Hi all!
I hope your 2024 has been safe and productive. While I've been quiet on posting, it has nonetheless been a busy year for me. Some of you may know that I began shooting smallbore rifle in late 2022, shot in the San Francisco Rifle League in 2023 and 2024, and also became certified as an NRA/USA Shooting/CMP Level 1 rifle coach.
2024 has seen some growth on these fronts. I have continued shooting, and this year was certified as a "Certified Rifle Coach Level 2" by the NRA/CMP/USAShooting after completing my prerequisites, which recognizes that I have met certain benchmarks to coach beyond the club level. This year, the International Shooting Sports Federation started their ISSF Academy, and I have been enrolled in their D-level coaching license course, which should wrap up in a few weeks. I have enjoyed the class thus far as it has filled in many of the blanks that the Level 1 course simply didn't teach in depth.
I have also been working with one of my teammates at the club who shoots as a junior and have embarked upon a journey that hopefully will see her able to shoot in college, as well as take over the program once facilitated by Vilho Ahola, a national champion and advocate of the shooting sports who was a Petaluma Police Department officer.
I was recently certified as a Chief Range Safety Officer with the NRA to provide RSO training for those needing it, as well as improving my understanding of the roles involved in facilitating a range safety program.
This year has also not been without stressors: new laws have made work slow down considerably, which has harmed dealers, as they were designed to, and required some outside-of-the-box thinking to survive.
I will be in a brick-and-mortar after agreeing to partner with a friend and customer to bring my policies and ideas to an actual store. So, after the first of the year, look for Kraushaar Firearms to shift a little bit into something completely new. I'm excited for this, as it's time. The pandemic taught me a lot about how to provide service to customers, while my involvement in training has equally aided in my understanding of who is out there purchasing right now, training that helps, and training that doesn't. Most excitingly though is my involvement in the smallbore program, as bringing back an Olympic sport locally is not only a fun challenge but also, due to the appeal thanks to the Olympics, will allow me to affect young persons' lives.
All in all, 2024 has been a mixed bag, but I'm excited about the future, so stay tuned!
Stay safe and happy shooting!
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