San Antonio, TX and Sparta, IL -(Ammoland.com)- Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Director, Tom Wondrash, and Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) Executive Director, Lynn Gipson, have announced that the executive committees of both organizations have approved a plan to unify the youth shooting sports efforts of both entities, beginning immediately.
ATA membership will be required of all SCTP State and National Championship Singles participants beginning in 2015. These State Championship tournaments, along with the SCTP National Singles Trapshooting Championship, will be registered with the ATA. SCTP members will be encouraged to join the ATA through the SCTP via its online registration system, SHOT v5.
“This isn’t a new concept,” stated Tom Wondrash. “Event registration and membership with national governing bodies has been required for many years for the SCTP’s skeet (NSSA) and sporting clays (NSCA) national events, as well as USA Shooting’s (USAS) international events. This will be both beneficial and crucial to the growth of the SCTP and youth shooting sports. We look forward to working with the ATA.”
Another feature of the partnership will be funding to the SCTP by the ATA for scholarships and program operating costs.
“Not only is this a landmark partnership for the promotion of youth shotgun target sports, it’s also a unique win-win-win situation,” reported Lynn Gipson. “Both organizations benefit from membership and funding, and the student athletes benefit from having their championship scores become a national governing body permanent record for use by coaches and others in the future. We look forward to a long relationship, beneficial to everyone involved.”
For more information on the two associations, visit www.shootata.com (ATA) and www.sssfonline.org (SCTP).
About Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA)
The ATA was founded in 1900 as the American Trapshooting Association and later changed to the Amateur Trapshooting Association in 1923. A Board of Directors, composed of state and provincial delegates govern all ATA policy matters. The Executive Committee, which is comprised of one representative from each of the five Zones, provides stewardship for the association throughout the year. The organization’s day-to-day business is guided by an Executive Director and a team of professionals at the national headquarters in Vandalia, Ohio.
About Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP)
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is responsible for all aspects of the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Pistol Program (SPP) across the United States. SCTP and SPP are youth development programs in which adult coaches and volunteers use shooting sports to teach and to demonstrate sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork, and other positive life skills. SCTP was developed as a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) until the SSSF was created in 2007 to operate the SCTP. In 2012, SSSF created the SPP and became the managing foundation of both programs.