Camaraderie is Vital Component of Championship
 
This article appeared in The San Angelo Standard-Times on Saturday, June 24, 2006.It was written by a young female reporter, Marjon Rostami.
   
Cheryl Waldrum-Long got married less than a week ago, but the newlywed decided to drive from Fairview, TX to San Angelo with her husband, Denny Long for the TEXAS STATE SPORTING CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP.
“Isn’t this honeymoon enough?” she said on Friday.

The San Angelo Claybird Association hosted the sporting clays championship this weekend. More than 400 shooters entered the competition. Many said camaraderie is more important than prizes. For Mrs. Long, friendship on the shooting range grew into a marriage. “I’ve met great people from all over the world. Some of my best friends I’ve met through competitions and clubs.

Sporting newly manicured nails, pink safety glasses and a cap with the word “DIVA” embroidered in gold, Waldrum-Long said she loves to shoot. “I’m not really good, but I have a really good time out here.”
Her late husband was a hunter who had guns throughout the house. “After being afraid to touch anything in the house so long, I thought the situation was ridiculous. I started taking private lesson. It snowballed after that…now I love guns!”
Competing in C Class, Cheryl says she doesn’t care if she never advances to a higher competitive class. In this competition, seven classes range from E Class up to Master Class. “It’ll probably take me the rest of my life to get into a higher class! But if I stay in C Class the rest of my shooting career, that’s just fine.”

Waldrum-Long has won many trophies in the past; the largest cash prize she won was $340.
She and her husband entered all but two out of the 12 available events. Each event is priced differently. “Don’t even ask me how much it cost,” Mrs. Long said. “I don’t want to know!”

Registration for the competition was $183 with additional costs for each event ranging from $37 to $125. The competition will award more than $50,000 in cash and prizes this year. Waldrum-Long said this is the third year she has been shooting sporting clays. When she was 46, she started shooting pistols and joined the Texas Women’s Shooting Sports (www.txdiva.org), a recreational shooting club for women that has more than 800 members. The club calls itself “The DIVAs”
“The DIVAs are known all around the world,” Cheryl said. “We encourage women to learn how to shoot to enhance the love of the outdoors. It is an introduction to shooting, not to teach somebody to become an expert.” Hanna Price, Claybird Association shoot co-director said women are becoming more and more involved in the sport. “For some couples, this is like golf with a shotgun. As with golf, there is a big social side to the sport,” Waldrum-Long said. The competition continues through Sunday. Spectators are welcome.

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