Hello Mason-Dixon Athletes, we would like to welcome everyone to what will be a fun and exciting year!!! Listed below is some important information you will need to know.
Team Meeting:
We are less than a month away from our kick off Team Meeting on March 16th. This meeting is mandatory for all members and parents. We will be presenting important program information along with volunteer needs and our competition schedule.
Parent participation required:
This is not intended to be a drop off program. A parent or responsible adult is required to be present for any member under 18. If you have an occasion where you have something you must do, it is your responsibility to make arrangements for another parent/adult to take responsibility for your child.
Email and Website:
As I hope you can appreciate, communicating with a group this size is not easy so making phone calls to relay information is just not possible. All of our information will be sent to you via email. Please read what you get and reply as soon as possible when asked. Our website contains lots of valuable information including copies of most of the emails that are sent out. It also contains an up-to-date schedule of events. This will be your go to place for event dates, times, and locations.
Cancellation due to weather:
We rarely cancel due to weather, but when we do it is a last minute decision. The past few years we have been using a service that goes by the name Remind to send out important notifications and last minute communications to our members. Remind is a free, safe, easy-to-use communication tool that helps us connect instantly with participants and parents. To receive messages via text, text @mdcb to (412) 927-1441. Or to receive messages via email, send an email to mdcb@mail.remind.com.
Use of personal firearms:
If you own a Firearm that you would like to use (pending safety inspection) you are welcome to bring it along. If you need a loaner gun please contact us at coach@masondixonclaybusters.com and make arrangements.
Ammunition:
Those in the shotgun disciplines it is your responsibility to bring two or three boxes of ammo with you to every practice. That said we have some ammo we will be handing out. Unfortunately most of the 12 gauge shotgun ammo we have is some pretty high power stuff (1 1/8 oz. #8 shot). If you are a new shooter or sensitive to recoil you may want to make sure you bring along something a little lighter such as 1 oz loads. We recommend the following:
- Trap & Sporting Clays
- 12 gauge
- #8 shot
- #7.5 shot
- 20 gauge
- #8 shot
- #7.5 shot
- Skeet
- 12 gauge
- #9 shot
- #8 shot
- 20 gauge
- 7/8oz. #9 shot
- 7/8oz. #8 shot
- 12 gauge
- 12 gauge
Those in the pistol discipline, your ammo will be provided. However, if you have your own firearm and it is a little finicky with its ammo you may want to bring what works for your gun.
If you have questions about ammo please ask your coaches.
Clothing & Safety Equipment:
Make sure you wear comfortable clothing that is appropriate for outside weather. In cooler weather layers work best. Jeans, shorts, sweatshirts, tee shirts are all fine. Shotgun shooters avoid wearing hoodies or bulky jackets with big collars as they tend to bunch up around the shoulders making proper gun mount difficult. Make sure you wear sturdy closed toe shoes. Sandals or open toe shoes will NOT be permitted on the firing line. Although not required, I highly encourage everyone to wear a hat.
Eye and ear protection must be worn by ALL STUDENTS while live fire is in progress. If you have eye and ear protection, please bring it with you. Spectators are also encouraged to use eye and ear protection.
Help Needed:
Support from our parents is the backbone of this program. We will be forming committees so that the burden of these jobs will not fall on any one person. Many hands make light work. Please consider where you can pitch in and come to the team meeting in March prepared to sign up. If prior to the meeting you have any questions or need additional details just let me know.
- Photo Committee
- Group of a few people from each of our disciplines that will take photos of team events and share them with the group. Looking for people with a nicer camera but I’ll take people with a nice cell phone camera.
- Travel Committee
- Group that will help plan away trips…hotels, food, drinks, activities, etc.
- Fundraising/Boosters Committee
- Group to develop and organize a fundraiser and will help me petition businesses for donations.
- Trap Practice Food
- A couple people that would prepare something very simple like hotdogs and chips at our Trap practices. This supports our shooters, families, and coaches on busy weeknights.
- Pullers and Scores
- Group that learns how to correctly score and runs the scoring at our practices.
- Trap
- Sporting
- Skeet
- Pistol
- Trap House Helpers
- Adult volunteers that keep the trap houses full
- Group that learns how to correctly score and runs the scoring at our practices.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask.
