September - Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine

presents THE SHOTGUNNERS’ REPORT
he Academics, Integrity and
Marksmanship (AIM) program at T Powder Creek is an integral part of
teaching gun safety to children, and it’s
also a fun way for children to learn and to
participate in shotgun activities.
Fifty-eight, ranging in age from 9 to 18,
have been enrolled in the AIM program
since its inception two years ago, a figure
which represents more than 25 percent of
all Kansas youth shooters.
Besides developing several successful
and competitive youth shooters, the program
has taught safety and responsibility
to the youngsters.
“Our youth program is really important,”
Powder Creek co-manager Kevin Maloan
said. “We want mom and dad to know
they’re going to be safe.”
Safety is one of the first elements of the
program.
“They have to have some responsibility,”
Maloan said. “They learn to call the
rules on themselves. The Amateur
Trapshooting Association (ATA) has said
that Powder Creek is the best at getting the
kids to know how to act and to be safe. Our
kids are very mature for their age.”
Said Blue Valley North junior Matthew
Rogers, “The program is great because
22 SEPTEMBER 2010 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Kids take AIM at Powder Creek
they have all kinds of instructors and they
can help teach you fundamentals when you
first start out. It’s a great experience and
you can learn a
lot from it.”
After three
years of shooting,
Rogers has
become the
second best
youth shooter
in the country
after hitting 99
and 98 targets,
respectively, at
the Grand
Nationals in
Sparta, IL, this
summer.
“I learned
how to shoot a
lot better,” Rogers said. “I used to be really
bad. I was shooting 10 out of 25. Twentytwo
is bad for me now; missing one bird is
bad for me. The instructors have taught me
how to set my feet, how to lead the birds,
about wearing the correct glasses for different
conditions, and have taught me starting
positions and how to follow through on
the bird.”
In addition to the assistance with his
shooting skills, Baldwin sophomore
Forrest Ammenhauser enjoys the social
side of the
program.
“It’s a wonderfulprogram,”
Ammenhauser
said. “I get to
meet with my
team and
practice each
weekend. The
instructors are
great. We get
to meet new
people. It’s
helping me
with my social
skills. I think
the schools should start this program.”
Unfortunately few schools systems
do.”Most public schools don’t reinforce
firearm disciplines,” Shawnee Mission
Northwest freshman Anna Whitaker said.
“They ridicule it. They shy away from it
and tend to not talk about it much in
schools. They want to label guns as dangerous
and do a broad panning of guns
as violent.”
Whitaker, who will be
participating in IB
(International
Baccalaureate) and the
Naval ROTC (Reserve
Officer Training Corps)
high school programs,
believes it’s important
to learn proper respect
for firearms.
“You have to go out
and handle firearms
Marc
Bowman
Contributing
Writer
properly,” Whitaker said. “You have to
have a lot of respect and that’s what we’re
taught in AIM. I haven’t found any other
kids who are disrespectful. There’s no
yelling or arguing. We went over that when
we first started our meetings. They emphasize
positive behavior and sportsmanship.”
Shawnee Mission East sophomore Shane
Parcells learned about the program from a
friend at school.
“The willingness of the instructors to be
‘hands on’ is great,” Parcells said. “They
are really willing to help you. Academically,
that helps you to stay focused. They
stress how good grades are important.”
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