I wasn’t going to get a D1 scholarship, but back in high school I was considered a fairly respectable basketball player. As a kid, my dad used to encourage us to run up and down the road bouncing the basketball as we went. He said if we could handle the ball on gravel (we had a mile-long gravel driveway), then surely we’d be able to handle the ball on the flat, obstruction free basketball court.
I thought the man was losing his marbles. Seemed like a silly, if not nearly impossible thing to do. After giving it much thought, and a bit of practice, I came to understand the wisdom. He knew that in order to be good at something you had to put in the work, sometimes ridiculously hard work, to get there. He never forced us to play basketball, but he and mom always said we could be good, as long as we didn’t just dream about great results, but put in the time needed on the journey to get there.
We didn’t have a lot back then. But my parents always seemed to find the money to send me to basketball camps, though it probably meant some other really important need didn’t get fulfilled. I understand now they did it because they saw the hard work, the effort, the desire I had. They honored that work by saving their pennies to help me get even better. I didn’t go on to play basketball in college or beyond, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons from being involved and of course a lot of valuable insight from my parents about the importance of hard work. Not to mention having a load of fun doing it.
The media, society, tells us the destination is the goal. And on one hand, I get it. It’s exciting running from one big dream to the next, speeding around trying to make everyone happy and fulfill someone else’s version of the perfect life. Chaos breeds chaos though, and it leaves you breathless when you arrive, at wherever it is you’ve gotten.
You’ve accomplished something, but have no idea how. And you’ve missed out on all the lessons you should have learned along the way. You’ve bypassed the stories, the love, laughter, joy and yes, sometimes heartache that happens on the journey, because you’re obsessed with simply getting to the next destination.
It’s in the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the unexpected bump or even the fork in the road where you foster fulfillment and peace. On the path is where you learn patience and resilience, to hone your purpose and mission. It’s where you understand that stones, sand and grit are not a bad thing, they’re making you better.
At NASGW, we’ve been dreaming big for over a decade now. And for these past 10 years we’ve been taking steps along the path to get things right with industry data. We’ve been bouncing the ball along the gravel road and every once in a while the rocks make it challenging to keep going.
But we’ve learned about perseverance, and in it, we’ve gotten a lot better. We’ve been implementing a lot of upgrades to the platform over the holidays and into the early part of this year, while other improvements are still in process. We’re streamlining and automating the SCOPE system. It’s going to make it much easier for us to start making data available in many other categories and industry verticals. The trip to deliver on the SCOPE initiative wasn’t always “sunshine and daisies,” but everything on this adventure has taught us valuable lessons, which now allows us the chance to make it even more relevant to all our members in 2025 and beyond.
To coincide, we’re going to go back down a path NASGW tried to venture in the early 2000’s. We didn’t finish the trip back then, but we’re confident this time around we’re much more prepared.
For too many years it’s been hard to find accurate, thorough, and robust product information and photographs in our industry. There’s no single catalog source to turn to. The amount of duplication and repetition taking place is costing a lot of companies a lot of money and creating an inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate representation of products.
It doesn’t need to be this way, other industries have created powerful and thriving platforms, and we’re setting out to fix it in the shooting sports arena. We’ve got the leadership of a strong and dedicated board of directors, a staff that reaches ever higher in accomplishing big things. And over the next few weeks and months you’re going to be hearing a lot more about this program.
Buckle up, it’s going to be another incredible venture for NASGW and our industry. I want to invite you to join us on this journey. It’s going to be epic.
Until next time,
Kenyon Gleason
NASGW President