John,

The Southern SxS is Bill Kempffer's largest single money making weekend of the year. He was kind enough to knock $20 off of the price for the youth shooters. You have to remember that he is in business to stay in business. He has targets to pay for, trappers to pay, machines to maintain, etc. I can assure you that Bill is not making money off of these kids. I run the Sporting Clays Tournaments for my gun club here in Georgia. There is not a lot of profit margin in a 50 bird course that is a "fun shoot". It would be nice if he could offer free Sporting Clays to the youth, but you have to look at it from a business perspective as well.

I'm not sure just what the PGCA is doing to promote youth involvment in our sport. I am the Membership Chairman for the LCSCA. I approched Bill K. about this idea last year at the Southern and he was gracious enough to make it happen this year. When he first informed me about the discount, I sent an email to both Bill Mullins (PGCA President) and to Frank Finch (LCSCA Executive Director). I have yet to receive any type of reply from Bill Mullins and I have yet to see anyone from the PGCA Leadership post about it on this forum. I posted it on the LCSCA Forum and decided to put it over here as well in the interest of attracting some of your club's youth shooters.

As for the prizes, currently the only youth prizes are the "High-Junior" on the Five Stand and the High Junior on the American Classics, both of which are trophies. I decided to solicit additional prizes from a few of the vendors and they have really stepped up and donated some first rate prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place on both the Five Stand and the American Classics. Trophies are great to look at for the first two or three weeks, but then they just sit on a shelf and collect dust. My goal was to award prizes to the kids that they can actually use and each time they do they will remember where they came from.

The bottom line is a $20 discount is better than no discount at all. I think we should all be gratefull for what Bill has offered and quit looking for a free handout.

Hi Chris
I applaud your efforts, as well as those of Bill Kempferr and all the venders who have donated prizes in an effort to attract more youth shooters to this wonderful event.

To answer your question as to what the PGCA has done to promote youth involvement in our sport I will say that we have been going at this in a couple of different directions. First, we have had many of our members donate a youth membership so that any interested youth’s will be granted a free youth membership in the Parker Gun Collectors Association. The PGCA has also have made significant monetary contributions specifically earmarked for the “hunter education” and “youth shooting” programs of both the NRA and Pheasants Forever believing these larger organizations can have a much greater effect. Also we have been trying to get a motivated PGCA member to chair our Youth Program and move forward some of the good ideas that have been suggested and have board approval but have not yet found the right individual.

I think a lot of the members from both our fine organizations would be willing to throw a few bucks in a can to help offset or eliminate the shooting cost of the youths in attendance at the Southern and would suggest we have a place on our table next to the registration for the Challenge event just for that purpose. If you have any other idea's you would like to discuss please feel free to PM me on this site or shoot me an email at bjfrey1@aol.com. Thanks, Larry Frey

Ditto on Larry's remarks. Bill has already stepped up for our youth by offering a discount and I'm sure that there are many of us who can afford to sponsor the remainder. I'm for throwing money in the can or sponsoring one youth myself. Thanks to Bill and Chris.

Youth Shooting Programs
 

Chris, first let me just say for whatever reason I never received an email from you---do not know why but possibly sent to incorrect address.
Larry Frey's posting/reply pretty much sums up what the PGCA is and has been doing for the youth program. Bill Kempfer and I discussed a "discounted rate" last October at his Backwoods Quail Fall event for this upcoming Spring event. Therefore, I believe the idea was possibly "born" at that time. The PGCA is and will continue to promote youth activities and is willing to assist the LCSCA efforts along these collective goals.
Thank you for taking the lead in this area.
Bill

Bill,

I spoke with Bill about a month prior to the Spring Southern SxS last year. He told me then that it was too late in the game to get that done for the 2012 Spring Southern, but would add it to the list of discussions for the Spring Southern this year. Perhaps your discussion with him at the 2012 Fall Southern reminded him about our conversation last March.

I did not mean to infer that the PGCA wasn't doing anything to promote youth shooting and involvement. I was not aware of what your club was doing, and the lack of any replies when I initially posted this and a lack of your reply to my email left some doubt. I sent the email to the one listed on your website (bmullins@cbww.com).

Chris, its only a 40.00 membership fee to this fine organizatiion, The last several years have brought me great enjoyment. The PGCA members have been the best. Honorable, quick to help each other, and a great learning exp. Thanks to all the PGCA members. Dave

Chris,
Bill's email has been changed for some time. In the future try billmullins42@gmail.com.