CRPA Jan-Feb 2016

National 4-H Shooting
club or county. However, the
formal structuring of the 4-H
shooting sports program in
California can find its roots
in the early 1980s when a
group of 4-H staff attended a
national 4-H Shooting Sports
Workshop in Iowa and
brought the program back
to California. Since then the
project has grown and established
itself as a popular part
of the California 4-H Youth
Development Program.
The shooting sports program
in California offers six
disciplines to young shooters:
archery, hunting, muzzleloading,
pistol, rifle, and
shotgun. The projects are
led by adult volunteers who
must hold certification in
each of the disciplines they
wish to instruct. There are
currently 905 certified 4-H
shooting sports leaders who
donate thousands of hours
of volunteer time to the program
on an annual basis. The
2014-15 program year saw
5,569 4-H youth members
enrolled in the program. The
program has grown considerably
over the past dozen
years when there were 2,000
youth enrolled. The growth
in the program is because of
the dedicated volunteers who
receive training and certification
to become shooting
sports leaders.
This year, for the first
time ever, a national 4-H
Shooting Sports Workshop
was held in California from
September 29 to October 2,
2015. The California 4-H
Youth Development program
hosted 67 students and
14 instructors from 20 different
states at Camp San Luis
Obispo. The National 4-H
Shooting Sports Workshop
is designed to train and certify
adult volunteer leaders
to return to their home states
and educate other adults who
will instruct youth in promoting
4-H and 4-H shooting
sports through the safe
and responsible use of archery
equipment, air guns,
muzzleloaders, and firearms.
The adult participants re-
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JAN. / FEB.