Thomas Monto

CMP Club News: Sportsman’s Club of Battle Creek New Home for Local School Trap/Skeet Team

 By Jessica Hamilton, Assistant Coach

The Harper Creek Clay Target Team has moved to its new practice facility this season. While everything is currently on hold with the recent virus pandemic, the student athletes and coaches were busy putting in time beforehand and got their season off to a great start before national and state mandates were put in place in “Stay At Home” orders. 

The Harper Creek Clay Target Team started in 2013 and has student-athletes from Harper Creek Community Schools who are enrolled in grades 3 through 12. Harper Creek Community Schools are located southeast of Battle Creek, Mich. Currently the team has 43 student athletes who compete in the disciplines of trap, skeet and sporting clays. 

The team is part of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program who is sanctioned by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation and national Scholastic Clay Target Program based out of Burlington, Wis. Harper Creek is a member of the Southwest School Conference of the MI SCTP and the students travel across the state to compete against other schools who support the shooting sports as part of the MI SCTP. 

The team has also traveled to the SCTP National Team Championships held in Marengo, Ohio, every July since 2016. Accomplishments of the team include: First Place in the High School Class A Division at the 2013 Burlington, Wisconsin Invitational Shoot, three First Place State Trap High School Championships, three Second Place State Trap High School Championships, one Third Place State Trap High School Championship, two Regional Conference Varsity First Place Championships, two All-State Trap Team members and three graduating Seniors receiving scholarships from shooting foundations to further their education in multiple fields of study. 

The student athletes, coaches and parents are all extremely excited about their new “home” and are anxiously awaiting to get back on the field and practice. The Sportsman’s Club of Battle Creek has been extremely supportive in welcoming the team as has its members and board. As the students and staff at Harper Creek commonly say, ”It’s A Great Day To Be A Beaver!” paying homage to the school’s mascot, the beaver.

A Note from the CMP: At the CMP, we are not only dedicated to the spread of marksmanship within our own programs but are also devoted to supporting the efforts of those who are creating their own legacies in their own ways. Our Club News articles are our way of displaying the successes of our clubs, in the hopes of encouraging others to take the same respectable paths – both in marksmanship and in life. We are proud of our clubs for all of their endeavors and are honored to show them off within our news feed. 

If you’d like to find your local club, visit the CMP Competition Tracker Page at https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=clubSearch to become involved.