Tennessee’s Real Pistol Powerhouse

Lacey Lane of McKenzie, Tennessee, just might be the most important woman in youth pistol shooting sports today. The 24 year old works for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation, the non-profit arms of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, where she oversees the Scholastic Pistol Program (SPP) in the Volunteer State.

So, why is this young lady so important to youth shooting sports?

Well, with somewhere around 135 SPP shooters hailing from Tennessee, her kids make up 11.7% of the 1,150 participating nationwide, and at this year’s SPP Nationals, taking place at the World Shooting & Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois, her squads account for 31.6% of those competing for the national titles.

Working with young shooters comes naturally to Lacey since she grew up in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) when it was first founded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Today it’s the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation which serves as the national governing body of both SCTP and SPP, and is running the National Team Championships this week in Sparta.

With several years background competing in the programs, and armed with a degree in Natural Resources Management and Wildlife Fisheries from the University of Tennessee, she signed on with TWRF after they created the position of Tennessee State Director for SPP last November, putting the responsibility for promoting the state’s youth handgun shooting sports participation squarely on her shoulders.

Considering the prominent role her home state plays in SSSF’s youth shooting sports, and the ease with which she interacts with the staff and volunteers tasked with overseeing the national match, most of which are male and in many cases significantly older, it’s pretty clear that Lacey’s shoulders can handle the burden.