The 2021-2022 school year is the first time Marlboro Academy has had a sporting clays team. On Saturday, March 26, the team attended an event with other South Carolina Youth Shooting Foundation (SCYSF) members at Moree’s Sportsman’s Preserve in Cheraw. The team is split into smaller groups at these events to participate against other shooters with similar skill levels.

According to Paul Yarbrough, the team’s head coach, each season there are four regular-season events and one state championship. At these events, shooters cycle through stations, each with new target sets of various difficulty. Each event has the shooters complete a round of one hundred targets, the higher the final score, the better. “We promote a safe environment that instills discipline, commitment, focus, respect, and teamwork,” Yarbrough explained. He went on to say, “This sport teaches our youth the importance of preserving our Second Amendment right and allows them to have fun while competing.”

Coach Paul Yarbrough recognized Meredith Standridge after everyone finished Saturday’s event. Currently, she is enrolled in the Substation and Relay Technician Program at Richmond Community College. After graduation, Standridge plans to transfer to East Carolina University and major in Engineering.