The Pistol Prodigies Season 2021-2022 Recap
submitted by Scott & Lisa Poet, Head Coaches, Pistol Prodigies Youth Pistol and Rifle Team
The Pistol Prodigies will hold their season-end banquet on Sunday September 18th to reflect on their shooting season. The season began on September 1, 2021. We had 17 athletes registered with the team, ranging from 3rd grade through a high school senior.
2021-2022 was our eighth season competing in the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP). SASP is a national youth development program that uses the shooting sports to teach life skills. Athletes from 5th grade and under, through full-time college students compete at the Local, State, Regional and National levels.
The Prodigies divisions were: Senior Division- Ashley, Bodi, Connor, Hunter, Jordyn, and Wesley. The Intermediate Division- Drey, Kayley, Lincoln, Macie, Memphis, and Owen. The Rookie Division- CJ, Caleb, Carson, Spencer, and Toby.
Our first match of the season was the Virtual Fall Classic held at Brooklyn Sportsman’s Club in October. We competed in Rimfire Pistol, Iron & Optic Rifle. When the gun smoke cleared, our Rookies took home 2 Gold medals, our Open squads, which are a combination of all age Divisions, took home 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal. The Senior Division took home a Bronze medal.
Wintertime is a slow time for the Prodigies. But the team realizes that practicing is still important. Ann Arbor Arms, one of our longest supporting sponsors, was kind enough to allow us to shoot there several times. Not only did the kids enjoy shooting in a world class facility, but they also liked staying out of the snow. Thank you A3!
Also, over the winter, the team had a fundraising raffle. Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket! Thank you to the Huron Gun Collectors, for allowing The Prodigies to have the raffle drawing at one of their gun shows. Congratulations to all the WINNERS!
In Mid-March the team resumed outdoor practicing, preparing for the summer shooting season. The first match of the Spring was The SASP Great Lakes Regional held at Brooklyn Sportsman’s Club May 21-22. The Prodigies competed in Rimfire Pistol, 1911, PCC, Iron & Optic Rifles. Our Seniors ended up with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals. The Rookies earned Silver medals in both Iron and Optic Rifle. Intermediate Division came home with 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal. The Open Division ended up with 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. The Prodigies’ very own Bodi came away with High Over All Male. Way to go Bodi!
The team traveled to Marengo, Ohio, June 4-5, for the Ohio State Match and came home with 1 Gold and 5 Silver medals.
The Michigan SASP State Championships were held June 25-26, at the St. Joseph County Conservation and Sportsman Club in Sturgis, MI. This match is especially hectic, as our Head Coaches, Lisa and Scott Poet, are also the SASP State Advisors for Michigan, and serve as the Match Directors for the state match. With the help of Jeff, our Assistant Coach, and our Adult Volunteers, Nick, Gary, Chris, and Bill the match came off without a hitch, and our kids shot great. The team earned 2 Bronze, 4 Silver medals. Bodi earned 2 High Over All awards in pistol and rifle. Another highlight was that two of the Prodigies shot so well that they earned 3 of 6 spots on the Michigan SASP All-State Pistol Team and All-State Rifle Team. Congratulations Bodi on making both the All-State Pistol Team and All-State Rifle Team, and Ashley for making the All-State Rifle Team. The All-State teams then compete for additional awards at our National Championships.
Nationals is where the best of the best compete. Every year the Pistol Prodigies shoot well, but this year they shot great! When the dust settled, our Rookie Squads placed 5th in Iron Rifle and 7th in Optic Rifle. We also had four Top 5 individual placings. Ashley placed 5th in PCC for the female Senior Jr Varsity Division. And our Rookie CJ, walked away with bragging rights in ALL his disciplines. CJ is number 5 in the country in Iron Rifle, 3rd in Optic Rifle and number one in the nation in PCC in the Rookie Division. Awesome Job, CJ & Ashley!
Every year, the high school seniors on the team get to design the team shirts for Nationals. Jordyn had the honor of this task and chose to honor a family member with a pink jersey with a breast cancer awareness theme. The team looked awesome in our pink shirts. Real men wear pink!
The Prodigies had 3 athletes make the SASP All-Scholastic Team also. To earn this honor, athletes must have great shooting times and fantastic grades. This is Bodi’s 5th year, Hunter’s 2nd year and Lincoln’s first year. Keep up the good work, guys!
The Pistol Prodigies are a Varsity lettered sport at Manchester High School and hope to add other area high schools via co-op agreements in the future. The team is already hard at work for the 2022-2023 season, practicing at the Manchester Sportsman’s Club and at Brooklyn Sportsman’s Club. Thank you to both clubs for supporting The Pistol Prodigies!
We would like to thank our sponsors: Ann Arbor Arms, Betsy’s Photography, Fletcher Inspections, Friends of NRA, Hit ‘Em Back Tracking Services, Huron Gun Collectors, J. Proctor Company, L&B Excavating, Linda’s Diner, MidwayUSA Foundation, The NRA Foundation, Rare Tool Inc., Sidearm Defense Training, LLC, T&N Service, Inc. and Worth Repeating, for their continuing support of youth shooting sports and The Pistol Prodigies. Also, a BIG shout out to our very first Platinum sponsor, CMR Mechanical of Dexter. We could not do it without all of you. You are wonderful!
Thank you to the Manchester Mirror for helping us spread the word about the Pistol Prodigies!
The Pistol Prodigies are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and are looking for sponsors for the 2022-2023 season. As a sponsor your business is displayed on our team jerseys and team website, with links to your website and/or Facebook page. Each sponsor is also invited to our season end team banquet where we recognize the efforts of each athlete and acknowledge each sponsor for their team support as well. Please contact us at thepoets@yahoo.com if you would like to sponsor and become part of the team. Donations to the team are tax deductible. Coach Scott and Coach Lisa can also help you start your own SASP pistol and rifle team. On behalf of all the kids, coaches, and parents, THANK YOU to everyone for your support!
The BIG event that the team is working on now is a Fund-Raising Banquet on Saturday October 8, 2022. Public invited and welcome! We have many great prizes to be given away with pay to play games, drawings and other games of chance. Many guns will be raffled off at the banquet too. This is always a FUN night with lots of WINNING! We’re proud to be working with Manchester favorites Moveable Feast and River Raisin Distillery for our food and drinks.
On October 30, The Pistol Prodigies and the Columbia Central High School Trap Team will be hosting their first 3-gun Halloween Fun shoot at the Brooklyn Sportsman’s Club.
For more information on the team, the fun shoot, or the banquet contact thepoets@yahoo.com or visit the website at www.pistolprodigies.org.
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