The 2023 Tactical Games season is off to the races this year. With a stacked calendar, new mainstream interest, and an incredible growth trajectory, the sport is poised for its biggest year yet. We caught up with the traveling elite roadshow late last year at the 2022 National Championships. The event took place at the Texas Shooting Academy in Florence, TX on a blustery weekend that’s par for the course in Central Texas.
The 2023 Tactical Games season is off to the races this year. With a stacked calendar, new mainstream interest, and an incredible growth trajectory, the sport is poised for its biggest year yet. We caught up with the traveling elite roadshow late last year at the 2022 National Championships. The event took place at the Texas Shooting Academy in Florence, TX on a blustery weekend that’s par for the course in Central Texas.
The sport’s exponential growth was on full display, with a long row of vendors and a ton of spectators in attendance to watch some of the competition. The Tactical Games has grown into a robust calendar of 12 events taking place at ranges and training areas all over the country with the support of a lot of big firearms industry brands. Culminating with the National Championships, 195 athletes made the trip to showcase their skills in a wide range of events in different classes designed with balanced competition in mind. We caught up with Magpul sponsored athletes Callerina Key and Sal Hernandez to see how they got their start and have ended up as leaders in the sport.
The sport’s exponential growth was on full display, with a long row of vendors and a ton of spectators in attendance to watch some of the competition. The Tactical Games has grown into a robust calendar of 12 events taking place at ranges and training areas all over the country with the support of a lot of big firearms industry brands. Culminating with the National Championships, 195 athletes made the trip to showcase their skills in a wide range of events in different classes designed with balanced competition in mind. We caught up with Magpul sponsored athletes Callerina Key and Sal Hernandez to see how they got their start and have ended up as leaders in the sport.
The stage layouts are kept a secret until the day of the event, so athletes are all on the same page and are forced to improvise and adapt. The stages are designed to push the competitor’s heart rate into the red zone with movement and weight, followed up with shots on paper that need to be accurate and follow a specific course of fire. Athletes come from all walks of life and seem to be split down the middle between those who were competitive shooters first, and the men and women who are new to shooting and entered the sport through CrossFit and other similar physical disciplines.
The stage layouts are kept a secret until the day of the event, so athletes are all on the same page and are forced to improvise and adapt. The stages are designed to push the competitor’s heart rate into the red zone with movement and weight, followed up with shots on paper that need to be accurate and follow a specific course of fire. Athletes come from all walks of life and seem to be split down the middle between those who were competitive shooters first, and the men and women who are new to shooting and entered the sport through CrossFit and other similar physical disciplines.
This dichotomy between skillsets leads to some superb competition that is flat-out fun to watch. As the sport grows momentum, there’s new interest coming from everywhere, with many more traditional athletes starting to join the series. As these elite athletes get more rounds downrange and catch up to the more “traditional” shooter, we will see the sport change and the competition become even fiercer as the accuracy advantage is cut down. These are still early days for this fast-growing sport and we’re excited to see where it goes…and to sponsor The Tactical Games in 2023!
This dichotomy between skillsets leads to some superb competition that is flat-out fun to watch. As the sport grows momentum, there’s new interest coming from everywhere, with many more traditional athletes starting to join the series. As these elite athletes get more rounds downrange and catch up to the more “traditional” shooter, we will see the sport change and the competition become even fiercer as the accuracy advantage is cut down. These are still early days for this fast-growing sport and we’re excited to see where it goes…and to sponsor The Tactical Games in 2023!
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