One hears about epic touchdowns or a player succeeding academically, but there is a more personal, small community in the sports area at APSU. The university has multiple sports themed clubs that compete for awards and even go all the way to championships. 

One of these clubs is the Clay Target Club whose president is Makayla Boisseau. The group won the national collegiate title in sporting clays at the Scholastic Clay Target Program national championships in Marengo, Ohio in July. 

“The club has had several wins this summer and they have done so much good when it comes to representing the university proudly,” Boisseau said.  “When they won the Sporting Clays Championship, we had people in the stands screaming, ‘LET’S GO PEAY!’ which was absolutely amazing for our club, especially since it was Alumni who were screaming it.” 

Not only has the Clay Target Club stacked up some awards since its debut at APSU, since last fall, but the club also shows a piece of how competing in sports can extend to anyone with the spirit for it.  

“What I love about the Clay Target Club is that literally anyone can participate in this club. I have competed with people of all ages and many who had disabilities as well, such as missing an arm or handicapped to a chair,” Boisseau said. “This club also is like a safe space for me and others that are a part of the shooting community. We are more like a family than we are anything.”  

With the competitive nature of the sport, Boisseau says that it is definitely a unique sport. Those that get into it train a lot to develop their skill level. She described how most competitors come in scoring perfectly to compete with your division. 

“Clay target shooting takes a lot of practice and discipline to master any of the events. Many of these members have been shooting since they were around 9 years old and are now 20 years old or thereabout,” Boisseau said.  

Despite its competitive nature, Boisseau describes the club as having a family-like environment.  

“We go and compete against teams like Bethel University and we are still helping one another out, yet still being competitive about it as well. It’s sort of weird how it all goes down.”

The Clay Target Club is based outside of Montgomery County Shooting Complex, and can compete at regional, state and national levels as well as small, local competitions. It is not only for competitive nature but is considered a leisure club for anyone who wants to participate but does not want to compete.  

“Another purpose of this club would be to bring firearm safety to the university. This year, we are opening up the club to the alumni community of APSU,” Boisseau said. “We are a second-year club, but within our first year, we brought home over 20 state, national and world titles through several organizations.”