SPARTA, Illinois—Chase Dobrinski of Silver City, NM, has been selected to the 2026 Sub-Junior (under the age of 15) All-American trapshooting first team, according to the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA), which determines the teams. More than 100 years old, trapshooting is a competitive sport of shooting at clay targets with a shotgun.
The ATA hosts both the Grand American (the 11-day world tournament which in August drew more than 4,000 contestants to the World Shooting & Recreational Complex, in Sparta, Ill.) and a series of "Satellite" Grands (smaller, regional tournaments providing Grand American-style trophies and competition). The association also sponsors five zone shoots.
To be considered for the All-American team, Dobrinski had to meet a minimum target requirement, and he had to have competed in at least three states. Selection was made based on All-American points accumulated while winning trophies and posting high scores at tournaments throughout the country during the 2025 ATA target year.
Dobrinksi's excellent performance at the Autumn Grand earned him 10 trophies, including top sub-junior honors in the championship singles, doubles, HAA, and HOA. He garnered six awards at the Spring Grand, with the highlight being the category HOA title. He continued his success at the Arizona State Shoot, pocketing 13 trophies over the course of the week.
At his New Mexico State Shoot, Dobrinski had an exceptional week, netting 11 awards including the state singles and HAA championships over the field. He also topped resident shooters in the High-Over-All standings for the tournament. He went on to compete at the Texas and Oklahoma state shoots and continued to rack up wins and All-American points. In AIM Grand competition, he took sub-junior third place awards in the feature singles and doubles events and topped his category in all-around standings with 393x400. The following week at the Grand American, he registered his career 25,000th singles target during the Sterling Cut Glass Singles, and won the top sub-junior prize with a perfect score. In the Fiocchi Singles event, he carded another century and won third place honors in his category.
He works for Gray's Shotgun Cache at many of the tournaments he attends.
Outside of trapshooting, he enjoys hunting and fishing, playing volleyball and basketball at his school, Calvary Christian Academy, and crafting custom knives.
Established in 1923, the ATA promotes and governs the sport of trapshooting, primarily in the United States and Canada. In the 2025 target year more than 30,000 members participated in the sport, competing in one or more of the 6,000-plus sanctioned tournaments (shoots registered by the ATA organization) on the local, regional, state, zone and world championship levels.
Trapshooters fire at clay targets (approximately 4-1/4 inches in diameter and 1-1/8 inch in height) launched at varying angles. In singles events, all entrants stand at the 16-yard line and fire at one target at a time; in handicap, participants are assigned a yardage from 18 to 27 yards (according to averages and known ability) and fire at one target at a time; in doubles, two targets are released at the same time and each contestant, standing at the 16-yard line, is allowed one shot for each.
Trapshooting celebrities have included Annie Oakley, John Philip Sousa, Roy Rogers and Robert Hight, retired American NHRA champion drag racer. The sport's stats and records are chronicled and maintained by Trap & Field, the official magazine of the ATA.
If you are interested in trying trapshooting, please call the ATA at 618-449-2224 Ext. 136 or visit the association's website www.shootata.com to find a local club near you. The ATA was headquartered in Vandalia, Ohio, for 82 years and in 2012 relocated offices to Sparta, Ill.
