Twenty-year-old Alishia “Fayth” Layne of Columbia, Tennessee grew up shooting at Maury County Gun Club, but she’s been fortunate enough to have her own home skeet range since 2021. Believe it or not, Fayth’s shooting journey began with a red folder. Her elementary school sent home various flyers every week advertising different clubs and activities. One Tuesday, the red folder came home with a flyer for the shooting team. Fayth’s dad was immediately on board with the idea, but Fayth admits it was completely out of her comfort zone.
“I had never been around guns, or anything of that world,” she recalled. “I cried at the first practice because I didn’t want to hold the gun. However, I hit the first target I ever shot at, and from that point on I have loved the sport.”
Now a force to be reckoned with in International Skeet, she started out with American Skeet. International Skeet is more challenging than American Skeet. The targets are larger, but are thrown at a faster speed to further distances. Competitors also have to start with a “low gun” – they cannot mount the gun until they see target movement. It was Colin King, a former USA Team member and collegiate skeet shooter, and his father Bob King, who introduced Fayth to Olympic shooting.
Fayth is currently in her fifth year on the United States National Junior Women’s Team. This team is determined by performance at USA Shooting selection matches, at which the women’s and men’s teams are also chosen. Members of Team USA are eligible to compete internationally in World Cup and World Championship matches, representing the United States.
Fayth claimed top honors in the 2021 and 2023 Junior World Cups in Lima, Peru, and Suhl, Germany. She also earned a bronze medal in Changwon, South Korea at the Junior World Championships. This year, she earned second in the junior women’s Spring Skeet Selection, cementing her place on both the National Women’s Team (5th) and National Junior Women’s Team (1st). Making both National teams is an incredible accomplishment.
Once a shooter makes the traveling team, it’s time to think about funding. Fayth doesn’t currently have any sponsors, and is extremely grateful to her parents for allowing her to chase her dreams. “I would love to be sponsored by any of the brands I use,” she said, “but at this time they are just simply what I use.” She competes with a 12-gauge Krieghoff K-80 and relies on Pilla Performance eye protection. She typically shoots Federal or Winchester shells, but in some competitions, she has to shoot whatever is available. USA Shooting provided her with a specially-made Shoot the Moon Vest as a National Team member.
Competing on the world stage has shaped Fayth’s life. “When you win on a world stage, your country's flag is placed on the center pole which gets raised to the top, as your national anthem plays. This moment is one I have gotten to experience a few times; every time it brings me close to tears. In that moment your mind is filled with all the memories, blood, sweat, and tears that you have poured into getting that gold medal.” Fayth has made a number of friends around the world through competition, but wanted to specially thank a few who have had a great impact on her life: her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, Colin and Bob King, Craig and Susan Hancock, Caitlin Connor, and Dale Royer.
This year, Fayth plans to attend the Junior Championships of the Americas in Barbados and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus. In May, she will compete to keep her spots on the teams for the second half of 2025.
“Never giving up is one of the main lessons marksmanship has taught me,” Fayth said. “There will always be ups and downs and just when you think you have something figured out the game has a way of humbling you. It is a constant challenge being an athlete, yet that is what keeps me coming back. Never giving up is the only way to overcome any setback.” In tough moments she focuses on remembering why she started in the first place. “For me it is not always about winning or losing, but more about winning or learning.”
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