Youth Pistol Programs

          
                                   Jason Turner                                                                                       Hannah Lewis

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Numerous opportunities exist for young people interested in pistol shooting sports. The Olympic events include Men’s and Women’s Air Pistol and Smallbore (.22) Men’s Free and Rapid Fire Pistol events as well as the Women’s Sport Pistol event. The junior event created to lead to these events is called Progressive Position Air Pistol (PPP).

PPP is a great introduction to the sport as the equipment, and particularly the ammunition, are less expensive as well as cleaner and quieter. Temporary ranges can easily be set up in any large area (like a gym) as these guns do not require a permanent back-stop or special ventilation system. USA Shooting and the National Rifle Association both support this event and hold a jointly sponsored National Junior Olympic Progressive Position Air Pistol Championship.

The 2012 PPP National Championships will be held 6-8 July in Anniston, AL at the CMP South Shooting Center.

In partnership with the NRA we are announcing the first PPP national postal program. This PPP national postal is three separate stand alone competitions: Fall, Winter and Spring. More information can be obtained by downloading the PPP Postal Program.

4-H Shooting Sports offers youth programs for pistol shooting. Contact your local chapter to find out if it is offered in your area. Some schools and many local shooting clubs provide youth shooting sports programs as well.

USAS has partnered with the 4-H and created an marksmanship achievement program for rifle, pistol and shotgun events called the Passport program. Click here to learn more about the Passport program. Your 4-H club can order the achievement pins and ‘passports’ directly from the 4-H National website. 

USA Shooting (USAS) publishes USA Shooting News, sanctions matches and is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Shooting Sports in the United States.  USAS also runs and coordinates Junior Olympic Development Camps here at the Olympic Training Center and around the country at our Certified Training Centers. Our website includes information about match schedules, USAS merchandise sales and competition results.

The NRA has a qualification program, sanctions matches, offers a tremendous variety of materials and has programs for competitions, collegiate shooting, coach education, advanced summer camps, etc. NRA also offers grant programs that provide funding for youth shooting programs.

Growing youth shooting sports in the US is always a focus for USAS. One of the key areas to achieve this is the Coach Education Program in which we partner with the NRA and Civilian Marksmanship Program. Every youth shooting sports program should have at least one certified coach. We currently subsidize Pistol Coach Schools for those clubs that start up or maintain a PPP program. Please contact michael.theimer@usashooting.org for more details.

To learn more about the fifteen Olympic shooting sports, click here.

PPP Information

2013 PPP National Championships Program

2012 PPP National Championship results

National PPP Postal Championships

USAS-NRA Progressive Position Air Pistol Rules revised 31 January 2013

USAS Match Sanctioning Guidelines

PPP Counterbalance T Stand Instructions

Click here to view sanctioned events on our calendar

Click here for a personal copy of the Olympic Path Poster for Junior Athletes


Air Pistol Purchases

We have a special discount provided by Pyramid Air for the purchase of the Air Arms Alfa Proj air pistol for beginners. Go to the Pyramyd Air order page and when ordering the Air Arms air pistol use the code  USASHOOTING-AJP, it should discount each gun by $65.00. 

Additionally, Pyramyd Air has launched a "Bill Me Later" (option 2) on their website/order page which when approved allows the customer to pay over 6 months (same as cache, no interest). 
on orders over $250

Also, the USAS National Junior Pistol Coaches have a two year extended payment plan for any air pistol purchase from Pyramyd Air, Pardini and Walther. Contact Russ Doucette for more information to fund a purchase or to donate to this program which gives opportunities to more junior athletes who want to get on the Olympic path.

 

National Shooting Sports Foundation