At their new shooting grounds off Hwy 2834, the 4-H Scholastic Shooting Sports Club is practicing for nationals.

After taking 3rd in the state, Duncan Taylor, Davis Jackson, Matt Thomas, Will Jackson, and Zach Crisp (not pictured) will compete at nationals on August 4 and 5 in Sparta, Illinois, at the largest trap shooting event in the world.

Last year at the Grand American the team competed against 1,600 kids from 38 states, and they finished 9th. Coaches Rick Jackson and David Walker are hoping for an even better showing at nationals this year.

“The whole concept is a team sport,” said Walker. “It’s so hard to get a team to gel” but these boys have been shooting together for four years.

The team competes at the varsity level, against other students in grades 9 through 12. Each man will shoot his best out of 200, with a perfect team score of 1,000.

The team and coaches have been practicing every Tuesday since May at the Twin Silos shooting grounds, named after the landmark silos set behind the field, for the approaching contests and 4-H shoot in September.

Twin Silos 4-H and Scholastic Shooting grounds houses two full trap fields and a skeet shooting area. It was built last year through a $50,000 state grant. This year was the first full year the team has utilized the complex.

“With this facility, I see bigger and better things coming in the future (for Shooting Sports),” Walker said.

The best of these young shooters could be selected to attend an Olympic development camp in Colorado Springs, and some will go to compete at the collegiate level.

The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), for youths in grades 12 and under, is a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation managed in partnership with the national governing bodies for shooting sports: USA Shooting, Amateur Trapshooting Association, National Skeet Shooting Association and National Sporting Clays Association. For more information, visit www.nssf.org/sctp.

For more information about Union County 4-H Shooting Sports and how to donate, please contact Lynda D. Jackson at 270-952-0612.