Traditional athletics aren’t the only way to be part of a team in high school or college anymore.

Grand View University Shooting Team Head Coach Charlie Mundy lives in Rippey, but enjoys his time coaching at the college very much. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that he previously helped set up the first collegiate shooting team program at Southwest Iowa Community College, and then helped set one up at Grand View University in 2016.

“It was the first four year college to have a team. There’s been a few that have club sports, and so we considered a varsity team at Grand View (University), which is no different than the football team or anything. So we offer scholarships and we pay for anything that is involved around the team. So, like some of the other colleges that have clubs, that usually means that (is) student ran and student paid for. So we have a varsity sport at Grand View.”

Mundy mentions that since the start of the program, the team has won four national titles, had several individuals win national titles, and have even had some Olympic scouts check the team out. He says he likes to recruit by holding shooting clinics, so he can interact with the teams, clubs and students. Mundy adds that when he’s looking for team members, the first thing he looks at is academics, because there’s no team without the student. He advises that since the team is a collegiate varsity team, their members are held to the same academic standards as the other teams, meaning that they have to do well in classes in order to participate.

A high school in the area is also starting up its own shooting sports team at Panorama High School.