Kalani Air Riflery Season Off to a Promising Start

On August 3rd, 2015,  a small group was forming behind J building. It was the Kalani Air Riflery team. Most were returning members, who were fairly optimistic about the upcoming season,”Tryouts are pressuring, but as long as you try your best and have a good attitude you can make it on the team. And even if you don’t make it, never give up and try again next year! We’ll always welcome you!,”said Kellyn Okazaki. Most newcomers were not as optimistic as her.

The friendly team captains Sam, Laurel, Shane and Blake arrived and greeted the newcomers, which made up a majority of the people there. Everyone assembled into a circle and introductions started. Each person said their name, their grade, experience with air riflery, as well as their favorite Disney character.
The practice started with the newcomers running a lap and doing strength exercising to prepare for the 6-7lb rifle they’d be holding for hours. The newcomers were then taught how to practice sighting  by making a triangle with their hands and focusing each eye this helped them find the right eye to target with.
Finally the rifles were brought out and the returning members helped newcomers pin targets to the wooden frames and move them out from the J building workshops to the range. The newcomers were given a safety demonstration by Coach Nancy where returning members would fire at an aluminium can full of water to show the newcomers how dangerous the lead pellets are and the damage they could do if they hit another person. As they fired, water instantly started to gush out of the holes, a morbid reminder that even though the rifles are just shooting pellets they still can be deadly. The rest of the meeting was spent with everyone practicing their shot. The team captains assisted the newcomers practice shooting in the three positions, standing, kneeling, and prone which is pretty much just lying down flat on your stomach.
In the end, the sun was setting and heads were gleaming with sweat. Everyone there had given it their best and for such a long time. It definitely seems like this will be an interesting season for the Kalani Air Riflery team.