Shooting Sporting Clays Competitively vs Recreationally – How To Get Started Shooting in Registered Tournaments
You’ve found it! Sporting Clays. The sport you want to invest time, effort and money into. You’ve been taking lessons, practicing a lot and now it’s time to look towards the future and let that competitive itch inside you take over and start shooting in registered tournaments.
But how do you get started?
Step 1: You have to be a member of the NSCA (National Sporting Clays Association) and have an NSCA member number. The annual fee to become a member is nominal and you simply apply on line. There’s a section that requires you to identify the class you typically shoot in and all new U.S. Sporting Clay members are placed in D class to start. After shooting 300 targets in the current shoot year, you may call and request a class review for reclassification to E class. Read on how to move up from your current class to a higher-class ranking.
Step 2: Create an account on Score Chaser. This site is where your tournament scores will be posted, it shows local, regional and national tournaments and it sends announcements out regarding upcoming tournaments you might be interested in attending.
Step 3: Go to or call your local Sporting Clays courses and get on their email list. Also, if you like to travel, look up courses in other areas and get on their mailing lists as well. This way you receive notifications about upcoming tournaments.
Step 4: Register for your first tournament in Score Chaser. Pro Tip: you must shoot in a squad of 3 or more. So, you either invite people you know to be on your squad through Score Chaser when you register, or you can come back and invite people at a later time, or you will be squadded with other shooters by the course manager prior to the event. Pro Tip: If you don’t have a squad, it’s always good to arrive early and let the course manager know you need to be squadded.
You sign up for either the Main Event or the Fun Shoot. The difference being the Fun Shoot targets are a bit softer than the Main Event targets and, wherever possible, they are on different courses. In most cases, the Fun Shoot is a bit less expensive than the Main Event. But, in both cases, your scores are registered and count in Score Chaser. You might want to experience your first couple of tournaments by shooting the Fun Shoot to understand how they operate, what it feels like to shoot competitively vs recreationally (there is a BIG difference) and how the tournament process works.
Final Pro Tip: Upon registration and getting your NSCA membership you will receive the NSCA Rule Book or you can download it here. Review it and familiarize yourself with everything that’s in it. The information will help you understand how the system works and what’s expected of you as you become competitive in Sporting Clays
Good luck and see you on the course!