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New National BB Gun Champion Named At Daisy Championships

Final competition for the Daisy National BB Gun Championship wrapped up Sunday in Rogers. Kids from across the country gathered in Northwest Arkan...

 

 

Final competition for the Daisy National BB Gun Championship wrapped up Sunday in Rogers.

Kids from across the country gathered in Northwest Arkansas to compete at the art of handling a BB gun.

From shooting targets, to being quizzed on gun safety, kids at the event were tested on their knowledge of BB guns.

“These are the best kids in the state that they come from,” said Ray Hobbs, CEO of Daisy. “They had to compete to get here. So, they are the best.”

The best BB gun shooters from across the nation learned who the new national champions are at the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Sunday.

“This will be our sixth one in 11 years,” said John Forman, coach for Pierre Jr. Shooters in South Dakota.

The Pierre Jr. Shooters club won the team event and also had the best overall individual shooter, that being Cassandra Ryckman.

“People think of [shooting] as a male-dominated thing, but it really isn’t. In fact, I think girls do better because they are calm,” Forman said.

Ryckman shot nearly perfect this weekend.

“A perfect score is a hundred. That would be 10 bullseyes,” Hobbs said.

Ryckman shot better than 95 in every position she shot from.

“We always tell our kids when they first start, tell the boys, ‘you’re probably going to get out shot’,” Forman said. “Because girls, historically at least on our team, have done better than the boys.”

The winning team was shocked to figure out they won.

“Some of them didn’t think they shot so well,” Forman said. “So, it will be a big surprise that they’ve won.”

Coming from South Dakota, the team made a long trip in hopes of accomplishing this goal.

“It’s about an 11.5 hour drive,” Forman said.

But, the teams says it was all worth it, especially when it comes time to celebrate at home.

“Win or lose, it’s always worth it,” Forman said.

“It’s a big deal,” Forman said. “We make a big deal out of it. We get city recognition.”

According to event officials, the competition was extremely tight.

“You had a lot of 97’s, 98’s, 99’s, on all positions. So, it was very close,” Hobbs said.

With the competition now complete, everyone walks away with a good experience. Especially for the manufacturer and sponsor of the event, Daisy, which is based out of Rogers.

“It’s moms and dads, and grandparents. And, its aunts and uncles. Those are our customers,” Hobbs said. “So, when you see this, and you see the enthusiasm, they’re buying a lot of our product as well. So, this is our major marketing program for our company.”

The event will take place once again in rogers next year.

Those who won the event this year are not eligible to shoot in next year’s event in order to promote a fair playing ground across teams.

However, they can register again two years from now.

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