Trap and Skeet: Greatness Hiding in Plain Sight

Despite their national titles, dedicated and diverse members and their unique sport, Mason’s Trap and Skeet Club is still not getting much recognition on campus.

Trap and Skeet is a sport where people aim for perfection. The goal is to shoot as many birds or clay discs as possible. There are four rounds with 25 targets and the winner is determined by who hits the most birds.

Seniors Sean Renfroe, Michael Campbell and sophomore Renee Murphy are all members of the team that have picked up the sport recently and excelled greatly. All three came to the team as inexperienced shooters. In Murphy’s case, she just began shooting a little over a year ago, but is now the best female on the east coast.

The team members attribute this all to their coach Gary Olin and the support from the local shooting community.

Olin is only a volunteer coach, but still spends around 100 hours every month with the team. A lot of other teams do not have a coach and are just student-run. Coaching has pushed Mason to the top and is the reason it can proudly call itself the best university on the east coast.

“After a while, you hit a plateau and you don’t really know what you are doing wrong without someone right behind you telling you how to fix it,” Renfroe said.

“[I’m] not saying that they will make you a 99 percent shooter, but a 90 percent. You won’t be perfect, but competitive,” Campbell said.

The team has also received a warm embrace from the local shooting community.

The members interact with many others in the shooting community because the team competes in tournaments that are not strictly collegiate, but open to all shooters no matter the age or region they live in.

Their main location for practice, the Arlington Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, has also been a huge advantage. The team is welcomed with open arms at the facility. They use it for some tournaments and practice three days a week, with no questions asked.

They even started what they call the Geezer Cup, where they challenge the older shooters at the range. They also support the team in any way they can with donations, which help lower the costs for shooting and lending equipment to anyone who may need it.

“They are the phrase, ‘giving the shirt off your back,’” said Campbell about the shooting community. “It’s a dying sport, so they are excited to see young people coming out and keeping the sport alive.”

Even with all the support, the team does have to deal with the negative stigma of guns and people that shoot them.

The stereotypes that fall on them have affected some of the members even when they are not representing their team. Campbell had an experience at the job fair where he believes his resume was overlooked when an interviewer reacted negatively after Campbell mentioned he was a member of the Trap and Skeet Club. Every member has been affected by it.

“I have to fight my way out because of how people already see me,” Renfroe said. “They don’t understand it and it scares them.”

On top of those stigmas, Murphy also has to deal with the added pressure of being a female in the sport. The last tournament they competed in had approximately 120 people and only 15 were females. Murphy shows that Mason’s clubs cannot be stereotyped.

With a sport in which injuries could be fatal, safety is a priority for the club. More experienced shooters are not afraid to correct anyone who is doing something wrong.

The sport is not dangerous for those doing it right; the members have seen people suffering from disabilities still able to come out and continue shooting just as well as anyone else.

The sport can even be beneficial to mental health. Time spent outside, having fun and doing something repetitive can be peaceful and calming to those who have been shooting for a while.

The team is always looking for more members. No experience or investment is needed to get started in the sport.

“We treat this as a sport not a hobby,” Campbell said.

These members were hooked after their first time, which lead to joining the team, and have learned many other skills.

“It’s so cliché to say you learn discipline, but it’s true,” said Renfroe said.