Author: Alicia Marinache

Trapshooting Academy High Performance Team: Results

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

Over the years, our High Performance team traveled both nationally and internationally and performed at the highest level.

Their results since 2008:

  • 2008 Mark Edmondson Doubles Award for the most improved doubles shooter in the Province
  • 2008 Great LakesGrand (Mason, MI): High Lady, High all Around Champion
  • 2008 Ohio State shoot (CardinalCenter, Marengo OH): High Non-Resident Lady Champion
  • 2008 Canadian National Championships (Hamilton, ON): Doubles Lady Champion 
  • 2008 PA Grand (Elysburg, PA): Independence Singles Lady Champion, Handicap Lady Champion
  • 2008 Ontario Provincial Championships (Hamilton, ON): Doubles Lady Champion 
  • 2008 Westy Hogans (Elysburg, PA): Singles Sub-Junior Champion 
  • 2009 Ontario Provincial Championships (Hamilton, ON): Doubles Lady Champion, Preliminary Handicap Lady Champion, Handicap Junior Champion, Singles (Class) Champion
  • 2010 Southern Grand American (Silver Dollar, FL): Handicap Jr. Winner
  • 2010 Pennsylvania State (Elysburg, PA): Prelim. HOA Lady Champion
  • 2010 Ohio State (Marengo, OH): N/R Handicap Junior Champion, N/R Handicap Lady Champion, N/R Doubles (Class) Champion 
  • 2010 New York State (Cicero, NY): N/R Handicap Jr Champion, Singles (Class) Champion, HAA (Class) Champion
  • 2010 Ontario Provincial Championships (Hamilton, ON): Handicap Champion, Handicap (Jr & Class) Champion, Doubles (Jr & Class) Champion, HAA (Class) & Lady Champion
  • 2011 Pennsylvania State (Elysburg, PA): HAA (Class)
  • 2011 Ohio State (Marengo, OH): N/R Handicap Lady Champion
  • 2011 Ontario Provincial Championships (Hamilton, ON): Sub Junior Singles Champion 
  • 2012 Ontario Provincial Championships in Hamilton, ON: Handicap Champion
  • 2012 CanAm Cup in Olympic Trap ( KSP in Dalmatia, PA): Bronze Medal (JR) 
  • 2013 Ontario Provincial Championships: Sub Jr. Doubles (2 events) 
  • 2013 Fiocchi Cup in Olympic Trap (KSP in Dalmatia, PA): Gold Medal (JR)
  • 2013 SubJunior OPTA All Star Team Captain
  • 2014 Pennsylvania State (Elysburg, PA): SubJunior champion (Preliminary HOA, 2 Doubles titles) 
  • 2014 Ohio State (Marengo, OH): SubJunior champion (HOA, 2 Singles titles) 
  • 2014 Canadian National Championships (Montreal, QC): National Champion + 5 other titles
  • 2014 Ontario Provincial Championships (Hamilton, ON): Sub Junior Singles, Doubles, HOA, HAA Champion
  • 2014 Canadian National Championships (Olympic Trap): Junior 2nd & 3rd place, First place (open class C)
  • 2014 Junior selected on the Canadian National Junior Team to represent Canada at JR world cups
  • 2015 Ontario Provincial Championships: HOA Junior Champion, Handicap Open Junior Champion, Doubles Junior Champion
  • 2015 Canadian National Championships (Olympic Trap): Junior 2nd & 3rd place, First place (open class C)
  • 2015 Junior selected on the Canadian National Development Team to represent Canada at world cups
  • 2016 Junior WC in Olympic Trap (Suhl, Germany): 6th score
  • 2016 Eurotarget Grand Prix (KSP in Dalmatia, PA): Junior Bronze, Class B 1st place, Class C 2nd & 3rd, Class D 1st & 3rd 
  • 2016 Canadian National Championships (Olympic Trap): Lady Open Champion, Junior Champion, Junior Lady Campion
  • 2017 ISSF World Cup, Acapulco, Mexico: Tied for 6th place
  • 2018 National Championships (Olympic-trap): Champion (Jr) and Gold Medal
  • 2018 National Championships (Olimpic-trap): Ladies Third, Bronze Medal
  • 2018 National Championships (Olympic-trap): Junior Third, Bronze Medal
  • 2018 USA Shooting National Championships: Silver Medal, International Category.
  • 2018 World Championships Junior Ranked: 36
  • 2018 Canadian National Championship in OT: Ladies’ Bronze Medal
  • 2019 Canadian National Championship in OT: Ladies’ Gold Medal, Junior Bronze Medal
  • 2019 Pan Am Games Lima, Peru: Finalist
  • 2022 USA Shooting National Championships: Junior Silver Medal, International Category.
  • 2022 Junior Selected to represent Canada at the Championships of the Americas, Lima Peru
  • 2022 Junior Selected to represent Barbados at the Championships of the Americas, Lima Peru
  • 2022 November, Championships of the Americas, Lima Peru: Junior 7th place.
  • 2023 USA Shooting National Championships: Junior Gold Medal, International Category.
  • 2023 Canadian National Championships: Junior Silver Medal.
  • 2024 Canadian National Championships: Junior Bronze Medal.
  • 2024 Canadian National Championships: Junior Champion.

Random thoughts

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

I have probably been this tired sometime in my life – I just can’t remember 🙂

It’s a good type of tired (a friend asked me after the first day if I am ‘God, please don’t make me go back again’ type of tired or ‘God, please help me relax and go back again’ type of tired. I told her it’s the ‘God, please do something about my feet – I am having too much fun’ type of tired 🙂 I didn’t know what to expect – so I started the show without any expectations. I managed what I should manage every time in competition: go there, take it as it is, do your best, and enjoy the process. Like I mentioned, though, my feet absolutely kill me right now… and they probably will for a long time…

What did I take from our very first show?

First of all, I have been surprised (pleasantly so) by the sheer number of people that were interested in the sport. Being GTA, I thought we will encounter a larger percentage of ‘OMG, guns are dangerous’ people. We did encounter them, but in such a small percentage – it gives me hopes for the future of the sport! That was my ‘#1 myth’ busted 🙂

#2 – I was surprised (and again pleasantly so) by the sheer number of ladies interested; there were so many ladies in the ‘wow, I always wanted to try this!’ or the ‘oh, look, trapshooting’ (explaining to their children what it is and how they did it when they were younger, usually on their parents’ farm).

No surprise in the percentage of youth interested – lots and lots of them (both boys and girls) that were going ‘mom/dad, look! I want to try it – can I?’. And most of their parents being either familiar with the sport or receptive to our explanations. No surprise either in the percentage of the older generation that knew what trapshooting is.

Lots of ‘where are you located?’ followed by the ‘really? that’s so close – I must come and try it’. A few followed by the ‘oh, that’s too far – do you know any place closer to where I live?’ A few ‘oh, no, thanks, I do it on my farm’.

As for the exhibitors themselves – we are Canadians and we prove it every time: we are a nation of very friendly, polite people. Most of the exhibitors were glad someone is trying to educate people; some were reserved; some were probably openly against – but way too polite to do anything else but smile and pass by quickly. We had a few stopping by and expressing their pleasure we are there. We had a few asking if we operate in their areas (from couple hundred miles away all the way to Alberta and Oklahoma).

The show itself was very interesting – lots of different exhibitors, covering an amazing area of sports and activities. We sighed watching different promotions (like the Chilean adventure trip – filled with mountain pictures and amazing blue skies; or the diving in the Camayan tours – with incredibly clear waters); we had fun petting the huskies (an adorable 3 months puppy with wonderful blue eyes) and chatting with the Conservation people showing 2 cute owls; I could not convince William to try the wall climbing adventure (maybe next year), but we sat together and watched the Camayan video. We learned about lots and lots of camps / parks / nature schools – I had lots of the ‘wow, that would be cool to try’ moments myself 🙂

And, of course, we all cheered for our hockey team – for the first goal, the second one, we groaned together (all 30,000 SF still packed with people) when the US team marked their second goal too close to the end of the game. We had an agonizing few minutes until Crosby scored the winning goal – What a wonderful finish to an amazing weekend!

Thank you to all our volunteers – you did an amazing job promoting our wonderful sport to the large audience. To have members of our youth team every day with us helped a lot – it demonstrated once again that trapshooting is really a family sport that everyone enjoys. As usual, our Golden shirts and hats stood out everywhere we went.

Thank you to all LearnTrapshooting students and supporters that visited us over the weekend – your support and positive energy was so refreshing!

And thank you to all our visitors – thanks for stopping by, for listening to us, for showing interest, and for asking questions. We hope we picked your interest and we are looking forward to seeing you all on the range!

 

Olympic thoughts (2)

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

I knew someone will say something until the end of the Games – and I was sooooooo happy to hear Clara Hughes saying the perfect thing today. Clara is the only athlete in the whole world to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics: she won 2 bronze medals in Atlanta, for Cycling; then she switched to speed skating and won a gold medal (2006), a silver medal (2006), and 2 bronze medals (2002, 2010). She’s not a very young athlete either – being born in 1972.

That was my mini-presentation for Clara. And today – after she won her last Olympic medal, the reporter asked her something along the lines of ‘Although you won only a bronze medal, you are still happy. Why?’

Please note somewhere her words – they are the most precious words you can ever hear in relation to a competition (not her exact words, I will try to find an exact quote and re-post exactly, but a good rendition):

I hear people talking about medals, owning the podium… I don’t think about that – I see it in terms of excellence – excellence in performance, excellence in athleticism… I train to be ready physically and mentally, to peak when it is the right moment… I was ready today and I knew I will be the best I could ever be – and that’s what I did: I gave it all and I had the best time of my life…

I am sure you have heard these ideas before – goals must be based on performance, not results. Train to be ready, to get your best form, train both your muscles and your mind. Not to gain a medal (or a trophy), but to be your best, to give your best. When you are ready, when you wake up in the morning being calm, prepared, confident, and enjoying your day – performance will transform itself into results.

P.S. Congratulations again to all Canadian Olympic athletes – and congratulations to both Canadian Bobsleigh teams and to the 5000-relay team!

 

Olympic thoughts

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

Like the Summer Games a couple of years ago, I am watching these Olympic games with a different perspective than a few years ago.

Why? I believe all the comments sports anchors make have a different vibration, I tend to try to hear something (which I very rarely do) and I also try to feel the whole experience more like an athlete, not a simple spectator. Far from me to say I feel like an Olympian (it’s a long way to being an Olympian), but I sure feel different than just a few years back.

I am not going to make any negative comments right now (I’ve been complaining for a few days already and it’s getting worse) – I choose instead to share with you one beautiful comment from tonight’s Lady Short Program: one of the former Lady athletes (I do not know them by voice and they never showed them to us, so I have no clue who said it) made this comment:

Butterflies are good! Just make sure they fly in formation.

This is such a simple synthesis of the pre-competition nerves. Nerves are good – if you don’t have them, it means either it became a chore or it became boring; none of these 2 feelings will make you give your best, so you should find a way to get back into the challenge or… find another sport to compete into. So we agree that nerves are good. Good!

Now, what do you do with those nerves? Make sure you control them – see the butterfly formation. If they move chaotically – they control you and they’ll do whatever they’ll please. And who can tell what nerves will please to do at any given time? But if you manage to figure out a way to fly them in a beautiful formation – oh, let them sing you a song, because that’s the moment you became a real champion!

So here you have it for the future: Keep them butterflies – just make sure they fly in formation!

Congratulations to all the Canadian Olympians, to all the Olympians in general! And my deepest sympathy to Ms. Rochette – she demonstrated tonight the impossible formation of the most beautiful butterfly colony… I don’t think there are words to comfort her now and all I can think of is to pray for her and her family.

My thought for tonight: Forget the ‘Quest for Gold’ – go out there and enjoy your moments, Olympians or not! Try your best, give all you have, and remember to keep the joy in it. The rest will follow…

And, of course – See, Smooth, Smoke, One

 

February notes

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

If someone can explain where did January go… please do so!

But complaining about how fast the time flies by is only going to aggravate me, I learned this one a long time ago… so – no complaints… but seriously… where did it go?! OK, kidding.

As January / February decided to bring some cold with them (not enough snow to build even one small snowman, the child is 100% disappointed) I had to postpone my well-laid plans to get out of the house and on the range, for a few practice shots now and then. Mounting the gun exercises are going ok (not phenomenal, mostly because I hate going in the basement in the middle of the night! and that’s the only quiet moment when one can focus on some personal stuff, at least in this household )… but there is a need to do something… almost anything will do.

Watching William playing tennis once a week was just killing me – I love tennis, I love playing the game and for a few years I missed all the opportunities to play. Add the Australian Open I’ve been watching like a mad-woman @ 3:30 in the mornings – so it comes to no surprise that last Tuesday I marched into the office of the Membership Director at the Cedar Springs Club and… a few minutes later I was the happy owner of a family membership. After returning home I didn’t tell William anything, he would have to get in the car and drive himself there – he’s been asking for months now to go to their pool (they have a water-slide and he was anxious to try it for the first time in his young life). But later that night I shared our new acquisition with the head coach – and this time I had no power (and no will, to be truthful) to stop the man in my life: so come 11:30 PM who’s playing tennis on the only occupied court?! Yeah, you guessed it – the happy couple. Well – now ‘playing’ is a bit too much for what we were doing. Remember we hadn’t touched the tennis racquet in over 5 years (if not seven, I lost count) so no normal person can get on a tennis court at midnight and start serving for the Provincial Championships.

But we did what they call ‘cardio – or fitness – tennis’ and we enjoyed it enormously. Of course, both of us found muscles we forgot we have… interestingly enough, like in horseback riding, we find completely different muscles. Not sure what that means, but it took me 2 days to be able to hold a pot of water with my right hand only (well… I do return the backhand with one hand only… and after the first 15 minutes Florin forgot I am the lady and started to return at his full power… so there you have it, the complete ‘excuse’).

Another interesting fact is that, like in trapshooting, tennis is (after taking the fitness form out of the equation) a mind game – you have to watch the ball, not the racquet, you have to move smoothly, but firmly, you have to move your whole arm, not the wrist. Translation in trapshooting: watch the target, move smoothly, move the gun with the body, not the arms… I wonder if all sports get to the same 4-5 main focus ideas bottom line?!

So here you have my winter blues solution – can’t go to Florida (which will be my first option!) so we’ll just go to the tennis club and enjoy some evenings of fun.

For all of you who can stay out in the cold – remember to stay warm! For those who can’t – find some indoor activities that will keep you in form.

And, most important – have FUN! Winter is almost gone anyhow, spring is just around the corner… I can’t WAIT to get back to the range

In the meantime – See, Smooth, Smoke – ONE!

 

Outdoor Adventure Show – Toronto, February 26-28 2010

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

It’s official! At the next Outdoor Adventure Show, in Toronto, February 26-28 2010, LearnTrapshooting has a booth!

Write it down and come visit us at booth #353

It took us a while to decide, but we bit the bullet (or maybe the 12GA shell), and… we reserved the spot. It’s a nice corner spot and now we are working hard with our friends to make it very special and memorable.

We are very excited and since we have less than 2 months to prepare we have started to study everything there’s out there about shows Knowing Florin I presume there will be lists to be made and checked and re-checked very soon. Luckily for me, he’s busy with something else right now, so I can just bask in the excitement for a short while.

Did I mention we are excited? OK, ok… I’m more like a child a few days before Christmas, wondering if I’ll be on Santa’s ‘good’ list

And now – back to work – remember: on February 26, 27, and 28 2010, at the International Centre, at The Outdoor Adventure Show come visit LearnTrapshooting and Hamilton Gun Club booth #353.

 

The Amish bread (2)

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

OK – we tasted it – and besides being a tad strange (it’s, after all, a strange combination of cinnamon with chocolate) – everyone agreed it’s a yummy final to our adventure.

Like I said – next time will be the lime version and after that the butterscotch.

Thanks again, Emma!

P.S. I actually missed the walk tonight, I believe I’ll have to create a new Christmas tradition and take walks every night in December to enjoy the lights!

 

The Amish bread adventure

Posted on by Alicia Marinache

A week ago we received a bag with some batter in it, along with some (curious) instructions. After following each day’s steps (most of them consisting of ‘squeeze the bag; put it back on the counter’) today was marked as ‘Today is THE DAY’. A well-known ‘secret’ about me is that I can cook, but I am a lousy baker – and the reason? I hate following instructions (my cooking goes something like this: look through the fridge and pantry and figure out what ingredients I have; gather some that I believe will go well together; add things to the pan and when it smells right stop… one of the reasons I won’t be able to make the same dish twice, even if I want ).

This being said – that’s what ‘THE DAY’ became:

William: Mommy, it says ‘This is THE DAY’

Me: Yup

William: We need to follow the instructions

Me: Yup

William: When are we going to make the bread, mommy?

Me: As soon as I’m done here

… and the ‘soon’ is suddenly 8 PM, which, coincidentally is the child’s bedtime. No problem, how long could it take to mix some ingredients and pour them in the pan (for reference, I did read the instructions earlier in the day, to make sure I have everything… ).

Me: OK, William, read the instructions.

The child obeys and reads out loud: add one cup each of flour, sugar, and milk… oops… where is our milk? Ask grandma – answer: err… I gave it to William earlier… No panic, we can hop in the car, and in 15 minutes we’ll be back home, right? Wrong – it’s one of the very few evenings when I drank a glass of wine before William’s bedtime… can we use soy milk instead? I don’t think so. The powder one? I’d rather not.

Luckily for all involved – tomorrow is PA day, so no need to wake up too early – William and I got dressed quickly and decided to walk to the corner store. The advantage? the neighborhood is beautifully lit and we get into Christmas spirit and start singing carols all the way. About 40 minutes later we are back home – with the above-mentioned milk and with extremely bright spirits – there’s nothing like a fresh evening walk admiring beautiful Christmas displays and listening to yourself caroling on top of your lungs.

Back to our baking: we add the cups and mix. Next step? Pour one cup batter in 4 Ziploc bags. Guess what? No, I do have bags, lots, but not the 12 X 12… they are on the list… No problem, I found a few replacements.

Could anything else go wrong? As it’s about me cooking – yes, lots… in this case – we follow the instructions nicely to the very last one… add 2 packages of vanilla pudding… oh… I knew I forgot something! Of course, I have pudding in the house – but not vanilla… we don’t eat vanilla, we are chocolate people. Did I mention this is cinnamon bread?! I am trying to figure what kind of bread will become and I decide, whatever happens, happens – splash 2 chocolate puddings in it… next time we’ll try the lime ones!

Finally – the batter is on the stove and the child is licking the bowl, at least the uncooked mix is yummy considering I lost him completely inside the bowl…

I’ll let you know how the Amish bread tastes with lots of chocolate – until then William has decided that no matter the taste, this is what we should make for Christmas Eve dinner. I believe he had too much fun adding and mixing the ingredients.

Thank you, Emma!

Now we have only to find 3 people to give the new batter – one we’ll keep