The undefeated Ware County Gators are visiting Brunswick High School on the Pirates’ home turf. It is a heated match; both teams are already heading for the state playoffs, but this one is for the area championship. But instead of thousands of screaming fans, there are but a handful of parents and supporters, and the room is silent, except for the occasional “pop” from one of the rifles being fired or instructions called out by the Range Officer.
This is not football or basketball: This is riflery, a GHSA-sanctioned sport and one of the fastest growing in the country. It is so competitive that scores are determined by a sixteenth of an inch.
“Air rifle shooters come in all shapes and sizes because it’s a sport that emphasizes mental strength over physical prowess,” said Glynn Academy Senior Marine Corps Junior ROTC Instructor Col. Jeffrey Holder, who is also the Red Terrors’ Rifle Team coach.
Similar to shooting events held in the Olympics, it involves teams shooting at targets in competition against one another. The shooting is so precise, matches are often decided by only a few points. It is an even playing field, with males and females competing against one another. The rifles shoot a .177 caliber pellet propelled by compressed air. The 4.5mm pellet is smaller than a .22 caliber bullet and has to hit a target from 10 meters (32.8 feet) with an area about the size of a quarter and a ten-point bullseye that measures only 0.5 mm.
Each shooter fires from three positions: prone, standing, and kneeling. They fire 10 record shots from each position for a maximum score of 300 points per shooter. Only the highest four individual scores are taken, so a team can score a maximum of 1,200 points.
“Target shooting requires its athletes to develop fine motor control skills and mental discipline, and it demands strict adherence to safety rules,” Col. Holder said.
Air rifle is practiced as a sport in more than 140 countries and at more than 100 high schools in Georgia. Twelve teams compete in riflery in Southeast Georgia’s Area Three: Beach High, Benedictine Military School, Bradwell Institute, Brunswick High, Glynn Academy, Groves High, Saint Vincent’s Academy, Savannah High, Southeast Bulloch High, Statesboro High, Ware County High, and Windsor Forest High. Many varsity programs started as extensions of their respective school’s JROTC riflery programs. Now, schools find that other members of the student body are interested in shooting competitively.
Participants may wear specially-designed shooting clothing including padded pants, jackets, shoes, and gloves. The outerwear is to take everything out of the equation – breathing, muscle support, and padding on the knees and elbows – leaving nothing more for the shooter to concentrate on but the accuracy of his shot.
“I try to slow down my heart rate and my breathing,” said Ware County High School sophomore shooter Kimberlee Nettles. “Just doing whatever I can to make it a ten.”
The rifles are German-made with brands like Anschutz, Feinwerkbau, and Walther precision match rifles. These are highly accurate and very expensive. Over the years, schools have managed to acquire these rifles and other equipment to provide to their team members. Precision air rifles can be adjusted in many ways, including sights, stocks, butt plates, triggers, and cheek pieces.
One of the preeminent programs in the state is Maurice England’s Ware County Gators rifle team, which boasts the top high school shooting range in the state. Unlike other shooting ranges, which use paper targets, the Ware County facility is completely electronic, with instant scoring shown on a large video screen.
“When the last shot is fired you know exactly what the score is,” Coach England said. 
Involved with competitive shooting for 38 years, England is the patriarch of shooting in Southeast Georgia, having won several state and national championships and three straight undefeated regular seasons. He has been inducted into Sports Hall of Fame and received the Golden Deeds Award, Ware County High Coach of the Year (in 1997), and he was picked to coach the National Rifle Association’s Georgia team in a nationwide competition. Coach England has also had 26 students receive college scholarships for shooting.
Riflery requires constant learning, refinement, and improvement. The very best all seem to regard themselves as students of the game and are in constant ”learning” mode to improve and refine their knowledge and skills. Riflery is also considered one of the safest sports, because firearm and range safety are constantly stressed.
“There has never been an accident in high school riflery in the state of Georgia…Knock on wood,” Coach England said.
Rifles must be pointed down range at all times, even in their cases, and Clear Barrel Indicators, synthetic monofilament cords in fluorescent colors, are inserted into the rifle barrel; it sticks out of the end of the barrel and the open bolt, so that anyone can see the rifle is not loaded.
The paper targets for today’s match must be scanned into a computer, which then determines scores. Lt. Commander Robert Spencer, head of the Naval JROTC at Brunswick High, moderates the match as Range Officer, calling out safety orders and time limits for each shooting position. After two relays of shooters and more than two hours of shooting, Ware County emerges victorious, 1151-1125, to finish the regular season undefeated for the third straight year. Nettles led all shooters with a score of 292, and Coach England notched his 501st victory as a rifle coach.
Now, the top six teams in Area Three, including Brunswick, Ware County, and Glynn Academy, will compete in the State Area Sectionals against teams from Area Eight on March 14th. But it is April 4 they are working toward. That is when the GHSA State Shooting Championships are held at the Pool International Shooting Complex at Ft. Benning outside Columbus.
SE-SF-0315-Riflery
Southeast – Special Feature
High School Rifle Teams
By Rob Asbell
High School Riflery: Accurate To Within A Fraction Of An Inch
