U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- With the recent addition of international air disciplines to the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP), Arizona teams were eager to participate in the USA Shooting Arizona State Pistol Championship on Tuesday, December 29th at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, Arizona. Many of these SASP athletes had competed in action shooting matches for years but were new to international-style pistol matches. With only one month to prepare, three teams practiced for the event, with ten athletes choosing to compete for the State Championship.
With years of muscle memory tasked for speed, these young action shooting athletes had to slow things down and hit very precise shots at the Olympic 10M pistol event.
Instead of multiple steel target arrays, international-style pistol matches require the athletes to shoot from the standing position, one-handed at a target with approximately a one-inch “10-ring”, located 32’ 9.7” away. The equipment the athletes use and method of match preparation are also very different from action shooting. Olympic air pistols were borrowed, practices scheduled, guns zeroed, familiarization with the rules, and new performance routines were learned by these athletes.
When the athletes are on the firing line, coaching is not allowed, so coaches must properly prepare their athletes ahead of time with the full knowledge they are going to need during the match.
After the fast, but focused month of preparation, it all came down to the 60-shot, 90-minute match of the USA Shooting Arizona State Pistol Championship.
Congratulations to University of Arizona WildGats President, Julia for her 1st place finish. Second place went to Theodore from Straight Shooters. Third place went to AJ K from the Venture Crew shooting
