What new high school sport really has Edina High School kids pumped? Which extra-curricular activity is growing faster than a speeding bullet because team members have such a blast? Trap shooting, of course. And once you get past the puns, you’ll discover why competitive shooting is one of the fastest growing high school activities in the state, and why kids at Edina High School are clamoring to join the team.
Off With a Bang
Last spring, Edina High School jumped into trap shooting for the first time as one of 29 schools around the state in the non-profit Minnesota State High School Clay Target League. Registration recently opened for the upcoming season.
Unlike many coaches, EHS trap shooting head coach Scott Danielson is not a teacher. He’s simply an interested parent and avid shooter.
“The administrators were great to work with,” Danielson says. “They told me others had tried to [start a shooting club in the past] but it never got off the ground. I said, ‘I’ll do it.’”
With the help of his sons Ryan and Eric, Danielson hung posters around EHS and area junior high schools and hoped for the best. He would’ve been thrilled if 12 students showed interest in joining the team.
Instead, he got 30—and a waiting list.
Fired Up
One of those interested students was Aaron Zuhlsdorf, then a junior.
“There are more people who like to hunt than you would think, but they’re not always involved in school activities,” Zuhlsdorf says. “I would count myself as one of those people—I saw this as another way to put myself out there.”
Then-freshman Maggie Horan was one of two girls to join the inaugural EHS trap shooting team last year. Like Aaron, she was looking for a way to get more involved at school. Unlike Zuhlsdorf, she had virtually no shooting experience prior to joining the team. In fact, her other hobby was ballet.
“Since it was the first year and we didn’t have to tryout, I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll meet new people,’” Horan says.
Turns out, Horan is a pretty good shot. And not only did she gain skills from joining the team, she also earned something even better: esteem from her teammates, both female and male.
“I was surprised to see girls join the team, because I didn’t think Edina High School girls are the type who like to shoot,” Zuhlsdor says. “But, Maggie shot an 18 [out of 50] before I did. I respect her.”
A Sure Shot
One reason for trap shooting’s popularity is its accessibility.
“Not everybody is cut out to be a football or basketball player,” says Jim Sable, founder and director of the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League. “Size and stamina really aren’t a factor in trap shooting. And, it’s a gender-neutral sport, where boys and girls can shoot together.”
Parents also like trap shooting because it is comparatively cheap. Horan says her parents were thrilled when they learned of the $240 yearly fee for trap shooting (set to increase this year)—which covers shotgun shells, clay targets and association fees—in comparison with her brother’s expensive hockey fees and equipment. (Of course, there is the one-time cost of a gun, but when maintained properly, it can last for decades.)
Victory in Their Sights
Under the guidance of Danielson and assistant coaches Jeremy Constantine, Andy Timmer and Troy Danielson, Edina High School tied for third in its conference last season; this year, they’re aiming for a state title.
But for Sable, competitive trap shooting is about more than trophies.
“I’d like to think we’re teaching kids more than marksmanship,” he says. “What kids take away from the program is mostly fun and new friends, which surprised me at first. I thought, ‘All these kids coming from the same school, they must know each other.’ But they don’t. At the end of the season, over and over the kids say, ‘I like the new friends I made.’”
