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AMERICUS – Southland Academy senior Grady Young signed a scholarship to compete in Clay Targets at Emmanuel University, an NCAA Division 2 school in Franklin Springs, GA.

The signing took place on Friday in the lobby of the Melvin Kinslow Gymnasium in front of his teammates, family and friends.

Young will join two other former Southland Clay Targets shooters who are competing for Emmanuel: Jack Stapelton and Henry Johnson.

Young has been competing in Clay Targets since he was in sixth grade.

“I just kind of had an interest in shooting guns and hunting, so I felt like starting this,” Young said.

In a statement read to the crowd gathered, Young’s mother, Mandy Young, who is also one of the Southland coaches, said that her son has earned numerous medals and trophies for his efforts while competing in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and the National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA). “His goal in high school was always to make All-State and he got within four targets his junior year,” Coach Young said. “That all changed his senior year. He outright won two of the four regular season tournaments and began to set his sights higher than All-State and on to a possible individual state championship.” Coach Young went on to say that as parents, she and her husband were urging caution on the state championship goal.

“For you non-shotgun folks, just to let you know, being a good shotgun shooter in the state of Georgia historically means you are a good shotgun shooter nationally,” Coach Young said. “For the most part, Georgia is the leading state in shotgun shooting, especially in the game of Sporting Clays.” Coach Young went on to say that Grady Young led the Southland team to finish as the state runner up and realized his goal of winning the individual state championship.

According to Emmanuel Head Coach John Shealey, Grady Young is just the kind of person his program is looking for. “He’s already a very accomplished shooter so he will be able to help immediately,” Shealey said. “Grady will be the third young man we’ve signed out of Southland Academy.”

Young garnered some interest from Montreat College in North Carolina, but decided to sign with Emmanuel. “I love the coaches and I have a few friends who signed from Southland there already,” Young said.

As far as what he plans to major in, Young says he plans to major in Business Administration and after graduation, he would like to open up a shooting club one day.