The image of old farts and young kids is not something that is seen a lot in this day and age.
Especially not with firearms in one’s hand. The Keremeos-Cawston Sportsmen Association has the unique advantage of being very familiar with it. You see, we have a gruff, no nonsense, eighty six year old man that loves to teach young kids how to safely handle and shoot firearms. This member’s name is Jack Broderick .
Just like most rural kids in the early to mid 1900’s, Jack grew up hunting and shooting whatever and whenever he was allowed to. He didn’t start to shoot formally until about the age of forty five when he joined the then Princeton Rifle and Revolver Club, his children already being members.
Jack shot competitively for ten to twelve years during which time he became a member of the British Columbia Rifle Team. He went to the Canadian National Senior Championship in 1980 where he won gold in the expert classification in three position small bore shooting as a fifty five year old.
While a resident of Princeton, Jack coached the air cadets in small bore shooting. He coached Paulette Boyd, who later went on to be the Canadian Junior Sport Rifle Champion.
In 1993, Jack moved to the South Similkameen where he joined the Keremeos-Cawston Sportsmen Association. In 2000, K-CSA began an indoor youth twenty two shooting program. He felt that the K-CSA was offering a unique opportunity by supplying firearms and ammunition to the kids, so Jack jumped at the chance to coach them. They ranged in age from eight to eighteen, with skill levels from non-existent to full of bad habits. The kids quickly learned how to shoot, the proper way. With Jack’s skill as an instructor, Jamie Kavorik, a junior club member, won gold at the B.C. Summer Games. The following year Jamie won gold at the Provincials. Jennifer Pinch, another junior member, qualified at the Canadian championships for cadets to go to Bisley, England and shoot a big bore rifle.
While Jack prefers to teach girls because “they listen,” he has instructed over fifty different kids (and numerous adults) from Keremeos and surrounding area. They have all learned the safe handling of firearms and proper positioning, whether it be prone, kneeling, or standing. They also learn mental discipline, because if you are not concentrating and doing it proper, he lets you know. It takes a lot of self discipline and commitment to become a competitive shooter. While Jack has both these traits, and will spend the time with any youth willing to commit, he just enjoys coaching, and gets most of his satisfaction from seeing the improvement in kids’ firearm ability. His motto is simply, “Keep it safe and have fun.”
The Keremeos-Cawston Sportsmen Association is truly honored to have Jack Broderick as an active member within our club. There are many parents and youth in the valley that feel the same way.