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This year’s National Veterans Wheelchair Games planning to host trapshoot event
“Pull!” You’re sure to hear this quite a bit if you’re planning to attend the trapshooting event at the 36th National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) in Salt Lake City.
The event is scheduled for July 1 at the Lee Kay Shooting Range, which is about 20 minutes west of the NVWG hotel, the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. The range affords sweeping views of Utah’s towering mountains.
Trapshooting is one of the clay target shooting disciplines and is the oldest shooting sport in America. It involves shooting a 4 ¼-inch clay disc that is traveling away from the shooter at a speed of 42 mph. Shooters are placed in squads of up to five people.
There are five shooting positions, called stations, from which the shooters take their shots. The trap house is positioned in front of the shooters. The clay targets, or “birds,” leave the trap house at varying angles; shooters won’t know if the bird is angling left, right or straightaway until they call “pull.” It’s then that muscle memory, quick reflexes and concentration will result in a call of “dead bird.” If the shooter misses and the target doesn’t break, the bird is “lost.”
Shooters fire once at five separate targets on a station, then rotate to the next station to their right. The round is complete once each shooter has fired at 25 targets.
For the Games, here are some additional things you should know:
* Participants shoot 50 targets (two full rounds). If a shooter does better than 50%, they advance to a second round of 50.
* The only event at the Games is singles shot from the 16-yard line (shooters stand 16 yards away from the trap house). There are no doubles or handicap events.
* The tournament follows rules established by the Amateur Trapshooting Association.
* Awards are based on gender and injury-level classification.
* The audience should hold down any applause until the competition is over.
The NVWG are co-presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America and will feature 19 wheelchair sports and two exhibition sports for disabled veterans June 27 –
July 2.
Visit PN Online for updates, photos and videos from the NVWG starting June 27.
Keep track of your events with the NVWG mobile app available for download for Android and iPhone
