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Head Sports Shooting Coach, Kevin Boldt, to Retire

Kevin Boldt (left) and his son Austin Boldt at the 2016 SCTP Nationals in Ohio.
Kevin Boldt (left) and his son Austin Boldt at the 2016 SCTP Nationals in Ohio.
April 27, 2017

Hawkeye Community College's Sports Shooting coach, Kevin Boldt, will be retiring at the conclusion of this year.

Boldt deserves credit for helping build the RedTail Sports Shooting program into what it is today. Boldt has been a faculty member at Hawkeye since 1990, when he began teaching as an adjunct instructor. In addition to teaching, Boldt worked for 27 years at the Black Hawk County Sherriff's office before retiring in 2014 as a lieutenant. In 2009, he started coordinating law enforcement training at Hawkeye. Throughout his time at the college, Boldt pushed for a sports shooting team on campus and in 2014 that dream became reality when the college approved a club team.

In 2015, the RedTails named Sports Shooting as the first intercollegiate sport. With a vast amount of knowledge from coaching high school and club sports shooting, Boldt was the perfect guy to step in and lead the squad to the next level.

In their first two years of collegiate competition, the RedTails have been competing against the best of the best. They competed at two national meets, one in Ohio and the other in Texas. They finished third in their division at the SCTP National Championships in Ohio and fifth in their division at the ACUI National Championships in Texas. These were phenomenal outings for the RedTails, as they competed against over 850 athletes at each competition. In addition to the team's success, three select individuals from Boldt's squad were invited to attend a National Olympic Camp to train with Olympic Shooters this coming summer. Marcus Draves, Emily Klein, and Kevin's son, Austin Boldt, received those invitations.

Although Boldt will be leaving, the program itself will continue to thrive. Boldt states, "If the athletes stay on their path, they could potentially achieve a first place finish at a national shoot next year. With the talent returning and the incoming recruits, the team is in good shape." This leaves the program in very good hands for the next RedTail Sports Shooting coach and the program moving forward.

Simply put, Boldt says "It is time for me to take it easy." He hopes to get out on his bike more, get more fishing in, and relax without all of the responsibilities coaching at this level requires. Boldt is proud to have been a part of the success the RedTails Sports Shooting program has experienced and is excited for its future. Boldt concludes, "I am happy to say that I was a part of getting things going here and getting Hawkeye Sports Shooting on the map."