August 10, 2020
Hi Everyone,
I hope you and yours are faring well as the pandemic crisis continues to drag on. Like all of you, YSSA is itching to get back to the outdoor shooting sports programs we offer. We see some encouraging signs but need to continue to follow the state recommended guidelines. Recent news requires us to prepare for a slower return to our normal programs than we had hoped for.
On the positive side athletes, parents, families, and coaches continue to be united in their desire to return to where we left off. The value of YSSA Shooting Sports for athletes, their families, and communities are feeling the impact of isolation due to the lack of person to person interaction and the connection to our teammates.
You can be assured YSSA has not been idle during this time. The board, coaches, and some of the parents continue to work, discuss, and implement improvements to make YSSA what it is today. We are keeping an eye on the broad range of measures that may enable the sports activities to safely resume. The administrators and officials at the federal, state, and local levels are providing guidelines to decrease the likelihood of spreading COVID-19 infections among those participating in group activities. In addition, many companies are providing specialized and experimental equipment to attempt to make athletes safer during practices and competitions.
However, YSSA’s stance on COVID-19 and the disruption to our programs is that, we do not plan to rush back into where we left off. Instead we will wait until the schools are back and have COVID-19 controlled before we will feel safe enough to bring together youth from the greater Quad Cities and rural area together for any practices or competitions. A complete comeback will take time, but we are here for the long haul. I hope you will remain confident to return to YSSA once the guidelines are in place for safe gatherings.
With that being said, we have already started our archery program on a limited basis. Eddy Boggs, the head coach for archery, has worked on a process to eliminate any close interaction or contact between athletes. The rest of our programs currently require close contact. That is a concern for us so currently it is best to be cautious and provide a safe environment for the athletes.
A few of our shotgun athletes have been practicing at Bi-State Sportsman’s Association, YSSA’s home shotgun & archery range. John Ager, one of our shotgun coaches, offered to assist with the practices and to take athletes to the AIM National Championships held in Missouri this year due to the pandemic. YSSA athletes had an excellent performance at the National Championships and brought home the following:
| ATA All American | ||
| Trent Finchum | JR. GOLD Champion | 384/400 |
| High Over All Individual | ||
| Carson Finney | CLASS AA Sub-Jr Champion (1st place) | 382/400 |
| Trent Finchum | ATA All American JR. GOLD Champion | 384/400 |
| High Over All Team | ||
| YSSA Orange Crushers | JR. GOLD Champion ( Class “C”) | 966/1000 |
| Doubles | ||
| Carson Finney | Sub Junior Class B Runner Up | 92/100 |
| Handicap | ||
| Carson Finney | Sub Junior Tenth | 96/100 |
| Josh Meyer* | Junior Ninth | 97/100 |
| *(YSSA Athlete Competing for North Scott) | ||
| Singles (200) | ||
| Carson Finney | Sub Junior Class AA Champion | 194/200 |
| Tommy Keeshan* *(YSSA Athlete Competing for North Scott) | Junior Runner up | 199/200 |
YSSA has made an executive decision - ALL 2019-2020 YSSA fees will be applied to the YSSA 2020-2021 registration fees. Stay healthy, positive, and please contact the YSSA board members to obtain any additional information regarding the return to normality.
