THOMASVILLE — The Brookwood clay shooting varsity team is gearing up for their state meet, which will take place in the first week of November. Despite welcoming in a remarkable amount of newcomers, the Warriors have done well this season.

“Overall, on the season, they’ve done great. We’ve had lots of improvement, lots of individuals shooting their personal best,” said team coordinator Raina Cauley.

Arguably the teams biggest success this season has been the increase in participation. Every participant on the middle school team was new this year except for eighth grader Finley Walker and John Luke Hedden-Chai. The middle school team even has a fifth grader competing along side them.

As for the varsity team, over 50% of their participants are newcomers. Cauley attributed this to a growing interest in clay shooting as a sport.

“A lot of that I think comes from just being interested in the sport. It has just grown exponentially. Mainly because clay targets is one of those sports where you don’t have to be the fastest, or the strongest, or have the quickest reflexes,” Cauley said. “It’s more of an equal playing field for students in terms of size. Also, it’s a life skill, a life long sport that you can participate in. Especially in this region where hunting life is such a part of the culture.”

However, the growth that Cauley is most proud of is the rise of young women participating in the sport.

“For years we only had one female on the varsity squad. Last year we had two. This year we have eight,” said Cauley. “So, we’ve gone from two to eight and I just think that’s really exciting for our athletes.”

Brookwood will host one last event this season on the weekend of the 28th, which is the last weekend that shooters can qualify for state. The Warriors will welcome schools like Tiftarea, Westwood, Colquitt Christian and others. In order to qualify for state, participants must compete in three meets. However, in order to make sure their shooters are going to state with the proficiency they need, Brookwood has a minimum shooting requirement. For a Warrior to make it to the state meet they must shoot 80% in trap or skeet and 65% in sporting clays.

The middle school team competed in their state meet last weekend where they saw three of their shooters hit their personal best. Walker led all Brookwood shooters in scoring.