ROGERS — The chatter of enthusiastic adolescents and teenagers is louder than the sound of rifle fire at this national shooting match.
John Q. Hammons Center is packed this weekend with 376 youth shooters, their families and coaches. All are in town for the 48th annual Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match. Practice rounds were Thursday and Friday. Competition is today and Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon both days. Matches are open to the public.
Competitors, all from 8 to 15 years old, shoot on teams, with 54 teams from several states taking part in the national championship. Shooters qualify for the Daisy nationals by being one of the top three teams in their state match.
The Ozark Youth Shooting Team and a Washington County 4H team are the two teams from Northwest Arkansas, said Denise Johnson, match coordinator and a Daisy employee for 34 years. There’s also a team from Marion County, she said.
The sound was all “pfft, pfft” and no “pow” while shooters shot their BB guns during practice rounds on Friday. All squeeze the trigger on the same kind of BB gun, said Joe Murfin, vice president of marketing at Daisy, headquartered in Rogers. The Daisy Avanti Champion single-shot BB guns they use are equipped with a peep sight at the rear and a front sight at the barrel tip. No telescopic sights are used, Murfin said.
Contestants shoot at paper targets with rings and a bull’s eye. The closer a ring is to the bull’s eye, the higher the point value.
“Most of them will shoot 9s and 10s,” Murfin said, with 10 being the bull’s eye. “They’re that good. To score 10, they pretty much have to drill the center out of that target.”
The distance from shooter to the target is 5 meters, or just shy of 16 1/2 feet.
Competitors shoot 10 shots each from prone, sitting, kneeling and standing positions. Judges check the targets and add up a shooter’s score. Teams have seven shooters. Two are alternates, Murfin said.
The Green ’Possums, a team from Central Tennessee, were a collection of camaraderie Friday in team shirts that sported an opossum on the back. Eleven-year-old Blake Shephard was eager to step to the firing line for an allotted 25-minute practice session. In only his first year of competition, Blake is the top male BB gun shooter in The Volunteer State, his coaches said Friday.
There’s form in shooting, as in other sports, such as golf. Trigger squeeze and follow-through are important, he said.
At A Glance (w/logo)
Daisy Nationals
All events are at the John Q. Hammons Center
• Today: Competition, 8 a.m. to noon
• 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Pro shop open
• 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.: Written test for contestants
• 2 to 3 p.m.: NRA clinic for shooting coaches
• 2:45 -4:45 p.m.: Barter bar trading event
• Sunday: Competition, 8 a.m. to noon
• 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pro shop open
• 4:30 to 7 p.m.: Awards ceremony
Source: Staff Report
“You want to squeeze the trigger with the tip of your finger, not the middle. You want it to be a surprise when it goes off,” Blake said. “Then you hold still and count to 5.”
That’s the follow through, to ensure a shooter doesn’t raise his or her head too soon.
Standing near Blake was teammate Haley Melton, 12, who is Tennessee’s top female BB gun shooter, according to the Green ’Possum coaches.
“I always take two deep breaths before I shoot,” said Haley, who also competes on her school’s archery team. “It helps you relax. In my mind I always say ‘One, two, follow through,’ during each shot.”
South Dakota resident Patrick Flanery was at the Hammons Center on Friday with his daughter, Abby, a contestant. Shooting teaches kids concentration, safety and teamwork, he said.
“It’s a sport anyone can do. You don’t have to be big or physical,” he said. “You can see the kids here are all shapes and sizes.”
This is the third consecutive year the competition has been held in Rogers. The first year was 2010 when the match was held at the unairconditioned Rogers High School football field house. Before that, the Daisy nationals moved around the country. It was first held in 1966.
“We couldn’t have it here before 2010 because we didn’t have a facility big enough,” Murfin said.
The Hammons Center is a perfect venue, Murfin said. Administrative staff of the center was eager to host the event, he added.
Matches today and Sunday are open to the public. Daisy has an exhibit with air rifles people can pick up and hold. The company has its inflatable BB gun range set up for use.
“More than half of the people who shoot at it are shooting for the very first time. They’re taking their first shot. That’s what Daisy is famous for. It’s the gun that everybody starts with,” Murfin said.
The top shooters will receive medals, and the champion team will be named during a closing ceremony set for 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.
Another bevy of shooters will bring air rifles to the Hammons Center on Monday and Tuesday. That’s when a 10-meter pellet gun competition will take place for older shooters age 15 to 18. That will be a smaller event with about 45 shooters, Murfin said.