Most collegiate student-athletes use field hockey sticks, golf clubs or basketballs to shoot their way to a national championship, but at the more than 40 schools nationwide that sponsor rifle, student-athletes are hitting that target with guns and live ammunition.

While it is easy to promote the more conventional sports, the negative stereotypes surrounding guns and the fact that rifle typically is not a fan-friendly sport make the sport a challenge for marketing departments.

Indeed, rifle must overcome many misconceptions -- but then it has done so for more than two decades.

This is perhaps the most common misconception about rifle. But few doubters would try to hit a 0.2 millimeter diameter dot from 50 feet, either.

That's what it takes to get a perfect 10 score in rifle's smallbore competition, but amazingly, that standard is being met more often. In fact, overall scores are approaching perfection at the collegiate level. The NCAA champion generally shoots a score of 394 or better, but on more than one occasion, Matt Emmons of the University of Alaska Fairbanks has fired a perfect 400 in air rifle competition, shooting a 0.5 millimeter dot 40 consecutive times.

"The guns themselves are a tool to accomplish a sport, just as a golf club and a golf ball are a means to play golf," said Harry Mullins, head rifle coach at the University of Kentucky.

The general public isn't educated on what competition rifle is. Further, since rifle receives little media coverage and is sponsored by only a few high schools, people link whatever exposure they've have had to guns or shooting to competitive rifle.

The concept of using a gun as a piece of sports equipment is a foreign concept to many. Throw in people's association of guns with crime and it's no wonder that rifle has a difficult time with its image.

"Any time something happens with handguns, it affects the sport in a negative way," Mullins said. "We lose a lot of ground when someone chooses to use a gun in a destructive way."

As a rule, competitive shooters are anything but aggressive, short-tempered individuals who just want to fire a weapon. Some even liken rifle with the martial arts.

"Rifle provides a wonderful opportunity to learn many life skills such as self-discipline, concentration, the ability to relax

under pressure, goal-setting, sportsmanship and teamwork," said Marsha Beasley, head rifle coach at West Virginia University.

Bill Kelly, head rifle coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, refutes that notion. While rifle athletes at Navy may have short-term career goals of military service, most of Kelly's former student-athletes are involved with finance and business.

Overall, few rifle competitors see their time spent in the sport as a precursor to their chosen profession. They instead use the precision and self-discipline skills for success in fields such as communications, business, engineering and medicine.

In other words, just shooting a rifle or being able to hunt doesn't necessarily translate into being a top collegiate rifle competitor. But the precision, strength and focus that rifle student-athletes need to be successful almost always translate into success in other fields.

Not so, according to Mullins. Rifle is allowed only 3.6 scholarships per team, and many teams are funded through student activity funds instead of through the athletics budget. Funding from the athletics department is not a requirement for NCAA sponsorship.

Growing the sport

Rifle advocates know that those and other misconceptions are tough to overcome, and they would like to see the sport enjoy greater acceptance and understanding in the public eye.

Starting any new athletics program is difficult, but Timothy Dillon, athletics director at Canisius College and chair of the NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Committee, said the cost effectiveness and gender-equity benefits of rifle make it an attractive program for schools to consider.

Since many rifle student-athletes own their equipment and nearly any space can be converted into a shooting range, the budget for a rifle program is considerably less than for other sports.

Title IX compliance also is an incentive for programs to add rifle, which is a coed sport and thus boosts women's participation numbers.

When Birmingham-Southern College made the transition to Division I, it had the daunting task of adding more athletics programs to fulfill NCAA requirements. Administrators compared the benefits of rifle with those of women's softball and men's and women's golf, other programs added in the previous year. And when current head rifle coach Randy Youngblood, who also is chief of campus police, demonstrated the sport at an administrators' retreat, the sport was welcomed.

"When you see guns in an academic setting, you realize a gun used for sport and a gun used as a weapon are two very different things," Youngblood said.

Rifle competitions are not conducive to spectators, who are left watching for a shot from 50 yards away and must view competition that may last for more than five hours. The facilities also tend to be unique. Last year's national championships were conducted in a hotel ballroom. Targets that are difficult to see and detailed scoring add to the list of spectator challenges.

Dillon said in the future, the rifle committee will explore various scoring methods that provide the instant gratification fans enjoy with other athletics events.

"Fast-paced Americans are used to slamming a basketball and seeing the score change, but rifle scoring takes time and patience," said Dillon.

Mullins believes the more people become accustomed to the sport and its nuances, the more they will latch on to its appeal.

"Currently, rifle is not a spectator-friendly sport," he said, "but when people become more educated and when the facilities become available that promote fans, the popularity will grow."