2019 Air Rifle New Shooter League Recap

Ozark AJROTC (Ozark, MO) are the champions of the second annual National Air Rifle New Shooter League. They also won the inaugural season, and moved to an overall record of 16-0 over the course of two seasons. Pacific MCJROTC (Pacific, MO) placed in second, with their only defeat of the year coming against Ozark. Norview NJROTC (Norfolk, VA) placed third.

The New Shooter League rewards teams not just for the competitive success, but also on participation and improvement. This year 36 teams won awards, 12 for showing improvement. Kaiser High School (Honolulu, HI) showed the most growth over the course of the season, improving by 17 points per game. Each week they beat their previous high score.

Overall, 57 teams from throughout the United States competed this season. The New Shooter League is reserved for teams comprising of athletes in their first year of competition. For about 30% of the athletes the league is their first competitive experience. Registration for the third season of the New Shooter League will open in November.

Shooter’s Technology LLC, the makers of the Orion Scoring System, manages the League. The New Shooter League is an offshoot of the largest air rifle league in the world, the National Air Rifle League, but for first year athletes and only for the Sporter discipline. The League allows teams from throughout the nation to compete virtually, with eight games over the course of 10 weeks.

In each game the teams compete in what is known as a Three-Position Air Rifle match. The match is modeled after Olympic Rifle competitions but adapted to high school age athletes. Each athlete will shoots 10 shots in three different shooting positions, prone, standing, and kneeling. Each shot is worth a maximum of 10 points. The sum of points scored in the 30 shots is the athlete's total. The team score is comprised of the best four athletes from each team.