August 01, 2020
By Guns & Ammo Staff
The inclusion of sporting clays and 5-stand will provide exciting new clay target shooting opportunities to hundreds of teams and tens of thousands of students nationwide.
“With the huge popularity and growth of our existing programs, it made sense to expand our clay target offering to include sporting clays and 5-stand across the nation.” said John Nelson, President of the USA High School Clay Target League. “We are excited to be able to offer this opportunity to our athletes and teams.”
Similar to hunting live birds, sporting clays is intended to challenge each athlete with clay targets being thrown at multiple angles from multiple locations. Typically, four to six student athletes compete at each station together rotating through all shot scenarios before moving on to the next station. Different fields within a course are typically located many yards away from one another and are accessible via walking along meandering paths.
Often described as a cross between trap shooting and sporting clays, 5-stand challenges each athlete with clay targets being thrown at multiple angles from multiple locations, while the athletes shoot from five stations that are aligned in a row. Stations are partially enclosed to limit the angles an athlete can shoot at the targets.
The League’s co-ed and adaptive nature are key attractions to high schools nationwide. The League is fully Title IX compliant with both male and female athletes competing on the same team. Additionally, it’s an ‘adaptive’ sport, which allows students with physical disabilities to take part.
The League is the safest sport in high school, with not one reported injury since the inception of the League in 2001. To participate in the League, each team must have the approval of their school’s administration. The League is the only 100% school-approved clay target shooting sport program in America, and is a preferred vendor of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
The League attracts student athletes to participate in shooting sports while creating a ‘virtual’ competition among high school teams throughout each state. Family travel is minimal because practice and competition are conducted at a shooting range near the school’s location. Conferences are determined by team size rather than geographic location for fair competition. Athletes earn True Team® scoring points as determined by their performance and ranking against all athlete scores within their team’s conference. The team score and overall standing are calculated by adding the earned points from qualifying athletes and posted on the League's website. Athletes and their families track their individual and team performance on their phone, tablet or computer via the Shooter Performance Tracker®.
Nationwide, over 1,200 school-approved teams participate in the League.
For more information, visit http://usaclaytarget.com .
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