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SASP High School and College
Posted by Junior Shooters
From Junior Shooters Volume 31 Summer 2018
By Samantha Engle (20)
As a young child, I had grown up around firearms. Before I was introduced to the Scholastic Pistol Program, as it was called at the time, the most experience I’d had with any kind of firearm was a BB gun that my dad gave me when I was about 7 years old. It was because of him that I became interested in outdoor sports, such as shooting. Later he introduced me to different types of firearms and I developed a liking for handguns. I was 13 years old when I started shooting competitively in the action program, after he had encouraged me to give it a try. As a beginner and one of the younger athletes on the team, I was incredibly shy and admittedly not very good. For a while, the only reason I kept with the program was because my brothers were involved in it as well. We had all joined a local team in Michigan; the W.W.C.C.A. Straight Shooters. Starting off, I was by no means shooting competitive scores. Being inexperienced, it was difficult for me to hit the targets and I had little speed and consistency. This would improve greatly with the coaching I received.
During my second year on the team, I was selected as team captain. As captain, I often coordinated activities and exercises for practices. One thing I enjoyed in this position was the opportunity to invent new stages with steel for small competitions amongst our team. This fit well with an annual event I was responsible for. Every year, the Straight Shooters have a “campout” at the head coach’s property in northern Michigan. The coaches brought the team’s steel and we were able to set up some of the stages I had created. We had a small competition, athletes intermixed in squads of parents and volunteers, which lasted most of the day. After the competition, we had a small award ceremony and handed out handcrafted first, second, and third place medals. It was in these activities that I was able to watch the members of my team have fun while improving and growing in the sport. This identified to me personally, my passion of perfecting and helping and encouraging others to learn and improve.
Throughout my entire competitive career as a Straight Shooter, and even now as a Spartan, my dad has been my biggest supporter and encourager. In addition to that, he has also gone through all the steps of becoming a Certified Pistol Coach through the NRA as well as registering as a coach through SASP, investing much of his time into the team.
I knew I wanted to keep competing and maintain ties with the sport, even after I would leave the Straight Shooters. I began researching organizations and college clubs that competed in the Scholastic Action Shooting Program. I had applied to University of Arizona and Michigan State University, among others that did not have a competitive shooting club or team. Straight Shooters had been competing against the Michigan State University Shooting Sports Club Pistol Team for a few years at local matches. During high 
school, towards the end of my junior year, I started gathering information on collegiate-level shooting teams. This was enforced by my encounters with the Michigan State Shooting Sports Club Pistol Team really early in my shooting career during competition. I had been researching Michigan State and due to everything they had to offer, academically and recreationally, made the decision to attend there in Fall of 2017. After announcing my decision, I had started forming connections with members of the team who later invited me to attend practices with them throughout the summer.
Practices with the collegiate team were completely different than what I experienced with the junior team, Straight Shooters. The practices were more intense and challenged me at a new level. I felt as though I had an expectation to live up to having had previous competitive shooting experience. That pressure was dismissed with the support I received from my new teammates. Everyone on the team was always encouraging me to do my best and try new things all while teaching me a great deal of new information.
SSTP_SASP_logo-FINAL-rev1I have been blessed to have moved from one remarkable team to another; both with outstanding, experienced coaches who have invested their time into helping the athletes on their teams. All of the coaches I have had throughout my career have taught me new information and made time for one-on-one practices with me on many occasions.
Regardless of your age or level of experience, if you want to continue to grow in shooting sports, I would encourage you to look for available opportunities and other ways to get involved.
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