Knimrod
03-17-2006, 11:49 PM
Pulling together
Program gives kids a lesson in gun safety
March 11, 2006
By Edward Freundl
For the Jackson Citizen Patriot
Too often, media reports involving kids and guns end badly. Fortunately, this isn't one of them.
A half-dozen teens from Napoleon and Norvell are learning responsible gun handling through the sport of trapshooting in a program known as the Scholastic Clay Target Program, or SCTP. The program is experiencing explosive growth, according to the teens' coach, Ed Hartmann of Napoleon.
The SCTP had 6,300 participants nationwide last year, which was a 50 percent increase over 2004, he said.
The members of Hartmann's team all attend Napoleon Community Schools. His son, John Hartmann, and Eric Cook of Napoleon are juniors in their second year of the program; first-year shooters are Denis Heckaman II of Norvell, a junior; sop****res Colt Stepke of Napoleon and Kelsey Bates of Norvell; and Denis' sister Becky Heckaman, eighth-grader.
Ed Hartmann said girls like Kelsey and Becky are becoming a larger percentage of young trapshooters.
"The beauty of this is, unlike most sports, the boys and girls can compete on a level playing field," he said.
With the command of "pull," trapshooters try to hit a flying clay disc with a shotgun burst of birdshot from a distance of 16 yards. The fast-moving targets require not only hand-eye coordination but a degree of mental sharpness.
"It's a mental game; you have to concentrate," John Hartmann said. "If you think about missing a target, you will."
Not surprisingly, their extra year of experience has made John and Eric the best shooters in the group and the most closely matched in skills. Both have average scores of 23 or 24 out of 25, competed on the third-place team at the 2005 SCTP Michigan Championships, and won trophies at the fall team shoot at the Michigan Trapshooting Association Grounds in Mason.
"It's usually a tie between me and John," Cook said. "He had a couple 'High Guns' (high scores) at the state meet in July."
Although they are members of the Manchester Sportsman Club for now, the teens also shoot at the Jackson County Sportsmans Club on Mantle Avenue in Jackson, the Jackson Outdoor Club on Hart Road and the Munith Rod and Gun Club.
"They like it here and Munith the most," Ed Hartmann said during a recent practice shoot at Mantle Avenue.
But the kids couldn't do this without the support of their parents.
"The way it is in schools now, if they learn anything at all about guns they're taught to think it's a bad thing," said Chris Heckaman, mother of Becky and Denis.
"The gun itself isn't bad, it's in how you use it."
Link to story (The members of Hartmann's team all attend Napoleon Community Schools. His son, John Hartmann, and Eric Cook of Napoleon are juniors in their second year of the program; first-year shooters are Denis Heckaman II of Norvell, a junior; sop****res Colt Stepke of Napoleon and Kelsey Bates of Norvell; and Denis' sister Becky Heckaman, eighth-grader.)
Program gives kids a lesson in gun safety
March 11, 2006
By Edward Freundl
For the Jackson Citizen Patriot
Too often, media reports involving kids and guns end badly. Fortunately, this isn't one of them.
A half-dozen teens from Napoleon and Norvell are learning responsible gun handling through the sport of trapshooting in a program known as the Scholastic Clay Target Program, or SCTP. The program is experiencing explosive growth, according to the teens' coach, Ed Hartmann of Napoleon.
The SCTP had 6,300 participants nationwide last year, which was a 50 percent increase over 2004, he said.
The members of Hartmann's team all attend Napoleon Community Schools. His son, John Hartmann, and Eric Cook of Napoleon are juniors in their second year of the program; first-year shooters are Denis Heckaman II of Norvell, a junior; sop****res Colt Stepke of Napoleon and Kelsey Bates of Norvell; and Denis' sister Becky Heckaman, eighth-grader.
Ed Hartmann said girls like Kelsey and Becky are becoming a larger percentage of young trapshooters.
"The beauty of this is, unlike most sports, the boys and girls can compete on a level playing field," he said.
With the command of "pull," trapshooters try to hit a flying clay disc with a shotgun burst of birdshot from a distance of 16 yards. The fast-moving targets require not only hand-eye coordination but a degree of mental sharpness.
"It's a mental game; you have to concentrate," John Hartmann said. "If you think about missing a target, you will."
Not surprisingly, their extra year of experience has made John and Eric the best shooters in the group and the most closely matched in skills. Both have average scores of 23 or 24 out of 25, competed on the third-place team at the 2005 SCTP Michigan Championships, and won trophies at the fall team shoot at the Michigan Trapshooting Association Grounds in Mason.
"It's usually a tie between me and John," Cook said. "He had a couple 'High Guns' (high scores) at the state meet in July."
Although they are members of the Manchester Sportsman Club for now, the teens also shoot at the Jackson County Sportsmans Club on Mantle Avenue in Jackson, the Jackson Outdoor Club on Hart Road and the Munith Rod and Gun Club.
"They like it here and Munith the most," Ed Hartmann said during a recent practice shoot at Mantle Avenue.
But the kids couldn't do this without the support of their parents.
"The way it is in schools now, if they learn anything at all about guns they're taught to think it's a bad thing," said Chris Heckaman, mother of Becky and Denis.
"The gun itself isn't bad, it's in how you use it."
Link to story (The members of Hartmann's team all attend Napoleon Community Schools. His son, John Hartmann, and Eric Cook of Napoleon are juniors in their second year of the program; first-year shooters are Denis Heckaman II of Norvell, a junior; sop****res Colt Stepke of Napoleon and Kelsey Bates of Norvell; and Denis' sister Becky Heckaman, eighth-grader.)