Hodges readies for the Junior Olympic Team

Hodges

Only 10 shooters in the nation are selected for the Junior Olympic team, among those 10 is Taylor Hodges of Bullard.

Taylor was invited to shoot in the Olympic Championship shoot in 2005 and 2006.

"I thought I might have to work another year or two to make the team." Hodges said, "I feel really blessed."

Seventeen-year-old Hodges has been shooting competitively for five years already in 4-H.

Hodges is now preparing for the Olympic games with the help of his coach Jim Reay.

Reay has taught Hoadges to be successful while shooting American skeet and is now preparing him for the International competition. International skeet differs from American in three main ways, the clay target may have up to a three second delay, the gun is not mounted prior to shooting and the skeet flies near 60 miles per hour which is 20 miles per hour faster than American.

The transition from American skeet to International is a slow one though Hodges is working toward his goal of representing the USA in England at the 2012 Olympic games.

Hodges will also be shooting in four national tournaments this year.