When it comes to skeet shooting, Carroll seniorbrNick Godfrey is good...really good. How good? He is currently the highestbrranked high school student in the world. It takes a little while to get thatbrinformation out of him because he is pretty modest about it. In fact, we didn'tbrhear about it until halfway through interviewing him.
While he is now competing through a variety ofbrdifferent clay target organizations, he first got into the sport throughbrSouthlake Carroll Clay Target Team. The program started in 2013 with a smallbrgroup of students. Several were already shooting with outside organizations andbrnoticed that area high schools were forming teams. They decided to bring itbrbefore the school board and got the program approved.
“We were one of the first five teams in thebrarea,” Carroll Liaison Brandi Hunt says.
One year after the program's formation, Godfrey hesitantlybrattended an informational meeting.
“I had no idea what it really was,” he says. “My dad convincedbrme to go to the meeting, and I kind of wanted to see what it was all about.”
Now closing out his senior year, Godfrey has been selected asbrteam captain for the past two years. Even in his sophomore year, he served asbrskeet captain. From his accomplishment on the team to his accolades nationallybrand internationally, there is no doubt that Godfrey is happy he stumbled upbrthat informational meeting.
"Thisbrsport has matured him more than I've ever seen before,” Hunt says. “He is wisebrbeyond his years. He practices so much, and he's not just out there practicing;brhe is coaching the team half of the time. Whenever he is out there with otherbrstudents, he is helping them."
How It All Works
While the average Texan has probably handled abrgun at some point, the ins and outs of clay target shooting may still bebrforeign. There are variants from American to Olympic and disciplines withinbreach of those. If you thought it was the same as just yelling “Pull!” at your buddybron the ranch, it is so much more complex.
As for the Carroll Clay Target Team, they competebrunder the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP). The SCTP essentiallybrserves the same purpose that UIL does for sports like baseball. Under thebrprogram, high school students compete in three disciplines: Skeet Shooting,brClay Targets and Trap. Teams are co-ed, and while there is a seperate portionbrof competitions for girls, they can also choose to compete with the boys.
"If you'rebrthe best shooter, you're the best shooter no matter what,” Hunt says.
The team has excelled in its short five years ofbrexistence. They are currently SCTP state champions and have filled the shelvesbrwith additional trophies. Most recently, the Carroll Clay Target Team has addedbran intermediate level, meaning seventh and eighth grade students are welcome tobrtryout.
"We testedbrthe waters and it was amazing,” Hunt says. “They were so unbelievably excitedbrabout joining the program."
Freshmenbrare classified as junior varsity, while any grade above that is consideredbrvarsity. Tryouts are not required for high school students.
SafetybrComes First
"The ideabrof having high schoolers with shotguns was kind of scary for some at first,”brHunt says. “But there are more accidents in football and cheerleading thanbranything else. There are no accidents in this sport."
Hunt isn'tbrexaggerating. From 2008 to 2014, there were no reported injuries in high schoolbrclay shooting, according to the USA High School Clay Target League. Godfreybrreports that there have not been any incidents during his team with the team asbrwell.
"We have abrunique situation in clay target shooting versus football or baseball,” Godfreybrsays. “If something does go wrong, it could go very, very wrong.”
And that is why one of the main emphasises ofbrthe program is gun safety. Incoming students must take a three part safetybrcourse prior to joining the team. Additionally, they aren't done when they arebron the team. Every member retakes the course every year. Students are trained onbrrange etiquette, gun handling and what to do in abnormal situations, such asbrthe gun failing to fire. The second part of the course includes a range day,brwhere students have to show that they can properly handle the gun that theybrown. Godfrey has helped lead these training days.
“This is thebrfifth year of the program and we have yet to have any incidents,” he says.
All of the Accolades
University ofbrTexas at Austin bound, Godfrey already has quite the resume. During his juniorbryear he earned second place in the 28 gauge category at the Junior WorldbrChampionship. Back in his home state, he placed first in the same event at thebrTexas Skeet Shooter Association state championship, against all ages. He placedbrfirst in JV skeet shooting at state during his freshman year and the same inbrvarsity as a sophomore.
"Skeet isbrreally what I specialize in,” Godfrey says. “I've competed all around thebrcountry in different national level shoots and I competed in the worldbrchampionship this fall."
Skeet shootingbris designed more for the perfectionist types. Competitors shoot 25 targets in abrround, four times. They move around a semicircle and shoot a high bird and abrlow bird. American Skeet Shooting is the exact same format at every tournament,brso competitors know exactly what to expect and train meticulously.
That includesbrGodfrey. He trains five to six days a week, sometimes more depending onbrupcoming events. And for him, practice really makes perfect. Or at least almostbras close as you can get to perfect. Last fall, Godfrey went to the worldbrchampionship and placed in the top 10 of all five events he competed in,brlanding him the eleventh spot in the world. If adult competitors were excluded,brhe placed in the top five and first overall.
In the midst ofbrtraveling to tournaments and practicing 15-20 hours per week, Godfrey hasbrmanaged to keep his grades high. Oh, and he achieved the rank of Eagle Scoutbrand tutors AP physics. He will major in aerospace engineering at UT and shootbrfor their team. He credits his academic success, in part, to his parents.
"My parentsbrhave always stressed that school comes way before any extracurricularbractivity,” Godfrey says. “They said very early on that even if I'm going to thebrOlympics, if my grades start to slip, they'll pull me right out of it."
It turns outbrthey didn't have to, and we're sure both parties are glad for it.