Throughout the spring season, an assortment of sports happen at once, but one that’s often overlooked is trap shooting. At many ArkLaTex schools, students can practice marksmanship and gun safety through their trap shooting teams, while also creating friendly environments and fostering future opportunities. At the Southern Regional Trap Tournament, local teams are preparing for their chance at success and at the state-level competition.
Ashdown’s trap group has been led by Johnny Brown since 2024 and typically has a group of 40 students at every meet. With that many shooting at once, and an uneven student-to-coach ratio, it’s important for them to practice gun safety. “All these athletes complete a mandatory Hunters Education Class through Arkansas Game and Fish,” Brown explained. “While at the range, we practice muzzle control, hearing and eye protection, and action management. Safety is our number one priority.”
Trap as a sport, despite it often being overlooked, has many great opportunities for students. One of the biggest is the opportunity to shoot in college, as many colleges in Arkansas– including Southern Arkansas University, and Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas– have opened shooting teams for students to join.
One of which is former Ashdown shooter, Chase Smith, who was injured in a dirt bike accident in 2022 that left him paralyzed. “He is very passionate about trap shooting,” said Brown. “Since then, Chase and his family put on the “Pull For Chase” scholarship tournament, which helps raise money for this scholarship fund.”
Fouke High School began their trap team around 2009, with Mike Lemley involved since 2012. Four years ago, he took on the Head Coach role and has managed his group of students with a sense of dedication to their work. Whereas most other sports have stars who play for most of the game, trap allows everyone to have a moment to shine. “Kids these days, everyone wants to be in football and all the other sports,” Lemley said. “You have your stars, but what really made me love this program is that nobody sits on the bench. Everybody gets to be a part of it.”
Fouke maintains a close relationship with Arkansas High’s trap team because the two share a practice field. This has allowed both groups to foster a larger sense of community, as Coach Lemley and Coach Tim Elam have expressed.
The Razorbacks began their trap team in 2009 and have built an award-winning program since. Current Head Coach Tim Elam began work with them in 2014 after his oldest son started shooting. Twelve years later, he and his 10 assistant coaches– most of which are volunteering parents– have managed a talented and award-winning group of students.
Two of those students are Riley Moore and Lucas Norment, who on April 15, signed with Southern Arkansas University to be a part of the Mulerider Trap Shooters team this fall. Riley began shooting in the sixth grade due to his best friend, Piper McBride, and the duo have shot together even since. Lucas joined the following year, and the trio have been a staple of the Razorback team, saying that their time here has, “really taught us how to work as a team, and how to pick each other up when one gets down,” as Piper explained.
Pass the Stateline is Texas High’s trap team, and despite only beginning two years ago, they’ve also become an active part of student’s lives and opened new doors for the 15 behind the barrel. “When the opportunity came up to help start and sponsor the team, it just felt like a great fit,” expressed Head Coach Blakely Sanders. “This is my second season being involved, and it’s been rewarding to watch it take off.”
For many of these coaches, they didn’t have opportunities like this at their age. Running these programs now not only gives their students someone to inspire and host them, but allows trap as a sport to open new doors in their lives, similarly to Riley Moore, Lucas Norment, and Chase Smith. As Coach Sanders expressed, “These students are getting opportunities that a lot of us didn’t have growing up, and they’re making the most of it.”