On Aug. 8, the Air Riflery team shot off again into their Sporter Season. Their training grounds, once tables for lunch, now a shooting range, from 3:30PM-7:00PM. The team members, old and new, practice hard to compete against other schools. Through the assistance of the coaches, each member trains to hold their part on the team.

A mixture of members, new and old, have a set routine for practicing their positions: standing, holding the rifle against your arm while standing; kneeling, holding the rifle with your arm on your knee with a mat, sling, and kneeling roll for stability; prone, laying down and holding your rifle with a sling for stability.

“Set up is the first thing we do when we get there. We have to put away tables first, of course, and sweep away all the mess from school. Then we start to set up the fans, backboards, and all that stuff. Then, we do equipment,” said Kari Ann Lee. A second year shooter on the girls’ team.

The preparation for the first relay is quite normal. However it sometimes is quite the pain when lunch has just rolled by. Leading to physical setup not being the only setup the member needs.

“Keeping a good mentality is extremely difficult,” third-year member Shea Yuen said.

When in a position, which can cut blood circulation off to your legs for a while, a dedicated shooter should always be prepared. However not all preparations go accordingly.

“One of the multiple problems we have is our schedule. It changes a lot, and we don't really know what we're doing sometimes,” first year member Reyn Sueyoshi said.

As many problems there can be during practices, matches give a different mentality.

“Some problems are food spills and the mess that comes with lunch. It is annoying to have to wipe it up when it shouldn’t be there at all. Other problems are when our daily plan isn’t updated, and we end up having to adjust the whole range setup for it,” Lee said.

Schedules are sent out very early, and be expected to clean, and prepare yourself for a bit of a headache, especially during shooting.

“During a match I always have a checklist that helps me stay positive and recover from bad shots. For example I have a lot of ‘I will statements’ like ‘You will trust yourself,’ and ‘You will relax your body,’” second year shooter Megan Goo said.

Sometimes, it may just be you clearing your mind, and set-up, but once in a while there will be an occasional slip up in the day.

“When people don't help set up, it takes us longer to set up, and then we have less time to shoot, or we just get out late,” said Ethan Ho, a second year shooter on the boys team.

For people who are intrigued into this sport, there are some thoughts upon what to expect from trying out.

“When actually shooting, we don’t move much. Instead, we focus on being as still as possible. Which may stand out a lot compared to other sports,” says Kari Ann Lee.

Not every sport is about running or movement. This one focuses on stability with a firearm.

“Honestly, I think it's the part where it has just such a different competition that it takes a long time and mostly the part of using rifles. It’s not really a known thing that someone would use a rifle that uses air and pellets to use as a competition method,” Sueyoshi said.

Tryouts without much experience may seem confident. However taking it from a long time shooter, it will take some time.

“New members will sort of have troubles with the positions, and I feel like for a lot of people that sort of disheartens them,” Sheldon Nakamura said.

It’s not as easy for somebody new, or even old, to continue the grasp of this train of a sport, as if you try just for fun, it’ll be different.

“Some people may think air riflery is easy. It is, generally. But to be good? It isn’t. You’ll need practice, time, and effort,” Lee said.

This sport isn’t for everyone, but there is always support from the team.

“Personally, I feel like we've had a good sense of community with everyone being supportive of each other,” said Ho.

Even if some things don’t work out, people are always improving and moving forward, which makes this sport a valuable part of the high school athletics program.

“It's not about your score, it's more about showing up every day, going through your routine, and just trying your best in practice, and have some fun with your friends,” Sueyoshi said.