NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation has launched a new grant program to strengthen existing target shooting programs and help form new collegiate club and varsity teams in shotgun, rifle and pistol.
Collegiate target shooting comprises activity, or club, teams through full-blown varsity programs. “The NSSF Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative should breathe life into underfunded activity teams that would have to go scratching for funds in order to compete with recognized varsity teams,” said Bruce Hering, coach at Southeastern Illinois College. “This grant program looms big for those schools.”
Participation in college shotgun sports has grown in recent years. Between 2006 and 2009, the annual ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships has seen a 40 percent increase in participation, with 37 schools and 337 clay target shooters competing in last spring’s championship. Much of the increase can be directly attributed to high school students graduating from programs like the NSSF-developed Scholastic Clay Target Program and 4-H, and then continuing to compete in college.
A total of $75,000 will be made available to qualifying colleges or universities to start new competitive shooting teams or support existing teams. Each grant recipient will receive up to $7,500 in matching funds from NSSF.
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