Dear Friend of the Shooting Sports,

USA Shooting has been working to develop one of the strongest shooting teams in the world with the 2008 Olympic year quickly approaching. Given the success of two Gold medals and one Silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, USA Shooting has set a lofty goal of six medals for the Beijing Games. However, USA Shooting is well on its way to attaining this standard by having already secured 17 of a possible 28 Olympic Participation Quota Slots in the first two years of qualification.

To continue to attain this level of achievement we must begin looking forward. In the past two years, the USOC has implemented a new funding formula that requires USA Shooting--as well as all Olympic National Governing Bodies--to be increasingly self-sufficient. Currently, the United States Olympic Committee provides approximately 25 percent of the operating funds for USA Shooting. USA Shooting must build its own strong base of financial support to ensure that our athletes can not only compete in the 2008 Beijing Games, but build a strong base providing the Olympic opportunity for young shooters into the future.

In order to intelligently plan for the future, endowment funds must be raised to create a reliable and predictable cash flow to replace the shortfall in USOC support and build the program necessary to ensure that United States teams remain strong in the face of increasing competition from other countries. This executive summary outlines the USA Shooting vision for the future and for achieving the following goals:

  • Training high-performance athletes capable of winning Olympic medals
  • Building a Junior Olympic Program that provides the opportunity for more young talent to develop their potential that will propel our medal winning success into the future

We appreciate the opportunity to share this plan with you and solicit your support and suggestions. Please join us in securing a successful future for America's Olympic shooting sports.

Sincerely,

Robert Mitchell
Executive Director
USA Shooting

Our Challenge

The USA Shooting Team is historically one of the top shooting teams in the world. In total, U.S. Shooters have won 97 Olympic medals and out of the top-ten American Olympic Medalists of all time, three are shooters. Further, shooting as a sport ranks third in total Olympic Medals won by the U.S. behind track and field and swimming.

In 2004 at the Athens Olympic Games, USA Shooting was able to bring home two Gold medals and one Silver medal; only two countries brought home more. However, USA Shooting has high expectations going into the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, having set the goal for the Games to six medals. USA Shooting is well on the way to making this goal a reality having garnered 17 of a possible 28 Olympic Participation Quota Slots in the first two years of qualification for Beijing. To achieve these bold yet realistic goals and to build a strong foundation for shooting sports so that we remain competitive for the 2008 games and beyond, we must strive to improve in two strategic areas:

  • Supporting and training elite athletes with Olympic medal potential.
  • Expanding our athlete base through the identification and development of young athletes who will ensure our future success.

In addition to its mission to prepare athletes to win Olympic medals, USA Shooting is committed to promoting the sport of shooting in the United States. Progress made in these areas will also advance the shooting sports among Americans of all ages.

The Elite Athlete Fund
Budget Goal: $1,000,000
Training and competition at the Olympic level requires a serious commitment by our top shooting athletes and is an expensive undertaking. The cost per individual athlete for equipment, ammunition, travel and competition fees is substantial. More than $2,700 is required to fund one shooter's participation in an ISSF World Cup; and does not include the daily training expenses required to prepare the athlete for international competition.

In order to provide a reliable source of support for athletes representing the United States, we propose the establishment of a fund to supplement these costs. At a 5% annual distribution rate, this fund would allow us to award 10 athletes with $5,000 stipends each year. The balance of earnings would be added back to the fund's principal to protect it against inflation and market influences. This fund will be essential to the success of our shooting program.

The Junior Olympic Program Fund
Budget Goal: $500,000
Looking to the future, USA Shooting faces serious competitive challenges. One of the most significant is the declining athlete pool. There are several other contributing factors:

  • Military marksmanship programs have been severely reduced or eliminated in recent years.
  • Due to demanding OSHA regulations, our sport is continually faced with the loss of ranges and shooting programs.
  • The increasing legislative restrictions regarding gun ownership and shooting facilities also poses a significant obstacle to the shooting sports.
  • Traditionally, the pistol shooting team has been comprised of adult competitors that have family and occupational commitments, which restrict their development as potential medal winners. Identifying and training a younger pool of athletes is essential for long-term success.

Our programs need the energy and competitive spirit that younger shooters can bring to the sport. USA Shooting must be proactive to develop this younger audience. The current success of youth programs provides the roadmap for targeting and expanding this key audience.

With the help of generous private support in 1993, National Shotgun Coach Lloyd Woodhouse established a Junior Olympic Shotgun Team to support 25 young shooters who demonstrated raw talent and the commitment to succeed. This program works toward developing and aspiring shooters through good instruction and excellent competition at an early stage in their shooting careers. This effort has paid great dividends with many shooters developing into elite athletes. One young woman became the youngest female gold medalist in Olympic shooting history and one of the men won a bronze medal. They, along with other committed shooter athletes, are the hope for bringing home the gold in 2008 and beyond.

With this successful model in place, the objectives are to essentially duplicate the Shotgun Junior Olympic Program by creating Junior Olympic Teams for the pistol and rifle disciplines.

Because of the extremely restrictive use requirements that accompany USOC funding, only selected members of the National Shooting Team receive support from the Committee. The Junior Olympic Team must seek private support through the Junior Olympic Program Fund and other specifically designed contributions.

The Junior Olympic Program Fund will include a scholarship fund which will grant annual college scholarships for pistol athletes that meet specific criteria and that make serious commitments to the sport of shooting.

The scholarships will amount to approximately $2,000 for each athlete. The scholarship program is designed to encourage participation and dedication to the pistol sport. It will not only assist those athletes receiving scholarships, but also will serve as a powerful incentive to other shooters and their parents to commit to the demanding path of Olympic competition. A reasonable marketing budget will be used to promote the scholarship fund nationally. The fund is especially important since pistol is not an NCAA sport, making collegiate scholarships unavailable in this discipline.

The Junior Olympic Program Fund also will identify athletes possessing desire and skill offering formal training and competition opportunities with the national coaching staff. A portion of the Junior Olympic Program Fund will be used to provide travel and competition fees to additional rifle and pistol athletes. High level competition opportunities will further enhance their skills, preparing them to be National Development Team and National Team members that we will look to for medals in Olympic competitions in 2012 and beyond.

Securing the Future of America's Shooting Team
With your generous support, USA Shooting has an outstanding opportunity to influence the future of Olympic and recreational shooting sports in the United States.

A $1.5 million endowment campaign will allow USA Shooting to achieve the ambitious goals it envisions. This endowment will provide USA Shooting with the resources to identify, train and nurture Olympic talent. It will go far in preparing young Americans to compete with the world's finest shooting athletes. Preliminary campaign components include:

The Elite Athlete Fund $1,000,000
  1. Based upon a breakout of 5% annual distribution of interest on $1,000,000, the endowment would fund $50,000 annually.
  2. This fund supports 10 athletes at $5,000 each for training and competition support as allocated by the USAS Director of Operations and the national coaching staff.
The Junior Olympic Program Fund $500,000
  1. Based upon 5% interest on $500,000 there will be $25,000 available annually for Junior Olympic Team support.
  2. Budget Breakout:
    3. Annual Scholarships @ $2,000 each$6,000
    Junior Olympic Team (9 team members)$18,000
    Marketing Budget$1,000
    TOTAL $25,000
  3. A modest national marketing budget for the Junior Olympic Program Fund is allocated at $5,000. This will be funded at $1,000 per year over a period of five years, until the program is self-sufficient.