Using the armory

When the KIF Air Riflery season kicked off on Thursday, competitors from hosting Waimea High School and visiting Kaua‘i High School were treated to being able to compete in the Hanapepe Armory.

For the past several seasons, Waimea High School has enjoyed the luxury of being able to host the meet indoors due to the fact that the armory is the only indoor facility available for the high school competitors.

Douglas Nobriga, the coach for the Kaua‘i High School team noted that the indoor shooting conditions always result in higher scores due to the lack of wind interfering with the bullet flight.

Major Victor Aguilar, coach of the Waimea High School, noted during the last season that use of the armory allows the matches to go on despite inclement weather.

Kaua‘i High School hosts their matches in the tennis courts located on the west end of campus; Island School situates competitors in a far corner of their soccer complex to take advantage of the natural backstop provided by the berms, and as Sean Magoun adds, “to keep other practicing athletes’ minds at ease (about the shooting).” Kapa‘a hosts their matches in a corner of the school’s athletic field, taking advantage of a concrete wall as bullet stops.

This year’s state meet will be held at the Neal Blaisdell Center with both boys and girls shooting on the same day.

Nobriga recollects last year’s event that was held at the Dole Cannery’s ballroom where aluminum backstops were used. That created a big din, Nobriga remembers. But, he adds, the floors were carpeted so you didn’t really need a shooting mat.

Hanapepe Armory does not afford the luxury of carpeted floors, but their hollow concrete tile walls provide a good backstop for the lead pellets used by the competitors.

Without the din.

As the transition was being made from the First Flight to the Second, Major Aguilar noted out loud, “We really need to thank the National Guard (for allowing us to use this facility!”

Results will appear in Saturday’s issue of The Garden Island.