TargetTalk

Want to get involved in air rifle and air pistol in college. My school has no shooting team nor club so I have alot of questions:

1.) What is intercollegiate shooting? Does that mean it's only open to schools only with varsity programs?

2.) Can anyone participate in state, sectional, or nationals or is it only for schools with varsity programs?

3.) Is there any program advantages of shooting air rifle over air pistol? Do air rifle and air pistol both have athletic all-american and academic all-american awards?

4.) Can single person club teams compete in state, sectional, nationals, and try for all-american and academic all-amercian, etc?

I'll answer #2 and #3 for you.

Yes, anyone can enter the matches you named.

You have a lot less stuff to hump around when shooting air pistol.

The "lot less stuff to hump around" also means a lot less dosh to lay out to be competitive. This is important to most college students.

In fact, it appears to me that many more high schools and colleges have rifle teams than have pistol teams and I find that curious. Why put students in a position of having to lay out big bucks for leather jackets, pants, and specialized gloves and shoes or be at a disadvantage in the rifle disciplines when pistol competitors only have to buy a gun and shooting glasses to be as well equipped as anyone on the line?

I also don't understand why the rifle disciplines have evolved that way instead of leveling the playing field by banning all that stuff, but that's another question entirely.

Roger

Whoa, being new to the sport didn't even think about the cost of clothing difference between the two sports. I guess that's first big obstacle. Thanks guys keep the reply's coming I need to be schooled on AR and AP.

Oh, out of curiosity is it possible to be competitive in AR without spending an arm and leg?

plop wrote: 2.) Can anyone participate in state, sectional, or nationals or is it only for schools with varsity programs?

No, many schools pistol teams are club sports.

plop wrote:Oh, out of curiosity is it possible to be competitive in AR without spending an arm and leg?

It depends on how competitive you want to be. If all you shoot is offhand (as opposed to 3-position), you can skip some of the hardware like a kneeling roll & mat. You don't "need" a lot of stuff, but it makes it easier to shoot well. A spotting scope with a good stand is awfully useful. A rest so you have a place to park the rifle between shots is also very handy. An ISU coat is helpful, but not essential until you get to a pretty high level.

I used to shoot an old FWB 150 in matches for fun. I could shoot at the high sharpshooter/low expert level with just street clothes & a spotting scope. I could certainly out shoot a number of people who had a lot more invested than me. As I got older, a rifle stand made a match a lot less tiring. I eventually got a good coat, but never shot in it enough to notice a difference.

You can have a lot of fun & learn a lot without going whole hog in the hardware department right off the bat. It's not that much different than pistol in that regard, except I think there are more/better entry level pistols available than there are entry level air rifles. I suspect the market for used air rifles may be better just because it's a bit more popular.

If you haven't already done so, you should check out this site which describes the collegiate shooting programs:
http://www.nrahq.org/compete/coldir.asp

NCAA has a sanctioned rifle competition which means some scholarships are available although most are partial. They don't have an AP program. It's a big deal because since most shooters are also academically above average they really help bring up the average scores for the student athletes or so I've been told.
I personally think AP doesn't get the support because there are to many academics who view any pistol as evil.

I was actually in the same boat you are in currently in 1991 when I transferred from UT-Arlington (that had just cut our funding after making Collegiate Nationals as a team in Free Pistol) and transferred to UT-Dallas that had no athletic program at all at that time. Individuals (at least up to 1995 when I last heard) can compete in Sectionals/PTO's if they are enrolled full time and have a 2.0 GPA. I opted to form up a team at UT-Dallas and for awhile we were the only intercollegiate team that the university had until they added Varsity Soccer. We all owned our own equipment, shared equipment when necessary and financed our matches and ammunition. We had a local range that we practiced at every week and paid a discounted range fees. My Co-Captain who I drafted out of one of my Biology classes, ended up being in All-American Collegiate shooter who qualified and went to Collegiate Nationals as an individual in 1993, 1994 and 1995. In 1995 he placed in the top three for Air, Free and Standard. So a team can also be formed if you are committed to going through all the paperwork at your institution. It is a lot of work though and quite a bit of stress overseeing such a team getting founded and trained.

nvalcik:

Bravo!

This is exactly what collegiate and especially intercollegiate sports should be about. If I were hiring and someone wrote on his resume that he was a top competitive shooter, that would suggest that he was competitive and disciplined. The fact that you built a team from the ground up shows that you have organizational skills, tenacity and initiative as well.


Roger

This is the two websites for the teams that I competed for and captained for those that are interested. The college bureaucracy is a challenge to navigate with all of the rules and regulations but it can be done.





http://www.utdallas.edu/ospa/Nick/Trident.html

http://www.utdallas.edu/ospa/Nick/utapt.html