NSSA - National Skeet Shooting Association
The National Skeet Shooting Association is the world's largest organization dedicated to the sport of Skeet Shooting.
Whether you missed the World Skeet Championships this year and want to get a peek at the action, or you were there and are hoping to relive the memories, please enjoy this selection of photos from the 2021 World Shoot.
Click on a photo to enlarge.
Photos by Lefty Ray Chapa and Josh Poole
The NSSA congratulates Houston Deshotels, who won both HOA and HAA at the 2021 World Skeet Championships, held October 4-8 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
Deshotels was perfect going into Friday’s .410 bore event, where he dropped only one target to finish the World Skeet Championships with a score of 449. Taylor Nicosia, who had dropped a target earlier in the week in the 28-gauge event, shot 100 straight in the .410 to tie Deshotels at 449 for HOA. Deshotels was the victor in the shoot-off, giving him his first HOA World Skeet Championship. He was also Triple-Sub Champion. Nicosia finished as HOA runner-up and Lady Champion. She also won Lady Champion in the Wayne Mayes Championship event, Lady runner-up in the 20-gauge and the .410, and Lady third in the 28-gauge and doubles.
Steven Wood, Cooper Oliver and Dessislav Ivanov battled it out in a shoot-off of 447s for the third spot on the HOA podium; Ivanov went out first and finished AAA1. Oliver went out next, finishing AA1, which left Wood as HOA third. Other class winners were Katie Hunt, A1; Tim Robinson, B1; Katie Lackey, C1; Michael Rykaczewski Sr., D1; and Steve Scales, E1. Katherine Adams was Lady runner-up, and Lauren Burge was Lady third.
With a score of 549, Deshotels was also HAA Champion, with Nicosia runner-up (547) and Ivanov third (546).
Also winning World Championships were Josh Poole, doubles and .410 bore; Robert Hicklin, 12-gauge; Michael Schmidt, 20-gauge; and Ryan Smithart, 28-gauge.
The previous weekend, at the Mini World, HOA winners included Alessandro Vitale, champion; Mike Woolard, runner-up; and Riley Chaddock, third. Vitale was also HAA Champion. Taylor Nicosia won doubles, Edward Smith won the 12-gauge, Michael Rykaczewski Jr. won the 20-gauge, and Josh Poole won the .410 bore. Wayne Mayes Championship winners were Ivanov, champion; Paul Newman, runner-up; and Nicosia, third.
The National Shooting Complex has updated its ammunition policy for the upcoming World Skeet Championships to address availability issues:
We have been working diligently with all of our ammunition sponsors to secure as much ammunition as possible for the World Skeet Championships. Despite our efforts to ensure that we have enough ammunition on hand, we unfortunately WILL NOT have enough on site for everyone to purchase for everything they are planning to participate in. We have a great deal of ammunition on hand, but knowing the demand will be higher this year, we want to ensure there isn’t a shortage.
Based on this information, we strongly advise bringing your own ammunition, especially sub-gauge loads, to the event. Bringing your own is the only way to guarantee you will have ammunition to shoot.
This does not mean you cannot attend if you cannot bring your own ammo. Our request for participants to bring ammunition is to ensure that EVERY shooter is able to shoot EVERY event they want.
Many shooters already possess or have local access to all the ammunition they need for the World Shoot and the rest of their shooting year, and many shooters drive to the National Shooting Complex, making it easy for them to bring ammunition with them. If that applies to you, we encourage you to consider bringing yours to allow those who do not have and cannot acquire it locally, international shooters who cannot bring or ship theirs, and those for whom shipping is cost-prohibitive to purchase what they need at the event.
Sub-gauge loads are our primary concern, especially 20-gauge. As a reminder, reloads are allowed for all events.
If you must purchase ammunition at the event, please be aware that you will only be allowed to purchase enough to cover your competition events. Verification of event entry will be required to purchase ammunition. No practice ammunition will be sold at the event.
For participants flying to the World Skeet Championships, we advise shipping your ammunition. UPS guidelines for shipping can be viewed at UPS Guidelines (Scroll down for Shipping Ammunition). Ammunition should be sent to the participant’s name and reference the event. The mailing address is 5931 Roft Road, San Antonio, TX 78253.
Again, we are not requiring every shooter to bring ammunition to the National Championship. If you are one of the fortunate shooters to have adequate supplies and a means of transporting it to the NSC, we are asking you to help us ensure that EVERY shooter has access to what they need.
We understand this is an inconvenience and apologize in advance.
With 785 shooters in the HOA, the 2021 Kolar U.S. Open iShoot was a success by all accounts. Held simultaneously at 15 different clubs across multiple states and time zones, the event saw terrific attendance and stiff competition. Stuart Brown, shooting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, broke 399×400 to win HOA outright.
Enjoy this series of photos from various clubs. If you have photos from a club that’s not represented here, you can email them to hdyer@nssa-nsca.com, and we’ll be happy to add to our photo gallery.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
Photos by Mark Brendemuehl
Photos by Lefty Ray Chapa
Photos by Keith Sutton
Photos by Melissa Fuller
Photos by Casey Campbell
The World Skeet Championships will be here before you know it, and we’re busy making sure we have enough staff on hand to make it run smoothly. The NSSA is looking for well-qualified referees to officiate the event, held from October 1-8, 2021. To attract the best referees, we’re offering excellent pay, hotel accommodations for non-local refs, a travel stipend for full-time refs working the Mini and Main, daily lunch, and a fuel stipend for local referees. Referees wanting to work the Mini World October 1-3 and shoot the Main events on October 4-8 are welcome to apply. You can apply to work the Mini, the Main or both.
Applicants should note that for 2021, we are not using the Briley wand, as a sanitation precaution.
