksmanship (a person’s ability to shoot a firearm accurately). Due to this, it has brought in youth from the ages 8-18 also known as grades 3rd-12th to participate in events thrown throughout the year.
Because of the Shooting Sports Program, states from all over the nation throw competitions throughout the year that kids can participate in. These competitions are managed by volunteers that have undergone mandatory training and certification as a coach for Shooting Sports. These volunteers are called adult leaders and are trained in specific shooting disciplines. Thus said, these competitions are safe and allow youth to interact with others who share the same interests, along with giving them the opportunity to show self-worth in their capabilities. An event that can be used as an example of these competitions is the annual Texas Shooting Sports State Games. Texas Shooting Sports State Games come along each year during the middle of July. This competition incorporates both archery and firearm events. The archery events include Mod-600, 3-D, Wand, Field, and Clout. While with firearms they have events for Air Pistol, Air Pistol Silhouette, CMP Smallbore Rifle, Smallbore Rifle Silhouette, Hunting Live Fire- Smallbore Rifle, and Hunting Live Fire-MZ Rifle. These events allow kids to compete for a medal in each category, creating a fun and friendly contest for everybody.
Thus, moving on, the Shooting Sports Program also provides kids the opportunity to become ambassadors for their state. Shooting Sports ambassadors are in charge of promoting youth to try out a shooting sports event safely. To add onto this ambassadors also provide answers to questions about the program if anybody asks to help better inform them on what Shooting Sports is all about. Due to this, ambassadors go around participating in events to better teach people about the program whether it be in news articles, radio shows, local events, etc. These events allow ambassadors to promote something they are passionate about and allow them to meet people throughout their state and make friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.
With all said, if there are any questions about the program, go to https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/ for more information.
