What the ATA Is
The Amateur Trapshooting Association has been the governing body of competitive trap shooting in North America since 1900. Over 80,000 registered members. Thousands of sanctioned events every year. The largest shooting sports facility in the world — the ATA complex in Sparta, Illinois — is their headquarters and the annual home of the Grand American World Trapshooting Championship.
The ATA doesn't just run events. It maintains the permanent shooting record of every registered member in the country. Every registered target you shoot, for the rest of your shooting career, goes into that record. Your scores, your classification, your yardage, your milestones — all of it tracked, all of it real.
That's not a small thing. It's the backbone of what makes competitive trapshooting meaningful.
Registered vs. Practice: What's the Difference?
When you show up at your local gun club on a Tuesday afternoon and shoot a few rounds, that's practice. Fun. Valuable. Doesn't count for anything officially.
A registered shoot is different. It's an ATA-sanctioned event where your scores are officially recorded and submitted. They count toward your classification. They count toward your yardage. They make you eligible for awards. They go in your permanent record.
Registered shoots range from small one-day local events at a club to massive multi-day championships. The Nevada State Shoot — hosted by the NSTA — is one of the premier state championship events in the ATA, drawing hundreds of competitors. But your first registered shoot might be 50 people at a gun club on a Saturday morning. That counts just the same.
To shoot registered targets, you need an ATA membership. It's affordable and gives you access to everything the competitive structure has to offer.
The Classification System — and Why It Matters
Here's the thing about trap shooting that makes it uniquely fair: you don't compete against shooters who are much better than you. You compete against shooters at your level. That's the classification system, and it's one of the best ideas in competitive sports.
ATA classifications run from Class E (new competitors) through Class D, C, B, A, and AA at the top. Your class is calculated automatically by the ATA based on your registered shooting percentage over time. You can't negotiate it, lobby for it, or game it. Your scores determine your class. Full stop.
Within every registered shoot, competitors are grouped by class and compete for class awards. A Class D shooter who posts a personal best has a real chance at legitimate hardware — against other Class D shooters. Meanwhile the AA shooters are duking it out at the top of the board. Both are real competitions. Both matter.
As your shooting improves, your class moves up automatically. That promotion is earned — and it's recognized. Moving from C to B, or B to A, or A to AA is a meaningful milestone in a competitor's career.
Age and gender categories add another layer of equity. Sub-Junior, Junior, Senior, Veteran, Super Veteran, and Lady designations mean that an 18-year-old and a 72-year-old can both be genuinely competing to win — just not always against each other.
The Three Disciplines
ATA competition isn't one event. It's three, each with its own challenge and its own community:
- 16-Yard Singles. Everyone starts here. All shooters fire from 16 yards behind the trap house at a single target. This is the foundational event — where classification is primarily built and where the sport's core skills are developed.
- Handicap. The prestige event. Shooters are assigned a yardage between 18 and 27 yards based on their ability. Better shooters shoot from farther back. Reaching the 27-yard line — "the back fence" — is a career milestone. Winning a major handicap event is what people talk about for years.
- Doubles. Two targets launched simultaneously. Break both. Fast, athletic, punishing of hesitation — and wildly satisfying when you're on.
Many registered shoots include all three. Shooters who pursue excellence across all disciplines chase the All-Around — an aggregate award combining scores from all three events. The All-Around champion of a major shoot is as complete a competitor as the sport produces.
How Awards Work
Registered shoots award trophies, pins, and merchandise — sometimes cash — to class winners and high-overall performers. Many shoots also run a Lewis Class system, which divides the entire field by score into groups and awards proportionally. The Lewis gives every shooter a legitimate shot at coming home with something, regardless of where they finished in their class.
Beyond individual shoot awards, the ATA tracks shooting milestones. Your first 100-straight in a registered event. Your 200-straight. Notable achievements get formal recognition, and within the trapshooting community, people know what those numbers mean. There's always a next milestone to chase.
State Associations: Where Most Competitive Shooting Happens
The ATA operates through state associations, and those associations are where most registered shooting actually takes place. The Nevada State Trapshooters Association (NSTA) manages competition in Nevada, runs the Nevada State Shoot, and connects Nevada's competitive shooters to the broader ATA community.
Joining the NSTA alongside your ATA membership gives you access to state-level awards and championships, state team eligibility, and a community of fellow Nevada shooters. It also puts you in the mix for the Nevada State Shoot — which has grown into one of the top state championship events in the entire ATA.
How to Start Competing
Join the ATA. Join the NSTA. Find a registered shoot. Show up.
Your first registered shoot will enter you at a beginner classification. From there, your scores do all the work. The system will place you exactly where your shooting belongs.
What you'll discover is that competition changes how you shoot — even in practice. When scores matter, attention sharpens. The target you might wave off casually in a recreational round suddenly demands your full focus. That edge is what competitive shooters are chasing every time they step on the line.
Most people who shoot one registered event shoot another. Then another. That's how it goes.