Becky Noble’s mission: Grow women’s participation in Para trap

USA’s Becky Noble wants to see more women competing alongside her in Para trap. A four-time World Championships competitor, she discovered the sport after a meeting with Canadian Olympian Susan Nattrass, who explained to her that trap shooting rules and regulations were being adapted for Para athletes.  

Noble then went on to meet her mentor, Greg Johnson, who coached her in Para trap, giving her the confidence she needed to attend her first tournament. 

Growing up Becky always had a love for hunting and the outdoors. She would constantly be out in the fields with her dad and brother. She believes that led to her passion of Para trap.  

“The best part about hunting was pulling the trigger. Para trap gives me an opportunity to pull the trigger more often. I love the power of the firearm, I love the precision it takes to hit the target, I just love playing the sport. I dream about hitting targets and winning medals,” Noble said.   

She routinely posts on social media about Para trap which has led to females from across the US and the world reach out to her online and in-person at tournaments. She recognises that by continuing her online presence and being available to talk to other athletes it will help “drive more females to the sport.”  

 “I would love to see and meet other women in wheelchairs who love shooting sports,” she added.  

Noble is always on the lookout for them and has also noted that coaches around the world are being more proactive in recruiting females to the game. 

She stated that more needs to be done to make people aware and educate people about Para Sport, explaining how they can get involved and who they can contact. However, she knows this is easer said than done.  

“When I go around in the community, I find that I’m the only one in a wheelchair. It takes a while to find other people with disabilities because some are not as active in their communities.”  

She also understands that it takes time for people to come to terms with their disability, “their new normal”, as Noble describes it: hence why it may take them longer to discover Para Sport. She hopes that being an active voice in the community will encourage other people with disabilities to take up Para trap. 

Para trap family

The camaraderie within Para trap is something that Noble loves, despite it being a competitive sport. 

“[When athletes watch others play] it doesn’t matter what country you’re from, you’re all there, shooting together, cheering each other on, sharing tips and tricks because we are trying to move this sport forward.” 

At the moment she hopes she will be attending the Para Trap World Championships in Brno, Czechia in July – which would be her fifth since Lonato de Garda 2018 in Italy. Before that, there will be the Hillsdale World Cup on home soil in June.

Congrats to the Women's Trap medalists at the 2024 Para Trap World Cup at Hillsdale College!
🥇Sophia Bultema 🥈 Becky Noble pic.twitter.com/lasPPRMKZT

— USA Shooting (@USAShooting) June 29, 2024

Her training routine has been a challenging one. Noble has to travel to Nebraska to practice, 8 hours away from her home in South Dakota. She usually travels there after work on a Friday, shoots all day Saturday and Sunday morning and then drives back Sunday to be ready for her full-time job. Right now, Becky is a self-funded athlete and has to bear that in mind when choosing the tournaments she goes to compete in. She also highlighted the difficulties that come alongside travelling as a wheelchair user.  

Currently, her local community in Rapid City is building a range that will include long range and international trap bunkers, it is scheduled to open within six months. This would make her training schedule easier and give her the time to train and be ready to compete in more events as its only 15 miles from her home.  

Noble aspires to meet young people with disabilities so that she can help further grow her discipline. She already has experience, coaching American trap to a group of non-disabled high school students in her local area. She hopes the introduction of a new facility will help increase Para trap participation. 

Para trap is not part of the Paralympic Games programme yet, but she hopes it will be in the future. 

“When I started this, I said to myself: I need to be on that stage.”