Shooting Wire

"Scholastic Steel Challenge is pistol racing," says new Scholastic Steel Challenge Director Robin Taylor. "Compared to other shooting sports, SSC happens fast."

With 20 years competitive shooting experience, Taylor is on a mission. His goal is to restore competitive pistol shooting to America's youth using a modern twist: speed.

"Most of the shooting games look pretty boring. Steel Challenge isn't like that, it's fast, exciting to play, fun to watch - and uses pistols!"

Properly trained, young shooters can burn across the targets, in some cases hitting all five in less than four seconds. Over the course of a day they'll shoot 100 shots total, with the lowest time winning. While it's fast, SSC is safe, and something parents can do side-by-side with their children.

"Most parents don't have the ability to play rugby with their kids," says Taylor, "but they can certainly shoot. Because of that, Steel Challenge offers a way to share the culture and values of the shooting sports with your kids while competing against other adults at the same time."

SSC is the youth extension of the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (www.steelchallenge.com), which runs the famous World Speed Shooting Championship, otherwise known as the Steel Challenge.

As a coach, Taylor's regional team ("Team Gotta") of Custer, Wash., posted the fastest times in the nation for both 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. As Taylor settles in, look for video and interviews about how to run an SSC team on the SSC website.