My recent trip to the USA highlighted the difference in approach there, compared to the UK, when it comes to nurturing the younger participants in our sport, ensuring that they receive the support, advice and infrastructure required to develop their potential.
Two examples of how Maria and Fred Fanizzi at Quail Creek Plantation, the host club for the Seminole Cup 2014, facilitate this support are as follows:
- At the main event, notices were put up on the counter in their shop welcoming any donations of unused shells towards their “Young Guns” program.
- Last weekend a “Young Gun Fundraiser” event was held at the club. 400 participants supported the initiative; 270 of them shooters and the remaining 130 consisting of family members of the shooters.
The above are just two examples from a three-week period of the calendar, from just one club in Florida. Imagine the collective support that could be generated if hundreds if not thousands of clubs across the USA got involved with similar schemes?
It is difficult to deny the power of the American sports psyche; 100% focused on winning and developing talent, regardless of whether it is existing or newly discovered. The general mentality here in the UK feels different; if you feel the need to have coaching (technical or mental) you clearly must have a problem, right? Not necessarily; maybe you just want to progress and learn…
I’m in my late thirties now and so far have managed to navigate through the earlier financial demands of life and am relatively settled with regards to earnings and outgoings. As many of you know, I also own and run Just Choking and look forward to the adventures and experiences that will give me.
Just Choking sponsored Brody Wollard at the Gamebore White Gold Challenge 2013
Just Choking gives me access to a very broad spectrum of the shooting community and through it I am very proud to sponsor, support and be associated with a very talented group of younger shooters including Taylor Hedgecock, Ronnie Green, Brody Woollard, Natasha Lovell, James Rounsevell, Nathan Skinner, Aaron Harvey, Jack Fairclough and the entire Helena Romanes School Clay Shooting team.
Several of the these young guns are already what I would consider “established”; already receiving support from cartridge manufacturers and/or gun makers, but some are still not supported. They do however share the fact that as well as being young, they are excellent ambassadors for the sport, themselves and their families. In short, they are exactly the type of shooter that I want promoting the products that I represent and in return I will support them with products and incentives for as long as they want it.
I realise that Junior shooters get some concessions such as reduced CPSA membership fees and lower entry fees at certain grounds and in certain competitions. I’m also aware that what I do barely scratches the surface in terms of the overall cost of them shooting, but along with companies like Gamebore and individuals like Phil Coley, who both actively seek out young shooters to support, I view this collective effort as an investment in the future of our sport.
The mentality to grow and support the sport from within the sport appears to slowly evolving. GMK Ltd unveiled plans earlier this year for a comprehensive Young Shot Scheme (ed : covered on ShootClay here) that included the reimbursement of £200 of national entry fees, a Beretta uniform and accessory package worth £500, the loan of a new Beretta shotgun for the season coupled with a £1000 allowance towards the optional purchase of the loan gun at the end of the scheme. Anyone who feels that they may be eligible and would like to apply should do so before the end of April 2014. Application forms are available by emailing Emma Parkin at GMK on: [email protected]. Best of luck to anyone going for it!
More recently, the team behind FITASC GB announced that there would be an additional prize fund supporting the GB FITASC and Compak Selection Shoots this year. This prize fund is generated entirely from donations from individuals and companies and comprises of coaching sessions, cash towards entry fees, vouchers and products. Best of all is that fact that anyone taking part in any of the selection shoots can win one of these prizes by hitting flash clays on a specific layout at each of the first three selection shoots. Further details can be found here , but everyone involved should be commended!
The FITASC GB team also run a Junior Academy – supporting young shooters who aspire to be in Team GB for FITASC or COMPAK with entry fees, equipment and support : details are here.
Despite the above progress, I cannot help but feel that what we do as a shooting community to support and nurture the next generation is sporadic and lack lustre at best. The CPSA are actively developing their Young Shots initiative and consequently encouraging new interest in the sport, but where is the longevity, if an initial heavily subsidised one-off experience, then morphs into a financially unattainable commitment for many parents to subsidise?
In my opinion, we need to accept collective responsibility to assist in bridging this financial gap. It wouldn’t be unimaginable for shooters to speak to their local ground owners and establish a scheme whereby any cartridge or clay donations could be received and collated, to be used to facilitate younger shots getting more trigger time and enjoyment from the sport.
Rather than assume that others are already suggesting this, why not take the proverbial bull by the horns and strike up a conversation about this when you’re next out shooting and see what YOU can make happen!
From first hand experience of funding a colt in the sport I feel there is more that could be done, especially by the larger organisations. We have lots of local grounds to us that give concessions for colts/juniors which is fantastic, especially if you are paying for an adult to shoot also, a Sunday can soon get very expensive when paying for two people. Last year the CPSA allowed the colts/juniors to shoot the majors for £10, unfortunately this year is has gone up considerably and in some cases there is no discount from the senior price at all. It has just cost me a small fortune to get these all booked up. The young shot introduction days are a fantastic idea, however once the child has a taste for the sport it is only really an option if the parents are able to support the child, doesn’t matter how good they are.
There are a lot more sponsorships on offer now compared to a few years ago, which is fantastic but very few of these offer any financial help, ammunition at a slight discount is great but it is still expensive. Coaches giving up their time to help young shots for free is about the most generous thing I have seen recently, as long as it can be a long term thing then that would really help to get the younger generation into a position where they could at least win something to help with the costs of the sport, even if it is only getting their entry fee back.
There is a lot that could be learnt from other countries and how they support their colts/juniors and indeed teams, we have sacrificed family holidays so that GB shoots can be attended, and after paying for GB Kit, flights, hotels, food and traveling expenses the payment received from the governing body is an insult and only just covers the cost of the skeet vest. This really limits the amount of international shooting that our child can do even if he does make the teams.
Taking up an Olympic Discipline is another story, if you are good enough and lucky enough there is a huge amount of funding available and companies cant do enough for you, but not everybody wants to be tied to an Olympic discipline. It really doesn’t matter how good you are unless you have deep pockets you can only do what you can afford to do.
I don’t know the answer to any of this I am just a mum trying to do what I can to keep her son doing what he loves and without family and a few of his sponsors none of it would be possible.
Thats spot on Claire. Very Well put.
I can only imagine the investment in both time and money that the family has put into Taylor’s development.
I’m of the opinion that the responsibility to support and nurture this talent shouldn’t rest on the proverbial shoulders of the governing body; as you already pointed out several grounds out there already offer concessions for Juniors, albeit with the caveat that they are accompanied by a paying “Senior”.
Companies within the shooting industry have a responsibility to support and grow the market. Junior shooters are one part of this equation as they rarely have the disposable income to repay this faith in the short-term.
Making shooting more affordable for these shooters, until they are at an age to have jobs and financial self-sufficiency is, in my opinion, the starting point to supporting this growth. It isn’t the be all and end all but it will help retain numbers who would have previously left due to unaffordability.
As to whether things change; I think that will be very regional as the attitudes of ground owners, Regional CPSA committees and shooters vary greatly and these are the main facilitators in establishing any momentum for change.
It will also be interesting to see whether the support that the likes of GMK have pledged to give will be based in the specific regions that they wish to enhance sales in, or if their decisions of “who” to support will be founded purely on talent and marketability.
Interesting times! 🙂
As the father of a colt trap shooter I know all to well the costs associated with paying for two of everything each time we shoot. Yes some grounds offer concessions to juniors (which is most welcome) but when you take into account the cost of cartridges, food, drinks, etc it is still an expensive day out but one I am prepared to accept as it allows me to spend time with a lad, doing something we both enjoy. I believe you only have to look at the number of junior shooters relative to seniors at any given event to understand that the costs preclude a lot of seniors from bringing their own youngsters along.
I have today booked the two of us up for the UT selection shoot at Southern Counties in April at a cost of £102 per entry with no concessions for juniors. How is this encouraging juniors into the sport? Coupled with hotel and other expenses, this is going to be an expensive weekend and one I will have to repeat 3 more times this years if my son is to be in with a chance of qualifying for the GB squad.
At least the CPSA organised major events are offering a 50% reduction for junior entries. Not as generous as last year but welcome all the same.
The young shot days are an excellent way of letting youngsters try out our sport but I seriously wonder how many of those that have attended have actually turned into regular shooters and of those how many will continue to shoot into adulthood as they are burdened with car loans, socialising, mortgages, etc. I suspect that unless a shooter has been picked up by the national team as a junior then clay shooting will take a back seat for many years, until such times as expendable income will permit.
As for funding of juniors, well I suspect that this will remain firmly with the Bank of Mum and Dad. Even if a young shooter shows considerable promise and recieves sponsorship and maybe even national team backing, then the majority of the costs will still be down to M&D. Lets face it, even if you are invited to shoot for your country you have to buy your own team skeet vest for goodness sake!! Funding, what funding?
A talented few will be identified as potential medal winners and recieve adequate funding to persue their dreams but for the rest of the budding colts and juniors there is very little available.
Lets face it, clay shooting is an expensive sport and getting more expensive by the year.
Have a go days are not a model for success in promoting any sport. They rely too much on chance, individual motivation and financial backing; £40 is a lot for a great number of parents and, lets face is not done at cost.
Since starting the Helena Romanes Shooting club, I have felt there is more that the shooting community can do. My idea, and indeed aim, is to set up a regional shooting academy through which young people are supported in their shooting in both coaching and cost. I believe that there is a structure that could exist where leading companies and individuals donate goods and time to help develop a group of young people rather than focusing just on one young person. The School’s Challenge Academy has developed this, and other models exist, but there still requires an element of buy in and often depends on who you know.
The CPSA could, and should organise regional academies for young people, linking with schools to promote and recruit as that’s where the kids are. I have emailed Nick Fellows about this but yet had a decent conversation with him about it. With its links, contacts and buying/persuasion power it has the ability to arrange such deals to support young people. It also has a bank of coaches that could donate their time for free. There would be pay backs for them in other ways, either directly or indirectly.
I think the CPSA needs a strategy for youth development, not just a unidirectional idea. They will benefit, with increased shoot participation, membership and sport promotion as well as coaches going on to their courses.
I needed to be hugely proactive in finding out when and how students could try out for the Essex colt team; this should not be the case in this age of ease of communication and social media. As a result there were only 5 colts in the entirety of Essex (one of the CPSA’s largest membership areas) who tried out.
I feel I have shown that this can happen; if a school can do it, surely an organisation that only spends its time on shooting matters could do more?
Clay shooting is an expensive sport. At elite level it is breathtaking! Whilst the GMK scheme may seem worthwhile, if you have already invested over £6k on a Beretta, a further 2k plus on a customised stock, the offer of an inferior loan gun to your current discipline specific gun holds minimal appeal. If you are talented and seeking to pursue an Olympic discipline then you or Mum and Dad need very deep pockets! There is no funding unless you are on the World Class funding and that is only a few individuals each review cycle. The new GB academy scheme will help and it is great to see British Shooting putting such a scheme in place. But Olympic medals cost money and it is normally the bank of Mum and Dad that pay for it and not the country unless you live in Wales or Scotland! Sponsorship in the form of trade price cartridges from UK manufacturers is of benefit but if you are shooting internationally these cartridges are often not available- not so good. Plus sponsors want shooters in popular disciplines not Olympic ones as their commercial needs are to appeal to the shooting masses not the few who pursue Olympic medals. High net worth footballers representing their country are not required to buy their team kit-why are England/GB shooters? The parents of young shots have to pay-there is no alternative. It is the weekly training costs that mount up, travel to grounds, cartridges, clays, competition fees, travel to the comps, overnight accommodation, diesel and that is not including coaching costs, equipment costs. There are few companies wanting to support Olympic medals potential, ask any one of the talent youngsters at the recent GB academy selection, few have sponsorship. Gold medalists like Peter obviously have a steady stream of companies wanting to be tied to his name but the few who are seeking to add to GB medal tally have to pay for it themselves. Companies and individuals like yourself Nick are few and far between.
A good read , my brother is in his first year of an apprenticeship (16) and earns £90 a week. He is determined to improve as a young shot and started to win in his class .
Unfortunately our parents cannot afford to Fund his shooting so he spends a fair chunk of his wage on his sport £37 for his entry and then £20 for shells alone without fuel , food and a go on the pool . On top of this he has started having coaching which for one lesson your talking a minimum £75 .
I am proud of his determination and I am sure his commitment will pay off and he will gain a sponsor once he is better known
Hi Nick,
Thanks for an interesting article. If I could slightly change the direction of the conversation from ‘juniors’ to wider issues that in my opinion impact on the point in question, a chicken and egg thing!.
The question I would ask is, what future are we training the juniors for? What are the aims and opportunities for juniors or anyone else within the sport?
For me, any creditable sport must have a creditable, accessible and fully funded national and international structure. Provided by a robust, creditable and funded governing body to promote, organize and run the sport.
Recently, I have volunteered to help the BICTSF on a fairly narrow brief of raising the profile of the FITASC sporting and Compak selection shoots, plus improving the funding of each. This participation has raised a number of new questions for me and confirmed others that I have thought for a long time and I list some of these as follows;
1. I have been surprised at how many various and overlapping shooting organizations there are. Many I had never heard of! This is at national and individual discipline levels. Personally, I think this dilutes the effectiveness of ‘clay sports’ to promote and fund the sport.
2. There are numerous, well intentioned and successful organizations – companies and private individuals offering junior training and support. Again, I feel it would be more effective to have a combined national junior body.
3. There is a great lack of knowledge and understanding (mine included) amongst clay shooters as to who represents them and how that representation is structured and funded.
4. There is a huge amount of cynicism and lack of interest in a great many shooters towards any governing body or individual who wants to try and help. The ‘I don’t do politics, I travel, shoot and leave’’ mantra is very much the norm, of course followed by, ‘’ Why isn’t this, that and the other better!’’
5. I do note (naively perhaps) a slight change in attitude to this, as our sport reaches a different generation and demographic of those taking part. There are a few positive, good individuals who are coming forward to sponsor prize funds at some shoots and are actively helping junior shots, an example that hopefully others will follow. Again it would be better if there was a single organization that could harvest this good will.
6. Government and sport council funding does not exist in BICTSF FITASC. There is no pot of gold or no over paid expenses spending management. The truth is, our sport must fund itself before anyone else will be prepared to help. That funding can only come from the shooters and companies within our sport and the few external companies that have cross over interests, like Land Rover etc.
7. There are so many disciplines and organizations, some with links to the Olympics with all the additional associations that brings, all competing for funding and the £ of the shooter, that it is difficult to see how this can be changed. I would suggest that there is room for several disciplines with similar links and the same shooter base to work closer together or amalgamate?
With regard to comparing GB with the USA there are a number of cultural and organizational differences, some that are more difficult to admit to than others;
1. There is a culture in the USA of ‘giving’ in all areas of life. Giving and being recognized for giving is a positive thing to do. There is little or no culture of that in GB.
2. There is a national attitude in the USA that gets behind any individual or group that does the USA proud. People and groups are supported and promoted, not undermined by cynicism as often happens in GB ‘build them up and knock them down’ mentality.
3. The USA shooter is very club based. They belong to a club, contribute to a club, represent the club, help build and promote the club within the wider sport. These clubs are keen to raise funds or pay a fee to national organizations. GB has a more pay, shoot, leave history.
My overall point is that to have a successful, organized and recognized sport you need a single (ideally) national body. Yes, this body must be credible, respected and elected. Only then will you have a system that is well organized enough, respected enough and funded enough to have a junior academy worthy of the name, with all the benefits to the sport that would bring.
These are personal thoughts and comments and not the BICTSF’s and I am more than aware that there are others with greater experience, knowledge and brains than I, that it would be good to hear from.
Brendan