2008 Woodie Awards
Hot Shots
James and Joseph Hall share a unique bond as brothers and teammates
Liz Hendricks
Issue date: 2/16/06 Section: Features
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Growing up, James, Joseph and Jonathan Hall wanted what any boy living in a small town in rural Georgia would want; a B.B. gun.
Unfortunately for them, their mom was anti-gun. She grew up around guns all her life, and as an adult, she understood that meat was available at Kroger's. Since people no longer had to hunt to survive, Creaestia Hall found no reason for her boys to need a gun.
Their father, Joe Hall, felt differently. He wasn't a hunter, but grew up learning gun safety as a Boy Scout and felt it was important for the boys to be able to learn how to properly handle a gun.
Their mom finally caved in, on one condition; the boys would have to take a hunters safety course and after completion of the course, would be allowed to have one B.B. gun to share between the three of them.
"When we went to the range we were the youngest people there," says James, the oldest Hall brother. "We shot with a bunch of army guys."
The instructor of the gun safety course took immediate interest in the boys and asked them to try out for the 4-H B.B. team. The rest is history. The boys joined the team and have been shooting ever since.
"I was sold on the whole media hype that guns are bad," says Mrs. Hall. "Watching the discipline of the shooting changed my mind."
Their mom is now an instructor for gun safety, a rifle coach, and a range safety officer although she will only shoot a gun when she has to. She has a new found respect for guns and knows a lot about them. Especially for a women who was anti-gun a decade ago.
"I found a sport I was good at and I liked doing," says Joseph. "Once I started winning, I was hooked."
There are some common misconceptions that come with the territory of being a marksman. People think the rifle team twirls the guns at football halftime shows or that they're "big redneck hunters."
"I've never been hunting a day in my life," says Joseph. "I don't really have the urge to sit out in the cold and shoot something."
Joseph says that he's never shot anything besides a piece of paper with a target smaller than a thumbtack. Shooting a deer would be like "shooting a Mack truck."
The Hall Brother's had a unique childhood. Because their parents chose to home school, they had lots of time to focus on their sport.
"I've seen more countries and gone more places by the time I was 18 than most people read about," says Joseph. "We're not your typical home schooled children."
The Halls have competed throughout the United States and abroad in places like London, Australia, Korea, the Czech Republic, Munich, Milan, and Japan just to name a few.
They played soccer and baseball, swam on a local swim team, and even tried wrestling, but it was the competitiveness of rifle that drove the Halls to succeed at the sport.
"Because we started rifle at the same time, we were more competitive," says James. "Shooting, we could always compete together. It was more family oriented."
A few years later, and over a dozen scholarship offers later, the boys found themselves at JSU. James was the first to come to JSU in 2002 followed by Joseph in 2004. Jonathan just signed his Letter of Intent in November and will begin attending JSU next fall.
James says he chose JSU because of the location. "It's a small school and I'm from a pretty small town," he says. "I'm getting everything out of Jacksonville that I would like to."
Joseph had eight full scholarships offers but came to JSU for the team.
"I knew my brother was here," says Joseph. "That was my main reason for coming. I just couldn't see myself going to West Point."
As for Jonathan, he says he liked the fact that JSU was close to home and fell in love with the campus. His brothers had an influence in his decision to come to JSU but it wasn't a huge factor.
Head Coach Ron Frost says the Hall brothers are a great asset for the team.
"JSU really got lucky when the first Hall brother came. That was four years ago," says Frost. "It was a great chain of events…all of them are coming here now."
With the help of James and Joseph, JSU had their highest standing ever last year, finishing number two in the country; they missed claiming the national championship by only one point. JSU also won the OVC Tournament for the first time last year.
Coach Frost says one of the good things about having the Hall's on the team is that competition drives competition. With James and Joseph being equally matched, they're constantly driving each other.
"It gives their teammates something to compare themselves to," says Frost. "Something to strive for."
The rivalry between the brothers that started when they were young still thrives today.
"I love it when James beats me," says Joseph. "'Cause it makes me work harder to beat him."
There's always a competition between the Halls, whether its weights or workouts or who can eat the most at a restaurant.
"We bet our family chores on who can beat each other at the range," says James. Last month, when James won a match, Joseph had to buy groceries and do the dishes for a week.
For the 2004 Olympics, Joseph was an alternate. Most people would be thrilled to be that good, but Joseph seemed unsatisfied.
"Unfortunately I was only third best in the country," he says. "But we're going 2008 for sure!" He says about himself and his younger brother, Jonathan.
Joseph and Jonathan's Olympic dreams may become a reality before their older brother James. He will graduate this year with a degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing and start work on his master's this summer.
"Joseph is strictly Olympics," says James. "I would like to go to the Olympics, but I want to get school out of the way first."
Joseph's other goal is to become an eight-time All-American. Meaning he must make All-American, all four years, in both shooting events (air rifle and smallbore). He is well on his way after his freshman year, winning both events in the OVC and being named the NCAA's and OVC's freshman of the year.
During the summer, James and Joseph teach a civilian marksmanship program, traveling around the country to camps, teaching children the proper way to shoot guns.
"In the shooting community James and I are like celebrities," says Joseph.
You can bet that the boys don't let it go to their head. Although extremely talented, intelligent, and down right cute, the Hall brothers are humble, easy to talk to, and single. For now, Joseph says his girlfriend is Ursula…his gun.
Back home, Mrs. Hall continues to be proud of her boys.
"That's an understatement, to say the least," Mrs. Hall said. "I'd be proud of them whether they were shooting or not."