Your Club hosts two Trap Leagues each year. These leagues have run continuously at the Club for more than forty years. From an original six or seven teams to consistently more than 50, five man teams today the growth of the St. Charles trap league has marked the growth and success of the St. Charles Sportsman's Club itself. Today, the St. Charles SC trap leagues are generally acknowledged to be the largest trapshooting leagues in the state of Illinois. This kind of success has been the result of the same very basic principles that inspired the beginnings of the League; it's simple, competitive, inexpensive, fun and you can get out of the house for an evening of good times with your buddies.

The League sessions are always run on Thursday evenings and always conclude with a Saturday evening banquet at the Club for the League shooters and their families.   The Spring League is now running despite a series of rainy Thursdays so far this Spring. Normally the Spring League starts the third week of April and runs eight Thursdays with the Spring banquet right around Fathers' Day. The Fall League runs from approximately the third week of August to near Halloween.

The long running success of the St. Charles Trap Leagues has resulted in many of the teams staying together year after year. After all, that's the whole purpose......having fun with your friends. On the other hand, the growth of the league has provided opportunities for new teams to be formed each session. So, if you have a team come on out. If your or just one or two of your buddies want to shoot, come on out too. We can fine at team for you to join or find other shooters to join with you to form a team. And, we have mixed teams of men and women as well as all women's teams too. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate.

Each week the teams "signs in" when they are ready to shoot. The teams are called out to the line in the order they sign in. They shoot a standard round of 16 years trap Singles, and based on the team score their Handicap yardage is determined for the next round. A Handicap round then follows at the determined Handicap yardage. This process has a great leveling effect in that a couple of hot Singles scores gets the whole team pushed back for the Handicap round where the hot scores very often get brought back down to earth. When a shooter or a whole team misses a Thursday session there is a makeup procedure that allows everyone on the team to keep up and complete the full 200 target League event.

Everyone who shoots in the St. Charles SC Trap Leagues must be a member of the Club. Shooting Memberships and Trap Membership are equally as valid as Full Memberships for the purpose of joining the League. Besides possessing some form of membership, every League shooter pays a League Registration fee of $5 to offset part of the banquet cost and $11 each league night for the targets and weekly Lewis prizes. Four Lewis Class prizes are paid each week based on the previous week's scores and at the awards banquet four Lewis Class TEAM PRIZES are awarded along with a High Gun prize for each team. Teams must complete the full 400 targets for each shooter on the team to be eligible for these season end prizes.

In keeping with the social aspects of the Trap League, each league session concludes with a Saturday evening banquet at the Club. Shooters and their families are invited. The Club provides the beverages and the entrée, usually pork chops. Everything else is a giant potluck provided by those who attend.

So, if you're looking to "move up" a little from just shooting practice trap and you want to add some competitive 'spice' to your shooting, come out to the next Trap League in August. You'll have a good time and you will become a better shooter.

And, if you have any questions on aspects of the League that haven't been covered here, give me a call.

CLE RECTOR

630 784-9655