Vera Koo: On What’s Next after the Shooting Sports

By Vera Koo, Women’s Outdoor News, Published July 26, 2018

I hear many people talk about what they want to do “some day.” Too often, though, “some day” never arrives until the window of opportunity has closed and they can no longer do what they always said they wanted to do.

I do not want to miss my “some day.”

That is why I decided to retire from competitive sport shooting after competing in my 21st Bianchi Cup in May.

When I turned 70 in 2016, it caused me to reflect on what I want to achieve going forward. Leading up to my retirement decision, I had not been pouring 100 percent of my efforts into any one goal. I had been torn between staying sharp as a shooter and promoting my book, The Most Unlikely Champion, which published last year.

I wanted to be successful on both fronts. In truth, I was not doing well in either area. My attention was simply too divided. I was not doing all I could for my shooting, nor for promoting my book. And I have never been one to do something half-heartedly. Continuing forward with my attention split between 2 fronts did not make sense.

I never set out to become a champion sport shooter when I began learning how to shoot. I realized I had achieved more than I could have dreamed in Bianchi Cup and the shooting sport. Plus, at my age, it was becoming more and more difficult to compete at the level I desired. Your body has limits. None of us can escape the effects of aging.

But I still have a window of opportunity to make my marketing and promotion of my book a success, and I want to seize that chance while I still have the energy and my health. 

And so, I embark on my next challenge.

Much like my beginnings in shooting, I have no background in marketing or promotion. 

Where I head now, I don’t expect it to be easy. I have so much to learn.

One of the reasons I always chose to pursue solitary sports is that they suit my personality. I am not a gregarious person who attracts a crowd. So aspects of promotion, such as making public appearances and speaking to a crowd, are not areas I consider myself good at doing. I must learn how to do this well, much like I learned shooting from scratch as a middle-aged Chinese-American mother.

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