14-Year-Old Achieves Remarkable Success in Competitive Shooting Sports

East Windsor, CT – August 14, 2024 – Sara Daigle, a 14-year-old shooting sports prodigy from East Windsor, has been making waves in the shooting sports community, showcasing her exceptional talent, and achieving hard earned success at a recent national shooting competition.

In July, Sara and two of her teammates from the Nutmeg Clay Crushers youth shooting sports team traveled to Marengo, OH for the 2024 SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) Nationals. The event, hosted by the Scholastic Shooting Sport Foundation, is one of the largest youth shooting events in the country and draws nearly 3,000 athletes from around the country including four youth shooters from CT.

Despite facing extreme heat and humidity, which led to her experiencing the effects of heat exhaustion on the first day of competition, Sara persevered and competed in all six events within the Ladies Intermediate Advanced division, scooping up awards in all including three top 3 finishes:

• Handicap Trap: 1st place
• Doubles Trap: 2nd place
• Sporting Clays: 2nd place

“Heat exhaustion is no joke. I was told that if I didn’t have a gun in my hand, I had to have a drink in my hand and I had to be drinking it. The first thing that goes when you’re dehydrated is your eyes and without your eyes you can’t shoot well. What also helps is AC and sleep. The more rest you get the better focused you become when it comes time to compete.”

Sara placed 4th in the High Over All award for her division.

“Meeting new people was one of the highlights of my trip, I met lots of other athletes competing in my age group and world champion trapshooters. I hope to meet even more people next year!”

Sara’s achievements underscore the growing popularity of youth participation in shooting sports. According to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) 2024 NSGA Sports Participation Report, most shooting sports segment activities continue to show gains in participation, netting a 4.8 percent increase in total participation overall.

Sara’s journey in shooting sports began with an interest in pistol and rifle shooting, but she quickly fell in love with shotgun sports after trying trap shooting with her father. The family joined Rockville Fish & Game Club in Vernon, CT to give Sara a place to practice and hone her skills.

“We are so proud of Sara” says Diana Reid, President of Rockville Fish & Game Club, “She is a talented young lady and has played an important role at our Club in developing our youth programs and helping women and youth feel comfortable and excited about participating in shooting sports.”

What’s next for Sara? “A lot!” states Sara. “I practice a lot, about 100 rounds a week year-round. When I’m not practicing, I like to help out teaching hunter safety and beginner shotgun classes.”

As an active member of the Rockville Fish & Game Club, Sara participates on the Club’s Youth Committee and has taken on a leadership role in the Club’s Youth Open House to be held on August 24, 2024. The open house focuses on firearm safety and introducing youth and their families to outdoor sportsmen activities. Sara will also be co-instructing at a youth Beginner Shotgun class at Rockville Fish & Game Club on September 15, 2024. Thanks to support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), youth can participate in both events at no charge.

Sara is also a volunteer educator for DEEP (Dept of Energy and Environmental Protection) where she assists with hunter safety certification courses and will be assisting at the upcoming DEEP Ladies Day on September 21, 2024.

Sara’s passion for the sport continues to grow and as a high honors student, she has her sights set on attending a university with a strong shooting program and is looking forward to sharing her love of the sport with others. ###