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Numerous opportunities exist for young people interested in rifle shooting sports. The Olympic events include Men’s and Women’s Air Rifle (Standing) and Smallbore (.22) Rifle Three-Position as well as Men’s Smallbore Prone. The junior event created to lead to these events is called Three-Position Air Rifle (3PAR). 3PAR 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. Many organizations have joined to form the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council. These organizations include: USA Shooting, Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) www.odcmp.com, 4-H Shooting Sports www.4-hshootingsports.org, The American Legion www.legion.org, Boy Scouts of America-Venturing www.scouting.org/venturing/, Daisy/U.S. Jaycees Shooter Education Program www.daisy.com/education.html and the Army, Navy and Marine Corps JROTC Commands. The National Rifle Association (NRA) www.nra.org also runs a 3PAR program. All of those programs have information available through their websites or by contacting local or national offices. Check out the 4-H Passport Program for great pins your young athletes can earn Hundreds of schools and local shooting clubs provide youth shooting sports programs as well. USA Shooting runs the 3PAR National Junior Olympic Championship in conjunction with CMP and the Council. USA Shooting publishes USA Shooting News (for members), sanctions matches and is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Shooting Sports in the U.S. We run Junior Olympic Development Camps and our website also includes information about match schedules, clothing sales and competition results. CMP sanctions matches, has publications, very helpful training materials (including plans for pellet traps), sells guns, ammo and equipment, runs great summer camps and administers an Excellence-In-Competition program and a Junior Distinguished program. 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 fantastic funding for youth programs. Because Collegiate Rifle has the coveted NCAA status, many schools offer scholarships for talented athletes, often worth tens of thousands of dollars over a 4 year career. 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 http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/coach_schools.asp in which we partner with the NRA and Civilian Marksmanship Program www.odcmp.com. Every youth shooting sports program should have at least one certified coach. Please contact Bob.Foth@usashooting.org, (719) 866-4881 for more details. 2009 National Junior Olympic 3PAR Championship Program 2009 State JO 3PAR Program Guidelines 3P AIR RULES |
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