William Penn to Add Shotgun Sports
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–William Penn Athletics Director Nik Rule is excited to announce the addition of men’s and women’s shotgun sports to the list of intercollegiate sports the University offers.
The sports will begin competition in the 2020-2021 school year. They are the fourth and fifth sports to be added recently, joining men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s volleyball which all start competing this year.
The Statesmen will enter into the disciplines of Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, International Skeet, and Trap. The typical shotgun sports season runs from September to April with William Penn expected to travel primarily throughout the Midwest for meets.
“As we continue to develop the athletic department of the future, we have done extensive research on a number of different intercollegiate sports and how they would fit into our University,” Rule said. “Shotgun Sports is rapidly growing in intercollegiate athletics and fits what we are looking for as an institution. In the Midwest alone, there are over 10,000 student-athletes actively participating and locally we have some of the best in the nation. We are excited to continue to work over the next year to develop the sport at WPU in an effort to create the best student experience possible.”
A growing sport which provides lifelong skills, over 600 high schools participate in shotgun sports in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin alone, providing a safe and competitive activity for over 10,000 student-athletes. A total of 33 colleges within seven hours of Oskaloosa sponsor the sport.
Centered on discipline, student-athletes who participate will go through extensive training and education on the proper use of a firearm. Safety will be the main priority, while personal responsibility and respect are safety and skill developments that are paramount in the sport. There will be a vetting process that will identify proper foundational characteristics for those who compete in the sport.
Storage of firearms and ammunition used for practice and competition will not be on campus, but will instead be stored in a secure safe at a location to be determined. Student-athletes will go through a check-out system before each practice or competition and will check all equipment back in at the end of those activities.
The sport of shooting dates back 500 years and has been a part of every modern Olympic Games since 1896. There are 15 Olympic events, in four disciplines.
A head coach will be hired in the near future.
