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Shooting Team Criteria

The five Olympic rings represent the five cont...

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Gaining membership on the Junior Olympics shooting team is an involved process. In addition to being excellent shooters, youth must also exhibit academic excellence through good grades and school attendance. the USA Shooting National Shotgun Coach is responsible for selecting the best and brightest youth to represent the country in Olympic games.

A candidate should not expect to be considered for team membership if he is not skilled. Shooters are trained by an Olympic coach who looks for style and technique in students. Individuals unable to control shots are not considered for the Junior Olympics. In addition, skilled candidates failing to attend several practice sessions should expect to be overlooked by a coach. The Unites States Junior Olympic shooting team is meant to be comprised of highly skilled and dedicated youth. As such, individuals who fail to attend and exhibit quality performances at practice will be denied entry to the team.

Quality and dedication should extend beyond practice into the classroom. Individuals who perform well in practice but fail to achieve academic excellence may be disqualified as a candidate. When evaluating school performance, coaches search for consistency and balance. While it is exceptional to have a person obtain a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) in one semester, it is more notable to see a student maintain a 3.7 GPA over five semesters. Students capable of maintaining an excellent GPA while participating in various clubs and sporting activities are given preference over persons who merely attend school.

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What Defines a Sport?

Young couple dancing cha-cha-cha at a junior L...

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Many people roll their eyes at the so-called “girly” sports in the Olympics: figure skating and ice dancing, for example. What defines a sport? Is it the “feel” of the sport? Does it have to involve teams? Why do some consider cheerleading a sport and others call it a dance team? Is dancing a sport?

No matter if you agree on whether figure skating or ballroom dancing is a sport, these well-toned professionals who participate in such activities must be considered athletes. Dancers often are more toned and muscular than athletes in some of today’s most popular sports because dancing requires them to use their entire body in ranges of motion in ways that a defensive linebacker in football or a golfer would never dream of. Dancers also undergo much more training and discipline to excel in their profession.

When compared to other sports like shooting, pool, or curling, it may seem ridiculous that dancing isn’t a sport in the Olympics, especially when sports like ice dancing or figure skating are. Figure skating involves precision, fluidity, timing, and a keen sense of music–sound like dancing at all? Ice dancing makes no pretense in its comparison to its non-ice counterpart, ballroom dancing. The sport fully acknowledges that it has its roots in the art of ballroom dancing. All of these activities (skating, dancing, cheerleading) involve a judging system of points, distinct skills, and a highly competitive field of participants.

So at the end of the day, why is dancing not considered a sport? Why is figure skating laughed at? Why do people roll their eyes at cheering competitions? Is it because many of these sports are wrongly considered to be a mainly female activity? Who drew the line and said if something is aesthetically pleasing, it cannot be a sport? If this were the case, football would be an art, not a sport, because of the intense attention drawn to uniforms, commercials, and cheerleaders.

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Michael Phelps an Inside Look

Michael Phelps is a well-known Olympic swimmer at the young age of 25 years old. He attended the University of Michigan, where he studies sports marketing and management. In 2007 alone Michael won 38 national titles in swimming. Over the course of his career he has set 35 world records, 5 of which he set in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His strongest stroke is breast stroke. He wears two swim caps, using the second one to smooth out the wrinkles from the first one. He is being celebrated as the “Greatest Olympian ever.” During the medal ceremony he said, “I am at a lost for words. To be the most decorated Olympian of all time, it just sounds weird. I am speechless.”

Michael devotes most of his time and energy to swimming. He practices about two to three hours, two to three times a day and about six times a week. He eats more calories than an average person could consume in a day. He has to eat so much because if he doesn’t he would never have the energy to swim as well or as fast as he does.In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and his dog Herman. He also likes to play video games.

Through the Make A Wish program he has met some children and on Facebook he shares with us, “These kids tell me that I’m their inspiration, but these brave kids are much more inspiring to me.” Throughout Michael Phelps’s career he has inspired many people just like the kids that met him through Make A Wish. Many swimmers have begun to pursue a career in swimming because of him and others like him. Some people don’t realize it, but our action effect the actions of others. Maybe Michael Phelps did recognize that and maybe that’s why he is such a great person. He has set the ultimate example and people strive to follow it.

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