Searcy, Ark., (LP) — Trap shooting is a sport of patience timing and skill. When shooting trap there are two main parts to the field; the stations, the stations are made out of concrete and have to be a certain size for the shooters. The house is where the machine is that shoots the clay pigeon out, the machine pivots on one axis and swings from right to left so whenever you call for the bird you wont know where the bird is coming from. The game is a very quiet game where the only noises to be heard are the closing of actions, the call for the bird, and the shot.
The head coach of the senior team is John Pinkley, he has been a coach for the team since the beginning. When asked what some of the main struggles of coaching such a different sport he commented with, “Getting the dedication from the kids is one of the biggest struggles until the kids realize that they can shoot and they can be productive that increases their attendance it remedies itself, the other struggle is logistics and coordination, trying to get the kids that are going to be on one team to come together and shoot at least once a week is a major struggle.” He was also asked how he felt about his teams this year and their performances, “My A and B senior squads have improved a lot and have become better with what we call shoot evaluations which is good I am proud of those squads, my junior squad has come a long way I only had one returning junior and gained four new shooters for my junior squad two of which have never shot a gun before this.” He talks about how much he enjoys the sport and what he enjoys most about it, “My favorite part is when we take the teams to the tournaments and see what their actual numbers are and they shoot what we call a fourth of July bird and they turn around with a big smile on their face, that is my favorite part.”
Michael McFarlin is the second team coach and he has been in the sport for a total of eight years through his kids and being a coach. He talked about how the sport is so under recognized, “The part that I enjoy about the sport is that anyone can come and learn how to shoot whether or not they have ever shot before, that to me is so special to be able to teach these young kids discipline and how to have fun and shoot.” Michael also talked about how long he has been a part of the team, “I have been involved in the shooting sports for about eight years, both of my boys have been or are shooters my oldest son placed fourth in the state in a couple of meets, and I have been in the coaching position for almost five years now.” The coach also talks about what some of his favorite parts of the sport are, “My favorite part about the sport is when you take a young person boy/girl whether they have shot before or not to teaching them how to shoot something that isn’t hunting but is a sport and seeing that light switch go off and just seeing them succeed is the enjoyment in the sport.”
This team and theese coaches are unheard of by most kids in the school, but the team hopes to change that when they come home with that big trophy.
