Daisy Outdoor Products regretfully announced today that the 54th Annual Daisy National BB Gun & Air Rifle Championship Match (Daisy Nationals) scheduled for July 2-6 has been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 virus.
This youth shooting match awards National Championships on the Team and Individual level, according to a Daisy news release.
“This was not a decision we made lightly,” said Daisy President and CEO Keith Higginbotham. “The Daisy Nationals always has been about the kids, and we held out as long as we could before cancelling. In the end, with the restrictions placed on public gatherings there was just no way we could hold it this year.”
The Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match brings seven-member teams of youth ages 8 to 15 together each year in Rogers, Ark., for the most prestigious BB gun match in the country. This 5-meter, four-position shooting match attracts teams from as far away as Oregon.
Shooting teams qualify for the Daisy Nationals by placing first, second or third in their state shooting match, which typically occur in the first four months of the year. While a few teams did qualify before COVID-19 restrictions prevented public gatherings, many did not. Daisy officials still held out hope that the match could be held for the lucky teams that had the opportunity to qualify, but the reopening restrictions recently announced simply prevent it.
“Please know that the safety of everyone is our most important concern,” Higginbotham said. “You have my word that we will resume the competition and that Daisy is committed to teaching young people the shooting sports.”
Daisy Nationals competitors shoot four positions, Standing, Sitting, Kneeling and Prone, and take a gun safety and competition rules test prior to shooting. The score on the test makes up 20 percent of each competitor’s final score. This year Daisy brought back the 10-meter Air Rifle match, which would have involved the older youth – often those competitors who aged out of the BB Championship and are competing at the next level of shooting sports.
“We feel for all the kids who worked so hard to qualify,” Higginbotham said. “We look forward to seeing everyone at the Daisy National BB Gun & Air Rifle Championship Match in 2021.”
