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How to Start a Team

Thank you for your interest in USA Youth Education in Shooting Sports (USAYESS). USAYESS wants to help teams or clubs successfully start a program in their school or community and start enjoying the safest and fastest-growing youth (12th grade and below) sport in the nation. Following is a road map explaining how to start a team.

What if the school denies the program! Don’t worry, you can still form a team on your own following the above steps except for the school items. For FFA and 4-H programs, it is highly recommended that teams implement a separate account, considering that the funds are only used for the team’s marksmanship program.

No 501 c (3) nonprofit is needed to start a team or receive funding from MidwayUSA Foundation or USAYESS.

So, what do you think? Come on, take the first step to becoming a part of the fastest growing grade school sports in the country.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact USAYESS at any time.

Definition of a Team

  • Must be a well-organized and reputable educational (training) organization for primarily grade school age youth (athletes).
  • The team must have a competent and responsible insured coach, instructor, or adult leader.
  • Must always have two or more active athletes.
  • There must be intent and effort towards sustainability. The team is expected to grow and/or remain active into the foreseeable future through a perpetual cycle of youth shooters and adult volunteers.

Thank you for your support!

Your generous donation will help with scholarship funding, teach youth firearm safety, competitive shooting skills, wildlife conservation, and life skills. 

  1. Write down the team’s goals and implement a plan. The plan should include who will be the team’s president, secretary, treasurer, and historian (photographer/marketing/website).
  2. Meet with the parents to seek their approval, and support.
  3. Implement a marketing plan; social media, promote through your state's website should your state have a state website. To check is your state does have a USAYESS supported website simply type in your state's abbreviation allowed by YESS.org. (AKYESS.org, TNYESS.org)
  4. Find a head coach.
    1. The coach must be an adult at least 21 years of age b. The coach may be a parent, friend, gun club member, Hunter Ed instructor, or school staff.
  5. Seek a local gun club.
    1. You can find gun clubs by going to; www.claytargetsonline.com
    2. Meet with the gun club’s board and ask if they would allow your team to:
      1. Practice at their facility
      2. Host events
      3. What the cost will be per round. A round is 25 targets in Skeet Sporting Clays, 5- Stand and Trap.
  6. Next, set up a meeting with the athletes, parents and your school’s Athletic Director.
    1. Let the school know that it will not cost the school anything and the clay target sports are amongst the safest in the country.
    2. No school staff is required. Team members are self-insured when joining USAYESS and may start a FREE MidwayUSA endowment account at the MidwayUSA Foundation (www.midwayusafoundation.org) These accounts allow teams to become self-sufficient ensures longevity.
    3. The team will have the nation’s best youth sports insurance by registering with USAYESS and its own endowment account (funding) through the MidwayUSA Foundation.
  7. Host an informational meeting with the new team.
    1. Talk about the benefits of the program.
    2. Explain costs – usually about $250 for a ten week league (season). Shells are about $6 and a round of skeet or tap is about $6.
    3. The cost includes joining USA Youth Education in Shooting Sports (USAYESS)
    4.  By individually joining USAYESS each team member is insured. Each team member (Head Coach, Volunteer & Athlete) joins individually.
    5. All Adults go through a yearly Back Ground Check which is included in the registration fee.
    6. USAYESS can also activate a Team Endowment Account at MidwayUSA Foundation. www.midwayusafoundation.org v. USAYESS partners with the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), which runs the nation's collegiate clay target program. www.acui.org/claytargets
    7. The clay target club will not interfere with other school sports/activities
    8. Anyone can join the club; boy or girl regardless of skill level
    9. There is no benching; everyone participates equally
    10. To be a legal competitive squad, a team must have at least five athletes in the same division. Five athletes from different divisions are considered a ‘Mixed Squad’, and do not qualify for Squad Awards.
    11. There is no limit to the number of athletes or squads a team may field.
    12. Athletes can compete as individuals, squads, and team.  There are five divisions:
      1. Novice: 6th grade and below (depending on maturity)
      2. Intermediate: 7th - 8th grade
      3. Junior Varsity: 9th grade or first time shooting in high school.
      4. Senior: 10th - 12th grade
      5. College-Trade School
    13. Next set up practice dates and an event schedule.
    14. Post practices, events and news on the website and any other social media.
  8. Okay, assuming you are going to move forward with or without the school’s approval. You will need
    1. A team checking account.
    2. The account must be in the team’s name and have an EIN number. The EIN number is free. The reason for this EIN number is so that the head coach or whomever sets up the account does not need to worry about personal taxes at this account. The only reason they ask for personal information is so that they verify legal citizen ship. So, go to: http: www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-SelfEmployed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online.
    3. You may also need a set of Articles and By-Laws for the team. These can be down loaded off of the USAYESS website.
    4. Final step is to register your team with the state's Secretary of State as a non-profit corporation. This might cost anywhere for $25 to $250. Most states charge $25-$30. This is all handled on line and only takes a few minutes. Again, you don't need to do this right away. But you will need to if you're going to open a bank account or will be seeking donations.