Disabled Shooting Services Manager Vanessa Warner brings us the following:
As many of you may recall, I recently visited the STRIDE Adaptive Sports Organization in Albany, NY. During that visit I attended the kick off celebration for their U.S. Paralympic affiliation and announced the launch of the STRIDE Air Rifle program.
STRIDE Adaptive Sports was created in 1986 by adaptive physical education teacher Mary Ellen Whitney in an effort to increase self-esteem in children with disabilities. They offer instruction and competition in cycling, bowling, sailing, swimming, skiing and now air rifle. Last year, STRIDE taught more than 4,600 free sports lessons to children with disabilities.
October 17 was the launch of STRIDE’s shooting program at North Albany's American Legion Post 1610. Mary Ellen and I arrived just after 8am to set up the target frames and get the hall ready. We were just about ready to go when the day manager informed us that because of accessibility issues we had oriented the room the wrong direction. Parents and participants quickly took to the task of moving the equipment. Unfortunately, the room was longer than it was wide and we lost a few feet of space, but hey -- this was a learning experience anyway.
We had six participants who shot right away. Some needed minor one-on-one instructions but there were four young adults who needed hardly a word. Kyle, John, Nick and Yelena were quickly blowing the center out of the practice target we hung for them. In no time I had them shooting as if they were in competition.
While the four “sharpshooters” practiced shooting a match, I worked with Danny and Matt. Both were so enthusiastic about shooting that they made the novice mistake of speed over precision. I worked with each and their parents to explain the principles of sight alignment, trigger control, and patience. For a new shooter, it is often difficult to curb the excitement of shooting and these kids were no different.
We took a break to put up some fresh targets and let the kids wash their hands. The pellets are lead, so keeping clean hands is very important. After the break everyone returned to the tables to put more lead down range. Once again there was no lack of enthusiasm. A review of my four sharpshooters' targets proved they had a much better understanding of natural point of aim and follow-through.
Matt and Dan made incredible strides as well and, needless to say, all of the parents were stunned. Prior to arriving, many were anxious about putting a gun in their children's hands. But in little or no time they could see the concentration level that was needed to be competitive. Disabilities made no difference. Everyone on the line was competing at the same level.
After lunch, we set up the range for a competition. Everyone shot 20 rounds for score from the adapted prone position meaning both elbows were on the table. Second and third place were very close with Yelena scoring 114 and John with a 119 out of 200. The champion was Kyle with a score of 139 which is incredible for someone who had never touched a gun prior to the event!
The day got even more fun when I put the parents at the shooting table. Everyone was given a chance to shoot and many of the kids out shot their parents which was quite a boost for their esteem.
The overall parental champion was Kyle’s mother Maureen who admitted to being very nervous and over protective of her boys prior to this event. Maureen turned in a score of 78 out of 100. Pretty cool for someone who had never shot a gun.
The event was a great success and I look forward to helping STRIDE Adaptive Sports expand their program in the future.
Special thanks to the North Albany American Legion and General Swezey for his assistance in making this event possible.
