9 year Olds and sporting clays?

Claybuster said:
I would caution however to pick a time when the course is quiet and do not bring your youngster out to busy club competition where there would be other shooters waiting to shoot. I've seen people bring their kids out to competitions and while it's great to see young people engaged in the sport it can grate on nerves to be the third squad in line while dad goes over the finer points of a particular presentation.
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I think this is a polarizing issue that, unless explored seriously by the membership & executives of the various competitive clay organizations, has great potential to contribute to serious member retention problems. I recognize there are several perspectives on the issue, here's mine:

Last summer I drove for 8 hours on a special road trip with my then-11-year-old-daughter to attend the CNSCA National shoot. We were both pretty stoked and had spent a lot of time at the local range practicing, attending local shoots, and generally having a great time as I introduced my child to something that I love very much.

The shoot had a FITASK component; something she (and about 85% of the rest of the folks there) had never seen before. While working with her to make sure she's going to be safe in the hoop, I was pulled aside by some fellow squad members (mandatory random squadding) and berated for how inappropriate/unacceptable it is to have her there as it is, to their telling, totally throwing their concentration. My daughter saw this unfold and her sense of belonging was completely destroyed.

I am also a volunteer director for this organization with a specific assigned task that requires a lot of continual time investment and some specialized skills. But not for much longer as I now have difficulty finding the motivation to serve a membership that is more interested in showing the world how great they are rather than finding a way to help an 11-year-old girl safely enjoy their sport.

So it's with some sadness that I report the CNSCA is going to lose my volunteer effort as a director, as well as lose the 4 memberships of myself, my wife, and my two daughters. Why sad? We've made lots of friends within the organization and have many fond memories shooting together. I'll make sure we seek these folks out to shoot with them outside the competitive environment, and when my daughters are adults I've leave it to them to decide if they want to re-consider.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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Brobee said:
I think this is a polarizing issue that, unless explored seriously by the membership & executives of the various competitive clay organizations, has great potential to contribute to serious member retention problems. I recognize there are several perspectives on the issue, here's mine:

Last summer I drove for 8 hours on a special road trip with my then-11-year-old-daughter to attend the CNSCA National shoot. We were both pretty stoked and had spent a lot of time at the local range practicing, attending local shoots, and generally having a great time as I introduced my child to something that I love very much.

The shoot had a FITASK component; something she (and about 85% of the rest of the folks there) had never seen before. While working with her to make sure she's going to be safe in the hoop, I was pulled aside by some fellow squad members (mandatory random squadding) and berated for how inappropriate/unacceptable it is to have her there as it is, to their telling, totally throwing their concentration. My daughter saw this unfold and her sense of belonging was completely destroyed.

I am also a volunteer director for this organization with a specific assigned task that requires a lot of continual time investment and some specialized skills. But not for much longer as I now have difficulty finding the motivation to serve a membership that is more interested in showing the world how great they are rather than finding a way to help an 11-year-old girl safely enjoy their sport.

So it's with some sadness that I report the CNSCA is going to lose my volunteer effort as a director, as well as lose the 4 memberships of myself, my wife, and my two daughters. Why sad? We've made lots of friends within the organization and have many fond memories shooting together. I'll make sure we seek these folks out to shoot with them outside the competitive environment, and when my daughters are adults I've leave it to them to decide if they want to re-consider.

Cheers,

Brobee
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There's a middle ground. Clearly the comments from the shooters were not appropriate and if their concentration is that fragile then anything is going to throw them off. But if your daughter didn't know how to shoot FITASC or needed coaching while other shooters were waiting was it the best idea to have her attempt to shoot the FITASC component? Would it have been preferable to for you and her to watch the competition to learn how it works and shoot it next time?

The guy I'm thinking of is the father who brings his son and daughter to a club shoot and then coaches them on each target while three squads are waiting behind him. I recall one who brought his kids and announced, "We've got new shooters here. They're only going to shoot singles." If it had been a practice day I'd have simply moved on to another station but in an organized shoot that's not an option.
 
This post has evolved to where we are talking about young shooters and registered, competetive shooting. If you have participated in registered shooting you soon realize that each shooter has different expectations of what they want from it. Some like to attend with their kids, some like the challenge of tournament targets and some seem to feel their entire value as a person will be judged by their result. The trick is finding some balance. Sometimes I will find myself on a squad that makes me wish I had stayed home and mowed the lawn. Other times I will shoot with a group I have never met before and have a great time. I will continue to support the clubs and organizations that promote competive shooting and hope I get lucky with squad mates that either share my expectations or are mature enough to contain their emotions and focus on shooting.

Thank you for supporting the CNSCA as a director and I hope to see you and your kids shooting registered in the future.
 
Brobee said:
I think this is a polarizing issue that, unless explored seriously by the membership & executives of the various competitive clay organizations, has great potential to contribute to serious member retention problems. I recognize there are several perspectives on the issue, here's mine:

Last summer I drove for 8 hours on a special road trip with my then-11-year-old-daughter to attend the CNSCA National shoot. We were both pretty stoked and had spent a lot of time at the local range practicing, attending local shoots, and generally having a great time as I introduced my child to something that I love very much.

The shoot had a FITASK component; something she (and about 85% of the rest of the folks there) had never seen before. While working with her to make sure she's going to be safe in the hoop, I was pulled aside by some fellow squad members (mandatory random squadding) and berated for how inappropriate/unacceptable it is to have her there as it is, to their telling, totally throwing their concentration. My daughter saw this unfold and her sense of belonging was completely destroyed.

I am also a volunteer director for this organization with a specific assigned task that requires a lot of continual time investment and some specialized skills. But not for much longer as I now have difficulty finding the motivation to serve a membership that is more interested in showing the world how great they are rather than finding a way to help an 11-year-old girl safely enjoy their sport.

So it's with some sadness that I report the CNSCA is going to lose my volunteer effort as a director, as well as lose the 4 memberships of myself, my wife, and my two daughters. Why sad? We've made lots of friends within the organization and have many fond memories shooting together. I'll make sure we seek these folks out to shoot with them outside the competitive environment, and when my daughters are adults I've leave it to them to decide if they want to re-consider.

Cheers,

Brobee
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Join us at the Alberta provincial trap shooters association.

We support our junior shooters.
 
Our club loves new shooters, especially girls, but there is a time and place. There is also simple courtesy to keep in mind. It's not unlike taking a child onto a busy golf course and trying to teach them how to hit a ball while several people wait. The difference is there is little potential for a deadly accident. I have been at shoots where people brought new shooters for "fun" and they had never handled a gun before....just brutal safety issues let alone the 15mins at each station trying to remember how to load the gun.
 
Had a 12yo out shooting with us yesterday at my club.
He was under his fathers direct (& everyone elses indirect) supervision and he had a great time.
Was pretty funny that he hit more than his dad too.
 
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I've shot competitively over the years and I have to agree that anyone whose concentration is so badly disrupted by someone instructing a youngster, the future of the sport, is likely not a particularly high level competitor and needs to check their ego.
 
We welcome new shooters at our club, including youths, but if I was a parent, I would not bring a first time shooter out to shoot during a competition. I would bring the youth out when there are not a lot of people, and having a new shooter isn't going to result in multiple squads waiting to shoot while the youth receives instruction. It's not fair to anyone, including the youth.
 
We don't want anyone sitting in the truck watching feeling intimidated.

opinions of those that don't even participate do a lot of damage to our sport.

Last alberta provincial a gal came up from Kansas to give free instruction to jr shooters that same young lady is now on the army marksmanship unit.
 
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