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New trap, skeet team in Waupaca

There’s a new game in town and it’s making plenty of noise.

Thirteen Waupaca High School students compete on the Comet Clay Crushers Trap and Skeet Club. The team held its first competition March 23, hosting Waupun at the Waupaca Conservation League grounds on Waupaca’s south side.

“It’s phenomenal the number of schools that offer this, especially in the southern part of the state,” said WCL president John Woodliff, who helped get the team off the ground.

“Some high schools have 160 students on their trap team,” he said. “It’s going to take us some time to do it. I’m looking at a three-year program before we can get a good amount of kids here to participate, but we’re happy to have the 13 we have right now.”

The Waupaca School Board gave the league the go-ahead to create the team, according to Woodliff.

“We’ve been trying to do this for several years,” he said. “This year, we got our ducks in a row. We were able to present our program to the school board and they approved it without any hesitation.

“The kids have asked for it throughout the years, the last two years in particular,” he added. “Others are doing it, why can’t we have it? We got it organized and the youth that are involved in it are having a good time.”

That includes freshman Sam Abrahamson, who participated in a summer trap league at the WCL last year.

“I enjoyed it a lot and they taught me a lot about how to shoot a shotgun,” he said. “I wanted to learn how to shoot moving targets like ducks.”

Each student shoots 50 targets at a meet. The targets are about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

“They’re coming out of a machine at about 43 miles an hour and they’re going out 50 yards,” Woodliff said. “It’s a fast-moving target.”

The top five scores at a meet make up the team score.

“It’s unique because every one of these students is on the team,” Woodliff said. “The rest of the individual scores will be used for individual awards and any scholarships that may come about.”

Waupaca competes in the Kettle Moraine Conference with teams from Berlin, Waupun, North Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, Neenah, Menasha and Winneconne.

“The students that participate in meets will earn a letter, just like any other sport,” Woodliff said. “A lot of these youth aren’t interested in other sports. This is what they want to do and I’m thinking it’s going to expand.”

Some team members have parents that are members of the Waupaca Conservation League, which offers trap and skeet leagues.

“Some have never done this before and are just learning how to do it now.” Woodliff said. “It’s a learning process for all of us, myself included.”

Some of the students joined the team to become better hunters.

“That has a lot to do with it,” Woodliff said. “I’ve talked to a few of these kids and they said, ‘Boy, this is better than bird hunting.’ This is absolutely great practice for them and it’s going to improve their shooting skills, no question about that. They’re going to learn quite a bit about sportsmanship and being a good sport, ethics, safety and the camaraderie of being together in a shooting sport.”

The team practices each Thursday night at the WCL.

“Hopefully, they’re getting the right direction as to how to become a better shooter,” Woodliff said. “It should get easier once you learn the basics, keep the head on the stock, following through, being in the right stance and keeping your mind on what you’re doing. This is a very mental sport because you really have to concentrate on what you’re doing to be able to break that target. You have to do the same thing over and over and over. It has to be exactly the same thing.”

Abrahamson said the extra practice has made him a better shooter.

“I feel like my shot has improved a lot,” he said. “I think it’ll be fun. It’s something new and I can’t wait to try it.”

“It’s not like other sports like baseball, softball or football, where you can play it for so long,” Woodliff said. “They can shoot clay targets any place in the United States for the rest of their lives. You really can’t say that about a lot of the other sports they can be involved in.

“It’s unique in it’s own way,” he said. “This will follow them no matter where they go.”

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