The seven-year dream

Tuesday, August 30, will see a groundbreaking ceremony resulting from a seven-year dream of Neil and Lindy Moss. Neil is the president of Alaska SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) while Lindy is the AlaskaYESS state administrator. AlaskaYESS operates under the Alaska SCTP, which is a 501c3 non-profit corporation. The seven-year dream is the construction of a youth shooting park, which will be known as 7th Summit Shooting Park & Outdoor Experiences. Five high school teams will co-host the groundbreaking for this new shooting club.

Neil and Lindy began this journey several years ago to create a venue which introduced kids to the shotgun sports in a safe and organized manner. They held practices and shoots at a couple of different facilities around the area. First, the Grouse Ridge facility and later at the Birchwood Isaac Walton ranges. Neither facility proved to be convenient and cost effective for the kids and their parents. Local high school and youth teams outgrew these two facilities years ago, which served as the impetus for Neil and Lindy’s dogged pursuit of 7th Summit Shooting Park. The hope was to eventually secure a piece of property which would allow the development of shooting facilities here in the Valley.

Quoting from the press release, “The facility will accommodate many outdoor opportunities for local youth, with a focus on shooting sports, and is estimated to cost roughly 3.5 million dollars. It will be the largest club of its kind in the state, one of the largest in the United States, and is likely the only one owned by a youth shooting program.”

Continuing, ‘” This fall we will have more than twenty athletes shooting for their collegiate team, most on scholarship! For the first time, we will have a club at UAA — our very first collegiate team here in Alaska, as a direct result of this program,” said Lorinda ‘Lindy’ Moss, head coach of the academically elite leadership team AlaskaYESS Varsity Team. The team is made up of a dozen athletes from all over the state that travel to collegiate and regional competitions for the purpose of gaining scholarships on university clay target sports teams…”

“Having a facility like this will allow for a wide range of shooting sports that cannot currently be accommodated in the Mat-Su area. Word is already getting out about this triumph for local youth shooting sports, with many enthusiasts not realizing that the facility has yet to be built. Lorinda Moss said that they received over one hundred applicants for the 6 Mat-Su teams the most of which will be turned away until the facility is up and running. Once operational, 7th Summit will have seven combo trap and skeet fields, two sporting clays walkthroughs, and three 5-stands, accommodating approximately two hundred youth with a wide range of outdoor and shooting opportunities.”

Governor Mike Dunleavey will be attending, along with a list of local dignitaries like Representative Kevin McCabe, Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna Devries, Borough Manager Mike Brown, Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford, several local Mat-Su Assembly members, and other yet to be announced attendees. “Responsible gun ownership starts with training and practice,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “I am pleased to see a new facility open that allows all Alaskans, young and old, to safely learn about and improve their shooting skills.”

“7th Summit was first conceived as a place where high school teams and young shooters in Alaska would have an opportunity to shoot at lower cost, to be able to shoot more targets, more disciplines, more often, and to be more competitive on the national level, with more kids going to university on scholarship through this sport. With the size of 7th Summit, we will be able to accommodate more types of outdoor activities. Our focus is primarily on developing the character of youth in a positive direction,” said Neil Moss, President of Alaska SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program).

“This facility will serve more than nineteen clay target sports teams across the state, and eventually archery, biathlon, and indoor rifle teams as well. Archery teams are welcome to the fold, along with various other shooting clubs, including biathlon, in order to grow the facility’s appeal to shooting enthusiasts in a variety of disciplines, and the folks at Alaska SCTP are building those community connections now, at the ground level.”

Interested individuals are invited to attend the groundbreaking on August 30th. For more information, contact Lindy Moss at 907-354-5344.

I’ve been on their board since the beginning, and I applaud Neil and Lindy’s dedication to this endeavor.