OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City American Legion Synepuxent Post 166 is seeking students ages 9-18 to participate in its annual Jr. Shooting Program, which gets underway later this month.
The program is open to those students interested in marksmanship competition, gun safety and an Olympic-style experience. The fall session, which gets underway on September 18, is a three-part program that combines a basic marksmanship course, qualification awards and an air rifle competition. Handicapped youth are also encouraged to participate.
The basic marksmanship course is a comprehensive instruction package for the beginning shooter that has little or no marksmanship experience. Gun safety and marksmanship fundamentals are taught through a balanced mix of short lectures and discussions followed by hands-on activities. If the students are successful in completing the basic marksmanship course, they will graduate to the qualification awards.
The National Rifle Association provides the marksmanship qualification course for air rifle for those who complete the basic marksmanship course. The course offers a personal skill development ladder where individuals work to achieve established performance standards. For achieving each level of success, a sew-on patch and certificate of achievement is presented.
Those students who successfully navigate the basic marksmanship course and the marksmanship qualification course could become eligible to compete in the American Legion’s annual Junior Position Air Rifle Tournament. The tournament begins at the post level with local kids competing in the Ocean City Post 166 tournament. The next step is state and regional qualification tournaments with a chance to advance to the national championship at the U.S. Olympic Training facility in Colorado next summer.
For more information or to sign up for the September 18 basic marksmanship course, contact Post 166 Commander Lee McClaflin at (410) 430-2842, or email him at [email protected].
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