stood I was shooting at paper targets. After acquiring the authorization from the universi- ties lawyers, I was informed that the club I had just started had an annual budget. This budget is maintained by the student body and used for club team travel or supplies when a team wants to compete with another university. With a simple proposal of my plans of competing at the national level to the student body representatives, they deemed it neces- sary to provide some funding to help with costs. I went to the NRA Collegiate Nationals that year and returned the National Champion. My school was supportive because they are not commonly represented at a national level. When I left the university, the club was headed in a very positive direction. Had I remained a student there and helped my professor build the program, I would only hope that the school would be offering scholarships by now. The local student body is not the only av- enue to receive funding. The Friends of the NRA provides many grants to help shooting clubs and organizations develop as does the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Also, Midway USA has an endowment pro- gram that is another great option. Other av- enues include help from local shooting clubs in your area and your state shooting associa- tion. Keep in mind that the support from your local areas may be minimal due to their own funding.
Collegiate shooting has been a great
learning experience and I have made a lot of friends along the way. You can have a similar experience given you have the motivation and charisma to take advantage of what is gleam- ing just below the surface. I scratched that surface at Montana Tech of the University of Montana and moved forward with that gleam to attend Ohio State University on scholarship
(Left) Mowrer and teammate Daryl Szarenski represent Team USA in the 2011 Pan American Games. (Above) Mowrer’s impressive collegiate career helped him on his Olympic path. (Below) Mowrer and actor R. Lee Ermey at the National Championships in Camp Perry.
in pistol shooting where I attended classes and was a member of the shooting team for one semester. Another opportunity arose from there to
move out to Colorado as a resident athlete living and training at the United States Olym- pic Training Center. I fi nished my collegiate shooting career bringing back a total of four Intercollegiate National Pistol Championships (three while attending Pikes Peak Commu-
nity College (PPCC) in Colorado). The sum- mer after graduating from PPCC, I went on to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in Men’s 50m Free Pistol—the very same sport I excelled at in college. I would have never been able to do any of this had it not started at the collegiate club level. Go out and start your club and become the shooter you dream to be!