{"id":69958,"date":"2017-04-03T16:07:03","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T20:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=69958"},"modified":"2017-04-03T16:07:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T20:05:20","slug":"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_71622\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71622\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" class=\"wp-image-71622 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy-1024x547.jpg\" alt=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" width=\"1024\" height=\"547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy-1024x547.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy-400x214.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy-768x410.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tommy.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-71622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Instructor Tommy Thacker working with junior shooter RJ Breese on the principles of shooting long range rifle. (<em>Photo Credit: Todd Overland<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p>On the surface, competitive shooting looks like it&#8217;s just about having\u00a0fun and putting lead down range, but there are many, to use a popular phrase in schools around the country, &#8220;teachable moments&#8221; in shooting sports!<\/p>\n<p>Lessons on time management, critical thinking, independent learning, dealing with peer pressure, functioning under stress, and\u00a0learning what it\u00a0takes to make\u00a0things happen &#8220;in the real world&#8221; are all taught in competitive shooting, which is why it is so perfect for youngsters.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here are four reasons to get your kids shooting competitively.<\/p>\n<h2>The Kids and Guns Series<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/kids-guns-series-introduction\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">The Basics<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/kids-guns-storage\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Storage<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/kids-and-guns-teach-your-children-well\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Teaching<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/kids-and-guns-rimfire-fun\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Rimfire<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/kids-and-guns-take-your-children-hunting\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Hunting<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Competitive Shooting<\/li>\n<li>Shotguns<\/li>\n<li>Pistols<\/li>\n<li>Revolvers<\/li>\n<li>Older kids<\/li>\n<li>Tactical Kids<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>1. Learning From Failure<\/h2>\n<p>A hit on a\u00a0steel target at 400 yards doesn&#8217;t lie, nor does a miss. The shooter knows right away whether he or she was successful. \u00a0That&#8217;s one of the great advantages of shooting sports. \u00a0Instant feedback.<\/p>\n<p>When you fail in shooting sports, you know it. \u00a0Plus, scores are kept for a reason. \u00a0To separate winners from losers. \u00a0For whatever reason, we&#8217;ve moved away from distinguishing between winners and losers in our schools. \u00a0Nowadays, everyone&#8217;s a winner. \u00a0Everyone gets a\u00a0trophy simply for participating.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_71620\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71620\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-71620\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley-400x264.jpg\" alt=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" width=\"400\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley-400x264.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2A_Heritage-Ashley.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-71620\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Another way that shooting empowers youth is that with engaging instruction, kids learn that hurdles and challenges are things they can overcome and master, and they can take that positive experience to other parts of their lives. Here instructor Ashley Rheuark helps Gracie S. with her pistol skills.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As psychologists Lipkin &amp; Perrymore have suggested in their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Workplace-Managing-Me-First-Generation\/dp\/1601630719\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">book on Generation Y<\/a>, the &#8220;everybody&#8217;s a winner&#8221; ethos is problematic because it inhibits a student&#8217;s productivity, personal drive and ability to cope when things don&#8217;t go their way. \u00a0In a nutshell, it is creating a generation of wussies!<\/p>\n<p>The beautiful thing about getting children involved in shooting sports is that they will fail. \u00a0They will lose. \u00a0And they will know it.<\/p>\n<p>But that failure is where the growth comes from. \u00a0From being accountable for the results, from comparing yourself to standards, from seeing where you fell short and where you need\u00a0to put in more\u00a0effort. \u00a0It&#8217;s the best way to learn and achieve in life.<\/p>\n<p>As Churchill famously quipped, &#8220;Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>2. Tough Competition<\/h2>\n<p>One of the things I love about competitive shooting is that it doesn&#8217;t treat kids like children. Kids\u00a0compete against the &#8220;grown-ups.&#8221; Not fair? \u00a0Neither is life.<\/p>\n<p>Shooting teaches them to take on a challenge that others would give them permission to give up on because &#8220;it&#8217;s not fair&#8221; or &#8220;it&#8217;s not a level playing field&#8221; and to embrace it and figure out ways to solve the problem. \u00a0It teaches kids to really gut it out, to push forward despite all obstacles.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_71624\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71624\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" class=\"wp-image-71624 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" width=\"400\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tabor-andrew.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-71624\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interacting with adults as well as shooters of all ages and abilities &#8211; a very diverse peer group &#8211; is one of the great perks of competitive shooting. (<em>Photo Credit: Todd Overland<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve seen young shooters emotional\u00a0because while their\u00a0heart is there, their bodies are not. \u00a0One stands out because his kid-sized body was\u00a0telling him, &#8220;Dude, let&#8217;s be realistic here!&#8221; as he hefted his rifle after running 50 yards shooting pistol and shotgun. \u00a0But he\u00a0had fight in him.<\/p>\n<p>And that is really what a parent hopes a child learns from his or her sport. Grit and determination. \u00a0Enough fight to see them overcome the difficult things in life, enough spirit to say, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=upcWBut9mrI\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Not today<\/a>.&#8221; If you&#8217;re not a Game of Thrones fan, Google that one &#8211; best kid character in a long while there &#8211; Aria. \u00a0 Definitely not a show for kids, but as adults, we can recognize the tenacity, wit, and persistence that helped her literally survive to live another day.<\/p>\n<p>Competitive\u00a0shooting creates opportunities for kids to realize there&#8217;s always another day, another perspective, another way to tackle something and it teaches them to do that in real time against stiff competition, with people watching, sometimes shouting range commands and correcting them as they take correction on the fly. \u00a0It&#8217;s not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.<\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Learning from the Best<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>One of the best aspects of competitive shooting is that it&#8217;s a small, close-knit community. \u00a0Compare it to other sports, like soccer or baseball, and one gets a sense of just how tight everyone is. \u00a0For example, when&#8217;s the last time you saw Michael Jordan or LeBron James teaching children at an NBA game?<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s what I thought. Unless it&#8217;s a staged event to promote Coca-Cola or Ford or one of the big NBA advertisers, it doesn&#8217;t happen.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_72205\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72205\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-72205\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/andrew-and-greg.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-72205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Instruction from professionals is something that you don&#8217;t find in other sports to the same degree we see in competitive shooting.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, the legends of our sport, e.g. Jerry Miculek, Max Michel, can be found instructing and talking to little people on the range all the time. \u00a0Why is that?<\/p>\n<p>This outreach springs from the recognition that it is our duty to help the newbies. \u00a0See, our sport is more than just a sport, it&#8217;s an expression of our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. \u00a0It&#8217;s a celebration of the Second Amendment. \u00a0Beyond the fun and the competition, shooting instills a firm sense of what it means to\u00a0live free and what it takes to defend that freedom.<\/p>\n<p>So, while it&#8217;s okay for your kids to look up to NBA players, you should know that there are athletes in shooting sports who may not be as rich or as famous as M.J. or King James, but they are every bit the role model. \u00a0Pro shooters\u00a0<em>really<\/em> care. \u00a0Not just about the sport, but about our history, our\u00a0Constitution, and the preservation of our fundamental rights and freedoms. \u00a0I don&#8217;t know about you, but those are the kind of people I want my children hanging around with and learning from.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. Quality Time and Heavy Stuff<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As parents, as a family, you&#8217;re free to sign little Bobby and Suzy up for whatever sport you want. \u00a0My boys have competed in swim team, triathlons, wrestling, running, Tae Kwan Do, and more types of shooting and hunting than I have room to list.<\/p>\n<p>The beauty about getting involved in shooting sports is that you really get to see the good old US of A because the matches are spread across the country. \u00a0On the way to matches, we&#8217;ve seen more National Parks, Monuments, and Battlefields than most people would ever try to see. \u00a0We&#8217;ve slept in the car together, braved storms, shared stories, sang songs, and pushed through to make it home to work, and our children have seen that even the fun things in life have to be balanced with work.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom is balanced with sacrifice, we can&#8217;t play unless we can pay the bills. \u00a0We can&#8217;t win unless we put in work training. \u00a0These are more life skills that kids need to see in action.<\/p>\n<h2>Best Competitions For Your Kids?<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_71623\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71623\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" class=\"wp-image-71623 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small-400x251.jpg\" alt=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\" width=\"400\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small-400x251.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small-768x482.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small-1024x643.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/campers-and-instructors-small.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-71623\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer shooting camps, like 2A Heritage 3 Gun Camp, offer youth shooters opportunities to learn about competition skills and firearms safety under professional supervision. (<em>Photo Credit: Todd Overland<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The best place to start looking for competitions is online. Start with local matches, league nights, maybe a Steel Challenge match, a smallbore or air rifle league, or a USPSA league night.<\/p>\n<p>Find a relaxed-paced event to dip their toe in safely, and then let them run. \u00a0USPSA and IDPA have such vast\u00a0rule books that competitors from other disciplines make fun of them, but starting in one of those disciplines is ideal for that very reason. \u00a0Those rules not only make one a disciplined shooter but a responsible and safe shooter as well.<\/p>\n<p>There are also junior camps for introducing kids to shooting competition. \u00a0From pistol only to 3 Gun, to trap and skeet camps, there are many options for youngsters to find a niche they fit in. \u00a0There is <a href=\"https:\/\/2aheritage.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">2A Heritage Junior Camp<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgmjuniorshootercamps.com\/camps\/3-gun-camp\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">MGM Targets Junior Camp<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/uspsayoungguns.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">USPSA<\/a>&#8216;s junior program, high school trap and skeet programs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwla.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"kids-and-guns-four-reasons-to-start-competitive-shooting\" title=\"Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting\">Izaak Walton League<\/a>\u00a0and other youth programs that cater to the kids.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you decide, just go do it! \u00a0Start local,\u00a0have them bring a friend, and odds are, they&#8217;ll\u00a0find a sport and people they genuinely enjoy and want to be around for decades to come.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>We are\u00a0often asked if our boys love getting up at the crack of dawn to spend two days in a car en route to a match. \u00a0The answer is &#8220;NO!&#8221;\u00a0We don&#8217;t always like mornings, we don&#8217;t always like the work and research that goes into accomplishing our goals, but you have to put in the time to get what you want.<\/p>\n<p>Hard work, sacrifice, and commitment are necessary if you want to succeed in competitive shooting. \u00a0Nothing comes easy. \u00a0Nothing comes free. \u00a0Nothing is handed over. \u00a0You need to learn from failure, you need to learn to gut it out when the going gets tough. \u00a0Those lessons and the\u00a0quality time with the family will help your kids succeed not just in the sport, but in life.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t think of a better discipline for children, can you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the things I love about competitive shooting is that it doesn&#8217;t treat kids like children. Kids compete against the &#8220;grown-ups.&#8221; Not fair?  Neither is life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":71622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,491,234,6],"tags":[132,119,472,102,578],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-69958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-becky-yackley","9":"category-columns","10":"category-competition","11":"tag-buzz","12":"tag-competition","13":"tag-competitive-shooting","14":"tag-feature-articles","15":"tag-kids-and-guns"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kids and Guns: Four Reasons to Start Competitive Shooting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the things I love about competitive shooting is that it doesn&#039;t treat kids like children. 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