Trap Talk From The Back Fence

Episode E153: King for a Day: The ATA Ideas Shooters Want Most (Part 1)

Date: December 5, 2025
Host(s): Zach Nannini & Richard “Ricky” Marshall Jr.
Guest(s): Joey Charnigo ("Not So Slow Joe"), John Slinker (Producer/Co-Host)

Episode Overview

This episode launches a multipart series where Zach, Ricky, Joey, and John dig deep into ideas for improving the ATA—the Amateur Trapshooting Association. Using over 220 listener-submitted comments from their “King for a Day” post, the hosts discuss what shooters love about the sport and, more importantly, what changes they crave. The crew kicks off with the most-commented theme: increasing incentives and meaningful rewards for shooters, focusing on prize structures, the fate of trophies, and building excitement to boost participation and growth in trapshooting.

1. Shooter Rewards: How to Make Trapshooting More Exciting

The Premise—Why Rewards Matter

• Main Idea: Shooters want competing to “feel more exciting, energizing, and rewarding” (John Slinker, 02:18), not just a race for trophies.
• Community Pulse: The desire is clear—bring back tangible incentives, whether through cash, ammo, or meaningful trophies.

Key Points & Ideas Discussed

a) Cash, Ammo & Tangible Prizes

• The group strongly supports the idea of “prize money and added money opportunities” (02:18), not just trophies.

• Discussed moving beyond “pots and pans” for awards—metal, silver, or gift cards were floated as better alternatives.

  “The trophies can be nice, but what if we spent our money on giving back to the shooters… because they’re investing their entry fees.”
  — John Slinker (03:22)

b) Modest Entry Fee Increases for Bigger Payouts

• Joey’s Proposal: Add $2 to each preliminary event and $10 to each championship event at the Grand. With hundreds or thousands of shooters, this builds significant prize pools without pricing anyone out:

  “When you’re competing at the Grand American World Championship, there should be a chance to win some money… To the guys who travel and go to all the shoots… they should have a chance to win something.”
  — Joey Charnigo (04:50)

• Examples cited:

  • At three championship events with 2,000 shooters, that’s a potential $20,000+ for first place—mirroring playoff ticket prices in pro sports.

  “At the end of the year, you’d be still less than $500 if you did it at every satellite grand, every state championship and the Grand American. It’s not going to make or break anybody… but it gives you something to shoot for.”
  — Joey Charnigo (06:57)

c) Distributing Rewards Across Classes

• Debate on how to spread prize money—should most go to overall champions, or get distributed to class winners?
• Zach:

  “Maybe $8 go to the champion and maybe $2 go to each class… If you’re a D class shooter, you might not ever think you could win the world championship, but… you could win D class doubles champion of the world and they just won a thousand bucks. How cool would that be?” (08:19)

2. The Impact & Perception of Trophies

The Trophy Conundrum

• Issue: Many shooters collect trophies that gather dust, while others see trophies as precious mementos.

• Joey’s Quip:

  “Mandy just said to me today, she was cleaning out the kitchen and I said, hey, why don’t you put some of my trophies up there? She says, you don’t even open any of them. You don’t even know what you have.” (12:59)

• Discussion of giving winners the choice between a trophy, a gift card, or some other practical reward.

Credit/Voucher System

• A “reward miles” approach: bank points from wins/placings, trade them for larger or custom trophies, shells, or other gear.
• Sean Holly’s idea: a trophy catalog with options for winners to select and personalize their award. (34:34)

Legacy Trophies vs. Practical Prizes

• Some shooters still cherish trophies, especially for major wins (“bring them a bucket of cash and they’d tell you… I want a trophy.” – 33:18)
• Others, especially serial winners, would rather have gift cards, shells, or cash to offset travel and shooting costs.

3. Making Trapshooting Events Bigger & More Attractive

Marketing and Growth Strategies

• Ceremonial Checks: Like in golf and fishing, the spectacle of a big prize check at center stage attracts both shooters and newcomers through buzz and visibility. “Just that picture… shooters getting six grand, eight grand, 10, whatever… gets the excitement going.” (09:15)
• Bringing in sponsors and reinvesting partnership dollars are critical to growing prize funds and the event's prestige.

Communication & Education

• Successful changes require crystal-clear communication to members. Confusion or reluctance stems mostly from not understanding the value proposition.

  “You’re only going to scare people away if they don’t understand what you’re doing.”
  — Rick Marshall Jr. (21:28)

• Nevada State Shoot’s growth highlighted as a template for how marketing and community engagement can revive excitement and attendance at major events. (21:58–22:30)

4. Issues Facing Shooters & Clubs

Supporting Small Clubs and New Shooters

• Concerns about mega-events drawing shooters away from smaller clubs—solutions proposed:
  • Impose a small “late fee” or fine for shooters arriving at the Grand without prerequisite targets, use those funds to support small clubs. (30:09)
  • Drive new shooter recruitment via marketing—the “wow factor”—to both replenish and grow the sport.

Accessibility

• Discussions on removing or relaxing target requirements and finding ways to reinvest the resulting income for greater good across the ATA network.

5. Memorable Quotes & Notable Segment Timestamps

• Incentives Matter:

  “I have a hard time convincing any of my friends to come shoot and compete. When they ask me ‘What can I win?’ and I honestly have to say, well, nothing really… I think I’ll just go drink a beer.”
  — Joey Charnigo (44:22)

• The Value Equation:

  “Nowadays people buy value more than they care about price. Value is the most important indicator of anything.”
  — Zach Nannini (15:48)

• Celebrating Greats:

  “If there’s people that are the greats, you need to reward them… And how silly would we feel if when Michael Jordan won a national championship… everybody’s kicking together to give them, you know, five bucks?”
  — Zach Nannini (48:50)

• Modernizing Awards:

  “You could take a voucher, or a gas card or cash or shells…”
  — Zach Nannini, relaying Sean Holly’s idea for personalized trophy selection (34:34)

• On Communication:

  “Nevada State shoot… talk to John Slinker… it’s all about marketing… why do you think the back fences turned out the way it is? People understand it now.”
  — Rick Marshall Jr. (26:21)

6. Closing Thoughts & Next Steps

The hosts agree: the key to growing and sustaining trapshooting boils down to better incentives, flexible value-driven rewards, and making the events feel special and “worth it.” Whether it’s big checks, meaningful trophies, or innovative prize structures—the ATA must evolve to keep shooters excited and coming back.

Ending Callout:
These ideas are just the beginning; the series will continue as they work through more listener-provided themes. Listeners are thanked for contributing ideas and encouraged to stay engaged as the conversation continues deeper into the world of trapshooting innovation.

Key Segment Timestamps

• Introduction of Topic & Panel: 00:57–02:18
• Theme 1 – Rewarding Shooters: 02:18–09:15
• Prize Distribution & Class Payouts: 08:19–16:35
• Value of Trophies & Alternatives: 33:18–37:18
• Marketing & Growing the Sport: 21:58–22:30; 44:22
• Supporting Gun Clubs & New Shooters: 30:09–31:18
• Celebrating Champions: 48:50–50:54
• Listener Quote & Core Problem: 44:22–45:42
• Conclusion & Next Episode Preview: 51:11–52:38

Episode Tone

The discussion is lively, candid, and retains a “from the shooters, for the shooters” energy. The hosts balance nostalgia for trapshooting’s traditions with a clear-eyed look at what must change for the sport to stay vibrant and grow. They encourage new ideas, healthy debate, and—most of all—active participation from their passionate community.