Ohio Governor Ted Strickland To Open 2010 National Shooting Matches

The 2010 National Matches will once again feature traditional National Rifle Association Championships and Civilian Marks manship Program National Trophy Rifle and Pistol Matches and CMP Games Events plus important training activities and special events like the Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland will open this year's festivities at the First Shot Ceremony here on 12 July at 6:30 p.m. at the Friends of Camp Perry Memorial Plaza, located at the opposite end of the entrance to Camp Perry on Lawrence Road.

The prestigious First Shot Ceremony is a colorful kickoff featuring the airborne delivery of a ceremonial American Flag by three Ohio National Guard 19th Special Forces paratroopers via Blackhawk helicopter. The flag flies for the duration of the Matches which conclude 17 August. The event hosts more than 6,000 competitors including the top pistol and rifle marksmen in the nation and has been a tradition at Camp Perry since 1907.

Gary Anderson, Director of Civilian Marksmanship Emeritus, who recently retired as CMP Director after 10 years of service, will preside over the opening ceremony once again.

After Governor Strickland concludes his remarks, he will officially open the National Matches by firing the ceremonial first shot on the 600-yard Rodriguez Range located adjacent to the Memorial Plaza.

Highlights of the National Trophy Matches and CMP Games include the Small Arms Firing Schools for pistol and rifle. Both programs, open for public participation, are conducted by the elite US Army Marksmanship Unit from Fort Benning, Georgia. Instructors are both competitive members and coaches of the Army shooting teams, so participants get hands-on training by active duty marksman ship professionals.

The highly-popular schools civilians how to safely handle and operate the M9 9mm service pistol and the M16 service rifle in the classroom and later fire them on the range. Participants fire in actual live matches at the conclusion of each school. The pistol school begins with registration on 11 July and is conducted on 12 July. The rifle school begins on 30 July and is conducted on 31 July and 1 August.

This year CMP has added two new pistol trophies – the Perry DeFino Trophy will be awarded to the High Junior who fires the Standard Smallbore Pistol in the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and the General Patton Trophy, to be awarded to the Active Army competitor who fires the highest individual aggregate score in the National Trophy Individual and National Trophy Team Matches.

CMP Air Gun Events have expanded to eight different competitions in air pistol, air rifle and National Match Air Rifle. All air gun events are con ducted at the CMP's state of the art Marksmanship Center, equipped with a computer controlled scoring system used in the finest indoor marksman ship venues around the world.

The always expanding Rimfire Sporter Match now features a tactical rifle classification and a Youth-Adult team match designed to encourage greater family participation. Rimfire Sporter allows participants to bring their off the rack .22 rifle to the range and compete in a three-position match.

It's a great way to introduce recreational shooters to an organized competition with an emphasis on youth and family participation. The Rimfire Sporter Match begins with registration and a free clinic on 24 July and is conducted the following day. More than 400 entries were registered in the 2009 match.

CMP is also excited to once again present the President's Rifle Match on 2 August which concludes in the afternoon with a spectator-friendly shoot-off among the event's 20 top shooters to determine the ultimate winner. The coveted President's Rifle Trophy is presented to the best of the best rifle shooter from a field of more than 1,200 competitors, both civilian and mili tary.

The shoot-off finale is a 10-shot match with scoring in full view of spectators who can track each shooter's progress shot for shot on large scoreboards posted next to each competitor.

For fans of historical rifle competition CMP will once again conduct highly popular com petitive games events. The CMP M1 Carbine, John C. Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches bring out the best in sportsmanship and history as many participants dress in period military clothing and fire competitive matches. These matches run 5 August through 7 August when the CMP phase of the Matches concludes with an eve­ning awards and closing ceremony. NRA highpower matches continue through 18 August.

The First Shot Ceremony is open to the public and can easily be found by entering Camp Perry on Lawrence Road directly from US Route 6, just west of Port Clinton. The Memorial Plaza is at the end of Lawrence Road and nearby parking is easily accessible.

For more information about the National Trophy Matches and CMP Games Events, log onto http://www.odcmp.com/NationalMatches.htm.