Tucson Scores Big With Spring Grand Trap Shoot

Tucson Trap & Skeet Club photo

The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club located at 7800 Old Ajo Highway hosted this annual event on February 22 through the 28th.

The weather cooperated with lots of Arizona sunshine while much of the nation still had below freezing temperatures and snow.

1.3 million clay targets were launched in the air for the competition.

The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club employed over 100 pullers and range help (Mostly local with some volunteers) @ different wages rates for differing duties, but lets just say an average of $10.00 per hr x 8 hrs a day for 7 days = $56,000.00 (these wages will all be spent in Tucson.)

I shudder to think about how much Tucson Electric Power made during this event, but I know that meter was really spinning!

Casino Del Sol sent a bus to the club every day to pick up people who wanted a break from the competitions.

Fred’s Arena, Todd’s at Ryan Field, Brats Café, Tiny’s Saloon and Grill along with several other restaurants and convenience stores saw a huge increase in business. Event Highlights:

· 968 competitors competed in the weeklong event

· 853 of these competitors were from out of state. I am going to repeat that. 853 of these competitors were from out of state!

Just by doing a little math, anyone can see how Tucson benefited from this competition. I tried to be very conservative with my cost estimates:

· Hotel @ $100.00 per night for 7 nights =597,100.00

· Meals and Entertainment @ $75.00 per day for 7 days = $447,825.00

· Total $1,044,925.00

Not bad for one week.

But wait there’s more!

These competitors always travel with their Spouses and/ or Families, = 1706 (spouse only). Plus, there were over 50 Junior Competitors that attended from out of state, these young competitors usually have both parents attend, plus a sibling or 2, but to be conservative we will just add another 50 people to this list (sibling, parent or Grandparent) = 1756 people came to Tucson for this event. Now we have a more complete total of expenditures made in Tucson by these competitors and their families = $2,151,100.00.

But wait there’s more yet!!

The Pre-Spring Grand was held on February 17th through the 21st.

Over 400 of the above mentioned competitors came to Tucson to compete in the Pre-Spring Grand
So now we have to add another 800 people (includes spouses) that stayed in Tucson for another 5 days = $700,000.00.

But wait there’s more again!!

I didn’t include any fuel or airline tickets but my fingers are getting tired.

As you can see Tucson and Pima County benefited with well over $2,851,000.00 spent here during this event.

The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club is one of the largest clubs of its kind in the USA. The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club is in the Top 10 in the world for international shooting ranges that are capable of hosting the Olympic shooting events.

This year TTSC hosted one of the US Olympic Team Qualifying events as well as other international competitions.

The 2012 ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) World Cup was a huge success with 7 world records either set or equaled. The 2014 World Cup was also a success with 3 new world records set.

These two competitions really put Tucson on the map for places to train and compete.

In 2019 there is scheduled another ISSF World Cup.

The USA National team trains in Tucson each year.

The Canadian National team is training in Tucson this month.

The Chinese National Team has also expressed interest in coming to Tucson to train Mexico, Argentina, Columbia and Peru all have National Team members that train in Tucson each year.

This year The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club will host the Arizona Scholastic Clay Target State Championships as well as the Arizona State Junior Olympics and the ACUI West Coast Collegiate Championships.

Tucson will also be hosting the Western Regional Sporting Clays Championship in April along with several other National Events throughout the year.

The Tucson Trap and Skeet Club is truly one of the hidden gems of Pima County.

I hope you all can come out and watch some of these competitions or even participate. This year at the Spring Grand, the oldest competitor was 95 years old. While he didn’t compete in every event, he still enjoyed himself. His most memorable quote was “ Trap shooting and sex are the only two things I don’t ever want to quit doing.” Leave it to a 95 year old to tell you what is truly on his mind.

Take care and Thank you all for your support,
Rob Larson

About Rob Larson 6 Articles
Rob Larson is a southern Arizona businessman, who is also an expert on firearm safety. He is the director of the Tucson Trap and Skeet Club.