NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation is passing its very successful Scholastic Clay Target Program to a newly formed foundation.
With SCTP now of a size and scope beyond the NSSF’s mission parameters, responsibility for its continuation and development is being entrusted to the newly formed Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF).
In terms of sheer numbers of participants, the eight-year-old Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) has been the most successful youth-oriented program in National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) history. Nearly 30,000 middle and high school students have participated in the program, which includes trap, skeet and sporting clays competitions.
“We are confident that this transfer of responsibility to the SSSF will be in the best interest of the program to serve its youth participants and coaches,” commented NSSF President Steve Sanetti. “The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation has the talent and experience to assure the continued success of this vitally important program. NSSF is proud to now be included as one of many sponsors of SCTP.”
The new foundation will be responsible for all aspects of SCTP, including participant registration, coaches, state coordinators, state and national championships, promotion, communications, Web sites, public relations and growth strategies.
SSSF is headed by Dr. Bill Christy, who has extensive experience in the organized youth shooting arena. His involvement in youth shooting dates back to the mid-sixties, when he was one of the founders of the groundbreaking 4-H Shooting Program. Since then, he has taught hundreds of firearms instructors, and coached a number of youth clay target teams. He has also been actively involved as a consultant for SCTP since its inception in 2000.
“SSSF’s objective,” said Christy, “is to build on the foundation of NSSF’s success with SCTP. We will focus on providing a safe and enjoyable experience for developing young people into responsible citizens through the discipline and culture of the shooting sports. With the help of our many dedicated volunteers, we hope to create a new dimension of youth involvement in SCTP that will forever live as the NSSF’s legacy.”
Transition of the program to the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation will be accomplished over the next several months. SSSF will become the official administrator of SCTP on Jan. 1, 2009.
