Competitive shooting will be the newest interscholastic athletic event during the 2013-14 school year at Bulloch Academy.
    According to Barbara Conner, the shooting sports coach, tournaments will be held from August through November in various parts of the state and will utilize a three-man team format.
    The Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) has sanctioned Competitive Shooting as a sport for the 2013-14 school year and Bulloch Academy is the first area independent school to commit to fielding a team.
    According to Conner, tournaments will include all three shooting disciplines (Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clays) and participants will use their own 12 or 20-gauge shotguns and shells.
    Bulloch Academy middle and high-school students got the chance to taste competition two weeks ago in the GISA Clay Target Invitational at the Forest City Gun Club in Savannah.
    “We had four shooters in the top ten of the junior-varsity tournament and one in the varsity division,” Conner said. “That made me feel pretty good.
    Seventh grader Seth Conner was third overall out of 26 shooters, scoring 145 out of a possible 200. Freshman Branden Burnsed was sixth (125), seventh grader Brandon Merrill was seventh (122) and freshman Braxton Brinson was ninth (115). In the varsity division, senior Mathew Blitch was fifth out of 23 shooters, scoring a 145.
    “It was an individual tournament but, in the fall, it will be a three-man team format,” said Conner. “This tournament was an opportunity for the schools to kick off their shotgun programs and develop interest for the fall competitive season.”