CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — School is out, but there was one last state competition to highlight. Not one of your traditional sports, but Calallen Future Farmers of America (FFA) shooting team or “Claybuster Team,” found success in San Antonio about a week ago.
During the school year you may catch a glimpse of the Calallen FFA Claybuster Teamshooting at Corpus Christi Gun Club. That practice has paid off for them at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Ag Clays State Tournament.
“They bannered in five of the six events; they did an outstanding job. Super proud of them," said an agriculture teacher at Calallen Independent School District, Bobby Farias.
That includes Alanna De Leon who fired her way to third overall in the female individual competition.
“It was something I was working on very, very hard, and to come out third, it was very, very special,” the sophomore said.
This is quite a unique sport. But that doesn’t mean it provides any less teaching moments like your popular sports.
Although it’s just you and your gun while competing, these athletes find the interactions the most valuable part of the sport.
“I think it’s very different than regular sports and I think putting yourself out there to meet new people everywhere,” sophomore Hannah Hominick said.
You may be asking yourself, how does clay shooting fit into FFA?
“Part of the mission talks about the potential for a career development and success," said Farias. "And, I think that this all kinds of just blends into that and makes that premier leadership.”
It's that experience that these student-athletes said they learned from.
“I've learned a lot of life lessons. Time management, learning how to network and build friendships with newer people. Learning how to start conversations,” Dalton Hagler who just competed at his last state competition after graduating.
“Discipline, responsibility and it’s expanding our relationships with everybody,” De Leon said.
Shooting coach Glenn Hagler said it's been a joy to watch the students learn.
"The love of the sport grows with them. The amount of humility they learn by competing in this sport, they're going to have good days, they're going to have bad days. But they got to learn to just pick themselves up and go forward," said Hagler.
Hagler has watched the program have much success through it's history. He said it's their team is the only one in the coastal bend competing in FFA competitions.
"I would think that's one of the things I pride myself the most in, in growing the sport, is having kids understand safety, firearm safety."
Farias said the team has had past members compete at the collegiate level. The sport allows competitors to shoot their way into the ultimate competition, the Olympics.
To see Calallen FFA's results at Ag Clays State Tournament you can find them here.
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