Makayla Scott Built a Field of Dreams.
It’s hard to describe Makayla Scott. Makayla is an unconquerable, resolute force of nature much like gravity, lightning, or tidal waves. I don’t think she considers obstacles very much. This seventeen-year-old young woman/dynamo from Alvon, West Virginia sees the goal, revs up the engine and goes for it. You may as well get out of the way. In the world of competitive shotgun shooting Makayla Scott has become a force to be reckoned with.
Things were not always like this for Makayla Scott, which only makes her story more incredible. “Despite my wide smile now, I had a rough start in life” she said. “I lost my mother to a drug overdose at age 5. After years of neglect and abuse, I was removed from my caretaker and brought into my new, amazing family at 10 years old. Even though I now had a family, I always struggled to fit in or find a true place I felt accepted. That was how I felt until I was introduced to shotgun sports. Up to this point, I never felt I could ever believe in myself or trust anyone, but my family never gave up on me! After failing at virtually every sport I tried out for, my father and brother introduced me to the shotgun. I never knew one broken clay could change my life. Shooting sports introduced me to a world I didn’t know existed! I have met so many amazing people that have helped me along the way. I won’t say my success has come easy, but I have a love and a passion for this sport that fuels my want for success!”
Being serious about competing in the shotgun world meant a lot of hard work and sacrifices, for Makayla and her family. Lots of travel to shooting events in other states means long road trips, motels, and bad diner food. Once at the event, to effectively compete the shooter must shrug all this off and make it count when standing up there burning powder, this means when the shotgun goes bang targets have to break. Makayla did it, her family did it, and her list of accomplishments is impressive.
In 2018 Makayla won the Perazzi Grand Prix Bronze in Junior Class, she shot on the 4th Place Team in the 4-H Nationals in Grand Island, Nebraska. In 2019, she was 4th place in Sporting Clays in the SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) Nationals in 2019, and she was the Doubles Skeet Champion at SCTP Nationals. Makayla made the NC All-State team in 2019, and she qualified for the United States Junior Olympic Trap Team she was the first lady shooter from West Virginia to earn that position, ever. She was chosen for the 2020 NSCA-SCTP All-American Team and is the WOMA 2020 Scholarship Winner. Makayla is brand ambassador for CZ-USA firearms, MEC Outdoors, and SSP eyewear. Please note that this is a partial list of her awards and accomplishments.
One achievement that does bear mentioning is in October of 2019 Makayla qualified for the team that Dave Miller, Shotgun Product Manager and Pro Shooter for CZ-USA chose to attempt the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of clays broken by a five by a five man team in 12 hours. I was there, I saw it, and it was a sight to behold. Miller and four young teammates shot clays for almost 12 hours straight. I would go and stand behind Makayla in the gallery that day and just watch. The target would be called for, the clays would spring into the air, two sets of doubles, boom, boom, then boom, boom. Makayla, like her teammates seemed to be on auto pilot. I stood in awe as she downed target after target. The recoil may have not been particularly heavy but after 12 hours, it takes a toll. I watched the stats on shooting percentages as the day and the evening progressed, Makayla’s hit percentage went up as the day wore on. When the bell rang 14,167 targets had been broken.
While Makayla has reached near rock star status in the shotgun world, you would never know it from listening and being around her. It would be hard to find a more humble, gracious, and friendly individual as Makayla Scott, you will never hear her boast about any of her many wins and awards. Look out on the skeet field for the brightest smile and an almost infectious amount of positive vibes, that is Ms. Scott. Makayla knew she had accomplished a lot with a scatter gun, but she was nowhere near satisfied. She had something else cooking in that brain of hers.
“The Field of Dreams started as I was introduced to the Scholastic Clay Target Foundation” she explained. “The SCTP is a foundation that promotes the shooting sports and helps get kids scholarships through shooting. When I joined, there were no teams in West Virginia, so I opted for a North Carolina team. I competed with the team for a year, and I realized what great things the organization does. While I loved competing with the team, I really wanted to represent my home state of West Virginia, and friends and family who believed in me. There had been no SCTP teams in West Virginia ever before, so I felt like I could be the foundation to start a shotgun team right in my hometown.”
“Once I told my dad my big idea, despite getting some raised eyebrows and a few “Are you sure you can do this?” from other people, my father and I started planning this dream of a skeet field. We got some of our closest friends and coaches together, people we knew would support this dream just as they supported me, and we started building this “Field of Dreams.” The friends and coaches who came together to build this field are now all team coaches; Curtis Kincaid, Telford Scott, Pat McMillion, Joe Hayes, and Joe Windon. The field would have NEVER even been possible without them! Along with our coaches, some local companies and my own personal sponsors also gave to the team; Lynch Construction, Green Acres Excavating, S.J Neathawks, CZ-USA, and MEC Outdoors!”
When Makayla started the SCTP team she thought there would be maybe 5-10 shooters join for the first year of the Mountaineer Clay Crushers. “We now have 25 kids, and we have even been able to put together a travel team!” she said. “At our first competition of the year at the SCTP Regionals our athletes represented the state well, earning several medals and getting many compliments from other teams and staff. Now, we are preparing for the SCTP Nationals- the biggest youth shooting competition in the United States. There has never been a team from West Virginia at the competition, so bringing our team in the very FIRST YEAR of formation is truly a blessing.”
“We plan to go even further and keep going to bigger competitions in the future. We have also introduced several beginning shooters; some have never even shot a gun before! We plan to keep introducing kids to the sport, and we hope to keep competing and hopefully giving kids futures through shooting sports. The biggest goal of the Mountaineer Clay Crushers is to have a field that youth can use to practice shotgun sports totally cost-free. We are nearing that goal now, with only having to charge the athletes for clays!”
An incredible force of nature that seems to achieve things with a shotgun through sheer will. A bright ray of sunshine and optimism with a smile as big as the Appalachian Mountains, that is Makayla Scott
You go girl.
Larry Case