ALPINE, Calif -- Every time he shoots his Browning, 12-gauge, single-shot shotgun , Sam Cashen takes aim at his ultimate goal.
“I'd like to go to the Olympics one day,” Cashen said.
So the 14 year-old young gun shoots hundreds of rounds per week through his custom-made shotgun at the Lemon Grove Gun Club in Alpine.
Cashen competes in trap shooting, a sport where he takes five shots from five different spots on a field at clay pigeons launched out of a trap.
The 14 year-old ninth-grader-to-be at Steele Canyon High School recently competed for the Southern Zone team in the California state shoot and has won several belt buckles – the prize for winning tournaments.
Cashen says the sport is 99% mental and he says shooting just came naturally to him.
“I like guns,” Cashen said. “I have all my life. I remember being 3 at the dinner table and pretending a fork was a gun.”
Cashen says he first picked up a gun at age six when his mom, Hilary Dixon, told him he needed to learn gun safety. Dixon says that since they live in Jamul, and many families own guns in that area, she wanted Sam to know how to handle guns if he came across them.
“So if he were to learn gun safety at a range then he would know to say, ‘Hey that`s a real gun,’ and know that we don`t play with those,” Dixon said. “So that was the main reason why he learned and from there he started shooting.”
When on the range, Cashen moves methodically. He says it is part of shooter etiquette and it helps him keep control of his emotions to ensure a steady aim.
He must also keep control of his blood sugar. Cashen has Type I juvenile diabetes and he says by succeeding in shooting, he would like to serve as a role model.
“Show kids that just because you have diabetes doesn't mean you be limited to testing your blood and moping around,” Cashen said. “You should come out here and do stuff.”
This weekend, Cashen will fire 1,000 rounds at the Western zone championships.
He says he finished in the top 10 in his class last year, and he hopes to improve this year, and every year, and hopefully earn a college scholarship in trap shooting.
And yes, earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
“I'd like to go to the Olympics one day,” Cashen said.
So the 14 year-old young gun shoots hundreds of rounds per week through his custom-made shotgun at the Lemon Grove Gun Club in Alpine.
Cashen competes in trap shooting, a sport where he takes five shots from five different spots on a field at clay pigeons launched out of a trap.
The 14 year-old ninth-grader-to-be at Steele Canyon High School recently competed for the Southern Zone team in the California state shoot and has won several belt buckles – the prize for winning tournaments.
Cashen says the sport is 99% mental and he says shooting just came naturally to him.
“I like guns,” Cashen said. “I have all my life. I remember being 3 at the dinner table and pretending a fork was a gun.”
Cashen says he first picked up a gun at age six when his mom, Hilary Dixon, told him he needed to learn gun safety. Dixon says that since they live in Jamul, and many families own guns in that area, she wanted Sam to know how to handle guns if he came across them.
“So if he were to learn gun safety at a range then he would know to say, ‘Hey that`s a real gun,’ and know that we don`t play with those,” Dixon said. “So that was the main reason why he learned and from there he started shooting.”
When on the range, Cashen moves methodically. He says it is part of shooter etiquette and it helps him keep control of his emotions to ensure a steady aim.
He must also keep control of his blood sugar. Cashen has Type I juvenile diabetes and he says by succeeding in shooting, he would like to serve as a role model.
“Show kids that just because you have diabetes doesn't mean you be limited to testing your blood and moping around,” Cashen said. “You should come out here and do stuff.”
This weekend, Cashen will fire 1,000 rounds at the Western zone championships.
He says he finished in the top 10 in his class last year, and he hopes to improve this year, and every year, and hopefully earn a college scholarship in trap shooting.
And yes, earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
