World Helice Championship and Grand Prix of Italy

While I have participated in several international sporting events such as multiple World English and World FITASC, as well as a World Columbaire championship, all of these events have occurred in the United States. The 2025 World Helice Championship and Grand Prix of Italy was my first outside of this country. An experience every shooter must at some point enjoy.

With some excellent guidance from the folks at the United States Helice Association (USHA), the process was quite simple. Members of the organization who have traveled extensively to events like this communicated every piece of vital information from importation of my target gun to hotels and other important pointers for traveling to this venue. Frankly, the process was simple with their help. Links to the forms and documentation along with excellent step-by-step instructions including what to do and what not to do.

The host club was A.S.D. Tiro a Volo Ghedi, a dedicated Helice shooting club with six rings, a wonderful clubhouse and restaurant in the small town of Ghedi, Province of Brescia. This countryside village was about an hour and a half from Malpensa Airport in Milan, roughly 30 minutes outside of Brescia proper, after an eight-hour flight from Newark. The Italian authorities at the airport were great to deal with and the process was quite smooth with all the practice they had with perhaps the largest American delegation of shooters over descending on Italy for this event. 44 Americans made the trip to represent the stars and stripes and making up 13 percent of the total entries. In fact, the sheer amount of American entries alone required expansion of the shoot format to accommodate the entire field of shooters, along with a special tent reserved just for the United States team. It was an epic showing for our country and a great opportunity to highlight the talented shooters within the USHA.

Grand Prix of Italy

The Grand Prix was the first FITASC event to take place in the days leading up to the World Championship. Some American shooters were in country to compete, but some were still enroute. Nevertheless, the Americans made their presence known early. While Tom Gridley posted the lone perfect 20x20 to take the top spot, and eight-way tie for second on 19s prompted a shoot-off to settle placements. Two Americans, Dino Manuel and Justin Wright would participate in this tiebreaker in the Open class. Dino would outlast the other seven shooters to earn the second-place spot on the podium dropping an additional 12 witness caps into the ring, just one ahead of France’s Mathys Saison. This preliminary event helped to acclimate the American team to the rings and conditions and prepare each shooter for the World Championship.

Match of Nations

As is tradition, a team event is held which allows the governing body of each country participating to designate team members to represent their respective countries in each competitive category. With the great level of participation within the USHA, the United States had a squad for each concurrent…and we made the podium in every one of the six.

The team of Nathan Perez, Gunnar Reed and Andy Shahidi earned themselves Gold, outlasting the Italian and Egyptian teams. Dino Manuel, Beau Thomas and Will Chisum shot their way to Silver in the Man category, just a single target behind the Italian team. In the Senior Division, Ken Thompson, Robin Forsythe and Mike Sellers brought home the Silver while the veteran team of David Blanc, Mike Bogetti and Bert Manuel did the same.

Our Ladies team comprised of reigning Lady World Champion Macie Page along with Lindsey Stachurski and Joanna Stricklin shot their way to bronze with a solid performance. The master age class team of Walter Werre, Doug Appling and Lannie Philley stuck with it in a tight race against the Italian and British teams to earn bronze for their efforts.

On a beautiful Italian day, several countries came together in a good-will competition to celebrate our shared passions for the shooting sports, while representing our respective nations. This is a great tradition which brings like-minded folks together and fosters the bonds of international camaraderie.

World Championship

Due to the sheer numbers, the format called for the use of all six fields to accommodate the number of shooters competing. We would shoot 18 targets across six rings on day one and 12 targets across six rings on day two. There would be no practice rings available during the World Championship.

The weather could not have been better for the entirety of this event. High temps in the 70s and low 80s along with clear skies and generally negligible wind. There truly could not have been a much more beautiful place to shoot Helice targets. In the not-so-far distance to the north a backdrop of foothills from the Alps met the skyline with visible white marble shelves. These very deposits of marble were utilized for many of the great architectural achievements of ancient Rome such as the Pantheon and the Column of Marcus Aurelius. For us history buffs, the nostalgia of such a place adds exponentially to the experience and the cool factor.

As the first day concluded, the American team was well positioned to again earn multiple podium spots with a couple shooters in contention for the very top spots in their respective classifications. Shoot-offs commenced immediately at the completion of the 30 championship targets and five Americans would step up to the mic in hopes of securing a place on the podium. First was the ladies division. Going into day two, defending World Lady champion Macie Page was 18 for 18 on her first day’s targets. At the end of shooting she was tied with Italy’s Emanuela Barilla at 28x30. Macie would go on to defeat Barilla by a target and earn her second consecutive World Championship for Team USA.

The American delegation had three competitors in the Junior division vying for podium spots, and one for a Championship Trophy. Nathan Perez and Wyatt Smith joined Portugal’s Rodrigo Barbosa in a duel to determine the winner of the bronze. After his sixth target, Perez would have to settle for fifth while Smith and Barbosa would duke it out over another four targets before one blinked. Fortunately for the American Team, Barbosa missed his twice and Smith only once. Wyatt Smith would earn bronze in the Junior division and next Shahidi would shoot-off against Davide Rufo of Italy to determine which would leave Ghedi with champion honors.

As the reigning World Open Champion from 2024, Shahidi was no stranger to pressure. His experience showed through in his performance and for a second year in a row he earned a world title.

In the Veteran’s division, President’s Cup Podium finisher David Blanc joined a crowded group of shooters for a long shoot-off to determine second and third placements. After an additional 10 targets, Blanc would finish his outing in fourth place, just back from his Italian competitors.

Summation – Summario

An opportunity to represent one’s nation on the national stage in the sport that we love is a great honor and I highly recommend each and every shooter who can to experience international competition. While it may seem a bit intimidating leaving the comfort zone of familiar clubs and courses, the experience of a different culture, new people and the opportunity to experience how they enjoy this sport of ours is priceless.

Even through language barriers, unfamiliar procedures and different cultural norms, this trip and subsequent shooting competition was a great pleasure and honor to be able to participate in. I want to thank the USHA’s members for being so helpful and welcoming, with unlimited advice, encouragement and support on this first international excursion. I am looking forward to the 2026 World Championship in Portugal where the United States Helice Team will again descend onto a club and demonstrate why, for those of us who know the truth, our national sport is actually shooting.