2008 Award Winner
Outdoor Writers Association of America
First Place, "Magazine Writing / Shooting Sports" 
"She's Aiming High,"
by Julie Hammonds
“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” ~Orison Swett Marden
The girl swimming laps in her backyard pool has an Olympic dream: She’s kicking hard to touch the wall just a fraction of a second faster than her imaginary competitors, eager to claim the gold medal. The teenager jogging the track in PE class has an Olympic dream, too; in it, she’s carrying the Stars and Stripes on a victory lap after winning the 100-meter dash.
Many people have an Olympic dream. Emily Blount certainly has one. She’s visualized it so often that every detail leaps immediately to her mind. “I’m standing on the medal stand listening to the national anthem as our flag is raised, with a heavy gold medal around my neck, tears in my eyes and flowers in my arms.” If you ask her, she could probably tell you what kind of blooms adorn the bouquet.
The only difference between Blount and the girl who imagines the cheering crowd as she performs a perfect jackknife into the family swimming pool is this: Blount is on her way to making her Olympic dream come true. This 19-year-old woman from Tucson earned a gold medal in junior women’s skeet at the 2006 World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, last fall. This year, she continues to rank among the best in the world.
Skeet — in which the participant fires a shotgun to break a clay target whizzing past at high speed — is Blount’s chosen discipline. It calls for fast reactions, impeccable timing and deep concentration. To compete at the highest levels, one also must learn the different rules for American and international skeet, and spend a great deal of time and money traveling to competitions held in every corner of the globe.
You don’t have to compete at the Olympics to enjoy shooting sports, though. More and more often, Blount sees other women at the practice range, shooting anything from purse-sized handguns to traditional muzzleloaders — and every kind of rifle and shotgun in between.
These women are part of a national trend. According to a recent survey by the National Sporting Goods Association, participation by girls and women in hunting and shooting sports is growing rapidly. The 2005 survey showed that 5 million women and girls (over the age of 7) have participated more than once in target shooting. Since 2000, when 3.4 million women reported participating more than once in target shooting, the number has grown almost 50 percent.
Blount’s particular path to the shooting range began when she and her brother Matthew went dove hunting with their father, Larry. At first, the two youngsters worked as their father’s “bird dogs.” Soon enough, they wanted to hunt at his side, and then to practice their skills on the shooting range.
In those days, there was no such thing as the Scholastic Clay Target Program. Now, a youth who wants to participate in shooting sports can take part in this team-based program, which uses the shotgun sports to instill discipline, safety, teamwork, ethics, self-confidence and other life values. Since Arizona’s program began in the 2005 shooting season, more than 1,200 young Arizonans have experienced the satisfaction of shattering a clay target in midair.
When she first discovered this satisfaction for herself, Blount found more than a place to practice — she found a community. “It became a family time,” she says. “As other shooters saw us out there more often, those guys kind of adopt you. They teach you values like hard work, commitment, honesty and respect; mostly hard work and respect.”
In addition to the community she enjoys with other shooters, Blount also finds inspiration in “a natural competitive spirit and drive to be the best, which I get from my dad, who is a competitive shooter as well. Dad brought us to competitions and we won a couple of things. Winning felt nice and satisfying, so I wanted to do it some more.” She encourages other girls and women to express their own competitive drive, which she describes as “a drive to be the best you can be at something. I think that is a good thing for anybody to have.”
Competitive drive isn’t the only motive that urges more and more women to the shooting range. Blount understands the other reasons why women are attracted to shooting sports. “I think women do it for lots of reasons: to learn how to protect themselves and their families in dangerous situations; to explore the unknown; and just to go out and shoot and have fun at girls’ night out at the range.”
Some girls and women get involved in the shooting sports because other family members already are comfortable on the range. Others blaze their own trails — and find groups to support their goals. Many ranges offer special programs just for women; for example, the Annie Oakley Sure Shots program at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility just north of Phoenix has been introducing women to firearms for years. The purpose of such programs is to provide a safe, fun and supportive atmosphere in which women can learn to shoot or improve their skills.
The kind of relaxed recreation many women enjoy at the shooting range isn’t on Blount’s current schedule as she trains seriously for competition while pursuing a degree at the University of Arizona. She keeps her priorities as straight at the barrel of a shotgun: “School comes first,” says this member of the College of Engineering and Honors College. For the time being, Blount is majoring in electrical engineering with a minor in math, though at least two other minors also are under consideration. “My life is full of school and shooting,” she says, in what may be this year’s biggest understatement.
Fortunately, those who love her share her dreams. “My family is supportive, and so are my friends,” she adds. “They understand when I have to back out of doing something fun in order to train.”
Right now, Blount is completely focused on reaching the Olympics. That moment on the medal stand — frequently imagined down to the last detail — guides, drives and inspires her. But competitions come and go, and she knows that someday even this lofty goal will be a thing of the past. What then? “I would still be active, just not as intense as I am now,” she says.
Even after her Olympic dream comes true, Blount plans to keep participating in the sport she loves. Like the millions of other women who enjoy the shooting sports, Blount says, “I want to continue to shoot throughout my life.”
This article was published in the May-June 2007 issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine. To subscribe or give a gift, order online or call (800) 777-0015.
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