Wall Teen Sharpshoots Way To World Championships in South Korea

SAN ANGELO, TX— As 13-year-old Braden Peiser sets his sights on his target down range, it becomes crystal clear what his passion is: shooting.

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Nearly three months ago, in April, Peiser went to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the National Junior Olympic Shooting Competition and broke the 14-and-under record in Three Position Rifle not once, but twice, en-route to an overall fourth place finish in that competition.

The gold medal for Peiser came in the Air Rifle competition at Colorado Springs, where Braden and his dad, Jeff, admit was the coolest place they’ve traveled for competition.

“We really enjoyed Colorado Springs,” Jeff Peiser said. “We shoot there several times a year.”

Because of his gold medal in Colorado Springs and finish at Fort Benning, Ga., Peiser earned a spot on the USA Shooting Team for the International Sport Shooting Federation World Championships in Changwon, South Korea from Aug. 31 until Sept. 15.

“I was very surprised,” Braden said of his qualification. “I’m very excited to represent my country...It means a lot, just having the opportunity.”

Peiser’s love for shooting started when he was five, hunting with his dad. That love transitioned from the field to the range as a part of the Tom Green County 4-H Club at the age of eight.

That love has created an unbreakable bond between the father-son duo, with Jeff coaching Braden.

[[{"fid":"42736","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Jeff Peiser (left) and son Braden (right) set up at their range. (LIVE! Photo/Sam Fowler)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"3":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Jeff Peiser (left) and son Braden (right) set up at their range. (LIVE! Photo/Sam Fowler)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"alt":"Jeff Peiser (left) and son Braden (right) set up at their range. (LIVE! Photo/Sam Fowler)","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"3"}}]]Above: Jeff Peiser (left) and son Braden (right) set up at their range. (LIVE! Photo/Sam Fowler)

“It’s kind of a dream situation for me...I get the opportunity to be his coach,” Jeff smiled. “We still get to spend that time together rather than sending him out to be coached by the baseball team or the football coach. It’s just the two of us, and my wife. Day in and day out, it’s just us practicing and us traveling. It’s a dream situation that we get to spend this much time together and actually enjoy hanging out with each other.”

Braden’s rise to this level of competition he’s at didn’t come without a learning curve. While Braden is soft-spoken and humble about it, his father noticed the extent which his son has grown in ability and maturity because of these matches.

“It’s been pretty amazing to see where he’s come from the first matches where neither one of us really knew what we were doing, trying to learn by watching everyone else,” Jeff said. “Then, today, in the high-pressure situations at these national competitions, he’s as cool as a cucumber like it’s no big deal. It’s been pretty neat to see that growth.”

With the long trips the family takes for these competitions, they have time to reflect on the past matches, but Jeff admits it’s not much time.

“Our general rule of thumb is, whether you win or lose, give yourself a day or two to either lick your wounds or celebrate. Then it’s in the past,” Jeff said. “Winning or losing has no effect on your next match.”

That shot-by-shot mentality has been integral to Braden’s growth.

“After you take a shot, you don’t think ‘that was a bad shot’ or ‘that was a great shot.’ Once you shoot, you see the results and you forget about it,” Jeff added.

But that growth should also be attributed to family’s support of the 8th grader-to-be’s passion.

Braden, like most boys in Texas, grew up playing sports. On the family’s plot of land south of San Angelo, the Peiser’s built a batting cage for their son who also showed a passion for baseball. Once they realized Braden’s true passion was shooting, the batting cage got a makeover to become an indoor shooting range.

Members of the Tom Green County 4-H Club currently use a public range and Jeff Peiser says the club is in need of funding for their own range.

The Air Rifle competition at the World Championships in South Korea happens after the start of the new school year.

“He’ll be in school a couple of days and then will be gone for almost two weeks,” Jeff laughed before adding he and his wife will join their son in Korea. “We wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Braden will be competing in the prone air rifle competition, meaning he will be laying down, which Braden says is the simplest of the disciplines.