COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Olympic torch in Beijing has barely cooled but preparation is already underway for the 2012 games in London. Eighteen shooting-sports hopefuls from 11 states have been selected for intensive training and evaluation Oct. 8-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Hindsville’s Cord Riley has been selected for the 2008 Junior Olympic Development camp in trap shooting. Riley also competes in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program.

“All of these top young talents were selected from the Scholastic Clay Target Program, the eight-year-old national shooting league that produced two medalists for the U.S. in Beijing,” said Zach Snow of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which selected camp attendees in partnership with USA Shooting.

SCTP alumni Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.) and Corey Cogdell (Eagle River, Alaska) won gold in men’s skeet and bronze in women’s trap, respectively, in Beijing. Their medals were two of the six won by the U.S. in shooting sports.

At the camp, athletes will work with U.S. Olympic coaches to hone skills in the international style of skeet and trap shooting. Daily training starts early and goes late. Daytime drills help shooters fine-tune skills and help coaches identify athletes with special aptitude as well as attitude. Evening classroom work teaches goal setting, team structure and preparing physically and mentally for high-level competition.

Attendees will be housed in the Olympic athlete dormitories and fed in the athlete cafeteria alongside scores of other Olympic hopefuls from many different sports.

Volunteer coach Steven Johnson, 37, Mountainburg also has been invited to attend the camp to learn advanced skills in coaching shooting sports. Chuck Woodson, the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program Coordinator, also will attend the training camp. The AGFC will be hosting a qualifying tournament for the Junior Olympics next summer

The National Shooting Sports Foundation directs a variety of outreach programs to promote greater participation and a better understanding of shooting sports, emphasizing safe and responsible ownership of firearms. For more information, visit www.nssf.organd www.nssf.org/sctp.