SPARTA, Illinois—Dason Harman of Elk City, OK has been selected to the 2024 Sub-Junior (under the age of 15) All-American trapshooting second team, according to the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA), which determines the teams. The ATA is celebrating 125 years in 2024. Trapshooting is a competitive sport of shooting at clay targets with a shotgun.
The ATA hosts both the Grand American (the 11-day world tournament which in August drew nearly 3,000 contestants to the World Shooting & Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill.) and a series of “satellite” Grands (smaller, regional tournaments providing Grand American-style trophies and competition). The association also sponsors five zone shoots.
To be considered for the All-American team, Harman had to meet a minimum target requirement, and he had to have competed in at least three states. Selection was made based on All-American points accumulated while winning trophies and posting high scores at tournaments throughout the country during the 2023 ATA target year.
Harman won a handicap sub-junior award at the Southwestern Grand in Kansas. He won four category awards at the Southwestern Zone tournament including highall- around and high-over-all. At his state shoot he racked up three sub-junior trophies: one in handicap and two in doubles.
Further demonstrating his talent for trapshooting, Harman also earned trophies at the Colorado, Utah, Iowa and Texas state shoots which accumulated points toward making the team.
Harman is active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a member of the Carter First Baptist Church, Merritt FFA and Merrit Livestock Judging team. A ninth-grade student at Merritt High School, he participates in baseball and track. He enjoys everything outdoors including hunting, fishing and being with family.
Established in 1923, the ATA promotes and governs the sport of trapshooting, primarily in the United States and Canada. In the 2023 target year more than 30,000 members participated in the sport, competing in one or more of the 6,000-plus sanctioned tournaments (shoots registered by the ATA organization) on the local, regional, state, zone and world championship levels.
Trapshooters fire at clay targets (approximately 4-1/4 inches in diameter and 1-1/8 inch in height) launched at varying angles. In singles events, all entrants stand at the 16-yard line and fire at one target at a time; in handicap, participants are assigned a yardage from 19 to 27 yards (according to averages and known ability) and fire at one target at a time; in doubles, two targets are released at the same time and each contestant, standing at the 16-yard line, is allowed one shot for each.
Trapshooting celebrities have included Annie Oakley, John Philip Sousa and Roy Rogers. The sport’s stats and records are chronicled and maintained by Trap & Field, the official magazine of the ATA.
If you are interested in trying trapshooting, please call the ATA at 618-449-2224 or visit the association’s website www.shootata. com to find a local club near you. The ATA was headquartered in Vandalia, Ohio, for more than 80 years and in 2012 relocated offices to Sparta, Ill.
