CENTERBURG — When springtime rolls around, it is time for baseball, track, softball and tennis.
It is also time for trapshooting.
The Centerburg Conservation Club began its season with its annual Youth Shoot on Saturday morning. Looking back on the previous year’s accomplishments should give a sense of hope to the club for the year to come.
One of the crowning achievements of 2005 was the selection of Evan Eyester, 15, to the All-Ohio shooting team, sponsored by the Ohio State Trap Shooting Association. Evan was required to shoot a quota of targets in three different disciplines. The competition concluded with the state championship. Evan finished in the top five in Ohio in the 15-under division.
The CCC head, Jim Eyester, who doubles as Evan’s father, described the training that allowed Evan and his fellow shooters to attain some outstanding accomplishments.
“They train at the conservation center so many times a week,” said Jim Eyester. “We organize them in divisions. They all train in different venues around the state.”
The members of the CCC train in two styles, American and International, also known as Olympic style. While American is a style practiced only in the United States, the rest of the world uses the Olympic style.
“For the American style, they do a lot of practicing around here,” Jim Eyester said.
With Olympic style, there is no Olympic practice facility in central Ohio; the closest place is in Cincinnati.
“Olympic coach Les Grievey has a bunker in eastern Pennsylvania that we use,” said Jim Eyester. “The kids have also stayed at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and met Olympic athletes and coaches.”
One shooter who left the CCC moved onto the next level. Jared Fodor received a scholarship from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Lindenwood is one of the few universities in the country to offer scholarships for trapshooting.
“Personally, I’ve worked with Jared for a number of years,” said Jim Eyester. “We’ve also had him go down with Les Grievey. For Jared and all our shooters, we stress mental toughness. There’s a lot of mental training that goes into shooting. The closest sport to compare it to is golf. It’s 90 percent mental. There’s a lot of mental discipline.”
In the 2005 Junior Olympics, the CCC had two shooters succeed to exceptional levels: Billy Crawford and Katie Baier picked up silver medals.
The 2006 Youth Shoot was Saturday. Jim Eyester uses it as an opportunity to introduce young people to the sport of trapshooting. Following the shoot, participants are invited back to continue in training and join the CCC.
“It’s a good sport in which you can teach young people not only firearm safety, but responsibility and lessons in life,” said Jim Eyester. “There’s a great deal of responsibility that they have to learn. They must learn to cooperate with others and cooperate as a team. It’s an important tool to train them responsibility and life skills.”
The CCC meets on Thursday evenings each week and often on the weekends. The season’s first competition is May 13. Individuals from around the state come to participate. Last year over 80 youths from across Ohio participated.
