Day of Clays: Shooting Clays to Fund the Future of Youth Sports
May 22, 2025
Shooting Clays. Raising Cash. Changing Futures.
The Day of Clays shoot isn’t just a blast—it’s a game-changer for youth shooting sports and one of the coolest fundraisers we’ve ever seen.
Every year, youth shooting sports teams face the same uphill battle—fundraising. From shell costs to range time, the expenses pile up fast, and coaches often find themselves spending more time selling raffle tickets and bratwursts than training shooters. But what if you could raise money by pulling the trigger instead of just pulling out your wallet?
That’s exactly what the Day of Clays, hosted by the MidwayUSA Foundation, sets out to do—and they’re crushing it. At the Minnesota event, 256 competitors raised over $168,000, all of it going straight into team endowments—dollar-for-dollar matched by the foundation. That’s right. Every entry fee, every auction item, every side game goes to youth teams—and then doubles.
I had the opportunity to attend, support my local Trap Team, and shoot alongside my son Rylan and a great crew of first-timers. We didn’t just walk away with memories of a fun day—we walked away inspired by what the MidwayUSA Foundation is doing.
If you have experience with events like Day of Clays, please share your thoughts in the TFL COMMUNITY!
Let’s talk about how this event works
Participants pay $200 to enter a 100-bird sporting clays shoot. That entire $200 goes into the endowment of the team they choose. Play a side game? Silent auction? Live auction? Same deal—100% of what you spend is donated and matched 1:1 by the MidwayUSA Foundation. That’s a lot of impact from a single day of shooting.
Even better? The event is fully sponsored, meaning your dollars aren’t paying for tents, targets, or tacos. They’re going straight to the future of youth shooting sports.
I brought two squads—one with my son, Rylan, the Osakis, MN head coach, James, and his son, Justin. Another with a group of strangers who just wanted to support a good cause. That’s what made this event special: it wasn’t just about fundraising; it was about community.
For Rylan and his teammate Justin, it was their first time ever shooting sporting clays, and they crushed it—57 and 63 out of 100, respectively. But what impressed me most wasn’t their scores. It was their willingness to adapt, learn, and get better with every station. That’s what this sport teaches—and it’s why supporting it matters.
The energy on the course was electric. We saw kids as young as 14 absolutely smoking targets—like Ty Smoody, who beat the pants off me with an 88.
We also caught up with Adam Arnold from Reeds, a TFL Elite Dealer and sponsor of the event, to learn why they believe in what MidwayUSA Foundation is doing. Their answer? It works. It’s scalable. It’s sustainable. They’re helping teams help themselves, year after year.
At the end of the day, more than $3 million in endowment funds were represented—money that will spin off $150,000 annually… forever. That’s not just smart. That’s legacy-building!
This event blew me away
The Day of Clays is hands-down one of the most impactful and well-run fundraisers I’ve ever been a part of. It’s fun, it's meaningful, and it works. Watching my son Rylan shoot sporting clays for the first time, seeing teams come together, and knowing the money we raised will keep giving for generations—it was powerful.
If I had one critique, it’s that I wish more people knew about it. So if you’re a coach, a parent, or just someone who cares about the future of shooting sports, get involved. Because at the end of the day, youth shooting sports are about way more than just shooting. If you would like to support your local youth shooting team, you can do so here 👉 Support a Team
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Have you been to a Day of Clays event or supported a youth shooting team through MidwayUSA Foundation?
Share your experience in the TFL COMMUNITY, we’d love to hear how you're helping grow the future of shooting sports!
Whether targets in the field or targets in life, we will only hit what we're focused on, so live the #targetfocusedlife
Steve Gould
