By Ethan Hoffman-- Eagle Sports Editor
When students think about high school sports, they think about football, basketball, baseball, track, soccer, etc. One sport that has gone relatively unnoticed is the FCHS AFJROTC Marksmanship team.
Marksmanship is a competitive rifle shooting team closely connected to the AFJROTC program. In order to be on the team, participants have to be a cadet.
The team started in 2013, winning a national championship in their very first year of competition, but since COVID the team has struggled according to senior, cadet, and marksman Greyson Strachan.
“We had to restart from scratch. This will be the 2nd year we’ve had the marksmanship team since COVID started," he explained.
Competitions for marksmanship are very unique in comparison to most other sports. There are typically two types of competitions: in-person & postal.
In-person competitions are self-explanatory; cadets shoot targets at meets and compare their scores with those of other teams. In postal competitions, team members shoot at targets which are then packed and sent by mail to be scored by judges. Strachan considers every day a competition, however.
“Every day is a [competition] between the guys on the team," he added.
Whilst the competitions might be different from traditional sports, certain tips and superstitions remain. Marksman Quinnton Collison (junior) stated, “[I don’t] eat any sugary things until after shooting, sugar can make you jittery," to stay at the top of his game.
JROTC cadets seem to find a great deal of enjoyment in the marksmanship program.
“I love to watch people shoot at targets and do so myself," stated Collison. Strachan agreed, “You get to shoot rifles with your buddies and go to competitions. It’s fun.”