The Sporting Club at The Farm offers opportunities for youth, education on gun safety
Nov. 5—The Sporting Club at The Farm is beautiful, full of paths, creeks and trees, but that's not even the best thing about it.
Owner Bobby Brooks, who grew up with ties to this land, wants to help the people of Southern Indiana enjoy it along with him.
Brooks, a decorated rodeo competitor and competitive shooter, is bringing access to shooting sports to people all across the region, all on the land where he learned to fish growing up.
"It was something that I probably took for granted, but looking back now, I loved it," he said. "I grew up an avid outdoorsman, fishing, hunting and shooting. That's why, opportunities to be in the outdoors growing up, you don't think nothing of it. It's the norm."
Brooks knows it's a little bit harder for people to enjoy the outdoors these days, but that's where The Farm comes in.
The 740-acre property, which nearly straddles the Floyd County and Harrison County dividing line, boasts miles of hiking trails, lakes and wooded areas. People are able to come to The Farm to shoot clays, go fishing or take a hike. Guests can also plan events, like weddings, to be hosted on the sprawling property.
Still, some of the best things about The Farm are what Brooks brings to the table as a shooting instructor, focused on safety and providing opportunities for youth in the region to take part in a unique sport.
Brooks is a Southern Indiana cowboy, whose interest in rodeo started as a child, because his father owned horses in Floyd County. He graduated from Floyd Central High School in 1989, and went to a junior college in Kansas after receiving a scholarship for his achievements in rodeo events.
"I went to college on a rodeo scholarship," he said. "So, I rode bucking horses and did steer wrestling and team roping. Rodeoing took me across the country. I was a real cowboy."
After his time in Kansas, Brooks then went to school in Tennessee and eventually settled in the Franklin area, where he managed property.
His love for rodeo stuck with him and took on a new life when he discovered competitive shooting.
"I am very competitive," he said. "When I retired from rodeo, I started being a competitive shooter."
Brooks took his shooting skills nationwide, participating in national events in San Antonio, Texas, and regional shooting events as well.
In 2018 he decided it was time to come back home and show everyone in Southern Indiana what he learned.
"I could've started a club in Tennessee, with this property being where this is at, I wanted to come home and introduce it to our community and the kids in our community where I grew up," he said. "Now I'm coaching kids where I grew up with their parents."
Coaching comes naturally for Brooks, who takes a safety-first approach with all of his students. That means the protective eye and ear gear are on before the gun gets into someone's hands. When it's time to hold the gun, it's not loaded.
Brooks works with first timers on how to properly hold a firearm and then on how to aim it. He instructs people on when to pull the trigger once it's loaded and celebrates along with them the first time they successfully shoot a sporting clay.
Competitive shooting is a sport that teaches kids about more than just gun safety. Brooks said it's a confidence booster for kids who aren't traditionally athletic.
"All of our kids are not quarterbacks or pitchers. Our kids aren't all volleyball players," Brooks said. "The majority of kids don't have that participation in sports. Those athletes are the few and they get all the attention and all the money and the stuff that goes along with being an athlete. Well, this sport, you don't have to be six-feet tall and bench press 250 pounds. You don't have to run real fast. Anybody can do this sport."
As a sports club owner, Brooks is also able to tap into state and national organizations that focus on bringing shooting sports opportunities to local kids.
"All of our kids are considered, and we refer to them, as shooting athletes," Brooks said. "The opportunity for this sport is incredible, really. With USA Shooting and the Indiana Youth Shooting Sports Foundation and Midway USA, these organizations really help fund shooting for the youth in our state and country. Without these organizations, this is not affordable for a lot of kids."
Participating in the shooting sports teaches invaluable life lessons, too, he said, which kids can use later on in life.
"My coaches, I just thought they were teaching me one specific thing," Brooks said. "Later on in life I utilize things my coaches helped me learn and apply toward rodeo at the time, I apply every day now in parenting and my marriage and my work ethic. At the time, I thought just about what the coach was teaching me. Now, I try to pass that along to my kids, being ethical. Doing the right thing. Making the right call."
