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Trigger-fingered trio
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Posted by admin Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:02:47 PDT
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When Emily Shuford was 5 years old, her dad put a BB gun in her hands and took her hunting. Today, Shuford, 15, is one of the best junior skeet shooters in the state. 

But then again, so are her two sisters.

Skeet was invented in 1915 and is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks flung into the air at high speed from a variety of angles, using a high quality, double-barreled shotgun.

Slight of frame and quite feminine, the Shuford sisters Emily; Brooke, 17; and Rachel, 13, have been competitive skeet shooting for about two years but have been holding guns since they were little girls.

“They were raised around guns,” said Dan Shuford, the girls’ father, an avid hunter who would take the family on hunting trips and teach his daughters gun safety and hunting techniques.

“All of them enjoyed the guns,” he said, though adding that he would have never guessed the girls would one day be shooting 12-gauge shotguns in competition.

Emily, who also runs cross-country and swims at Bakersfield High School, took to the sport of skeet shooting first and showed almost immediate competence. In just one year of competitive skeet shooting, she is ranked in the A-class in two of the four gun (gauge) divisions.

“Some people shoot skeet for 20 years and aren’t ranked in the A-class,” said Dan.

In the A-class, a shooter has to break almost all of their clay targets, and out of 100 targets, that means at least 97 have to shatter. Class ranking is based on an average, so every outing is important. Some weekends, the sisters attend tournaments where they are shooting 500 skeet targets over a three-day period, and sometimes they must compete against each other.

The girls participate in the Scholastic Clay Target Program, a program developed to teach and enhance the love of target shooting to students from fourth to 12th grades. Rachel, at 13 years old, is in the Sub-Junior category, while Emily and Brooke must compete against each other as Juniors.

“It’s fun because I have the most experience and just have to make sure I stay ahead of (Brooke),” said Emily. “I have some bad days and she has good days.”

Brooke, who carries a 4.4 GPA in school, hasn’t competed as much because she is also a varsity swimmer at BHS. “I would have started sooner, but I was busy with high school stuff,” she said.

Busy, indeed. The incoming senior will compete in the Junior Olympics in Fresno July 24 to 27 in the 200-meter individual medley and the 100- and 200-meter breast stroke, then dash north to Stockton to participate in the NSSA Western Open skeet shooting competition July 28 to 31.

Competing against her sister makes it fun to Brooke.

“I’m not really competitive, so I like to just better my score,” she said.

Brooke’s coach would beg to differ. “Brooke is quiet, reserved and has a competitive streak most people aren’t aware of,” said Larry Sifers, who has been coaching juniors in skeet since 1993.

“They all have different personalities,” said Sifers of the three sisters. “Emily is happy-go-lucky, laughs a lot, but when she’s shooting, she steps it up for competition.”

Sifers, who himself has been shooting since he was 8, is impressed with all three Shuford sisters, and says that they have a great opportunity living in California.

“California is the second largest shooting community in the United States,” he said, second only to Texas. “Because of that, the girls have a chance to earn a college scholarship.”

Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Mo., makes a habit of awarding scholarships to incoming freshmen skeet shooters. And the sisters, if they continue the current course, seem to have a better-than-average chance at getting their education for free.

Sifers believes one of the Shuford girls, in particular, is on track for one of those scholarships.

“Emily has the mental disposition to make something happen in the next year,” he said.

Besides the Scholastic Clay Target Program, the girls also compete against adults in the “ladies” events.

“You want to win (in ladies) because there are not many lady shooters,” said Emily. “So you want to be noticed in that.”

Ladies competitions are instances where all three Shufords compete against each other.

“We like to hang together, so it makes it fun,” said Brooke.

Emily agrees.

“In April, we went to Tennessee to shoot at a ladies charity shoot, and we were all on the same squad.”

They laughed so much, she said, that they didn’t shoot very well at all.

Rachel, who will be in eighth grade at Tevis Junior High, enjoys the time she spends with her two older sisters.

“It’s fun to get to do because not a lot of people do it,” she said.

A common misconception about female shooters may be that they are boyish — not so for the Shuford trio. When the girls aren’t toting shot guns, they are typical teenagers, watching movies like “She’s the Man,” and listening to the Red Hot Chile Peppers.

“They are nowhere near being tomboys,” said Dan. “They are all-girl, taking 1 1/2 hours on their hair, clothes, and getting cleaned up.”

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Comment From: dweaver3

What a cool story! It's neat that the sisters are so close and have so much fun together. It's great that they're such well-rounded athletes and that they're looking forward to the future by aiming for scholarships!