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Blount County students are taking advantage of a new athletic program that packs a tremendous kick.

The Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program (TNSCTP) is a Tennessee Wildlife Federation program that receives cooperation from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. TNSCTP provides children in grades 5 through 12 with the opportunity to compete in shotgun shooting sports with peers from across the state. The program represents several disciplines including skeet, trap and sporting clays.

TNSCTP has been endorsed by the Blount County school board, but it's currently an off-campus activity. Teams, however, are being organized according to geographic locations. Officials have currently established Heritage and William Blount teams.

The teams have just completed their first month of practices. Nearly 40 students -- primarily middle-schoolers -- are on the Heritage team, said coach Loren Parris. "Heritage has quite a few shooters. For them, it's just a matter of honing their skills and working to become better shooters," he said about the skill levels of his athletes.

About 10 students -- primarily high-schoolers -- are on the William Blount team, said coach Matt Hall. "The kids we've had shooting so far have really enjoyed it. It's not your average sport. Nobody gets cut, and we train everybody on a weekly basis."

Hall and Parris are part-time instructors at the Smoky Mountain Sports Club. They are also both National Rifle Association certified instructors.

Both coaches are expecting more students to join the program at the conclusion of other fall sports. "I really believe in the program. This is a passion for me, and I'm happy to be a part of it," Parris said. "My grandfather was an avid hunter, and he had a lot of firearms. So, I guess it rubbed off on me.

"The friendships you build while hunting and fishing are lifelong. There's more to a hunting trip than just harvesting an animal. It's more about sitting around the campfire, talking with friends and camping out. I think this program will be the same way," Parris said.

"I also just love working with young people. It's a very positive experience for me," he said. Parris said he's taught between 1,800 and 2,000 student during his 24 years as a hunter education instructor.

Students have come to love the program. "I'm happy they did this, and I'd recommend any student in Blount County Schools join this club. We have a lot of fun. It's something we can do with our time and not sit around playing video games," said Colton Callaway, an eighth-grader at Heritage Middle School.

Students are also latching on to the sport's competitive nature. "I've never done the sporting side of shooting before. I've mostly hunted," said Logan Clark, a seventh-grader at Heritage Middle School. "I think the best part of this program is just getting better and improving. I'm trying to build up on the number of clays I shoot every week. I hit 17 of 20 last week, and I'm really looking forward to the competitions."

Baylee Slaughter, a seventh-grader at Heritage Middle School, has also enjoyed the competition among her teammates. Slaughter, who's the only girl currently participating in the program, said she's been consistently breaking her targets and shoots better than many of her male teammates.

Slaughter can't wait for local and state competitions to start. The seventh-grader said she hopes to acquire target shooting scholarships for college. "She's really competitive and doesn't mind going head-to-head against the boys," said father Bob Slaughter.

Fast growing program

TNSCTP is the No. 1 youth scholastic shooting sports program in the United States. More than 8,000 youth have participated in the program since its inception. By 2011, program officials have estimated that more than 3,000 athletes will be involved in the program.

More than 30 national magazines and 10 national television programs have featured the program.

TNSCTP requires each participant to be certified through a hunter education course that teaches and instills proper firearm safety, use and handling. The program also provides shooters an opportunity to engage in the outdoors through TNSCTP- and TWRA-sponsored hunts and community volunteer efforts.

Financial support is available to every team.

TNSCTP purchases general liability insurance and provides each team with their own certificate of insurance that will insure their coaches, volunteers, athletes and local sponsoring agency. The policy provides each team a separate limit of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate general liability insurance coverage. Other limits include $1 million personal injury/advertising injury, $50,000 damage to premises rented to you and $5,000 medical payments.