Spring 2015 was the first year for the North Dakota High School Clay Target League. Four high schools took the initiative to be the first in North Dakota to offer this opportunity to their student athletes that first year. They were Enderlin, Devils Lake, Oak Grove and Larimore with a total of 92 student-athletes.
John Nelson has been the President of the USA Clay Target League since 2018 which is based in Eagan, Minnesota. Nelson has been with the League even prior to 2008 when he and founder Jim Sable started the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League. The Minnesota League started with three teams and 30 athletes. Nelson explained, “We became a virtual competition (shoot at your local range) the following year because two outstate schools wanted to join.” Wisconsin was the second state to have a High School Clay Target League. South Dakota started theirs in 2016. There are 39 states now that are part of the League.
In the 2024 Spring season the League grew to 75 teams in North Dakota with 2,025 student-athletes participating. Along with trap, there were 35 teams that participated in skeet, sporting clays and 5-stand collectively. Minnesota had 348 teams with 11,200 student-athletes participating. There were 80 teams with 700 athletes that competed in the shooting clay sports. South Dakota had 55 teams with 1,400 student-athletes that competed. They had 25 teams with 200 athletes that competed in the other shooting clay sports.
Any student enrolled in school or homeschooled at the time of the student athlete registration deadline date is eligible to participate if the student is in 6th through 12th grade, has completed firearm safety course, meets all school eligibility requirements, complies with league policies and the team has room to accommodate the student-athlete. Also, the League is an adaptive sport, which allows students that have physical disabilities participate in this extracurricular coed activity. The League promotes and emphasizes these priorities in this order; safety, fun and marksmanship.
The 501(c3) nonprofit USA Clay Target League is the largest clay target shooting sport organization in the world with 51,866 student athletes, 1,795 clay target teams (Including High School, College & Homeschool Teams), and 10,316 coaches and volunteers who participated in 2023-24. Those numbers are expected to climb every year like they have every year.
Students who participate can also participate in other sports at the same time. The League allows teams to shoot up to one day a week, including weekends, which gives flexibility for practices and games in other sports.
Besides trap shooting the Clay Target League also offers skeet, sporting clays and 5 stand depending on what your shooting range in your area has to offer. The cost per student is $40. The money goes towards the administration costs associated with League operations. The cost of participating at the optional state tournament is also $40 per student. North Dakota’s state tournament has been held at The Shooting Park in Horace every year since they joined the League.
What is trap shooting? The shooters fire from five positions in an arc shaped formation 16 yards behind a throwing machine in a small enclosure called the trap house. The machine throws the clay disc targets at different angles unknown to the shooter. Hearing and eye protection are mandatory for every shooter. Shotguns are not loaded and no shell is in the chamber until a squad member's turn to shoot. Each person fires at a clay target. Each target is only fired at once. After each shooter has fired five shots from a particular position on the arc, all shooters move one station to the right until everyone has fired from all five positions. There are a total of 25 shots per round. Each week every student athlete shoots two rounds of 25 shots.
Scores are tabulated and put on the League’s website. The students do not have to travel to other ranges. There is a Spring and Fall season. The Spring season includes an optional state tournament, in which every student athlete has the choice to participate. The Spring session is a nine-week season that starts in early April and finishes in early June. The Spring session consists of two practice weeks, one reserve week, five competition weeks and a fun week. The Fall season starts in September and ends in October. The six week Fall League consists of one practice/reserve and five weeks of competition.
The cost of shooting sports is not cheap. Nelson estimates that 90% of the teams are self-funded. But some schools actually pay for the sport. When President Nelson was asked how much does it cost to supply a student with shotgun shells and clays he responded, “Costs vary by shooting range. Easy estimating, you have nine weeks of practice and competition at 50 targets ($20/ammo, $15/clays x 9 = $315, one state tournament at 100 targets ($40/ammo, $40 tournament = $80) = TOTAL about $400.” Additional expenses may include mandatory ear protection, eye protection, shooting gear or uniforms. Conservation dollars raised by the League total over $17 million through the Pittman-Robertson tax since 2020.
The shooting sports became a sanctioned high school sport in Minnesota in 2014. Nelson explained, “We are talking to a few other state high school athletic associations to do the same as Minnesota.” There has been no talk of North Dakota sanctioning trap. “We need NDHSAA-member schools that have clay target teams to propose the opportunity. The Minnesota model has been very successful and they are very supportive,” said Nelson.
There have been zero reported accidents since the League started in 2008. “Nobody can argue with our unblemished safety record. We’re the safest sport in high school and the data, not theories, proves it,” Nelson said proudly of the League.
Nelson added, “The League’s continued success stems from the commitment, knowledge, and understanding from all participating parents, coaches, shooting ranges, and education communities that when students are involved in school-sponsored activities, they are better humans. For almost 40% of all clay target student athletes, this is their only sport that they participate in. So that means that the positive impacts on these students will include better grades, better chances to go to college, lower school drop-out rates, increased self-esteem and discipline, create new friends, less likely to use drugs/alcohol, and they are more likely to participate in their community, vote, and become a volunteer.”
“I have been an assistant coach for the Enderlin Trap Team since the first year. I can’t tell you how much fulfillment a person gets out of helping these student-athletes become better marksmen, gun handlers and just more confident young people. If your town, school or wildlife club is looking to start a school trap team in your area, don’t hesitate to get a hold of the League. They are great to work with and will help your team get started on the right track,” added the article Author Clint Lindemann.
For more information go to the League website: https://usaclaytarget.com/
Thanks for reading, Clint.
