Sparta Archives - Scholastic Action Shooting Program

See, Download & Share Photos from 2015 Nationals

Written on September 6, 2015.

Our collection of photos from the SCTP-SPP National Team Championships in Sparta and SCTP National Championships for International Disciplines in Colorado Springs have now been assembled on our Flickr page and are available for you to view, download, print, and share.

Click here to see our 2015 Nationals photos on Flickr

Even if you haven’t used Flickr before, you’ll probably find it pretty intuitive once you poke around a bit. However, here are a few notes to speed up the learning curve:

With any image opened, look for these icons in the lower right corner:

If you wish to download the image, click on the icon on the right, the “down” arrow. What you’re seeing on the page will usually be a much smaller version of the image, with several larger sizes available to be downloaded. You’ll see some options:

Just choose what you want. For a social media icon – or postage stamp – you might choose the 150×150 option. For a large print, go with the largest available size. To submit to your newspaper, download the largest available size to allow them to re-size it as needed.

If you want to share the image in social media, click on the center icon, the “right” arrow, and again you’ll have options and some choices to make:

For most purposes, such as sharing on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll need to select “Link” as the Code option. If you want to embed the photo into your blog or website, you can choose “HTML.” When that is the case, you will also have a choice of sizes.

If you choose to share images on social media (yes, do!), please continue to use the event hashtag, #SSSF2015.

Go to our Flickr page.

Meet Olympic Gold Medalist Vincent Hancock at the National Championships in Sparta

Written on June 7, 2015.

SSSF is pleased to announce that two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Vincent Hancock will be attending the SCTP National Championships to meet YOU!

Vincent won Gold Medals in Men’s Skeet at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and is the first Olympic skeet shooter to win Gold Medals in the same event in consecutive Olympic games.

He will be attending Nationals on Wednesday, July 15 through Friday, July 17 and will be available for autographs, photos, and some special events to be announced later. Watch our website and Range Time newsletter for announcements about when and where you can meet Vincent.

Vincent is sponsored by Zanders Sporting Goods and NobelSport Italia.

SCTP Nationals Registration Opens with a Bang!

Written on June 6, 2015.

June 1 was much anticipated by Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) teams across the country, as it marked the opening of registration for the 2015 SCTP National Team Championships. Based on the first day’s registrations, staff are predicting another record-breaking event.

In the first 24 hours of open registration for the July 13-18 tournament, the program saw 66 teams register 1036 athletes. Eighteen states were represented with 2,026 event registrations filed.

“These numbers are incredible; they doubled last year’s first-day totals,” commented Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. “Coaches set their alarm clocks to wake up at 12:01 on June 1 to register their teams!”

While the numbers are already up significantly from last year’s registrations, Wondrash points out that there will be enough shooting slots at the spacious World Shooting and Recreational Complex to fit in every team wanting to attend.

The Scholastic Pistol Program (SPP) will also hold its National Junior/Senior Championships in conjunction with the SCTP tournament. In its third year, the SPP event has registered 259 athletes from 24 teams in 13 states to date.

New SCTP side events include 16-yard Preliminary Singles Trap and a coach/athlete trap shoot. Team endowment funding, games, and many industry representatives will also be on hand all week. With appearances by people like MidwayUSA’s own Larry and Brenda Potterfield on Tuesday, July 14, Olympic Gold Medalist Vincent Hancock on Wednesday through Friday, shooting exhibitions and clinics by professional shooters, and more exciting events still to be announced, SCTP and SPP are looking at a very busy and exciting week in Sparta, Illinois!

Registration Now Open for SPP Junior/Senior Nationals

Written on May 30, 2015.

Ready, set — GO! You’ve been making plans all year to compete in the SPP Junior/Senior National Championships at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois, and it’s time for you to take the all-important step of registering for the event. Registration is now open.

For this year, registration will again be manual rather than through the SHOT system. You can download the form and submit it to Tammy Mowry, tmowry@sssfonline.com.

Pre-registration is required. Squadding will be offered on Monday, July 13 through Saturday, July 18.

All competitors will receive a National Championship t-shirt, but they must be pre-ordered. Deadline for orders is June 10.

Download the SPP National Championship Registration Form

SCTP – SPP Midwest Regional Championship in Sparta, Illinois

Written on May 9, 2015.

SCTP and SPP shooters enjoyed a weekend of clay targets and pistol shooting at the Midwest Regional Championship in Sparta, Illinois last month. Here are a few scenes from the competition:

Plan Your Lodging for Nationals in Sparta

Written on March 24, 2015.

If the SCTP-SPP National Championships in Sparta, Illinois are a part of your team’s plans for this year — and why wouldn’t they be? — it’s a good idea to start considering accommodations for the week of July 13-18. To make it easier for you to know your options, especially if this will be your first trip to the Sparta area, we have some resources for you.

We’ve accessed a Google map that shows lodging in the vicinity of the World Shooting & Recreational Complex, so you can not only see your lodging options, but also where they are relative to the complex.

See local lodging near the WSRC

In addition, the World Shooting & Recreational Complex offers 1001 camping sites for those of you who want to stay right on the premises in an RV or tent. Click the link below to learn about the WSRC campground options and to access online reservations. You can also make campground reservations by calling Sherry Flowers at the WSRC, 618-295-2700, ext. 486.

See WSRC campground options

Don’t know when you need to be there? Below is the schedule for each discipline:

Sunday, July 12

Monday, July 13

Tuesday, July 14

Wednesday, July 15

Thursday, July 16

Friday, July 17

Saturday, July 18

SSSF Extends Agreement with WSRC to Host Nationals Through 2017

Written on August 7, 2014.

Art Ashbrook, Ben Berka — Art Ashbrook, left, and Ben Berka

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation has contracted with the World Shooting and Recreational Complex (WSRC) to hold its National Team Championships at the Sparta, Illinois facility through 2017. Ben Berka, SSSF President and Executive Director, and Art Ashbrook, WSRC Executive Director, signed the agreement recently to formalize the three-year extension of the foundation’s relationship with the complex.

“We are pleased to call Sparta ‘Home of the SSSF National Championships’ and look forward to meeting our SSSF extended family there each year during the second full week of July,” said Berka. “The Illinois Department of Natural Resources staff at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex are great to work with and are committed to working together with the SSSF to accommodate our growth, both in numbers of participants and in the diversity of events we are offering.”

WSRA’s Ashbrook echoed those sentiments. “The World Shooting and Recreational Complex and the IDNR are extremely pleased by the commitment of the SSSF to hold its National Championships here for the next three years, and hopefully for the next 100,” said Ashbrook. “We think we work very well together, serving the community and young shooters alike.”

More than 10,000 people came to Sparta for the 2014 SCTP National Team Championship and SPP Junior/Senior National Championship at the WSRC in July, including approximately 2500 shooters plus coaches, family members, and other supporters.

SCTP and SPP Make History with National Championships

Written on July 23, 2014.

More than 2500 young shooters, along with thousands of coaches, family members, and supporters, descended upon the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill. last week for the largest youth shooting event ever held, the SCTP and SPP National Championships.

The July 14-19 event saw significant increases in virtually every metric over 2013’s record-setting Nationals. In the SCTP event alone, competitors shot 715,000 targets, a 35% increase over last year. Shooters from 175 SCTP teams came from 26 states.

SPP also saw its own increases. In only its second Junior/Senior National Championship, SPP experienced an increase of 62% in participant numbers, hosting 326 shooters representing 39 teams from 15 states. Earlier this year, SPP hosted a separate Collegiate National Championship with close to 100 shooters from 24 squads.

See National Championship Scores and Results

With the largest contingency of shooters, Trap had almost 1900 participants, a 19% increase. A total of 736 shooters shot Skeet for a 29% growth, and the 677 Sporting Clays shooters represented a 30% increase.

Of the 2180 SCTP shooters, 1818 were male and 361 female.

“An event of this magnitude could only take place so successfully with a great deal of hard work and dedication from our student athletes, coaches, parents, team volunteers, and our own staff,” said Ben Berka, President and Executive Director of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF), which powers SCTP and SPP. “We are especially grateful to our many sponsors and benefactors who make it possible for us to create an unforgettable experience for our athletes. We also owe kudos to the World Shooting and Recreational Complex, a remarkable venue that hosted our thousands of shooters and spectators with ease. We look forward to hosting our 2015 National Championships there.”

2014 National Championships Will Be Largest Ever!

Written on July 3, 2014.

It’s official: the 2014 National Team Championships at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, IL, will be the largest one in our history! With five days remaining in the registration period, we have blasted through 2013 registration numbers, which were also record-setting.

More than 2200 athletes, representing more than 170 teams, at least 26 states, and over 3800 event registrations, have signed up. In SCTP alone, the registrations account for 688,500 targets to be shot! For the Scholastic Pistol Program, its second National Championship will experience a 50% increase over last year.

If you haven’t registered, there is still time. Check out our National Championships page to find registration information, schedules, and most everything else you need to know.

See you in Sparta!

Updated July 10, 2014

Tag: Sparta