In 1999, the World Individual Long Range Championships were held at Bloemfontein in South Africa. Ian Cheeseman, a competitor, noticed that the United States was the only major country in attendance without an Under 21 (“U21”) or Under 25 (“U25”) Team. In international long-range shooting, shooters under the age of 21 are organized in 10-member teams while shooters under the age of 25 are organized as 12 member teams. Combined, they comprise the USA Young Eagles (in domestic competitions, the “juniors” are known as the Under-21 and Under-25 teams; they are only called the Young Eagles when competing internationally).

During the next year, Ian founded, organized, and selected the inaugural Young Eagles team. In July 2000, the Young Eagles traveled to Bisley Centre in England to compete in the Millennium Matches and the Under 21 and 25 World Championships. The Young Eagles defeated ten other international junior teams and won the inaugural Under 21 World Championship. At the 2003 World Championships the U25 and U21 teams both won silver medals in the team matches and one of the U21 team was overall Individual World Long Range Champion. In the 2007 World Championships the U21s regained their World Champion title while the U25 team won the silver medal, one point behind the Gold Medal-winning GB team. The Young Eagles are the most successful international shooting sports team ever fielded by the United States.