Cedar Falls – Iowa’s Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) state trapshooting championship event begins June 6 at the Iowa State Trapshooting Association home grounds just north of Cedar Falls.
Middle school and elementary aged athletes will begin the competition on Wednesday with high school athletes competing Thursday through Sunday. More than 630,000 clay targets will be fired at during the five days of competition by more than 2,600 youth from 117 Iowa teams.
This week’s trap championship event is the first culminating event to a season of trap, skeet and sporting clays competitions that started last fall where Iowa teams logged 800 competition events from Sept. 1 through the end of May. Iowa youth have fired at nearly 1.7 million clay targets in these local competitions alone.
Event Details
June 6 – Rookie and Intermediate Divisions (Grades 8 and under)
June 7 – Doubles and Handicap (i.e. added distance) Events, All Ages
June 8 through Sunday June 10 – High School Divisions
Iowa State Trapshooting Association Home Grounds
6138 W Cedar Wapsi Road, Cedar Falls
Event Program, Schedules and Results
Complete event program can be found at https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Law%20Enforcement/2018eprogram.pdf
Interactive squad schedules may be viewed by going to http://shot.sssfonline.com/shot/bin/comp/report/schedule.asp?id=1724 then navigating to the event you would like to see the squad schedule for.
Results leaderboards can be found at http://shot.sssfonline.com/shot/bin/comp/report/leaderboard.asp?id=1724
Scheduled Teams and Athlete Hometown List:
https://sssfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Iowa_State_Trapshoot_AthleteList_2018.xlsx
https://sssfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Iowa_State_Trapshoot_AthleteList_2018.pdf
The event is hosted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State Trapshooting Association.
How the Event Works
On each trapshooting field, athletes line up 16 yards away from a concrete house containing a mechanical clay target thrower. Clay targets flying about 42 mph are launched from the house at random angles when each competitor calls “Pull!”. Competitors fire one shot at each target and targets are scored “dead” (hit) or “lost” (missed). The competitor with the most “dead” targets wins. In SCTP competition there are both individual and team awards presented. Additional events include doubles trap where two targets are presented simultaneously and handicap trap where shooters fire at targets further away from the clay target thrower.
Most teams in Iowa begin practices in March and compete in dual, triangular and invitational meets throughout the spring. Teams are coached by adult volunteers who are certified through the Iowa DNR Basic Shotgun Coach certification program.
Why So Popular?
The Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program has grown from about 400 athletes in 2007 to nearly 4,000 today. Iowa’s program is the largest of the 42 participating states around country. There is no “bench” in the shooting sports - everyone gets to play regardless of athletic ability. The sport is also co-gender and accommodating to those with disabilities. Many Iowa schools offer varsity letters for trapshooting athletes requiring shooters to follow the same academic standards and good conduct policies as other student-athletes.
Are the Shooting Sports Safe?
According to the American Sports Data, Inc., shooting sports have some of the lowest occurrences of injury compared to other forms of recreation including all popular sports offered in schools today.
All youth athletes involved in SCTP competitions have been provided with extensive coaching in the safe and responsible use of firearms. During all practices and competitions, all firearms must be completely unloaded and carried with the action open unless the athlete is on the firing line and it is their turn to shoot. All activities are closely supervised by trained and responsible adult volunteer coaches.
Shooting sports and firearms safety education replaces curiosity and promotes respect and responsibility in the handling and use of firearms.