TargetTalk

What is it?

Scholastic Action Shooting Program (I think).

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SASP is the Scholastic Action Shooing Program. It is a complement to the SCTP Scholastic Clay Target Program. Both of these High School and Collegiate programs are overseen by the SSSF Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation created by the NSSF National Shooting Sports Foundation.

It is huge. At the Cardinal Center in Marengo OH, between the shotgun and action shooting participants there were over 13,000 people on site for a weeks worth of competition. They are drawing huge numbers of youth shooting. They are well organized, well funded, and run excellent events all over the country.
I don't know the history or the origins of this organization but they have clearly not aligned themselves with the NRA or the CMP, which has allowed them to avoid the negative connotations of each of those organizations. As it is privately run as 501c3 and probably funded by the trade association https://www.nssf.org/ they have a much better chance at success.
https://mysasp.com/
https://mysctp.com/
https://sssfonline.org/

Post Covid, due to reduced budget and staff in the NRA Competitions Division, the NRA's sponsorship of collegiate championships in international style pistol (standard, sport and air) was discontinued. The NRA collegiate pistol shoulder-to-shoulder national championships had been conducted since 1980. The SASP "stepped up" and has been sponsoring these for the last three years. The SASP has also been naming collegiate pistol All-American teams, a program previously run by the NRA starting in 1960.

Mike Carter wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 10:22 am clearly not aligned themselves with the NRA or the CMP, which has allowed them to avoid the negative connotations of each of those organizations.

"Negative Connotations" of CMP?

NRA - sure - it's a political lobbyist & "donations" NOT tax deductible; though, lest the public forget NRA originated promoting Education & Training emphasizing "Knowledge, Skills, and ATTITUDE." Negative aspect of today's NRA? Sure! Noted and known . . . .

CMP??? Negative? How so? Hate to say it, but Olympic shooting is a dying art in the US. Perhaps, in favor of the popular "Blind & Blast 'Em" events. Unfortunately, last Saturday, CMP-South had a grand total of 15 air rifle athletes, all youth, and only 9 pistol athletes, all old geezers. Pre-Covid, events at CMP would have three or four full relays, with almost all 80 firing points filled each relay. What changed?

So how to integrate SASP, youth shooting programs in general, and CMP & ISSF Olympic disciplines back into favor with America's students and young people? How to promote Safety, Education, and Skills into sports programs?

[ Please NO POLITICS here; NRA malfunctions known. ]

Hi AG,
In regards to negative connotations, yes NRA is known, so I'll leave that one alone. I am huge supporter of the CMP and I am the state director for Tennessee, but CMP is not without its own baggage. They've cleaned a lot of that up but past board members of the CMP were also cut from the same cloth as the NRA where nepotism ruled and change was forbidden.
Your observation regarding Olympic shooting is accurate. I can't explain why CMP south turnout is down, but I do know since covid many high schools have acquired digital scoring systems from Sius and Scopos in the South East. Especially JROTC teams. So the need to travel to Anniston in order to shoot on electronic targets is no longer the novelty it once was. Pure speculation on my part.
Aside from Olympic shooting sports being more difficult than American Trap and Skeet, or hitting a piece of steel at relatively close range, clearly they appeal to a huge portion of the youth shooting world. Instant gratification of busting a clay and pinging a plate is probably more satisfying in a world where our kids attention spans have been molded into 30 second reels and tiktoks by the brain altering devices they are constantly attached too.
Also, follow the money. The American firearms industry is making money from shotgun and action shooting, which might explain with the NSSF founded these organizations. Aside from Crosman, I'm not seeing anything but German, Swiss, Indian, and UK (Eley) products on the rifle firing lines. The other common thread is around the world shotgun and rifle sports are likely reserved for the elite levels of their citizenry due to the restrictions placed on gun ownership. But Americans have more choices. That is the conundrum for Olympic level shooting events in the USA. The same headwinds blow on all of the shooting sports from unpopular perceptions of guns in general.