Rick Leach, president and executive director of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, is enthusiastic when he talks about SSSF shooting programs for student-athletes. Sitting in an office at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, with the sound of the 2025 SSSF National Championships in the background, he happily discusses the growth of their programs.
SSSF manages two youth shooting programs: the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP). Leach is the national director of the SASP, as well as the head of SSSF.
The SSSF National Championships were held July 9-19 at the Cardinal Center this year. Youth athletes in the SCTP program competed in a number of shotgun sports, including Trap, Skeet, Sporting Clays, Super Sporting Clays, Make-A-Break and Five-Stand. At the same time, SASP athletes competed in several pistol divisions, including Rimfire, Centerfire, Centerfire Revolver, Rimfire Revolver and 1911. SASP athletes also competed in both Rimfire and Pistol Caliber divisions.
Leach proudly points to the more than 3,000 young athletes safely participating in the 2025 National Championships as just one indicator of the growth of SSSF’s programs. “This is the largest shooting event in the world,” he said.
He’ll also tell you that their programs are now in 49 of the 50 states and that they’ve seen tremendous growth with colleges and universities. In fact, the partnership that they established with the ACUI for competitive shotgun sports at the collegiate level has been a tremendous benefit to both organizations.
Leach is understandably proud of the programs and their tremendous growth since their founding in 2001. However, his eyes really light up when you ask him about the impact of the SCTP and SASP programs on the student competitors and their families.
“We do run two competitive shooting programs,” he said. “But we’re really all about youth development.”
The true focus of the SCTP and SASP programs is to teach young athletes life skills like focus, determination and dedication, Leach says. There are hundreds of examples where participation in the shooting sports programs has helped young people. Leach shared stories that illustrated the impact that they can have. Like the young man who was ready to drop out of school because he was being bullied for having ADHD. Through shooting sports, he learned to focus on competition and became a successful athlete and member of a team. When he started high school, he had friends and teammates from his shooting team who supported and helped him. He’s now thinking about college plans.
Another example is close to home for Leach. His son suffered a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. Afterwards, doctors did not hold out much hope for him making a full recovery. However, he had been an SASP shooter prior to the accident and was determined to get back on the range and recover from the accident. They used dry-fire drills to help him develop the focus and concentration that he needed to recover fully. As Leach says, the brain is amazing and it can reroute itself. Today, his son John is not only fully recovered, but working at SSSF as a program manager for the Scholastic Action Shooting Program.
With the SSSF youth shooting programs soon to celebrate their 25-year anniversary, they are seeing many of the “graduates” of the programs being successful in the shooting sports. Just two examples are Vincent Hancock, who has won four Olympic men’s skeet gold medals, and sporting clays champion Karen Miles, who captured the women’s title at the 2024 NSCA Nationals. They are also seeing them now as coaches for SCTP and SASP teams and working in the shooting industry, like Grace Callahan, with Caesar Guerini USA/Syren USA, who recently celebrated 12 years since she was SCTP Nationals Ladies’ Champion.
Wayne Rasmussen, national director for the SCTP program, also talked about how the programs help young people develop life skills.
“As a whole, to me, it builds a well-rounded, respectful person that can handle stressful situations. You’ve been on the range, you know that not every target flies the way it should, right? Not every call goes your way, and it’s having those tools in the toolbox to deal with those situations,” he said.
The National Championships provided several examples of how the shooting sports are also family sports. From the excited mom hugging her son after he shot his first 100 straight on the trapline, to the parent coaches who volunteer to help their teams succeed and cheer on their teams along with other parents, siblings and grandparents. The families at these shooting events are just as enthusiastic about cheering for their sons and daughters as those at any Little League baseball or travelling soccer competition. It has actually led to more family participation in shooting sports, Rasmussen noted.
“I’ve seen families that didn’t have shotguns in their house until they had an athlete on a team. And now, mom and dad are coming to the range shooting. It’s not just bringing the kids, it’s bringing adults too, the whole family,” he said. “What other sport can you have grandpa or grandma, mom or dad, daughter and son, all out on the line, shooting at the same time? It’s a family affair.”
The National Championships are truly an amazing sight. Thousands of young people along with their parents, grandparents and other spectators fill the Cardinal Shooting Center. Teams are affiliated with gun clubs, high schools, colleges and universities. They proudly fly flags with their team logos along with state and American flags on their ATVs, golf carts and pop-up tents on the grounds.
Everyone shows off their team affiliation by wearing custom made shirts, hats and shooting vests with their names imprinted or embroidered on them along with their team name and the names/logos of their sponsors. This was the year of the “tropical shirt” at the SSSF Nationals, as shooters, coaches and family members sported brightly colored floral shirts with guns and clay targets in the design.
In addition to shopping hundreds of vendors who offer everything from guns to ammunition to apparel and hearing protection, shooters can shop for colleges at the nationals. On Friday, July 18, 2025, young shooters and their parents met with representatives from 23 different colleges and universities at the College Day program. This event enables shooters to learn about schools where they can continue their shooting career past high school.
Many of the collegiate shooters who compete at Nationals attend College Day and represent their college or university. They speak with high school shooters and their parents about the school that they attend and their experience as collegiate student-athletes.
Rasmussen said that the SCTP is looking at other ways to connect high school athletes with colleges and universities that offer shooting programs.
“One of the things that has been kicked around is trying to figure out a way on our system to be able to have colleges recruit the athletes. Athletes want to be recruited. They could check a box and say, ‘Have coaches contact me,’” he said.
He said they are also looking at ways to connect SCTP athletes with companies in the shooting industry who are looking for employees.
“We’ve heard from sponsors that they’re hiring people for jobs in the shooting industry that have never fired a gun. And we have several athletes that are probably in or looking for those types of jobs. We’re trying to find a way to connect our sponsors with those athletes that are graduating,” he added.
Both Leach and Rasmussen pointed out the benefits of the youth shooting sports to the athletes and families. They also talked about how youth shooting sports are beneficial to the shooting industry and to everyone who enjoys shooting and wants to protect their Second Amendment rights.
“If it wasn’t for the athletes coming into the program, we would not have a shooting industry to support,” Rasmussen said. “I have seen many small trap clubs over the years that were on the verge of shutting down. Then, teams were formed and the youth started shooting there, and those clubs are now flourishing. You hate to see a gun club go away, because once it’s gone, we will never get that facility back. We’ve seen the clubs help the kids, and the kids help the clubs. It’s a win. Overall, it helps shooters, because you’re growing the shooting sports and benefiting the industry, which benefits all of the shooters.”
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