Rio Community School District
411 Church Street, Rio, WI 53960 - (920) 992-3141
Athletic Director - Mr. Jared Napralla
Trap Shooting
Rio/Pardeeville Trap Shooting
Every student 7th through 12th grade must have hunter safety, be in good academic standing, and register online prior to the state deadline. We operate under the guidance of the Wisconsin State High School Trap League (www.wiclaytarget.com) and are in a co-op with Pardeeville.
For more information please contact:
Head Coach Chad Volkmann
New team members and their families are required to attend a pre-season meeting to go over expectations, paperwork, and questions prior to starting of practice. We can often provide assistance with partial or full scholarships to cover registration, safety gear, and ammo costs. Costs are estimated to be $200 per season, but some equipment will be used multiple times. The team also has several shotguns available for new shooters to try or borrow if they don't own one.
There are 2 separate seasons each year, Spring & Fall, each lasting roughly 8 weeks. During the season each team member is expected to attend a minimum of 1 time per week and be at the range of about 90 minutes. More practice time is encouraged. High school students may be recognized with Varsity Letters in each season if they meet the criteria.
The Rio-Pardeeville Trap Shooting team once again had one of the largest teams in the area. Spring 2024 included 37 students with 5 being new to the team. 11 shooters had an average high enough to earn a Varsity Letter. The weather is always challenging and the rain was relentless. Standing in the pouring rain with gusty winds is not for everyone, but this team hangs tough. At the end of the season, we have a huge banquet for team members & their families to celebrate. Team awards went to Tyler Becker (Top-Shot), Isaac Buchholz (1st place), Autumn McDonald (2nd place) & Collin Tollard (3rd place). Each season a student is chosen for the Sportsmanship Award by a vote of their peers. In spring 2024, senior Autumn McDonald was chosen for this. All members receive a certificate and may join the state tournament team. On June 9, 27 shooters went to Rome, WI to join several hundred 7-12th grade shooters in the state tournament. Here 26 team members shot their season-best score! The team won 1st place in the Novice Shooter category and the JV team won 3rd place. Further category wins included 5 in the male Novice top 20, a tie for 2nd place in JV, and 1 in the top 25 male Varsity. We also had a 1st place win under female JV. Per our team handbook, students may earn a Varsity Letter by shooting a qualifying average at the tournament. Happily, 6 more shooters earned that Letter. All families and students who attended were blessed with a (mostly) dry day, cookout, and fabulous shooting experience.
The Rio-Pardeeville team is open to students at those schools in 7th-12th grade who are in good academic standing and have completed hunter safety. There will be a local hunter safety course at the Portage Rod & Gun Club on August 6-20th. Space is limited and it will fill quickly. Please go directly to GoWild Wi for details and registration.
https://gowild.wi.gov/customers/safetyedclass (search by ‘Hunter’ and ‘Columbia’ to find the class)
Anyone interested in joining the team should reach out to Chad Volkmann to be put on the list for fall orientation. rptrapteam@gmail.com
Signing up at school does not make you a member of the team due to the requirements of the WI Clay Target League.
