By Jim Arnold
I was honored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to offer my services to Team USA in the World Cup, FITASC event in Orville, France, held in July. The weather was a bit cold, windy and rainy, making hard shots harder.
The World Cup is the Olympics of shotgun sports with all the pomp and circumstance. Each country’s team was paraded in with a flag carrier for the very formal opening ceremonies. The closing ceremonies were similar. Awards — Bronze, Silver and Gold — were presented in Olympic fashion with the countries anthems playing.
Our team in the Junior division took Silver — the only team medal won by the Americans. Mike Everson shot a perfect Parcour. Thats very difficult to do. It was a team effort with emotions both flowing and under control. I was proud of their performance and was honored to be part of the program in some small way. It was a very humbling experience for me.
Jim Arnold owns Custom Shooting Sports, LLC, which is involved in coaching, consulting, corporate entertainment and custom outfitting and is a one-stop shop for shotgun sports. He is the teaching pro on Brays Island Plantation and has lived on Cat Island for the past six years.