Young Guns Takes First Place in State High School Trap League
Congratulations to the Young Guns for their first place in the State High School Trap League. Here is the link to a great article in the Chaffee County Times.
The Buena Vista Trap Shooting Team, the Young Guns, emerged from their season victorious, taking first at State for their fall season. After the Colorado State High School Clay Target League’s virtual competition earlier this fall, coaches Jake Farber, Erik Phillips and Travis Drake came together with their students to hand out awards and medals on Sunday, Nov. 19, braving the wind and snow.
“From the youngest to the oldest, from the least experienced to the most experienced, it’s a team,” Farber said. “They have come together and done a really good job. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
“I’m proud of our team,” said freshman team member Taya Martinez. “I’m so proud of our coaches, especially Jake Farber because he’s taken the time to talk to each and every one of these kids through everything and been there for everyone. I know that none of us could have done it without our coaches here.”
“They kind of jettisoned us,” Farber said. “It was an eight-team conference. We normally shoot against Brighton, but Brighton’s got around 75 shooters. We’re picking (participants) out of Salida, Buena Vista and Leadville, and our top numbers are somewhere close to 30. We take anybody that wants to participate, and we put them in a situation where they can represent the Young Guns.”
Dawson and Taya Martinez both took home individual awards. Dawson, a senior, came in first for overall season average as well as male season average. Taya, a freshman, had had the second-highest female season average. BVHS students Trace Steed and Madalyn Carlson both came in third for male season average and female season average scores.
“It was good to see the team take first,” Dawson said. “We’ve always had a couple of kids place at the top. I think my sophomore year we placed first, so it was good to see it again.”
Taya, who has been involved with the team since 7th grade, was excited at her improvement this year. Though she’s not new to trap shooting, she started getting more serious about it this year.
“It was a great experience for me because I went from not shooting well to shooting very well and placing at State,” Taya said. “I was proud of myself for how I did it, considering the fact I’ve never really been good at it.”
“It’s amazing to watch the growth, the fortitude of the students that just keep getting better,” Farber said. “You don’t understand the psychology of counting until you get into this sport and stand up on the line.”
He recently did an exercise with the shooters, adding weights to a backpack to model others’ expectations.
“Pretty soon, it gets to be more than you can bear,” he said. “I just want (them) to think about one thing at a time, this target right here. Make sure you focus and concentrate and make sure your fundamentals are correct. To see them do that, to see them advance to the point where they can block the rest of the world out and focus on the things that matter at that moment, it’s a big deal.”
Farber got involved during a gun club meeting around four years ago. He wanted to bring a younger crowd to the Buena Vista Sportsman’s Club and decided to start up a team at the high school.
“I’m not a helicopter parent, but I noticed that society, at least in the silos that I’m seeing in the family, is drifting farther and farther apart,” he said. “It’s not in every instance, but it makes me think it’s alarming enough to do something about it.”
The mission statement for the Ascent Opportunity Development Division has been created to “take manufactured problems and face them with parents, students, guardians as one mobile unit, one thinking unit so we could work out those parts of society you’re going to run into every day,” Farber said.
“What we want to do is present them with opportunities to fail,” he said, “give them the tools and the attitude … to get back up again. ‘Just because I didn’t achieve what I thought I wanted to achieve today doesn’t mean that I stop doing it tomorrow.’ … It’s a sliver of what we’re going to be doing in the future, and it’s working pretty well.
“I make it perfectly clear that when we go into these projects, and trapshooting is a portion of the project, that you’re going to fail,” Farber said. “I want you to fail. I want you to be able to get up, dust yourself off, figure it out.”
In addition to education, Farber is also working on a permit to work on federal lands in nesting areas to clear out fishing lines and other hazards.
Trap shooting is also the only sport where parents and siblings can play alongside the team. Taya herself got interested in the sport watching her older brother.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” she said. “I saw him doing well and traveling during the season.”
Ilena Nagel, a former and future parent of the trap team, says it’s very much a family sport. When her daughter Abby was on the team, her son Wayne was able to join in.
“He got to shoot as a non-member,” she said. “The team is very open to anyone coming out and shooting. We love to have younger siblings come out. … If moms and dads want to get out there and shoot, they’re very welcome to.”
Additionally, trap shooting can start in middle school.
“We’re a unique group because you can be of age (to shoot) as a sixth-grader,” Nagel said. “As a sixth-grader, you can join the team and be on the team until you’re a senior. That’s a pretty significant amount of time to hone those skills.”
Trap shooting is a sport anyone can be involved in, regardless of typical athletic ability.
“Jake (Farber) is an excellent coach, and it gives kids the confidence to stand up on that trap field,” Nagel said. “Even though you’re with four other people, sometimes it can feel lonely up there. But it gives those kids that confidence. And, of course, starting young, kids are resilient and can absorb that to be successful as they get older.”
It also doesn’t require too much travel, as scores are logged virtually. The Buena Vista Sportsman’s Club also has resources available for kids who need them.
“Parents and coaches are always willing to step up if students would like to have more time,” she said. “If you don’t have a gun, the club has some to share. You can come into this world knowing nothing of what trap involves, start from scratch and still be successful.”
Last year, she said, a senior had never shot, went to state and “did amazing.
“It’s so fun to watch those kids go up there and just light up their face feeling this accomplishment,” Nagel said.
“The majority of people who compete at trap are not hunters, and I think that surprises people,” she said. “Granted, it makes our young hunters more successful, but that’s not all who do it. It’s a great way to get out. I know we have several kids, my son included, that do three sports through the school, plus shooting sports. If there’s not a sport or activity that’s calling to a student, this might be something they want to do, being outside with other kids their age.”
Nagel is glad her son will be on the team for the spring season.
“When he was shooting prior to being a member, he did very well,” she said. “Once he started being ready to track scores, it really shows the pressure he received, just having those scores. So for him to lean to go back to having fun and just enjoying the competition, that’s a huge life lesson, to be able to enjoy what you’re doing. He enjoys being with his other teammates and the competition.”
Those interested in joining the team can contact Farber or other team members.
“It can be a little daunting, coming into something unknown,” Nagel said, “but please come if you have any interest whatsoever. We love to have newcomers come out because a lot of the time the newcomers turn out to be some of the best in the competition.”
