TargetTalk

Over the winter our club (Tri-County Sportsman's League in Saline, MI) participated in a home and home bi-lateral match with the Copper Shooters in Kalamazoo, MI. While I certainly don't want to substitute such matches for open sanctioned competitions, I think these types of informal bi-lateral matches have a place in the world of Youth Shooting. Friends were made and important lessons learned.

In January, I took our team of 5 to their facility – about a 2-hour drive. We enjoyed a serious, but friendly competition, and then were treated to lunch. Following lunch we let the kids and adults have a little fun the on the range, while we finished scoring. The only difficultly encountered was the weather – at 7 below zero that morning; I learned an important lesson about not transporting rifles in the trunk.

We reciprocated in March – and were blessed with a nice warm day. We had to shoot 2 relays at our place due to limited shooting lanes, so it took a bit longer. With the nice weather we treated to grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, and the kids had fun with our club's pool table while scoring was finished. There was an IDPA meet and trap shooting also going on that day, so we all got a good look at other shooting opportunities.

Again – while nothing substitutes for sanctioned matches, bi-lateral "friendly's" can provide valuable experience and lots of fun. Coaches – seek out the other clubs in your area for this kind of fun!


JPM

You are right, that sounds like a lot of fun. I think it's a good way of also showing the kids that 1) where ever you go in life, you can find a club to join & 2) this fun sport isn't just for juniors, they can see other adults enjoying it too. Kudos to your coaches and helpers for getting organized and committing a whole day to the cause.

Regret that we are a few long hours away from you, on the other side of Lake Michigan!

It is good that you are networked locally. I think that is an area we should work on. We need to better understand what programs are going on around us and make the occational road trip to let the kids see what other clubs are up to.

Anyone on here from the North Dallas...North East Texas area?

Hi

Is there a limit on the number of sanctined matches that a club / group can put on in a year? It may be worth the time to schedule monthly, or every other monthy sanctioned matches so you kids get classified and move up. We're not doing that (yet), but we are at least looking at putting on an NRA sanctioned match late this year.

Mike
Wichita KS

No administrative limit, but you will burn out your volunteers if you ask too much!

Anonymous wrote:No administrative limit, but you will burn out your volunteers if you ask too much!

Doing one a year is a pain, apparently doing a monthly where they're all alike isn't so bad. From looking at Shooting Sports, a few clubs do have monthly matches, since they're in the magazine, I would guess that they are sanctioned. They also may just be club matches.

Don't see much of a difference in some ways. You still have to get a Range Officer, Stats Officer, etc.

Mike
Wichita KS

Curt Ingersol (Kalamazoo) & I have been discussing this issue for some weeks. We are planning on developing a series of monthly matches around the state for everyone from entry level to precision. Start in October-November and run to May. Match at a different range each month. Low entry cost, small awards, mainly fun type matches. At Riverside we have a couple of internal matches a year. Shooters shoot everything from prone only to 4P & 3P. Medals are given and the kids have a lot of fun. Hot dogs are provided at nominal cost. If you are from a Michigan Club and are interested, let Curt or myself know.

The State Association used to have a Junior Division, but in recent by-law revisions the division was eliminated and junior affairs are to be run by a committee. To junior AR & smallbore shooters this is viewed as a slap in the face and we are looking at alternatives for the junior shooters.
TM

If you're holding any matches that juniors or adults from other states can participate in, please let us know! (Gee it would be useful to have a match listings forum here, wouldn't it?)

Tom - I am partially in the communications loop for Michigan Juniors. Curt sends me his match notices. I'd appreciate any you hear about.

Unfortunately the MRPA seems rather focused on High Power right now.

If our club gets a permanent air rifle range constructed this year, we could host a match. Right now, we are too space constrained.

JPM - aka Jim Morris jmorris_3@yahoo.com

No limit as to Michigan shooters. For such a plan time and distance would be a factor.

Instead of talking about it, lets do it. It's not that tough.
TM