The Robinson Rifle team competes in the Potomac High School Rifle League, an association of high school rifle teams in the Washington Metro area. The team is open to all high school students. Team members may elect to shoot smallbore (.22 cal), or precision air rifle, or both.
Rifle is a Winter Sport at Robinson, with the season running from November to the end of March. Training for each season begins in September, but competitive opportunities are available for individual rifle team members year-round.
The rifle team has been very successful, having a 24 year smallbore won-loss record, 249 wins to 26 losses; and a fouryear air rifle record of 17 wins to 4 losses. Rifle is a coed sport, with both boys and girls excelling equally in high school varsity rifle competition. The Rifle Team has been Washington Metro High School Champions TWENTY FOUR of the past THIRTY THREE years, the High School State Champions 10 times, the High School National Champions 4 times and the Overall National Champions 2 times. Team members who participate actively and achieve a minimum match score of 250 of 300 points during the season are awarded the Robinson athletic letter.
Riflery is an NCAA collegiate sport. A number of colleges provide athletic scholarship support for rifle shooters. Many Robinson Rifle Team graduates have gone on to shoot in college, including West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy. Rifle is a major international and Olympic sport. Robinson graduates have gone on to compete in the Olympics and as members of the U.S. Shooting Team in both national and international competition, and our graduates have won collegiate All-American honors and medals in international competition for the United States.
Team members purchase their own target rifles and equipment, an outlay of several hundred dollars, depending on the equipment being acquired. Please do not buy any equipment until you have attended our Open House and/or several practices. We want to make certain that you want to be a part of Rifle before you purchase any equipment. After you have decided to join the team the coaches will provide detailed information about buying rifles and equipment.
The team conducts three position smallbore rifle practices on Saturday mornings at the National Rifle Association Range at that organization’s headquarters at 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA, from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Additionally, we practice three position and international air rifle at the Izaak Walton League in Centerville, Wednesday afternoons beginning at 3:00 p.m.
An informational meeting is held at Robinson at the beginning of each school year. Coaches and team members will discuss the Rifle program and answer your questions. If this meeting conflicts with another activity that you must attend, such as football practice, drop by at the beginning of the rifle meeting and sign an attendance sheet indicating that you continue to be interested in rifle. We will let you know about the briefing meetings at the range.
After this meeting, those still interested in rifle, and their parents, are invited to an Open House/Orientation/Team practice at the NRA Range, for safety instruction, shooting a rifle, and more information about the team.