Many youngsters grow up with basketball hoops, soccer nets or swimming pools in their backyards. When he was young, Joseph Fanizzi had thousands of acres of prime hunting habitat and world-class sporting clays courses in his backyard.
His parents, Fred and Maria Fanizzi, were part owners and general managers of Quail Creek Plantation in Okeechobee, Florida, where Joseph not only learned how to shoot, but became part of a warm and welcoming community.
“From a young age, I was immersed in the community. If I wasn’t on the range shooting, I was at the club—around the pavilion, talking with people about the course, the targets, the shoot. I helped trap for events, loaded carousels, picked up shells and set targets. I was involved in every part of it,” Fanizzi recalled.
At Quail Creek, Fanizzi had a unique opportunity that gave him access to plenty of resources and to meeting great shooters from around the world. He became involved with the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) as a member of the Quail Creek Young Guns. Fanizzi speaks highly of his involvement in the program.
“Getting involved with the Scholastic Clay Target Program at a young age, just taught me a lot about how to be a competitor, how to carry myself, good sportsmanship, good experience and having competition with peers my same age. It taught me about responsibility and accountability,” he said.
In addition to the SCTP program, when he was 12 years old, Fanizzi was fortunate to have an accomplished mentor in his life. Pete Hendrick coached Fanizzi and took him to National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) registered events all across the country, including Regional Championships and the National Championships in Texas. Fanizzi credits Hendrick with teaching the work ethic and the etiquette of the game, as well as how to break targets.
“Pete Hendrick had faith in me. He coached me and I traveled with him, and that’s kind of how I got into clay target shooting. That plays a huge role in the shooter I am today, because I had the right foundation and the correct roots laid down for me,” he said.
Rising Through The Ranks
At the age of 13, Fanizzi punched up into Master Class, the NSCA’s highest ranking for sporting clays shooters. He won High Over All for the first time at a registered tournament the next year. At that point, Fanizzi was at a crossroads. A freshman in high school, he was playing football, playing basketball and shooting clays. He had several shooters approach him and mention that he could be a great competitor if he was willing to make the necessary sacrifices.
“When I was a high school freshman, I quit playing other sports, and I started to make an effort and set the time aside to go all in on clay target shooting. I was very dedicated. I practiced a lot,” he said.
That dedication and practice certainly paid off. He represented the U.S. as a member of the USA Sporting Clays Sub-Junior and Junior teams. (Fanizzi was also the captain of the U.S. Junior Team.)
In 2019, at the age of 16, he was the silver medalist at the World English Sporting Clays Championships in Northbrook, Illinois. Then, in 2021 at the World FITASC (Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse), held in Budapest, Hungary, Fanizzi captured another silver medal. He fell just one target short of the gold in the prestigious competition. He also was World FITASC Junior Champion. Later that year, Fanizzi was at the top of the podium after winning the Open High Over All title at the NSCA National Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
Since then, Fanizzi has gone on to win top honors at several NSCA Regional Championship events as well as world events. He has been on Team USA Sporting and FITASC teams as a Sub-Junior, Junior and Open First Teams member. He has been the FITASC Grand Slam Tour (comprised of four FITASC tournaments held across the country) High Over All Champion twice.
While he has a tremendous championship record, Fanizzi still has goals he would like to accomplish in the clay-target shooting world.
“I won the national championship in 2021, and at the time—and still now—I’m the youngest person to ever do it, which is pretty exciting. In our sport, there are four major events I think of as the pinnacle, kind of like golf’s majors: the World FITASC Championship, the World English Sporting Clays Championship, the NSCA Nationals and the U.S. Open. I’ve won one—the Nationals—and I’ve been runner-up at the other three,” he said.
While pursuing success in international clay target shooting, Fanizzi has also remained committed to his education. He is currently a senior at Texas A&M University and will graduate in December with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science.
He is a member of Texas A&M’s Trap & Skeet Club, which won back-to-back Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate Clay Target championships in 2021 and 2022. This is one of the few times that you will see Fanizzi on a trap or skeet field.
“I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the Texas A&M Trap and Skeet team. We shoot skeet, trap and sporting clays. I’m predominantly a sporting clay shooter, but it’s been a great highlight. I see it as the opportunity to give back to my university by competing in the sport that I enjoy,” he said.
Competing in Sporting Clays and FITASC since he was teenager has given Fanizzi many opportunities for international travel and competition. He says that competing internationally and representing the U.S. has been one of the highlights of his shooting career.
“There’s an expectation level with the Americans—a belief that Americans are the top-level competitors in the world. There’s a great level of responsibility that I carry with that. And you know, it’s been great because I get to travel to some unique places and meet some cool people from other countries,” he explained.
As one of the top Sporting Clays shooters, Fanizzi has several sponsors. He is on Team Winchester and shoots Winchester AA shotgun shells for Sporting Clays and Light Handicap for FITASC. He is also a member of Team Beretta and shoots the company’s A400 Xcel Sporting shotgun with a 30-inch barrel. He is one of the few internationally ranked shooters who prefers to compete with a semi-automatic shotgun.
Also in his range bag, you’ll find Pilla Performance Eyewear glasses, along with hearing protection from Electronic Shooters Protection and Pure Gold choke tubes out of McConnell, S.C. He is also a shooter for Ultimate Shooting Accessories with a Castellani vest.
In addition to his studies and competitive shooting, Fanizzi coaches other shooters whenever he has an opportunity to do so. He sees it as giving back to the Sporting Clays community by helping others to learn and enjoy the sport that he loves.
“I get to use the knowledge and experience I’ve gained through years of hard work—studying the game and being a student of clay target shooting—and pass that on to others looking to improve. I love giving lessons, because if someone’s willing to book one and seek instruction, it shows they have a real passion for the sport and truly want to get better,” he said.
When working with new shooters, Fanizzi says the best advice is to build solid fundamentals, stick to your process and be patient. “If you trust the process, the results will come—just don’t expect them overnight. Eventually, things will click,” he said.
Beyond The Podium
Another way that he is helping support the sport is through an online venture he launched with another Texas A&M student, Ty Crouch. A new shooter, Crouch approached Fanizzi about creating a website to help shooters by being a hub to store shooting data, to find local shoots, to have a discussion forum and more.
So, Fanizzi and Crouch created americanshotgunner.com. The website is free for users and includes: a performance management system where shooters can track their scores; articles and recaps of shoots; and even a college recruiting site that high school students can access to reach recruiters. They also launched a website—shootcalendars.com—where competition shooters can find information about upcoming tournaments.
Looking to the future, Fanizzi is focusing on completing his degree and beginning his career. In addition to his goal to win the four major shoots, he also has a personal goal. “From a moral standpoint, I want to do everything I can to help the sport grow and give back with new opportunities,” he said.
Coaching and launching the websites are both steps in that direction for Fanizzi.
More than anything, though, Fanizzi is incredibly humbled and appreciative of everyone that has played a role in his clay target journey and career ever since he was that four-year-old kid who broke his first target all the way through his senior year in college.
“You know, I always thought it was strictly about shooting the clay targets when I was a young kid. But the older I get, the more I realize these people were just mentoring me and helping me become a great young man and raise me the right way. I’m grateful for my parents, Fred and Maria Fanizzi. They have done so much to be the most supportive parents in the world. I credit much of my success to them,” he said.
With graduation coming up soon and several job offers to consider, Joseph Fanizzi will be making some big decisions soon. He is not certain if he will remain in Texas or return to Florida to launch his construction career. His parents retired in 2021 and relocated to Montana, where he enjoys visiting them whenever he can. Wherever Fanizzi ends up settling after graduation, you can bet there will be a Sporting Clays course nearby.
