Max Allen calls sporting clays “almost like a redneck golf,” and he means it as a compliment. Allen, a former Texas A&M Trap and Skeet Team shooter, came up inside the rigid geometry of skeet and trap fields. Sporting clays handed him something looser—a cart ride through varied terrain, a new target presentation at every station and country worth seeing along the way.
That difference explains why thousands of shooters head to San Antonio every October. NRA’s “American Rifleman Television” crew went with them, watch the resulting segment at the top of this page.
Scale is part of the appeal. Michael Hampton, Jr., executive director of the NSSA-NSCA, described the 2025 edition as the culmination of the association’s entire competition year—more than 2,600 competitors from 49 states and 17 countries, roughly 1.9 million targets thrown across nine days, some 280 machines running on 700 acres and about 60 vendors set up on site. Of those competitors, 560 were shooting Nationals for the first time.
“This is like our Super Bowl,” Hampton said.
NRA at NSCA Nationals
NRA is a title sponsor of the National Sporting Clays Championship, and the association’s presence at the National Shooting Complex extends well past its logo in the match program. Flip to the 2025 activities schedule and NRA’s name sits beside the week’s hospitality hub: “The House on the Hill,” presented by NRA, hosted the range owners, sponsors and vendors meet-and-greet luncheon on four separate days, plus the first-time attendee reception and the NSCA membership meeting.
“NRA is fully committed to shotgun sports,” said John Commerford, executive director, NRA-ILA. “NRA is the title sponsor here, the National Sporting Clays Championship. We’re a title sponsor of the World Skeet Shoot. You can find us at the Cardinal Center in Ohio. You can find us at the Grand American.”
Commerford’s connection to the sport predates his current role. As Hampton pointed out, Commerford has served on the NSCA board, sat on the Executive Council and is a past chairman of the association.
Commerford also framed what NRA-ILA is defending on behalf of every shooter squadded up in San Antonio. Lead ammunition bans have already reshaped the sport for competitors overseas who travel to the United States to shoot, and range protection statutes keep established gun clubs from being litigated out of existence by neighbors who bought the farm next door. “We want to make sure this heritage and everything that we enjoy here, particularly at this event, can continue,” he said.
Everybody Shoots
The Nationals are open to any NSCA member willing to make the trip, and the classification system does the rest. Competitors shoot against their own ability level from Master Class down through D, with minimum target requirements spelled out in the NSCA rulebook. New for 2025, Pro Squad-qualified shooters competed in a separate Pro Class across all 100-target 12-gauge events, with payouts and awards matching Master Class.
“Don’t feel like you have to be a pro to come here and shoot,” Hampton said. “Those pros are here, but this is for everybody.”
Team Winchester’s Desirae Edmunds, inducted into the NSCA Hall of Fame during the 2025 championship, pointed to the same open door. A beginner and a veteran can share a squad without anyone dragging the group down, she said, which is not true of many competitive sports.
“Sporting clays is one of the most dynamic games you can participate in safely and legally with a firearm,” said Mark A. Keefe, IV, editorial director, NRA Media.
Anne Mauro, founder and lead instructor of Ladies Discover Sporting Clays, put it plainly: the best shooters in the country are still being challenged by target setters every single day. Some mornings the game is there. Some mornings it is not. “It’s a sport you can have for life.’
Where To Start
For anyone watching the ARTV segment and wondering how to get into the game, Commerford’s advice runs through instruction first. Find a range through the NSCA or NRA, then ask about a new shooter program and look for a certified NRA shotgun instructor who can get you started safely.
Professional sporting clays shooter Karen Miles offered the same counsel from the competitive side. Build a foundation with a coach you respect, she said, “because you will never outgrow the fundamentals.”
Abel Spire, director of shotgun activities at Snake Creek Shooting Sports, was more blunt about what happens next. “Once you break that first target, you’re hooked for life. I promise you.”
Keeping that pipeline open is where NRA comes in, and the association’s footprint runs well past San Antonio. Grand American, the World Skeet Championship, club-level shoots most competitors will never see on a broadcast: NRA turns up wherever shotgunners gather in numbers.
“You don’t hear a lot about the National Rifle Association and the shotgun sports, but we’re there,” Keefe said. “We support coaches. We support basic safety training, and we support events like the national championships for the NSCA.”
The 2026 National Sporting Clays Championship is scheduled for Oct. 17-25, 2026, at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio. Watch the full ARTV segment and learn more about the NRA and NSCA.
