Jul 24, 2018
Gebben resides in Tucson, Arizona, where he was born and raised by his parents, Tim and Laura. He has 3 younger sisters: Ashley, Michelle and Abbi. Gebben graduated from the University of Arizona in 2007 with a degree in Regional Development.
Sports have always been a major part of his life. In his younger years, golf and basketball were his passions. During his freshman year of high school, he suffered a broken elbow, which put a stop to his participation in sports for a while. He needed something to fill the void, so he turned to sporting clays and has been intrigued with the game ever since. During high school, he attended several shooting competitions and got involved in local shooting leagues. While improving on his shooting technique, his competition scores were extremely inconsistent. Frustration led him to Lanny Bassham, a mental management coach. Through this instruction, he started to understand the mental discipline of sport, which he slowly began to incorporate into his own game.
He attended Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, in his freshman year of college and was part of their shooting program, earning 1st place in the collegiate nationals. Experiencing the lack of quality training, he returned back to Tucson and enrolled at the University of Arizona. Gebben also started working with a shotgun coach of TargetLine School, Steve Schultz, who remains Gebben’s coach. Steve has been more than just a coach to Gebben. They have become like family, which has caused the TargetLine Shooting School to become a tight-knit and close group of shooters.
During his first two years at the University of Arizona, Gebben made some poor decisions that led him astray from his relationship with God. He then became involved with Athletes in Action, a Christian-based ministry, which really challenged his faith. Although he had a relationship with God, he still had other idols in his life that he needed to get rid of before he could walk in harmony with God. It was through a camp he attended with Athletes in Action in Fort Collins, Co. that was life-changing for Gebben. During an 18-hour physical and mental challenge, he learned to let go of ME (his ego) and totally let God be in control. Gebben says “this experience helped me learn to really have an intimate relationship with God on a daily, moment by moment, basis.” Since the summer of 2008, Gebben has been following Jesus with all his heart. His focus is on his relationship with God and to teach others what God has done and is doing in people’s lives.
In the fall of 2008, Gebben volunteered as an affiliate staff member with Athletes in Action to help serve the group that facilitated his spiritual growth. He also has been holding fellowship meetings at many shooting tournaments since the 2008 Nationals. In the spring of 2009 Gebben worked with Henry Hopking, a mental coach from England. Henry taught Gebben how to reach his optimal level of focus while shooting and to tie in his relationship with God to his sport in the most effective way. Gebben continued to work with his coach, Steve Schultz, in perfecting the information learned from Henry. It all paid off when Gebben won the 2009 National Sporting Clays championship and the 2012 World Champion. He was able to give all the glory to God realizing that God put all these different pieces in Gebben’s life and fit them together to make him the person and competitor he is. He used to be a sporting clays shooter who was a Christian. Now Gebben is a Follower of Christ who happens to be a sporting clays shooter, minister, and loving friend.