HILLTOWNS — The Greenville High School Trap Team has finished its first season in glory, being named champion of its conference in the New York State High School Clay Target League’s spring season conference, team coach Sara Statham told The Enterprise this week. 

According to the league standings, Greenville beat out seven other districts located generally in the northern portion of the state. Greenville’s Chloe Ross placed second and Isabel Kropp placed third out of all 12 females in the conference.

The Greenville team got a boost in performance from the expertise of Rensselaerville Rod and Gun Club members who volunteered as mentors to the students.

The team members use shotguns to shoot at clay “pigeons,” launched by a machine.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s team also participated in the league, placing last in a different conference that put the district up against eight other schools. 

Statham told The Enterprise that the Greenville team had 12 shooters by the time of the conference, made up mostly of Greenville students but also two from Cairo-Dunham and one from Schoharie. League rules allow students from districts that don’t have a team to join the team of a neighboring district, she explained. 

 The team had practiced weekly at the Rensselaerville Rod and Gun Club and biweekly at Norton Hill Wildlife Club, Statham said. The increased activity at the Rensselaerville club caused a bit of a stir among residents put off by extra noise as The Enterprise reported in June. In an attempt to appease them, the club ultimately made some compromises such as cutting down on Sunday activity and announcing events. 

“One of the reasons I teamed up with the Rensselaerville Rod and Gun Club is because they had the most amount of active members, active members that shoot trap on a regular basis, and a lot of active members who were willing to donate their time and expertise to the students to teach them gun and range safety and technique,” Statham said, adding later that the team “wouldn’t have had such a great first season” without the members.

Statham, who works for Greenville Schools as an administrative assistant, said the team began shortly after sophomore John Kropp approached her to ask if the school would allow such an activity. 

“I had never shot trap before so I did some research on the sport, visited local gun clubs, and reached out to other schools [and] coaches that did trap shooting,” she said.  “Being a responsible gun owner and believing in teaching respect for firearms and seeing the benefit this club had to offer students I felt this was something I could take on.” 

Statham said she then presented the idea with another interested student to the district’s board of education, which gave its approval. 

Besides the basics of shooting and safety, the students had to learn how to set up and take down the trap field, keep score and coach their teammates from the line, advising them on their stances, their grip, their tracking, and more, Statham explained. 

“Safety was the first and foremost aspect of the club and the league …,” she said. “Students were required to take an online safety course that covered gun safety as well as specific trap rules and safety regulations. Students also had a range safety day where myself and the other club members went through all the rules and safety regulations.”

USA Clay, she said, has a strict one-strike policy when it comes to safety. 

In the end, Statham said that placing first was “just a bonus” compared to the teamwork and community building that took place. 

Some of the team members have joined Rensselaerville Rod and Gun’s team and are continuing to practice there, while also volunteering for doing basic property maintenance, she said.

“It's really been a wonderful experience for me bringing the students together with gun club members,” Statham said. “The cross generational teamwork and support has been the best thing to come out of starting this club.”