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Improvements for 2019 Fclass Nationals

Cody Richardson

Now that everyone has had time to get home, unpack, clean brass and settle down, what are some changes you would like to see for next years fclass nationals? Just trying to create an open forum for improvement. First thank you to the Bald Eagle Rifle Club for hosting this match. Not trying to bash the hosting club but there were defiantly improvements that could have been made. Feel free to chime in!

Here are some things I would like to see:

Practice day before MR starts and after MR team before LR starts. The argument that was made to me by one of the match officials was “it’s not fair to everyone”. And I agree if it is not posted in the match program and everyone is not made aware. But an easy fix is to post it in the match program so everyone has an opportunity to attend.

More targets prepared in case of rain. After the rain we had the first day of LR, there is no reason we shouldnt have waited it out and finished the prescribed course of fire after it let off. The extra targets would have also possibly allowed them to cut out Norm’s, Ray’s and Mike’s target.


Better prize tables....I know before everyone throws a fit, we are not in this for the money/prizes(considering winning the nationals was a payout of a whopping $50ish). But I felt Lodi’s and BSWN had MUCH better prize tables.

I personally was not a fan of doing awards at the end of each day. I enjoyed the awards all being at the awards banquet.

Now some of the positives.

Everything was ran pretty smoothly, pit changes were fast and efficient, the food offered on the range was phenomenal. I also really liked having vendors on site at the range. I know I bought several things I planned on ordering when I got back. To those who remember the glory days at Perry, it would be great to see a commercial row make its way to fclass nationals.

Hopefully we can continue to grow this match and improve it each year.
 
I thought this national championship match was as good or better than any others I have attended. I liked that the match awards were not included in the banquet, that they were awarded after the days events. That made the awards banquet much shorter than the ones in the past.
 
They nearly ran out of black pasters, so having ample supplies is expected. Cheap medals with the sticker on the back seemed odd for a national championship. SWN just was a MUCH better run match. I was disappointed at how cheap this match seemed to be.
 
1. 1 1/2 " spotters available for everyone.

2. Use the new plastic type spotters. I got splattered several times from the plastic spindles.

3. I agree with Skip, awards are good as is.

4. If they use staples next year, I hope they provide a staple remover. I won't use my knife again.

5. Buy Randy pike a knife. He wouldn't have to ask to borrow one.

All in all I thought the match went well. Flow of the day went well, pit changes timely, finished at a decent time.
 
Purely as a spectator via internet 1000 miles away..........if scores can be printed and posted for guys to take phone pics of then they can pretty instantly be posted on the Bald Eagle web site at the same time for all to see and scroll the entire list, not just selected pics taken.

On that note, why didn't they list individual match winners and until I just now checked, it was the first time T/R actually labelled the winners. Also, indicate who is what special class(Female, Junior, Service, Police, etc). It's just interesting info that I enjoyed seeing when I was looking at the Lodi results last year.
 
Just something on prizes. Have put the hours in to get a prize table for a state match.
It takes time, effort and man hours to get a healthy prize table. It’s easy to say better prize table but feel free to volunteer on getting prizes lined up.
I know it’s “Nationals “ yada yada.
Lonnie Kuhns built or rebuilt all the targets mostly himself. Thats a feat for one or two people. There wasn’t “all this help” that you think there was. Everything could be better. We all should step up and help.
 
Paid pullers should always be a option.
The trophies should have been at the awards for photos not put away.
 
As someone who has put in to host a National event and helped in running the event, yes its a lot of work. Even for a group of people its a lot of work. I start on the prize table 6 months before the match, and Im not the only one doing it. It really is a lot more work than it appears and takes a lot of time/money out of those guy's lives that are helping. That said, you have to expect that when you decide to hold an event like that and you also have the responsibility to do a good job. Theres nothing exclusive about holding a match like this, anyone can step up and start helping. Even something as simple as asking the match director if you can help the prize table by making phone calls for him. One of the things that makes for a strong club is strong people that dont wait to be asked for help. This is not meant as a defense for the guys who ran this match, I was not there, but another way to help it in 2019. It sounds like they could have used a few more guys helping out?
 
MattPeetz said:
Just something on prizes. Have put the hours in to get a prize table for a state match.
It takes time, effort and man hours to get a healthy prize table. It’s easy to say better prize table but feel free to volunteer on getting prizes lined up.
I know it’s “Nationals “ yada yada.
Lonnie Kuhns built or rebuilt all the targets mostly himself. Thats a feat for one or two people. There wasn’t “all this help” that you think there was. Everything could be better. We all should step up and help.
Click to expand...
I don’t blame the volunteers. I blame the NRA. I’ve told there representatives that their needs to be some consistency when it comes to prizes or payouts. They can mandate the host clubs provide a minimum amount. The NRA may even be able to contract with a long term sponsor to provide payouts.
We’ve had national champions that have had thousands of dollars in merchandise or cash heaped on them. Then the next year our champion gets a few bullets and a half off certificate for a reamer. Very sad.
 
Lou murdica said:
Paid pullers should always be a option
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, I don't agree with this. Paid pullers are an advantage to those who can afford them. There are special circumstances where a paid puller allows a shooter to compete, and I'm ok with that. The only way this could be fair is if the shooter had to report to the pits during their mandated time and not sit on the line watching the wind. I'm sure I'll catch some flack for this, I have my tin foil hat on, so fire away.
 
After reading jdne5b"s post, I realized my grip may actually be with the sponsoring club more than the NRA. Every junior, plus the U-25 team should have been recognized. A nice award for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, female and male, plus overall should only be fitting.

That said, I'll admit I didn't hang around for the final hoo rah, so it's very possible I'm griping about nothing. One could only hope......
 
So here is what I’ve gathered from everyone. Since the NRA will not step in to run/organize the nationals, it’s up to us. We are going to be able to get out of this match what we put in it. What Matt, Michelle and the rest of the crew at Phoenix are doing is clearly working.

I may be WAY out in left field here but here’s an idea...

What would it take to form a Nationals committee, a group that can essentially help organize the match. The host club obviously would organize the dates, times and facilities. But this group could serve as a liaison between the host club and the shooters/sponsors. Setting standards on what is expected at a national championship. Everything from supplies needed, to doorprizes, to trophies/awards.

I know this sounds like a lot but it is up to us to make this match live up to what it can be. Like others have said above, it’s up to us. I have zero experience running the logistics but I’ve gone out and hustled plenty of good door prizes for various matches in the past so I’d be happy to help that way.

Is this concept something that is even feasible?
 
Okay, to all of you that know better. Unlike you I am currently on the Bald Eagles Board of Directors. My term will be up come next September, how about one of you step up join the Bald Eagles and take my place.

Lonnie Kuhns and Jerry Pullens redid most of those targets last July. Neither one live within 100 miles of Raton and they were not paid to do it. They volenteered their time and paid their own expenses.

Build more targets in case of rain? Where are we going to store them? In case Mr. Indy didn't notice storage is at a premium and limited.

Practice before MR and LR, nice idea how many days do you want the volenteers to spend at Raton? They were there for almost there weeks. I started shoot Whittington Center in June 2003 one thing I have figured out is. Practice their all you want, come record day that range will beat you.

Awards, NRA gives I believe it is three medals for each championship and that's it. The metals given out daily were provided by BERC, there is nothing saying we have to do that. The company that we use to get metals from is out of bussiness and this is all we have available for metals now.

Paid pit pullers in Raton, good luck. When we had one member that lived in Raton all his life we might have been lucky to find one puller. If you really need a puller feel free to bring someone with you.

Now that I have enraged one and all I bid you ado.
 
Steve, first off, I want to say thank you for your club voulentering to host this match this year and next. Second off, thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help run this match. I understand the complexity of hosting a match like this. But, none of this was us raising pitchforks demanding your job. In fact if you read my last post, I brought up forming a nationals committee that is composed of multiple people in our sport, since the nationals is not held in one location every year. That way it doesn’t fall on one club to do all the planning and leg work for 2 years. This was simply an open forum to seek improvement for next year. As you may know, the NRA does not do much for us fclass guys, it is up to us(as shooters) to make the nationals the best it can be since we do not have the nra support.

Targets, I’ll still say we should have shot after that rain delay. Not saying anything would have changed but now you have a national aggregate that was 40 shots short of the usual course of fire. For a club match, sure, let’s call it. But a Nationals should not have had that happen.

Practice, while Raton still may beat you, it sure beat me, it’s still nice to have an opportunity to get on the range and “try” to figure things out. Even if it takes shooters(not your voulenteers) to run the practice.

Door prizes and awards- any time money or prizes is discussed it’s bound to ruffle feathers. But, when the National champion only wins $50ish(for winning the nationals, not including the individual matches he won), that’s embarrassing for our sport. That’s another reason why we continue to loose juniors and young shooters to PRS/3 gun. I’ve been to regionals were the winner’s payout is $200+. I think we would like to see a set standard across the board for payouts for nationals. Again, this comes down to a standard being established to be used at each nationals, whether that be at Raton, Phoenix, Lodi, or anywhere else. Shooters are a resourceful group, I’m sure a lot of us would be happy to help with door prizes. Many of us have industry contacts that we can tap into if need be. I’ll keep throwing the nationals committee out there, if the NRA is not going to go out and seek sponsors out, it comes down to us to do it. I’d be happy to help for next years prize table if I can.

As others have said as well, the match was very well organized, ran very efficiently, and the facility is amazing. The food on site as well as the banquet was great. And I really enjoyed having industry groups on site with gear to sell.

Now, I hope this dialogue can continue in a positive way, as a way to constantly improve our nationals, not just for 2019, but for years to come.
 
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