Chief Instructor and Founder of A.I.M. Shooting School

Anthony I. Matarese Jr. of Pennsville, NJ was born in 1984 and started shooting at six years old. At age 10 he started shooting competitive sporting clays and began studying the art of shooting under the guidance of Olympic Medalist Dan Carlisle.

Anthony’s list of accomplishments is long, impressive and still growing. Anthony is recognized as one of the top competitors in the world and in 2014 Anthony became the youngest shooter in history to be inducted into the National Sporting Clays Hall of Fame.  In 2016 Anthony became the first American to win the World Sporting Clays Championship.  In 2020 Anthony became the first person win all 4 major titles during his shooting career: The US Open, National Championship, World Sporting Clays Championship, and the World FITASC Championship.  While Anthony’s shooting career is still in full swing he is considered the most successful American Sporting Clays shooter of all time based on his National and International performances.

Anthony began his teaching career at the young age of 14 and many of his students have gone on to have great success at the national and international level. Anthony is recognized as one of the very best shooting instructors in the world. Anthony’s dedication to the game and his passion to pass on what he has learned to other shooters is evident in this teaching. He has become one of the leaders in the shooting world and his experience will make you a better shooter. Anthony is a Graduate of Franklin and Marshall College where he earned degrees in both Business Finance and Economics. Anthony teaches shooters of all experience levels from first time shooters to world-class shooters. Book a lesson with Anthony to learn from the best shooting instructor and coach in the world.

Associate Instructor

Diane Sorantino is arguably the most accomplished female sporting clays competitor of all time. Diane was introduced to hunting and clay target shooting by her father at the early age of 9 years old. Diane has over 50 years experience both as competitive shooter and hunter. Diane’s father was a competitive trap shooter and was instrumental in starting her off with a great foundation in shooting. In later years Diane, like Anthony, took her sporting clays game to the next level by taking lessons from and training under the guidance of Dan Carlisle.

As a result, the foundation that Anthony and Diane share allows them to work together cohesively to provide a shooting method that is shared by A.I.M. Shooting School. Anthony and Diane work and shoot together to ensure that their shooting methodology always compliments each other. Diane teaches shooters of all experience levels from new shooters to Master Class shooters.

Associate Instructor

Hoss Hewitt is an experienced competitive sporting clays shooter and a certified NSCA (National Sporting Clays Association) Level 1 Instructor. He was immediately hooked after shooting his first round of sporting clays and began working with Anthony shortly thereafter. Hoss prides himself on being a student of the game, spending countless hours learning and applying the shooting methodology taught by Anthony I. Matarese Jr.

Hoss is a product of the A.I.M Shooting School, hard work, and dedication. Having no experience shooting until after college, his commitment to learning the fundamentals – including technical, mental, and visual aspects of sporting clays – helped him go from absolute beginner to achieving Master Class in two years.

Hoss has spent two decades coaching various sports and serves as the Head Coach for the M&M Mallards (Scholastic Clay Target Program) Shotgun Team. Hoss primarily coaches out of M&M Sporting Clays but is available to coach at other clubs in Maryland and New Jersey. He is a graduate of Penn State University with a degree in Cybersecurity and currently works as a Cybersecurity Engineer within the financial services industry.

Associate Instructor

Kerry Luft teaches and coaches primarily in the Chicago area, mostly at Northbrook Sports Club. As co-author of Anthony’s book “Straight Shooting,” he has a deep understanding of the A.I.M. Shooting School methodology and approach. He used that knowledge to advance to Master class and earn a spot on the 2021 All-American Veterans FITASC team. Today he funnels his passion for shooting into helping others, and works regularly with Anthony to develop his own instructing skills.

He enjoys helping new shooters gain a solid foundation, and takes great pride watching his competitive students advance through the classes. He works with them up to and through AA class, at which point he refers them to Anthony for further instruction while remaining available for advice or consultation.

An avid and experienced hunter, Kerry helps wing shooters put more game into their bag. He is available most weekends and with enough notice, on weekdays. He also is available to travel throughout the Midwest for instruction.