Hitting a moving target with a shotgun is hard enough, but one of the five members of the Bearcat trap shooting team that qualified for the June 1 state shoot, did so with an added degree of difficulty.
Wesley Fonseca, who has completed his junior year at Booneville High School, is color blind.
That does not mean Fonseca sees only black and white. While everyone else sees an orange “bird” on a blue or gray sky background when they call for a pull, Fonseca sees something else. He sees everything in red or green.
“It would be the same as like a green, kind of. I mean it’s orange yeah, but the way you see it would be like a green,” said Fonseca.
In an attempt to counter the effects of being color blind he was given a set of specialty glasses to wear while shooting. He first tried them out at a baseball game, where his brother and shooting partner, Dakota was playing.
“They’re really good for just walking around and stuff but whenever you’re actually trying to do something, they strain my eyes,” said Fonseca. “The first time I put them on I was at the baseball fields and where I was at there wasn’t much red stuff so I didn’t think they had done much.
“But I looked way in the back and there was a stop sign and it was bright red and I was like, oh my gosh. It was crazy it looked so different.”
But for shooting, the glasses were actually more of a hindrance.
“It’s kind of mirrored in them and anything behind me was showing up. It helps me see the target but it messes with me more than it helps,” said Fonseca.
Being a member on the five man state qualifying team, Fonseca has obviously adapted over his four years of shooting, despite the challenge.
To help his team qualify, Fonseca hit 40 of 50 targets in Jacksonville. He has hit as many as 48 in a 50-shot round.
As far as the sibling rivalry goes, Wesley admits his younger brother is a better shooter. Dakota hit 47 targets in the regional shoot last Saturday.
Besides the Fonseca brothers, the squad consists of Sonny Whitaker, Parker Smith, and Caleb Richardson, who hit all 50 targets and will shoot in a Champion of Champions shoot at the state shoot on June 1.
The Bearcat "Gold" team is a 12-seed in the 64-team field – the top 16 from each of four regions – will face a 5th seeded Magnolia White team in the opening round of the state shoot Saturday.
To practice for the state shoot, on Wednesday Fonseca was wearing another dark purple lens glasses set – eye protection is mandatory for shooters – that coach Lance Brown put on a frame prior to practice.
“We’ll see if that makes a difference,” said Brown.
FONSECA'S TRUE COLORS SHOWING FOR BEARCAT TRAP TEAM
