Heart BEAT

Dean Wass Is A Great FFA Volunteer Coach

Wass Donates His Time And Money To Help Waitsburg FFA Trap Team Members Learn To Shoot

WAITSBURG - For the Waitsburg FFA trap shoot- ing team, volunteer coach Dean Wass is a blessing.

FFA adviser Nicole Abel said she has many wonder- ful FFA volunteers who donate their time and some- times money to help out the chapter.

Wass stands out. He has been a volunteer with the chapter for five years, Abel said, and coaches trap shooting one day a week after school and going with the team to trap shooting competitions and events. Abel said he gives time every week to practice and six or seven Saturdays out of his year to attend events.

"He even takes time off work," Abel said.

Trap shooting is one of the oldest sports, according to stockdalegunclub.com.

"Trap shooting is a game of movement, action and split-second timing hellip;Trap shooters must have to re- peatedly point, pull the trigger, and break the target. The 4 and 5/16-inch discs are hurled through the air at speeds approaching 60 feet per second."

Trap shooting is even an Olympic sport.

There are about 15 stu- dents on the Waitsburg team and five traveled to the state competition this year, Abel said. The team finished in the middle of the pack, she said, out of 47 teams. The Waitsburg group practices at the Waits- burg Gun Club on Highway 12.

Wass works in Clarkston and lives in Waitsburg. He had competed a bit in trap shooting.

"He has just grown up shooting," Abel said. "And he really enjoys spending time with the kids."

Wass began volunteering as a coach for the Waits- burg trap team because his nephew, Trevor Van Drew, was on the team. Abel said Van Drew graduated in 2011 and Wass remains as a coach and continues volunteering.

Abel said Wass is a great coach, not only because he enjoys the sport, but also because he helps the team whenever possible. Wass brings extra shot guns and ammunition to practice for kids to use if they cannot af- ford to have their own.

"He's that dedicated to it," Abel said. "He is a wonder- ful volunteer because he has a passion for the shooting sports, and really enjoys helping the youth. FFA is an extracurricular activity fully supported by wonderful volunteers of our community like Dean."

Chris Brooks, who just graduated from Waitsburg High School in June, had been on the team with Wass for three years.

"He's a pretty good guy," Brooks said. "He's willing to help anybody."

Brooks said what stands out most to him about Wass is that Wass truly wants to see his team members improve in the sport. Brooks said Wass' tutelage has helped him improve his shot and made him a better shooter.

And in addition to being committed to the team and its members, Brooks said Wass brings a sense of hu- mor to practices.

"He's a jokester," he said.

Wass offers up bribes to the kids to encourage them to step up and give it all they've got. Brooks said he was working hard to improve to the next level and Wass offered him a $20 steak dinner to celebrate if he succeeded. Unfortunate- ly, Brooks never made it to the next skill level to take Wass up on that steak. No matter, Brooks said, he still learned a lot from Wass and said he was a great coach.

"He likes seeing kids do well and it's something he's interested in," Brooks said.

The trap team breaks for summer and will reconvene for the year of practice and competitions after the fair, Abel said.