Brandon Boozer, father to Elisa, shared with the ORA his insight on how to navigate the NCAA Rifle Scholarship path, when to start, and the time and budget commitment necessary for a youth interested in the shooting sports to earn a college scholarship.
Parenting is not for the faint of heart. Once you get past the expense of diapers, you blink, and then you are fitting orthodontic bills into the budget. Paying for college is one of the biggest financial challenges facing parents, and so the scholarship path has a great appeal!
The great news for our ORA members is that there is a scholarship path in the shooting sports. There are 26 division I, II, and III schools with NCAA rifle teams across the US. This includes TCU, West Virginia, Kentucky, University of Nebraska, Ohio State, University of Mississippi, and all the armed service acadamies.
This is a path the Boozer family started on with their youngest daughter Elisa. Her father Brandon says you can start by high school and can begin with an air rifle, and that free, or nearly free training is available at 4H clubs, gun ranges, JROTC, or with a USA sanctioned shooting club. Weekly practice ranges from 1-2 hours a week at the beginning with participation in USAS and CMP matches.
NCAA recruiting season starts in the junior year of high school. Practice and regular participation in competitive matches is key to the NCAA rifle scholarship path however. The teams recruit international students that are Olympic hopefuls, so this can be a very competitive process.
The good news is that the resources, matches, and support for a child in Oklahoma are readily available. Coaching with the H&H Precision shooters led by ORA Treasurer, Charles Meloy, was the expertise Elisa needed to fine tune and develop her talent and hard work.
The ORA is here to support our youth by connecting any interested family to the right programs with 4H or the CMP and have many member clubs with active youth programs to sharpen skills to be competitive for an NCAA rifle scholarship. For more information, reach out to us at hello@oklahomarifle.org.
The Budget Path to a NCAA Scholarship Infographic
Our infographic helps show the path youth need to take if interested in a NCAA scholarship when they are in college. It’s not too late to begin and it’s easy to gauge a kid’s interest with involvement in 4H or at your local gun club.
