The Elmwood/Plum City trap shooting team is entering the fall season with high expectations, as the team has a strong history and the willingness to improve.

EPC has 15 student-athletes on the team, and their first event was Sept. 15. The squad has a pair of senior leaders, Cadie Asher and Cole Christman. The rest of the team is a range from sixth graders to juniors in high school.

The fall season is shorter than the spring season, with five weeks of competition and one week of a reserve score in case of weather preventing scoring during one of the weeks. There are also fewer teams that participate during the fall.

Western Wisconsin teams often represent the region well on both the state and national levels, and EPC takes pride in that. The team has been a top performer on both the individual and team levels.

“We’ve always represented very well,” Coach Rod Webb said. “We date back to the start of the league for Wisconsin. Elmwood was one of the first teams to sign up and form a team in the state, and then Plum City joined us through the athletic co-op a few years later.”

Webb said in order to be one of the best, it takes a level of focus and to maintain it for the entirety of the round.

“I compare it to having to shoot 25 free throws in a basketball game consecutively,” Webb said. “You have to focus on doing the same exact thing 25 times, and that is a very big challenge.”

To hone in that focus, it takes a willingness to put in the time and perfect the craft.

“Like a lot of sports, the best way to get better at it is to do that sport as many times as possible and be a student of the game,” Webb said. “Learning how the mechanics of your gun and your body are working together and then getting to trust that your eyes know when they're focused on the target.”

Newcomers to the sport often do not find their way instantly, but when they do, Webb said he can see them begin to love it.

“You can see when all of the sudden they start figuring out the game,” Webb said. “You start to see them smiling a lot, really enjoying the sport, but it does take some time.”

Webb said what makes the sport special is that while some sports require physical talent in addition to the hard work, trap shooting can be done by anyone.

“It’s kind of the great equalizer,” Webb said. “Anybody can do it.”

Webb said it is also not something that ends after high school, as trap shooting can become a hobby for adults as well.

Webb thanked the Elmwood Rod and Gun Club, saying the team would not exist without them. Webb also thanked volunteers Jarrod Luther, Kyle DeLong, Nick Webb and Steve Galoff for their help with the team.