Waldorf shoots for a trapshooting team

By Tyler Lindsay

Waldorf University is on the brink of adding another sport to their arsenal of athletic opportunities.

Waldorf has been looking to add more sports to the university, first with the new addition of Esports, and now they are looking into other sports like trapshooting.

“Trapshooting is one of the largest growing sports in our region of Iowa and Minnesota, as well as one of the safest,” said Mike HeitKamp, VP of Residential Enrollment. “Minnesota and Iowa have large high school and community college trapshooting teams/leagues. We believe there is an unmet need for this at the collegiate level.”

As of now, Waldorf has yet to confirm a location for the team to be based. According to Heitkamp, if the university approves the sport, they would like to find a local shooting site to support the team.

Ventura Shooting Club has been scouted as a potential site, welcoming the idea and “providing great industry information that assisted us in writing our proposal,” according to Heitkamp.

He is hoping to have the proposal approved by the Board of Trustees prior to the end of this semester.

If Waldorf does choose to add this sport, there are students already wanting jump onboard, like Christopher May.

“If Waldorf could add a trap shooting team, it would be phenomenal,” May said. “Trap shooting has always been fun, then again firearms are fun for a guy from the hills; however, there would be understandable backlash as a devoted area would need to be established for this.”

There are some key factors that make trapshooting and other sports different.

“Most physical sports are a very ‘hurry up and wait’ game,” May said.

Many sports consist of a lot of starting and stopping, as well as critical thinking, but trapshooting does not involve these aspects.

“It is just patience, body and muscle control,” May said.

This does not mean trapshooting is necessarily easier, either.

“In terms of physical strain, it is solely about stability and the ability to factor how your body interacts with the outside world between you and your target,” May said.