The sport of shooting isn't offered on most college campuses with a certified shooting center and MSU's Shooting Sports Club benefits from the facility.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - There are very few college campuses that have the luxury of a USA Shooting Certified Training Center. Michigan State’s Demmer Center is one of just 22 certified training centers across the country, and students have taken advantage of the facility.
The MSU Shooting Sports Club, around since 2013, is involved in rifle, shotgun, and pistol shooting at the Demmer Center.
Junior Chris Canu, is the captain of the rifle team and the shooting club’s president as well. He appreciates all of the competition that comes with the sport.
“We do Olympic style precision shooting,” said Canu. “We compete at a national level with universities such as U of M and GVSU and we compete down at national’s in March.”
Since it is a club sport, members of shooting team pay membership fees and reach out to other schools to set up meets. The dues for new members is $125, which includes a free t-shirt, and $100 for returning members. There are 40 total members in the club across all three disciplines.
“So once those team dues are paid, you have free access to the Demmer Center,” Canu said. “You can go in and practice whenever you want.”
The Demmer Center has been the home of the MSU Shooting Club since the student group’s inception.
Jim Steward, the head rifle coach, said the center’s amenities help the club.
“It’s a beautiful facility,” said Stewart. “They have a very safe, very clean range. It’s most enjoyable, they have a very nice setup.”
For club sports, it is not always easy to be able to compete right away, especially within six years of the formation of a team.
However, the MSU Shooting Club has enjoyed some recent success. The club finished eighth in small bore and ninth in air rifle at the 2018 nationals.
Competition success is nice, but Canu said the goal of the team is much more fundamental: enjoy the sport of shooting with friends.
“If we want to compete at a higher level we probably could, but that’s not how this team was built,” said Canu. “(The club) was built more for doing what we enjoy. We go in and have fun.”
That fun is also what drives students to go out and work hard to master their craft.
“I think the biggest reason we try to improve our skill is to prove to ourselves that we can always get better,” said Canu. “The only way to get better is to challenge yourself to be the best that you can be.”
The team practices every Sunday night, but the Demmer Center is always available to members of the team.
“It’s an open team with no cuts,” said Stewart. “We try to coach each individual to what they need the most attention on.”
Despite the opportunities the club presents, they are still actively recruiting even more members to join their team.
“We are kind of the best-kept secret around,” said Stewart. “It would be nice to have more student participation.”
Everything that goes into the MSU Shooting Club is no different than varsity sports. There are practices that focus on getting better, an enjoyment that comes out of the work the athletes put into it and a lot of growth outside of the sport as well.
“I’ve seen lots of interpersonal growths in both shooting and other areas,” said Stewart. “I mean it’s neat to watch the student-athletes grow as people and not just get better as shooters, but get better as people.”