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Grand View University is widely known for its athletics. GVU has a rich history in well-known sports like wrestling and football but there are many more GVU sports than that. The Vikings are represented in 27 different sports teams that people may not be aware of.   

Charlie Mundy founded GVU shooting sports in 2016. Since that year, GVU has earned many national titles and continues to perform well every year. In the past year, the team has grown, and so has the awareness around shooting sports. 

Mundy is the Head Coach of the GVU shooting sports team, and the reason GVU has collegiate shooting sports. When he was a professor at a community college, he started the first varsity shooting sports team. The difference between a varsity team and a club team is that varsity gets a budget from the school and can offer scholarships to students to be a part of the team. Mundy said there has been a lot of growth in shooting sports throughout his time as Head Coach.  

“The growth in the scores has been insane. You now have to have a squad shoot a 490 in trap to get podium. The women’s scores have also grown over the years, where woman will be shooting the same, if not better, than the men. You also see a lot of mixed squads of both men and women winning competitions,” Mundy said.   

Mundy has experienced political battles in his time coaching shooting sports. When he was trying to start the first team, the Sandy Hook shooting had just happened. This tragedy derailed his whole plan. Guns get attention for being dangerous or only used for violence. This reputation covers up the sporting side, where people use guns safely. 

“When people sit in front of the TV at night, what they see on the news is that guns are bad,” Mundy said. “To me, all I see it as is kids just trying to compete in what they are good at.” 

Mundy has continuously made impacts on the athletes he coaches.  

Cole Haynes is a GVU senior on the shooting sports team. In his first year, his team won the CAA (Classic All American). CAA is the combination of scores from the events trap, skeet and sporting. Over the years, Haynes thinks that the biggest way that the team has grown is by becoming more known on campus. Haynes has also experienced political difficulties as a sports shooter.   

“I have some people on the school side think it’s not the coolest thing ever,” Haynes said. “I think it’s just personal beliefs and that they just don’t understand the sport or that they don’t get the concept of it.” 

One of the biggest things people think about in shooting sports is safety. If Haynes could educate people on one thing about shooting sports, he would want everyone to better understand how important safety is.  

“I want people to know how much safety we go through. We don’t just give anyone a gun and go out to the range,” Haynes said. “We are safe, confident and know what we are doing, and we know the capabilities of the firearm we are using.”   

Every person who competes in the sport has had safety drilled into them since they started. Most people who compete in the sport come from a hunting background. Hunters implement many safety precautions to have a safe, successful time hunting.