Junior Air Pistol

2008 USA Shooting Progressive Air Pistol National Champions - The Arlington International Airgun Club "AIAC Juniors" from Arlington Heights, IL. Team members (l to r): Luke Mattox, Lorraine Maligaya,James Stack, and Coach Don Weber. (AIAC Photo)

Read about it AIAC Juniors Dominate the 2008 USA Shooting Progressive Air Pistol Championship

Building upon the success of the club’s Junior Olympic air rifle team, AIAC began developing a junior air pistol program in 2004. With the help of The NRA Foundation, AIAC was able to purchase state-of-the-art Olympic-quality air pistolsfor the entire team.

With support from Christian Liberty Academy, the club also began building a new air pistol range exclusively for its junior air pistol team. It was also at that time that all three major U.S. competitive shooting sanctioning bodies - the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), the National Rifle Association (NRA), and USA Shooting (U.S. Olympic shooting governing body) - began jointly developing a national air pistol shooting discipline for younger boys and girls. Progressive Position Pistol (PPP) allows younger air pistol shooters to use a supported or 2-handed position as they develop their skills and strength toward an Olympic-style 1-handed position.

One of the AIAC Juniors' Olympic-quality Steyr air pistols

To date, the AIAC Juniors air pistol program has produced PPP state champions in 2005 and 2007, state champions and national silver medalists in 2006, and most recently state and National Champions in 2008. Other recent accomplishments include the appointment of one of our junior air pistol team members to the U.S. National Development Team – the first step towards the U.S. National and U.S. Olympic Shooting Teams.

AIAC students have competed at national championship events in Bloomington, IL, Bowling Green, KY, Des Moines, IA, Anniston, AL, and at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

An AIAC Juniors team member at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO Members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) pose with the AIAC Juniors during a visit to the club

The club has been fortunate to have top International and Olympic competitors coach our students as well. Former Olympic air pistol competitor Michael Douglass and members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), among others, have come to our facility to help advance the skills of our junior shooters. Olympian Michael Douglass (r) coaches 2008 USA Shooting Progressive Air Pistol National Champion James Stack The AIAC Juniors welcomes all boys and girls, ages 12 and up, interested in learning advanced marksmanship skills to join the team! You provide the dedication and determination – AIAC will provide the tools and training to get you to the top!

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