ST. CLOUD -- The sport of trap shooting is rapidly growing across the state, especially in central Minnesota.

At the 11th Annual Sauk Rapids Sportsmen’s Club Youth Shoot, nearly 100 kids, experienced or not, put their skills to the test at the Del-Tone/Luth Gun Range.

Todd Kobienia is the head coach of the Foley High School team that started six years ago. He says more parents are starting to get involved.

It's just that whole bonding thing with daughter-father, daughter-mother, father-son, you know just getting together and actually sharing a sport that you can do together. It's a life-long sport. A lot of our kids hunt, so it just kind of ties into all of the family tradition that might be going on already in some of our local, rural families here.

The trap shooting teams are co-ed and offered at area high schools and 4H clubs. Kobenia says he's seen enrollment grow steadily every year.

Isabel Day is a senior and has been shooting with the Foley team for five years. She says she got started in the sport after taking a gun safety class.

I took just the gun safety class at school, and I told my mom I want to do this. None of my family hunts and we didn't have any guns. I said I just want to do this and my mom thought well that's a good idea just to have you comfortable.

This year the event added archery and BB gun shooting to the lineup. The gun club is open six days a week in St. Cloud.

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