My Charlie's Angels are back in action

The girls have been honing their aim and accuracy with their 4-H shooting sports club since early November in anticipation of the NRA's Postal Leagues (I know, a weird name but I did a bit of research last year that explains it) starting next week. This year the girls' team has graduated to shooting in all three positions in the league (prone, kneeling and standing).

The girls practiced the prone position last night, the one they shot exclusively last year (and the one that all beginners start with since it's the easiest) before moving on to kneeling and standing.

G. particularly likes standing because it's makes her feel more like a Charlie's Angel. (Last year she shot a pistol and I jokingly referred to the old TV show and G. very much enjoyed the association. I believe she watched every single episode of that show this past spring/summer on hulu.com).

"Those Angels are girls but they're strong and can shoot and know karate and they can do all kinds of other stuff."
(That 70s feminist message still resonates even if the Angels' wardrobe has a bit to be desired.)

L.'s got a good eye and a steady hand and has done well with the new shooting positions as well. Since she's a bit of a light-weight with pencil thin arms, her rifle is a bit heavy to manage so her stance is a bit off typical form to compensate for her size. I love the hip action she has going while she's still learning this position. I think that even though shooting is typically a boy-oriented sport, she's able to add her own girl-ness to it.

This year L.'s also taken on an executive board position in the club as secretary (which I know is a bit cliche to be the only girl elected to the board and for this particular position). But she wanted to do it because she likes writing and organizing things (this is one of those apple-not-falling-far-from-the-tree things). It is a unique experience for her because for this club, the writing and recording she does is done on the back of old targets between her rounds of shooting at the gun club.

I'm glad that my girls are enjoying target shooting, that they know how to be safe with a firearm, that they make their daddy proud by sticking with a sport (it's their second year) that he very much enjoys, and that they are starting to understand that being the minority gender in the room doesn't mean they have to be different. They can be girls and feel more confident about themselves for learning something that's not in their gender's typical realm of experience.

NOTE: I'm not sure which gun clubs in Maine sponsor NRA junior leagues (for youth 9-18 years) but you can contact a club near you to inquire about it.