Hot shots Young shooters compete in Junior Olympics
Michael Smith/Boomerang Staff
Competitive shooting rewards the opposite skills than football or hockey do. Naked aggression, unrestrained passion and confrontation won’t land a shooter a spot in the Junior Olympics. Fortunately, five Laramie 4-H shooters had the necessary calm and poise to compete at the Wyoming State Rifle Junior Olympics Championships.
“These kids have to have a higher dedication and higher desire than the average kid,” Roy Kern, volunteer coordinator of the Wyoming 4-H shooting program said. “You can’t really push a kid to get his own desire.”
Desire has propelled Dustin Chesebro, Tracy Dunn, Carson Schilt, Chase Woirhaye and Beth Wood past the basic 4-H shooting sports program and onto the precision team and into the Junior Olympics.
The competition was held at the University of Wyoming and drew 21 shooters from across the state. In the male air rifle category Schilt placed second in the match, Woirhaye won first place in the 18 to 20 division and Chesebro placed second in the 15 to 17 division. In female air rifle, Dunn was third in the match and Wood shot better than her personal goal.
“It’s a great stress relief. It lets me be myself. I can focus only on shooting,” Wood said. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world to work that hard and then shoot your goal. It’s great.”
The skills of slowing mind and body, mastering breathing and focusing on accuracy and discipline were all cited as benefits to a sport that often falls through the cracks of the mainstream.
“It’s really tough to teach a kid to relax and concentrate and get his body movement as slow as possible. It builds up their mind and gets them into concentrating,” Kern said. “You can just about tell the way a kid shoots what his grades will be. They match up.”
“I guess I’ve never been into ball sports, but (through shooting) I’ve gained a lot of patience and self discipline, and it’s lots of fun,” Woirhaye said.
For all of the mental serenity and acuity the pressure of a big match can unnerve even the most seasoned shooter. Dunn said that the stress of competition brings out the best in some shooters, however.
“Some people do their best under match pressure because they have to focus and concentrate,” Tracy Dunn said.
There are also substantial benefits to mastering shooting as a sport. All five of the 4-Hers are also big game hunters, and they said that practicing and competing on the precision team has made them better hunters.
“It’s helped me with my hunting. Whenever I pick up a gun now, I automatically know what to do,” Schilt said.
Shooters also can earn college scholarships and compete at the college level. Kern said that helping to get the team members into college with scholarships is one of the most gratifying parts of being a shooting instructor.
Similarly, teaching students to be responsible, conscientious gun owners and users should be paramount.
“If all we’re doing is teaching kids to pull a trigger to hit the target, we’re not doing our job. We’re failing if we don’t teach ethics and what I like to call the three “R’s” — responsibility, respect and restraint,” Kern said.
“You learn that guns can be dangerous in all cases and when you get older you can go out with your family hunting or shooting,” Chesebro said.
