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Q&A with Head Coach and Regional Field Rep, Bill Perkins

“Building a winning team.” To some, that may mean National Titles. Although the Arizona Wildgats and Straight Shooters have many of those, Head Coach Bill Perkins defines a winning team differently.

Formed in 2012, Coach Perkins began building before any equipment or athletes were added to the roster. “Philosophically, I wanted to run a top-notch team without cobbled together equipment. I knew I wanted to run gear that would be competitive so we wouldn’t grow out of our gear. Looking back on that, I think that was the right approach.”

When it comes to running a successful youth shooting sports program, Coach Perkins likes to use a tripod analogy: “You have to have the motivated adults, the kids, and a place to shoot. If any of those legs is weak, you’re going to struggle. Finances are always a struggle for every team and there’s not a magic pill. You just have to work your way through it.”

The home range for youth shooting sports is crucial to longevity. His advice for keeping a relationship with a shooting range is just that: a relationship. “We’ve got to recognize when we go to that range, we are one cog in their very big machine. My best advice would be to build a relationship with more than one representative of the range. If you have a great relationship with one guy and he leaves, you’re gunna feel the pain. You have to do a good job of telling your own story.”

His dedication to sharing the safety of firearm ownership and marksmanship is a honest and welcoming take: “I tell them right up front, this doesn’t have to be an all consuming part of your identity. After doing this for a semester or year, you’ll have a lot more understanding about firearms that will hopefully benefit you for the rest of your life.”

Building support at the community level can be more than just fellow range members. The WildGats put on a community outreach event called “First Shots”, a National Shooting Sports Foundation initiative. “This is where you start to deal with intangibles because a lot of this is honestly emotional. I can tell you this is one of the programs that makes the Arizona WildGats a stronger team. First Shots is specifically geared towards members of the public that are brand new firearms owners, how to be safe with firearms. It starts off with the basics of gun safety and the very basics of marksmanship. We are sharing this information with our community, which makes our community safer. I can’t quantify that other than to tell you, there are somewhere between 700 and 900 members of our community have been through our program.”

Participation of the International Disciplines in SASP is growing. Coach Perkins has a tip for other coaches as an easy way to begin, without incurring additional purchases. “What I would definitely do different is focus on Sport Pistol. You can take your Ruger Mark IV and take that exact same firearm, magazines, ammo and go shoot Sport Pistol without any additional equipment restraints. Sport Pistol is a more natural fit for a team of action shooters.”

Team practice more often than not, is a necessary activity but a big time crunch for the coaches, athletes, and parents. To benefit the most out of it, Coach Perkins recommends making missing matter. “A dueling tree is personal. A favorite of mine. When you’re just shooting a stage with a timer and have a bad string, you can just brush it off. But when shooting head to head against a team mate, its motivating! Or sometimes we’ll run stages Virginia Count, which means five rounds loaded in magazines for a five round stage. You’re either going to shoot a clean run or I’m kicking you off the line and up comes the next athlete. Its up to you!”

Listen to the full interview with Coach Perkins on our youtube channel:

2023 SASP Nationals Raffle Winners

SSTP_SASP_logo-FINAL-rev1

B. Dyson, OK – SK ARMS VA The Lost State of Jacinto

M. Lowe, NC- RUGER PC Carbine accessorized by TANDEMKROSS

W. Neilson, SC – MOSSBERG MVP 6.5 Creedmoor

A. Kopstein, BROWNING 1911 .380 Medallion Pro

R. Moen, SC – GLOCK Gen 5 G34 customized by Agency Arms

T. Ramey, SC – CZ-USA Bobwhite G2 20 gauge side by side

Congratulations to our top 3 selling teams:

  1. South Texas Shooters – 350 tickets
  2. Boone-Hartford Hot Shots – 258 tickets
  3. Palmetto Gun Club Jr Shooters – 249 tickets

These teams win one of the following prizes, with South Texas Shooters having first choice at the following:

  • Tanfolglio Defiant Force ESSE 9mm
  • Beretta APX AI Carry 9mm
  • Ruger PC Carbine

Teams can use their prize to raise additional money for their team if they wish!

2022 Action College Nationals + Talladega Regional

The Talladega Regional will be returning to the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park March 11-13th, alongside the 2022 SASP College Nationals (Action Shooting)! Junior athletes will be able to interact and network with college teams. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity! Registration opens Monday, January 31st at 12:00PM CST.

To help the match run smoothly, we are seeking volunteers as safety officers and scorekeepers. SASP coaches or other team support are welcome to donate time to work part of the match, if your team’s schedule allows. To thank our volunteers, we will be having a volunteer raffle which includes several guns! For more info and volunteer schedule: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0b45abab2ba0fb6-2022

2021 Ruger Auctions Raise Over $31,000 For SASP

In an incredible act of supporting youth shooting sports, Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) Founding Partner Sponsor, Ruger has again auctioned off rare, hard to find models, with all proceeds benefiting the SASP.

The first auction for the year kicked off in early September, with new items introduced each week through January 12th, 2022. These auctions renew youth shooting sports in the new year, increasing funds raised through last year’s Ruger auctions by nearly $5,000.

In benefit of the SASP, a Hawkeye Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor used by Ruger CEO 

One of the larger fundraising items was a very special firearm from Ruger: a Hawkeye Predator used by Ruger CEO Mike Fifer.Mr. Fifer took this rifle out on a hunt for Musk Ox and the entire hunt was documented in an included photo book. Incredible gestures like this from the industry signals the strength of the program and youth shooting sports as a whole.

SASP RARE RUGER AUCTION: No. 1 Rifle- .450 Bushmaster

The SASP’s Founding Partner Sponsor, Ruger has been dedicated in their support of our program for over five years and has graciously included the SASP as a beneficiary of Ruger Auctions. Each week from September through December will feature a new Ruger Auctions, with all proceeds being donated in benefit of the SASP!

This week’s auction item is a Ruger® No. 1 Medium Sporter, single-shot rifle in .450 Bushmaster. The serial number is 134-51031, and Ruger’s records reflect this rifle was roll marked August 14, 2017. This rifle is likely a limited production distributor exclusive as this model is not listed in the Ruger Firearms catalogs for that time period. 

THIS RUGER FIREARM RAISED OVER $2,000 FOR YOUTH SHOOTING SPORTS!

Lodging For Nationals

Updated 06/14

Best Western Executive Inn – “Located in Mount Gilead OH – the closest & cleanest hotel from the cardinal center. We do have rooms available for this event and as we partner with Cardinal shooting center we do offer 20% discount when you directly book the room with us. Please call us at 419-768-2378”

Guests of the Cardinal Center receive an exclusive 15% discount while staying at Residence Inn & Staybridge Suites of Polaris, OH.

Guests of the Cardinal Center receive an exclusive discount while staying at The Quality Inn & The Comfort Inn Splash Harbor of Bellville, OH. When booking your rooms, please select the LCARDD rate to take advantage of this exclusive offer.

TRUGLO Returns To Sponsor Scholastic Action Shooting Program

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GSM Outdoor brand, TRUGLO has returned as a Silver-level Sponsor of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) for 2021. 

“TRUGLO is a proud sponsor and supporter of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF)! We will continue to support this wonderful organization and their goals to provide shooting-sports education to our nation’s youth for many years to come.” – Tiffani Hogan, Marketing Director of GSM Outdoors

“We are thrilled to have TRUGLO as a renewed sponsor of the program for 2021,” said Rick Leach, SASP National Director. “We regularly see our athletes using TRUGLO sights and optics on their equipment. We are fortunate to have such widespread industry support, especially from those whose products are being used on the range by our teams throughout the country.”

How to start a youth shooting sports team

1. A motivated adult.

The person that will lead the team.
They will ensure the paperwork is done and the fees are paid.
The schedules are made for practices and coach training.
Will it be a precision shooting team or an action shooting team? Or both?
Develop a fundraising plan including; grants are written and submitted to Friends of NRA and other local financial resources, the Midway Foundation account has been opened and is active.

2. A place to shoot.

Where will practices will be held?
How much support can you expect from your club or school? Do they have money to contribute?
Do they have equipment to loan?
What are the limitations or conflicts you could have with your host facility?

3. Kids are the heart of the program.

Recruiting. How will you recruit new athletes?
You will have athletes on the team for 2 to 6 years before they age out, move or graduate.
Athletes can begin in Grades 5 and below, through college.

ADVANTAGES to our program:

When dealing with school boards, local clubs or game and fish agencies, a BIG part of their decision is Risk Management! Our program provides $10,000,000 of primary coverage for all athletes, coaches and the facilities for all registered athletes and coaches. This costs $25 / athlete and $35 / coach. The low cost of the premiums demonstrates the low risk of the program.

We have over 300 teams across 41 states.
We offer comprehensive coach training, accessible primarily online that is available 24/7/365.
We include the insurance coverage to registered teams.
Our program sponsors offer equipment discounts.
We have 4 Nationals, 5 Regionals, and 30 State matches planned for this year.
We are the official feeder program to USA Shooting, providing a path to achieving Olympic dreams

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