Why Get Involved With Collegiate Shooting? Exposure to the shooting sports fosters a respect for guns and a high regard for safety. More and more schools are drawn to the shooting sports because shooting programs are considerably less expensive than other types of programs. Shooting is exceptionally safe and helps develop sportsmanship, leadership, responsibility, and concentration. Competitive shooting also teaches self-discipline and teamwork.
Types of Collegiate Shooting Nearly 300 colleges and universities in the United States offer some type of shooting program. Generally, collegiate shooting programs appear as educational courses, intramural/recreational programs, and intercollegiate competition. Educational Course: The point of any firearms safety course is to prepare the student to handle guns safely, correctly and confidently. The most common shooting educational course is a physical education class or ROTC class on marksmanship offering one or two academic credits. Intramural/Recreational Program: One of the easiest ways to shoot as a college student is to join a marksmanship intramural program. Shooting is a coed sport and virtually all students on campus can take part. Intramurals are fun and can offer dorms and independent groups the chance to compete with each other and learn about the responsibility of using and/or owning a gun. Intercollegiate Competition: At the center of most collegiate shooting programs is competition. Intercollegiate clubs or teams engage in postal or shoulder-to-shoulder matches with their opponents. Being part of a college shooting team introduces the student to the world of intercollegiate competition. Winning a championship is a goal of every athlete, and college competition is no different. Collegiate shooting championships are considered some of the most competitive of all college sports. NRA Intercollegiate Sectionals provide rifle and pistol shooters the opportunity to compare their marksmanship skills against their peers nationwide. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program: This program offers another means by which college students can participate in collegiate shooting programs. Many ROTC programs offer scholarships through an officer’s commissioning program in one of the military service branches. Depending on a school’s ROTC program, students may only complete marksmanship training but other ROTC programs compete in rifle or pistol matches against other schools for official recognition. Even if the school doesn’t have a shooting program, a student may still compete at the national level. The NRA Collegiate Program can provide more information on how to start a collegiate shooting program.
Intercollegiate Rifle and Pistol Sectionals NRA Intercollegiate Rifle and Pistol Sectionals allow individuals and teams to compete with shooters from schools across the United States. The Collegiate Sectionals are NRA-registered indoor matches held at various locations throughout the United States. Sectional events include smallbore rifle, air rifle, standard pistol, air pistol, free pistol, women’s sport pistol, and women’s air pistol. A shooter is permitted to compete in only one sectional per year. Once the sectional is complete, the scores are sent to the NRA where shooters are subsequently ranked among the nation’s collegiate shooters. When scores have been received from all of the sectional tournaments, the Collegiate & Schools Program creates a national results bulletin and sends a copy to each competitor who participated. Collegiate pistol sectional participation benefits shooters in that it can lead to an invitation to compete in the annual NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championship. Collegiate rifle club sectional participation benefits shooters in that it can lead to an invitation to compete in the annual NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship. Both NCAA Rifle and NRA Club Rifle competitors who participate in the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Sectionals vie for the opportunity to prevail with national sectional medals.
To be eligible for participation in the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships a shooter must be a regularly enrolled undergraduate student who complies with the eligibility rules of his/her institution. An undergraduate is a student who has not received his/her bachelor’s degree. Qualifying teams and individuals will be selected based on scores fired in the current years’ NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Sectionals. See the NRA International Rifle Rule 2.8.
All American Honors To be named an All-American is the pinnacle of athletic achievement. Consistent and exemplary performance is a hallmark, perhaps the most evident characteristic, of the honor. All-Americans also embody intangible attributes such as integrity, respect, and responsibility. Therefore, these highly motivated men and women distinguish themselves on another level. The NRA All-American Program stands out because of its commitment to recognize and honor collegians who have performed remarkable shooting feats through a shooting season. The All-American award, created by the NRA in 1936 to honor top collegiate rifle shooters, has become an attainable, although elusive, goal for all three disciplines of college shooting sports. The selection criteria for Rifle & Pistol All-American includes: full time undergraduate status with or without team affiliation, average score for the season, minimum number of shots fired, number of matches fired, specific matches required, recommendations from coaches and other school officials. NRA All-American Shotgun honors will be awarded to the top ten High Overall National Champions at the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships. To be an NRA All-American is to always accept the challenge of performing at optimal levels while demonstrating exceptional leadership and character.
NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Championship It is our privilege to sponsor the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship. This new championship will include NRA College Rifle Clubs, ROTC Teams, and independent shooters, for which there is currently no national championship. The purpose of this championship is to determine the National Collegiate Rifle Club Individual and Team Champions, and ROTC Individual and Team Champions. The championship will feature Smallbore Rifle and Air Rifle competitions, Training Summits for all participants and coaches, and an
opportunity for coaches and shooters to meet others in the sport they may not normally see during the regular season. Invitations are currently being extended to the top 10 teams in each discipline, as well as the top 30 individuals in each discipline. Only one team per institution per event may qualify. ROTC shooters and teams will qualify in the ROTC category based on the number of entries in the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Sectional. It is the hope of the NRA Collegiate Program that the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship will grow and strengthen the competitive rifle teams on campuses across the nation. We urge all rifle clubs across the nation to shoot in the Intercollegiate Sectionals in hopes of qualifying.
NCAA Rifle Championship To be eligible for the NCAA Rifle Championships, an individual or team must represent a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) affiliated school, and rifle must be officially recognized as a championship sport at that institution. To qualify for the championship, an individual or team must compete in an NCAA qualifier. Qualifying scores are compiled and invitations to the NCAA Rifle Championship are extended to teams and individuals. All NCAA Rifle competitions will follow current NCAA Rifle rules. The NRA Collegiate & Schools Program is a proud sponsor of the NCAA Rifle Championship.
NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championship The NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships determine the individual and team champions by attracting competitors and schools nationwide. Competitors participate in Free Pistol, Standard Pistol, Air Pistol, Women’s Sport Pistol, and Women’s Air Pistol events. The Intercollegiate Sectional scores determine qualifications for an invitation to the championships. Invitations for open events are offered to the top 10 ranking teams and top 30 individuals in each event. Members of an ROTC program who fire on a standard pistol team may also be eligible for an invitation to the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championship. Invitations for women’s events are offered to the top 5 teams and top 15 women. Only one team per institution per event may qualify to compete.
ACUI Clay Target Championship The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) annually sponsors the National Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships. Open to full-time college students, the championships are the only national tournament in which shooters may compete in six different clay target games in the same program: American Trap, International Trap, American Skeet, International Skeet, Sporting Clays and Five Stand. The NRA sponsors and funds the international events in trap and skeet. Numerous firearm companies and shooting organizations also sponsor ACUI Clay target Championship.