16-year-old Connor Bish from Strathmore dominated at the Canadian Trapshooting Championships hosted by the Canadian Trapshooting Association (CTA), as he swept the Junior Division and won singles, doubles, handicap, and high overall. This Championship is the largest event hosted by the CTA, and Bish competed against shooters from all across North America.

He and his shooting squad members traveled to Brandon, Manitoba for the event, where Bish won by a huge margin, as he was 10 targets ahead of the nearest competitors in all the categories. Bish said earning such a decisive win was a special moment.

"It was very exciting, I was shaking on the phone with my mom and dad and I was having a little group conversation with my squad, my team and everybody just huddled together... It was a great opportunity to go down there and the people who sent us down there got a big thank you," he said.

Bish has been shooting for four years and has quickly risen to be one of the country's best young shooters; not only did he win by a huge margin against the junior competition, he said his score even tied some of the older shooters who had 30 years of experience. Bish's quick ascension has him dreaming bigger, as he hopes to one day join the Olympic team.

"If I could make it that far, that would be awesome. I do have hopes of making it to the Olympics for trap shoot [...] I definitely think I could make it if I kept with it."

bish

While the Olympics would be the ultimate goal, as it would give him the chance to compete at the highest possible level, he added one thing he might miss in the Olympics is the community feel and getting to know your competitors. For Bish he shoots because he loves the sport and the community, and a lot of the fun for him goes beyond just the scores and ranking. While Bish is obviously driven to win and be the best, he said trapshooting isn't just about the results for him. His love of the sport and the people he met is what keeps him coming back, and he said for him it's all about just having fun with his fellow shooters and enjoying the event.

"I just like to bring other people up, like maybe they don't have a good score, maybe they didn't win anything or maybe they're just upset because they shot a bad round. I'll be there to help them and bring them back up to the point where they have the confidence to go and shoot and actually win something and make it up there, right? So that's the other side of things that I really, really like is to help people, motivate them to become a champion."

Believing that his success doesn't have to take away from others, at the end of the day Bish shoots for the love of the sport and wants to encourage everyone to try it and share in his passion.

"I think anybody can start it. There's people that shoot that are in wheelchairs, there's people that shoot with certain disabilities, and it doesn't stop them from doing what they love, right? So it's really nice to see people out there doing what they love, having a passion for the sport and it just brings everybody else closer together because if they can, you can." 

Bish initially got into trapshooting because of his stepdad Carl Carlson, who has been a huge part of helping Bish grow into the shooter he is today. Bish also wanted to give a huge shoutout to everyone else who has helped and supported him, including:

  • His shooting coaches: Sarah Marthaller, Kris Marthaller, Bob Gruszecki, Carl Carlson
  • His squad members: Jessica Marthaller, Julia Marthaller, Elena De Paoli, William L
  • Family: Mom Terrill Bish, Grandpa Arnold Bish, stepdad Carl Carlson
  • Sponsor: Blackstone Drilling Company
squadBish with his squad and several coaches

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