David Dezan, Making Waves

David Dezan

MAKING WAVES

By Nini Hodge

Photos courtesy of David Dezan DAVID DEZAN IS A 12-year-old boy who was born and raised in Poway, California. He has been shooting guns since the age of five. When David first started shooting his Dad took him out to the desert to shoot a .22 caliber long rifle and revolver. These guns are quiet and mainly used for shooting at targets.

The more David practiced, the better his aim became. This encouraged him to go shooting more often. When David turned 8, his Dad started taking him to “Escondido Fish & Game,” every other month, to compete at the junior rifle and pistol matches. It was here that he won his first trophy in 2014, shooting a .22 caliber long rifle and pistol.

In 2015-2016, David started practicing with an airsoft pistol to learn safety procedures for competing in Action Pistol competitions. He also trained by dry firing (practicing without ammunition) in his garage with his Dad 2-3 times a week. Also, he went to the shooting range in the Poway Business Park, where he learned to draw a pistol from a holster, and performed speed reloads. In August 2016, David started going to the Pala Indian reservation. There, he would shoot with the shooting club called “Linea De Fuego," which means, "Line of Fire” in Spanish. On the weekends, he gets up at 5:00 A.M and drives 45 minutes, where he shoots until 3:00 P.M. Every other Saturday he competes at Pala, there are about 80-120 participants, and he's the only kid at the local matches. There are six stages to a competition. A stage is like an obstacle course with guns, where speed and accuracy count the most. David says, “My Dad always told me ‘Be safe and have fun,' and my mom agrees with this statement."

In October of 2016, the shooting club sponsored the first ever “Waves Charity Match," a Wounded Warrior's fundraiser at Pala and David worked the match. They raised money to donate to the Waves Foundation. David finally got his chance to compete at Waves charity, the same charity he worked at in 2016. David came in first as a junior shooter, and his Dad was so proud. David states, "Although I am a lower-class shooter I was able to beat half of the shooters above me in the class and I was the only kid, the rest were all adults.”

David also states that he is very thankful for the support of his parents, and is grateful that his Dad spends his time teaching him because this is something he really enjoys doing together with his Dad. He is fortunate to train with one of the top pro and semi-pro competitors in Southern California.

In October, this last year David was off to Utah with his Dad to compete at the Iron Sights National shooting competition, which was sponsored by CZ-USA Firearms. Although the competition was stretched out over a week, he only competed the last three days against almost 500 of the top competitors in the nation to place 3rd out of 7 adult men. David says “I hope to continue to improve with my Dad’s help and one day beat him on every stage. That may not be hard to do because as he gets slower, I am getting faster...hahaha." David's Dad is proud of the progress he has made so far and will continue to support him.

David is a normal kid just like you and me, he enjoys hanging out with his best friend Billy with whom he skateboards and snowboards. Some other favorite things for David are dirt biking with his family, camping and of course video gaming. A fun fact about David is that he has a twin sister named Jenna.