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4-H Shooting Sports Help Youths Gain Skills
By
Laura Skillman
 ELKTON,
Ky., (Oct. 4, 2006) – Catherine Lacy may be only 16, but that
didn’t stop her from becoming the women’s world champion in the
Remington Nitro 27 Handicap at the 2006 Grand American Amateur
Trapshooting Association Competition in Sparta, Ill.
Catherine, who put her skills to the test against people twice
her age, attributes that recent win and other successes in
trapshooting to the Todd County 4-H Shooting Sports Club. For
seven years, she has been a member of the shooting sports team,
learning safety, sportsmanship and shooting skills.
Catherine is just one example of how young people can learn
responsibility and gain leadership skills through the 4-H
shooting sports program. Many 4-H programs across the state
offer a shooting sports program. In Todd County, the program
began 12 years ago when Lee Ann McCuiston became the county’s
4-H youth development agent for the University of Kentucky
Cooperative Extension Service.
“In Todd County, we are mostly rural and we have a lot of people
out there hunting anyway, and shooting sports really emphasizes
safety. It teaches the children safety and responsibility in
handling a gun,” McCuiston said. “Sportsmanship and goal setting
also tie into this. It’s not all about winning. It’s about how
you get there. We really try to make sure that they have
positive attitudes. Sportsmanship and a positive attitude are
what are needed to get along in life.”
Catherine said she decided to give shooting sports a try after
Linda Cox, club leader, came to the school and invited students
to join 4-H and the shooting sports program.
“Daddy had an old shotgun and I shot at a can and then a dirt
pile,” she said. “It is different from everything else and I
just really like it. It’s something that I like to do on my own;
it’s not something I’ve been made to do. You get to meet all
kinds of people. Usually if people try it, they want to do it
again.”
 Trapshooting
has long been a part of club leader Cox’s life. The range used
for practice by the 4-H program was constructed on her family
farm. Cox and all shooting sports club leaders undergo a
training program prior to working with the youth.
“We stress safety first and then we work on accuracy,” she said.
“I do shoot, myself, but we have so many other people who are
more professional other than me, so we have them come and help
with the coaching. I’m an encourager.”
Cox said she was standing on the shooting line with Catherine on
one side and her son on the other when Lacy won the national
competition, defeating a longtime champion.
“It was a good day for me,” she said. “Of course, they both beat
me.”
Cox said she encourages all counties to consider having a
shooting sports program. If a youth is interested but his county
does not have a program, he can join a club in a neighboring
county that does have one.
“Not all kids are shaped to play football or basketball,” she
said. “In this sport, you can be small, you can be huge. We’ve
had them compete on crutches, and one year at the state
competition, a child in a wheelchair competed. It is just
wonderful.”
Catherine’s enthusiasm for the sport has gotten her father,
Perry, involved in trapshooting, and her mother, Sheila, travels
to the competitions as well.
“When she first came home and told me she wanted to shoot trap,
I didn’t know what trap was,” Perry Lacy said. “First time she
shot it, it scared her. Then she calmed down and we tried it
some more.”
Gradually, Catherine got better and better at the sport, which
involves a series of clay targets that are randomly thrown into
the air by a machine. The shooter never knows the direction of
the target until it is released into the air.
“The 4-H program is a great avenue for kids to learn how to
handle a firearm correctly, to be safe with it – out here safety
is the No. 1 goal for us – and for the kids to have a good
time,” Perry Lacy said. “It’s not all about the competition.”
The disciplines included in the 4-H shooting sports program are
shotgun (12 and 20 gauge); rifle (.22 cal. Bolt action, Air and
BB); pistol (Air and .22 cal.); muzzleloader (Rifle and Pistol);
archery (Compound Bare and Recurve, Bow Hunter and Target); and
hunter challenge. |
Contact: Lee Ann McCuiston, 270-265-5659 |
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service |
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