NEENAH, Wis. — Trap shooting is continuing to grow across the state and country, which includes at the high school level.
In the past three years, the number of students taking up the sport has more than doubled to over 3,400 in the state of Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin State High School Clay Target League (WISHSCTL). Each athlete must have a safety certificate to participate.
What You Need To Know
- The Fox Valley Lutheran Trap team has 43 athletes
- The coach started the team to give his son an outlet to compete in sports
- According to the USA Clay Target League, there have been zero incidents since 2008
- Sage Crubel has competed competitively since her freshman year of high school
Sage Crubel has been trap shooting competitively for two years in high school for the Fox Valley Lutheran Trap team. She was shooting with her father prior to that. She said she has learned a lot in the short time that she has competed.
“All the coaches here are great. They kind of watch everyone individually and all kind of like critique you in a good way and then be like, ‘Put your head down more, or maybe stand differently,’” said Crubel. “Whatever there is you need to do personally to succeed. So, it’s really personalized.”
Crubel said for her, trap shooting is more mental than it is technical. She said it can be stressful at times but tries to remember to have fun with it.
“The hardest thing is when I miss, to get over it,” said Crubel. “Normally, if I miss, I miss that same spot next time or I’ll just keep missing after that. And that’s kind of been my downfall.”
Fox Valley Lutheran Trap head coach Paul Calmes started the team over a decade ago to give his son an outlet to compete. He said the team has grown from a handful of athletes to nearly 50. He said one of the contributing factors to its growth is how safe it is and the fact anyone can learn to shoot at the clay targets.
“You’re not going to have any concussions here,” said Calmes. “You’re constantly supervised by adults. It’s a single shot type of a sport. You’re not going to have a firearm loaded with the ammo. We’re watching every time they put their gun up and take their gun down.”
As one of the top performing shooters on the team, Crubel said having a good support system helps. She credits her success to her reflexes and early experience, but welcomes anyone to try it.
“I just say do it,” said Crubel. “Find people to support you. There will be people out there supporting you. Just don’t listen to what people that say otherwise.”
A total of 134 high schools throughout the state competed this year in the spring league, WISHSCTL said. According to the USA Clay Target League, there have been zero reported injuries since 2008.
_crop)