Trap Team Brings Together Cardinal and Pekin Students

posted April 9, 2021

Last year, coaches Jim and Jill Silvers launched a new student trapshooting team to serve students in the Cardinal and Pekin school districts. The launch came after a neighboring district voted to no longer allow outside district students the opportunity to participate in their extracurricular activities.  

This move affected students of Cardinal and Pekin who had been on the school’s trap team, including Jim and Jill’s twin boys.  While the decision was eventually reversed, the interest was great enough that the schools decided to move forward with the plan to establish the Cardinal Pekin Dust Devils team.

The superintendents of both districts, David Harper and Joel Pedersen, jumped into action, looking into what was needed to form a new team. 

"The school superintendent told me that he and Joel were wanting to start a joint trap team and asked Jim and I to organize it, " Jill says. 

They stepped up to the plate with Jim taking the role of head coach and Jill becoming assistant volunteer coach. They were more than happy to step into these new roles to support their sons and other students who lost their team and to introduce more students to the sport.

Andy Brainard, a Cardinal bus driver and Indian Hills Community College welding instructor, played an important role in establishing this shared program and stepped up to the challenge of sharing the head coach responsibilities with Jim.  In addition to Jim, Jill, and Andy, the team is very fortunate to have four additional Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP)-trained volunteer assistant coaches (Molly Brainard, Jerry Shaw, Janice Dix, and Gene Crawford) who work with the athletes throughout the season. The team is registered with the SCTP, the USA Shooting's official feeder program.

This year, they have 28 students on the team and changed team eligibility from 7th to 12th grade to include 6th graders due to so much interest. While in the past this has been a male-dominated sport, the team has four ladies this year and anticipates this number will continue to grow.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team's launch last year restricted them in what they could do so they acted as a traveling team. This year, their expanded team can finally compete as a club.

"Our team will compete with other teams in the area and then compete at the state level," Jill says. "Then, if they qualify, they'll compete at nationals in July in Ohio."

If there's one thing Jim and Jill want parents to know it's that they are making this team as accessible to all kids as they possibly can. They work hard to fundraise and find team sponsors to keep costs down. This year, Jill estimates she got the average cost of $700 per athlete down to $137. 

"Contact us and have a conversation with us before assuming your child can't participate because of costs," Jim says. 

They also stress that this sport is really for everyone of all athletic abilities and that students with disabilities have participated successfully, such as students in wheelchairs. 

"This is a sport that really any students can participate in and everyone can be involved in," Jim says. "It's a mental game. You have the same chance as anyone else, provided you put the work in."

To learn more about the team and how your student can participate, contact Jim and Jill at cardinalpekintrapteam@gmail.com.