At The Clay Lab, I wanted to make sure shooters get the recognition they deserve for their hard work and dedication to a sport that we all cherish. If you have been in the sport for even one season, you know that it can be a humbling experience at times, so those that become triumphant deserve the spotlight. Great work Will Anderson and I look forward to seeing you out on the course.
Will Anderson’s Memoir by Jennifer Anderson
The first time we knew shooting was going to be part of
Will’s life was when he was 5 years old, and he went hunting with his Dad and
Grandfather. The gun was bigger than he was,
and he couldn’t keep up with the older guys, but the smile on his face was
priceless. Hunting became a passion of
Will’s from that point on.
The next leap into shooting was when he turned 8 years
old. Will had just won a youth quail
hunt. At the hunt, he shot five quail with five shots. The guide told him that he needed to be on a
shooting team. We didn’t even know there
was such a thing as a shooting team.
Well, we quickly learned about Carolina Clays led by coaches Jeff Allen
and Margaret Johnson, and before February of 2014 Will was practicing with the
team. Jeff and Margaret are still a part
of Will’s life, and they continue to root for him. We are so thankful for Coach Allen and Coach
Margaret!
We then went from being baseball parents to shotgun
parents as Will jumped into all things SCTP and NSCA in 2014. For his first ever shooting event, we showed
up at Rose Hill Sporting Clays with a baseball wagon, ammo, a 20-gauge shotgun,
and no water bottle. To think back on
this now, yikes! We met Mr. Larry
Corbett that day. After a good chuckle
at our “wagon,” he gave us a lot of guidance and help. His mentorship/ friendship led to many chats
through the next several years. We are
so thankful for his guidance. His SCTP
accomplishments for 2014 were: 2014 NC SCTP Skeet HOA Rookie Division, 2014 NC
SCTP Trap Singles Pre-Sub Runner Up, 2014 NC SCTP Sporting Clays HOA Rookie Division
and 2014 Junior U.S. Open Main Event Rookie 3rd. He also shot his first 800 registered NSCA
targets and 500 youth targets. So, we became very busy with practice and buying
ammo, and purchasing our first golf cart.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Will worked tirelessly to maintain great grades and stay
focused to shoot over the next several years.
During this time, we sought out coaches to help him excel in the
shooting field. We met and began lessons
with Will Fennell at Fennell Shooting School.
Will Fennell showed us the ropes of registering for “big” shoots. We finally started shooting events in other
states and realized a lot of other people were in this sport. In 2017, Will won the Virginia State
Championship C1 and SJCH 12GA, C1 and SJCH Super Sporting, and then (our
biggest event yet) he won the Southeast Regional SJRU 12GA., and boy did we
realize at the Southeast that we really did have a lot to learn!
As Will got older, Coach Fennell helped him set goals for
him to start working towards. Will wanted his hit percentage to increase, to
attend more shoots, to increase his registered targets, to increase his
practice time, and to start helping younger people with the sport. These goals led to more success. In 2018,
Will accomplished: shooting 4600
registered targets and moving from B class to AA; winning East Coast
Championship B1 and SJCH Super Sporting, B2 and SJRU 12GA, B4 and SJRU Main;
winning North Carolina State Championship SJCH Super Sporting, B1 and SJCH
12GA, SJRU Main; winning Northeast Regional & Masters Cup A2 and SJCH 12GA;
winning Georgia State Championship A1 and SJRU Prelim; winning NWTF Shoot SJRU
Prelim, A2 and SJRU Super Sporting, A1 and SJCH 12GA, A3 Main; winning South
Carolina State Main AA2 and JRRU FITASC, AA1 and SJRU Main; winning Southeast
Regional AA2 12GA; winning Virginia State Championship AA3 and SJCH Super
Sporting, SJRU Main; and placing on the North Carolina Sub Junior State Team.
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The year 2019 quickly became one we would all remember.
Will shot 4850 registered targets and moved from AA class to M. This move happened at the end of the
Southeast Regional at Backwoods Quail Club at 15 years old. His next event was Nationals. No pressure, right? He had a great year with winning East Coast
Championship AA4 and SJCH Main; winning North Carolina State Championship SJCH
Main; winning Georgia State Championship SJRU Prelim; winning Southeast
Regional Championship AA2 Prelim; placing on the All-American Sub Junior Second
Team; and placing on the 12 GA All-American Sub Junior Second Team.
In 2020, a lot of things changed for the world, but
shooting stayed a strong passion for Will.
This is the year he began shooting FITASC events, which quickly became
his favorite sporting event. This led
to: him shooting 5650 registered
targets; winning Gator Cup SJCH Prelim, SJCH Main; winning Seminole Cup SJCH
Prelim, SJRU Main; winning Georgia State Championship SJCH 12GA; winning Heat
Is On SJCH Main; winning Northeast Regional/FITASC Grand Slam SJCH 5 Stand,
SJRU Prelim; winning North Carolina State Championship SJCH Main; winning
National Sporting Clay Championship SJ4 Super Sporting; winning World FITASC
SJCH Providence Cup; winning Southeast Regional Championship SJRU Prelim;
placing on the All-American Sub Junior Second Team; placing on the All-American
FITASC Sub Junior Second Team; placing on the 12 GA All-American Sub Junior
Second Team; and placing on the Winchester Championship Tour Fourth Sub Junior.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
The next few years flew by! Watching him continue to excel in school with
all A’s, occasionally helping coach Carolina Clays, completing his confirmation
service project, and continuing to push himself to improve his shooting, has
been a pleasure to watch. Shooting has
taught him so many life lessons; being able to talk to people from across the
world and different ages, patience, budgeting, and time management are just a
few that come to mind. All this personal growth led him to continue to be
successful in sporting clays. In 2021,
Will had several accomplishments such as: Arizona State Championship JRRU FITASC;
NC State Championship JRRU FITASC; All-American Sub Junior First Team; FITASC
All-American Sub Junior First Team; and 12 GA All-American Sub Junior First
Team.
In 2022, he achieved: East Coast Junior 3rd; NWTF Turkey
Shoot Junior Champion; South Carolina State Prelim Junior Champion; and FITASC
All-American Junior First Team. While he
was attaining these triumphs, he graduated from high school with a 4.7 GPA and
as the valedictorian. He earned several
scholarships for college. As the fall of 2022 started, he started UNC-Charlotte
as a freshman engineering student.
Finally, as we look back on 2023, we have a lot to be
thankful for. Will finished his first
year of college, added many more accolades to his shooting resume, worked a
summer intern job as an engineer, and ended the calendar year as a junior with
a 3.52 GPA. Will also found a new love
in Helice. He did have several shooting accomplishments for 2023: Seminole Cup
Super Sporting Junior 3rd; North Carolina State In state Junior RU; Western
Regional Master 3rd and Junior RU (12 gauge) / Junior 3rd (Super sporting) 98
as a personal best; All-American Junior Second Team; FITASC All-American Junior
Second Team; and 12 GA All-American Junior Second Team.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
Photo Credit: Jennifer Anderson
And finally in 2024, he has started off the year with
great success at the Seminole Cup as FITASC HOA and Junior Champion, and East
Coast Championship FITASC RU and Junior Champion. He is working hard on finishing his
undergraduate degree in civil engineering with a minor in mathematics by May
2025. We cannot wait to watch our young
man continue to grow. As his mom, I may
be a little biased, but as a teacher, I know we have a great young man in our
presence.
