By Chance Cover, CMP Junior Rifle Camp Director
As many learned earlier this year, the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) 2020 Junior Rifle Camps were cancelled due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Because of the complexity of rescheduling across the country throughout several venues, as well as the uncertainty the virus still presents, we are unable to reschedule the camps for another date within this year.
However, in an attempt to keep junior athletes sharp on their skills and to continue their marksmanship growth, we have designed and implemented a curriculum to allow juniors to continue training during the summer months – and this time, they’ll be able to do it from home.
Our new Online Rifle Camp curriculum, set to go live June through August, will serve as a temporary replacement for the camps (temporary, as we recognize there is no substitute for receiving hands-on coaching). At the CMP, it is our intention to always remain constructive by presenting alternative methods for athletes and coaches to stay actively engaged during times that we cannot offer traditional hands-on training.
Throughout the span of 10 weeks, the online camp will cover similar topics to what the CMP’s prestigious camps have offered in the past. Through a focus on the entire process of taking a shot, students will learn:
- how to set-up and troubleshoot positions;
- how to abstract and fine-tune shot process;
- how to recognize emotions and build a toolset to help control them;
- training and competition strategies;
- and much more.
Likewise, coaches and parents will have a full curriculum this summer through our coach’s course that mirrors the athlete educational topics. Coaches will learn how to set up athletes in position, how to recognize what is going on within positions or downrange and will even be educated on motivation and team building.
On top of the regular course, camp director Chance Cover will be hosting a weekly Zoom webinar, open to all participants in the athlete or coaching curriculums. The webinar will be used to address comments or questions that were presented in the given week’s lesson and will allow different perspectives to be shared. Comments and questions can be submitted through email and may either be presented in the framework of the lesson or discussed during the Zoom meeting, depending on the number of inquiries and time allowance.
Guest coaches, educators and athletes may also make appearances in the weekly topics and Zoom webinars throughout the curriculum to provide other insights into topics and to add positive input into the curriculum itself.
Only a small fee of $10 per participant is needed to attend the course. Registration will open on June 1, 2020, and topics will go live every Monday from June 8 through August 11, with the weekly Zoom webinar every Friday from June 12 through August 15.
If you are interested in the CMP’s online camps, please go to https://ct.thecmp.org/3POnlineCamps to register.
If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact Chance Cover at ccover@thecmp.org or (419) 635-2141, ext. 603.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.
