Coast Guard Rifle Coach Named 2020 NRA Distinguished College Coach

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Dr. Richard Hawkins, Coast Guard Academy's Collegiate Competitive Shooting Sports Coach has been named the 2020 National Rifle Association Distinguished College Coach announced by Tori Taylor, National Rifle Association (NRA) National Manager of Collegiate and Schools Programs.

He was selected from a national field which encompasses all collegiate rifle and pistol coaches in both National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rifle and NRA Collegiate rifle and pistol programs. His resume, as one member of the selection committee remarked, is "stellar."

Coach Hawkins is in his seventh season as the United States Coast Guard Academy's Collegiate Competitive Shooting Sports Coach where, unlike most coaches, he coaches both disciplines, rifle and pistol, and oversees  three other shooting programs.  

Since his arrival at the Academy, the Bears Pistol and Rifle teams have taken on a new life in their training and competition development. Of primary importance is the recruitment and development of leaders of character who can shoot competitively in both NCAA rifle and NRA pistol programs.

Under his leadership Coast Guard won the 2019 National Collegiate Pistol Championship, had three Collegiate National Pistol individual champions, over three dozen All Americans, and established Academy team and individual records on many occasions.

The rifle team won the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Mid Atlantic Rifle Conference (MAC) team Championship, sweeping the top three places in both smallbore and air rifle individual competition the last two years, as well as establishing new Academy records, multiple, times, in every team event and five of six individual events.  

While his win-loss record is impressive Coach Hawkins' most important impact is his holistic view of coaching. While providing the technical skill and environment for an athlete to reach maximum potential is important, it his belief is that the shooting program is more than that, it is a vehicle to produce a well-rounded individual, in his case a commissioned officer in the US Coast Guard. To that end he is dedicated to ensuring that his athletes are given all the opportunities, encouragement, and support needed to excel in the academic, physical, military, and athletic aspects of the high pressure world of a federal military academy.