Medals the Goal as USA Shooting’s First National Sporting Clay Cup Draws Near
OutdoorHub 05.08.14
Just 60 days remain for squads to align themselves with the USA Shooting Team in a benefit shoot aimed at kick starting more medal success for America’s shooting team. Rio is In Sight for USA Shooting and they’re calling on everyone to help them in their quest.
In partnership with Houston’s American Shooting Centers and Fayez Sarofim & Co., the USA Shooting Team is hosting the first National Sporting Clay Cup, July 11-12. Using the very popular shotgun discipline of sporting clays, this planned biennial fundraiser, looks to engage shooting sport enthusiasts to support the USA Shooting Team as they head toward the 2014 World Championships and the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The initial public response has been excellent with organizers already securing $300,000 in sponsorship and donations. Special thanks to the following organizations and individuals who took the initial steps to ensuring USA Shooting success: Fayez Sarofim & Co., American Shooting Centers, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Dr. James Lally, Smith & Wesson, Colonel D. D. Behrens, Main Street Capital, Blocker Drilling, Coppell Construction, David Mafrige Real Estate, Womble Company Inc., Alliance Graphics, Extreme Energy Services, Houston Safari Club, AAR, Inc., Briley Manufacturing, and Oasis Energy.
Exhibitors arranging to participate in the event on behalf of USA Shooting include: Beretta USA, Tracking Point – Precision Guided Firearms, Winchester, Briley Manufacturing, Yoledigo Creek Ranch, Frontera Wing Shooting Argentina and White Flyer.
Friends, partners and supporters have also stepped forth in a tremendous way to provide one-of-a-kind auction items and prizes for the event that will truly make this Sporting Clays shoot the can’t-miss event of the summer. These exclusive auction items include a private fly-fishing trip to Wyoming, a Beretta DT 11 signed by 2008 and 2012 Olympic medalists, a custom engraved 1911 pistol, and a trophy whitetail hunt in South Texas along with turkey, quail, and nilgai hunts.
The USA Shooting Team is off to a tremendous start in an all-important year that is highlighted by the 2014 World Shooting Championships this September in Granada, Spain. The event is the biggest shooting event in the world and will feature over 95 U.S. Team members in competition with the first Olympic qualifying spots on the line. The Team recently completed its domestic World Cup stage and won seven medals over two competitions in all three Olympic disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun.
Houston native and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Glenn Eller will be the center of attention along with several of his USA Shooting teammates from all three of the sport’s disciplines including rifle, pistol and shotgun. USA Shooting athletes will participate in the event as competitors while also providing demonstrations of their craft in all Olympic events. Eller is coming off a spectacular season in which he became the World Champion in Double Trap for the second time in his career while becoming just the fourth American in the sport of shotgun to win four or more World Championship medals.
The event begins with a Major Benefactors dinner on July 10 taking place at the Palm Restaurant. Sporting Clay action kicks-off the next day, July 11, with a 50-team competition available to the event’s biggest contributors. The main event will take place July 12 and is limited to 200 teams.
“Our USA Shooting Team has started the 2014 season with plenty of great performances and it’s only fitting that we come together in July to rally behind them with the moral and financial support they need to be successful,” said event organizer and USA Shooting Board Member Butch Eller. “It is our intent to raise the profile of the athletes who represent America and serve as great ambassadors for the shooting sports in their everyday pursuits. The success of this fundraiser will help provide our team with the training and support they need to reach their potential in the future.”
Sporting Clays is a challenging clay target game designed to simulate field shooting. On a Sporting Clays course, shooters are presented with a wide variety of targets that duplicate the flight path of game birds, such as flushing, crossing, incoming and other quartering shots. Courses are laid out in natural surroundings and typically include 10 to 12 shooting “stations” with shooters moving from one station to the next to complete the course. Today, sporting clays is one of the fastest growing sports in America, with more than three million people of all ages participating both competitively and recreationally. The inaugural Professional Sporting Clays Tour will begin in the Spring of 2014.
Conveniently located on 563 acres in George Bush Park, American Shooting Centers has been a recreational shooter’s paradise since 1989. The facility features a Rifle & Pistol Range with over 100 positions, a Trap & Skeet Range and four championship Sporting Clays courses. Charity and corporate clay events of 800 or more shooters are regularly held on the Sporting Clays courses.
