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Reporter-News photography by Thomas Metthe

Dale Scoggins fires at a clay target overhead at Abilene Clay Sports during a club shooting tournament on May 29. Sporting clays is becoming a popular way to raise money for local organizations.

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Aiming for a good cause
Sporting clay shooting events are a recent fundraising trend

By Jason Sheehan / sheehanj@reporternews.com
June 17, 2006

Raising money for nonprofit organizations in Abilene usually involves swinging a golf club.

But don't be surprised if the next fundraiser you're invited to calls for raising a shotgun instead.

Golf tournaments continue to be a great way for local organizations to raise money, but sporting clay shooting events are beginning to attract a number of nonprofit fundraisers, said Steve Ellinger, president of Abilene Clay Sports.

In years past, using a shotgun and clay targets wasn't on the radar of local nonprofits. Abilene Clay Sports had zero fundraising events, Ellinger said.

''Six years ago, nobody ever heard of sporting clays,'' he said. ''Right now, it's the easiest way to raise funds.''

Abilene Clay Sports books 10 to 12 fundraising events a year, he said.

Diamondback Golf Club and Maxwell Golf Course annually book about 15 events each, while Abilene Country Club is the location for about five.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there are nearly 20 million active target shooters in the U.S., and national participation in target shooting has increased by 48 percent over the past five years. One reason for this growth is the popularity of sporting clays.

Ellinger said the competition appeals to a variety of people, not just sporting clays enthusiasts.

''I think that's the reason people are enjoying this so much,'' Ellinger said.

Hendrick Home for Children's fundraising event has grown each year since the home began using Abilene Clay Sports six years ago, said Barbara Dahl, the organization's vice president of community relations. Hendrick Home for Children was the first local nonprofit to use sporting clays as a fundraiser, Ellinger said.

''I had a volunteer come to me and say, 'Let's try this,''' Dahl said. ''Now everybody is doing it.''

Dahl said the event drew about 70 participants in 2000. In August, the event is expected to draw about 240, she said.

''It's been very successful,'' she said.

Dahl said the idea for sporting clays came when the home held its last golf tournament seven years ago.

''The last golf tournament we did, there were four other tournaments that same day,'' she said. ''Three of them were for other nonprofits.''

Disability Resources Inc. held its first sporting clays fund-raiser in May, said Shane Jennings, a DRI board member in charge of organizing the event.

''We had about 100 shooters show up,'' he said. ''For the first year, it was a success. We're already making plans for next year.''

DRI also will continue to use golf tournaments as a way to raise money, Jennings said.

Ellinger said he realizes golf tournaments remain a popular way for nonprofits to raise money.

''It (sporting clays) isn't going to replace golf tournaments, but it gives them another option,'' he said.

What are sporting clays?

Sporting clays is a clay target sport that is designed with targets in various presentations and differing difficulty levels. In the past, most shooting clubs featured only skeet and trap ranges where clay targets are thrown at known distances and at set speeds and angles.

A sporting clays course features multiple shooting stations that are set at varying and unknown distances, leaving the shooter to judge length of leads and how quickly the target must be broken.