This article first appeared in the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) Shooting News. Reprinted with permission from John Borba.
CMP Supports 4-H Shooting Sports
Submitted by John Borba, State Shooting Sports Coordinator.
The California 4-H Shooting Sports program in California, like everyone else across the nation, suffered some setbacks due to the COVID-19 epidemic that first gripped the world in 2020. The lockdown forced in-person project meetings and trainings to come to a halt. So, our participation numbers obviously did not meet our projected expectations. However, we did have trainings and meetings before the lockdown order was emplaced, and dozens of new leaders were trained.
The National 4-H Shooting Sports Youth Leadership Institute was held virtually this year during the summer months of 2020. Normally this “teen ambassador” training takes place at a university somewhere across the country. California had a record number of delegates, with six teen 4-H members participating. Youth from across the country engaged in online sessions, which consisted of leadership development, public speaking and working with the media. The youth who completed the training are implementing projects in their home states to advance and promote the 4-H shooting sports program.
Prior to the lockdown, the California 4-H Shooting Sports Program was slated to host a National 4-H Shooting Sports Workshop and send three teams of shooters to the National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships in Grand Island, Nebraska. We look forward to a better year in 2021!
As always, we appreciate the long and continued history of funding from the Civilian Marksmanship Program to help the California 4-H shooting sports program provide training and event support to our members and leaders.
Update
The National Shooting Sports Workshop that was supposed to take place in May 2021 in Virginia was postponed so they will hold it in October 2021. California 4-H was next on the list to host the National Shooting Sports Workshop, which is now rescheduled to May 2-8, 2022 in Winton, CA (Merced County).