Ed Brophy was first introduced to trapshooting in 1968, when he attended the Minnesota State Shoot with a neighbor. As an industrial arts major at State Cloud State University and a leather enthusiast with a keen eye for business, Ed saw a way for his talents in leather to be applied to products for trapshooters. He created a custom shell bag with a pocket on the front, the first of its kind. That same fall, Ed set up his first display at the Steer & Calf Shoot--a folding card table!--and received his first order, followed by a 50 bag trophy order for the Sioux Indian Shoot. Shamrock Leathers was born!
After graduation in 1970, Ed started work as a high school industrial arts teacher and ran Shamrock Leathers at night and on the weekends, traveling to clubs and state shoots, as well as the Grand American. By 1976 he was making triple his teacher’s salary with Shamrock Leathers and, in 1977, Ed and his wife Carol both quit their teaching jobs to work on their company full-time. With a dramatic increase in the price of silver during the late 70’s, Ed seized the opportunity and suggested replacing traditional silver trophies with his personalized and logo-ed quality products. Today, every trapshooter across the country strives to win, not buy, a Shamrock Leathers bag!
With increased success and notoriety over the years, Ed and his family have donated time, products and funds to support trapshooting, especially youth programs. In 1996 Neil Winston, who had been appointed the ATA Youth Director for the Hall of Fame, asked Ed to help him create guidelines for the ATA youth program. As Neil states, “Ed helped sign youth up, had the major job of figuring out the winners, and would haunt the central building to get the score sheets! He got the trophies to the kids properly, got the pictures taken--all the mechanics of it working were done by Ed. He did that for 15 years, from 1987 to 2002. He made the youth program what it is today.” Another example includes Shamrock Leathers’ annual donation to each state, through the ATA Hall of Fame Youth Program, of a shooting bag for a youth shooter. The Minnesota Trapshooting Association has been, for many years, on the receiving end of many donations for live and silent auctions, with all proceeds benefiting youth shooting.
Last year Ed, his family, and Shamrock Leathers celebrated 45 years of providing quality leather products and support to the trapshooting community. Congratulations!
Written by Bryan Brophy & Sally Stevens
