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World-class shotgunning finds its way to Kerrville this
week as athletes gather for a World Cup match.
Events begin with the United States Olympic Committee
officially designating the Hill Country Shooting Sports Center this week
as an Olympic training site. The Kerrville range’s new status came only
days ahead of the World Cup Skeet, Trap and Double Trap competitions. The
event’s opening ceremony is set for 4 p.m. Friday.
Approximately 325 athletes from 50 countries around the
globe will compete through May 11.
The draw also will impact hotel and motel operations in
Kerrville during competition weeks, said Kerrville Convention and Visitors
Bureau Executive Director Sudie Burditt.
The CVB is working in conjunction with the shooting center
and USA Shooting to house the 400-plus athletes, coaches and other members
of their entourages.
More than 3,400 room nights have been confirmed in
Kerrville hotels, Burditt said, speaking by phone from San Antonio
airport, where she was coordinating team transportation to Kerrville.
“It’s going as smooth as can be expected,” she said. “We
have 527 plane tickets” The World Cup event comes at a good time for local
hotels, who normally experience a lull in bookings between the spring
wildflower season and the May conventions and Texas State Arts and Crafts
Fair bookings.
World Cup
U.S. skeet shooter Army Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Dulohery, a
2004 Olympian, was among the athletes in Kerrville on Tuesday
participating in unofficial practice. Athletes from Great Britain, Cyprus,
Italy and India milled around, talking with one another and taking
shooting practice together.
It’s an indication of the friendly rivalry that exists
among the international shooting community, Dulohery said.
As a U.S. and Army shooter, Dulohery has had opportunities
to shoot at the Kerrville facility on two occasions this year. That could
give American shooters a slight advantage over some of their international
rivals, he said. |
Preparing for the World Cup George Achilleos and Chris Kourtellas from
Cyprus clean their weapons at the Hill Country Shooting Sports Center in
Kerrville on Tuesday afternoon. The two are participating in World Cup
Skeet, Trap and Double Trap competitions.
Photo by
Jack Parker
50 flags are flying
Sudie Burditt and Patrick Williams, of the Kerrville Convention
and Visitors Bureau, set up flags around the courthouse Monday morning.
The flags are of the 50 nations competing in the World Cup shooting
competitions at Hill Country Shooting Sports Center.
Published May 02, 2006
Photo by
John Schmid |
“I think Kerrville, Texas, is going to be
tremendously excited (by this event.),”Dulohery said. “This is the first
time in 10 years a World Cup event has been in the U.S.”
USA Shooting’s Director of Operations Wanda Jewel said
this week’s event is the second of four this year. Many of the athletes
participated two weeks ago in China, she said. They also will travel to
Dubai and Germany later this year.
Hosting an international shooting event means meeting the
explicit international federation standards.
“The shooters will want the best conditions,” Jewel said.
Hill Country Shooting Sports Center will provide
challenges for some athletes who haven’t shot there before, Jewel said.
Among challenges will be the rugged terrain behind the skeet and trap
fields and the wind conditions gusting from the draws below the bunkers.
Two days of skeet competition are scheduled for Saturday
and Sunday, followed by the double trap competitions on Monday. Next
Wednesday and Thursday, the World Cup will conclude with the single trap
events.
Olympic training site
The U.S. Olympic Committee’s
decision to use Hill Country Shooting Sports Center for training will see
athletes in all shooting disciplines come to Kerrville for practice and
competition.
The concentration has been to
prepare the facility for the World Cup, according to HCSSC President Jack
Burch. New trap throwers have been installed for this event.
When it is concluded, work
will restart on the rifle and pistol ranges, which are needed for
competitions this fall and another World Cup match in 2007.
“The U.S. Olympic Committee
looks forward to expanding opportunities for athletes to participate in
Olympic and Paraolympic programs through this partnership with the Hill
Country Shooting Sports Center and USA Shooting,” said USOC Chief of Staff
Charlie Huebner in a written statement announcing the training facility
designation.
“This great facility will
provide an additional elite training environment that will positively
impact athlete performance.”
Burch said the formal
announcement of the center’s designation as an Olympic training site is a
significant development for Kerrville and for this range.
“Any time any facility has an
association with the U.S. Olympic Committee, it’s a significant thing,” he
said. “People around the world know what those rings mean.
And having (the facility)
centrally located in the United States makes it much easier for the
athletes to train.” |
