9/14/25
Thanks to all who participated in todays ATA shoot at Ikes. As I watched the various squads roll through, I realized this team’s great potential. Athletes posted some solid scores, but there is room to grow. We need to eliminate distractions, hone our focus on targets and task at hand, refocus from missed targets and remember our fundamentals. Remember each shot is comprised of Feet, Mount, See, Move, Shoot and Follow through.

With that in mind we will fire up the focused practice after regular rounds starting Monday. Monday’s practice will work as regular rounds. House 4 will be for the new shooters as we are going to work on gun fit, eye dominance, pattern the gun and then rounds. House 1 will be for one on ones as needed. For those on the focused practice, bring thick skin and an extra box of ammo. Same as last season – topics and exercises will be determined by me.
Thursday will be our first skeet practice at Butch Olafson this week, 5:30-7:30. You must have been a part of the skeet/sporties team last year or permission from a coach to attend. Also for these athletes, I will be building a ticket for each Thursday. You will need to pay for your rounds on the app via this ticket before you leave for the evening.
We will be building several dates into the calendar this week so please pay attention and turn your notifications on. One to point out is our commitment to HY VEE Steak Night. On September 18. Send as many as you can to Ankeny HY VEE north to get a steak and potato meal for $12. The team gets funds from each meal sold. I also need 4 volunteers to work a serving line to promote the team. Please sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084DABA623A6FE3-58620615-september#/ This is easy work and typically generates $300-500 for the team.

Another date I will be adding is our annual fundraiser. This year we will sponsor a meet on Oct 6 – our regular practice night- 5-9pm. It will be a 100 target singles only event. For participation, each Hawks athlete will be asked to have a minimum of 5 pledges to participate. How it works, each athlete goes out and seeks 5 sponsors, each sponsoring a dollar amount based on a cost per target. IE Grandma sponsors Nick for $.25 per clay and he shoots 90 clays. Grandma then owes $22.50 to the team. Athletes are responsible for collecting sponsors, post their best score of the season and collect the fees and turn them into the team. We will also host a pay to play Annie Oakley. Coaches, Parents and athletes will have a $20 buy in to participate. Prizes will be belt buckles for: top 3 singles scores, top 3 Annie Oakley, and top 3 fundraisers based on dollar amount raised. It’s a full moon that night so Ikes are going to let us mix white and green targets along with orange. Title for the event: Shoot the Moon Buckle Shoot.
Again, watch the calendar as we have several dates coming up rather quickly.