Our next match is August 7th, 1st time shooters shoot for free. Practice starts 9:00 am, matches start at 10:00am. $6.00 for both matches, soda or water beverages included. Our club house serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with other refreshments. In the July match, we had a record 21 shooters from Pa, NY, and NJ.
This year we'll have another season ending money match after the usual matches on October 9th, I like to call the "Pirkey" challenge...
[img width=374 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/SILHOUETTE%20STUFF/pirkey2011flyer.jpg[/img]
I wanted to this mid season too, but time slipped away from me. Maybe in 2012 instead of 2 Pirkey challenges, a mid season poker shoot. Different suits and numbers written on 5 of the targets in a bank, the best "hand" wins.
For next year, I'm going to set up a local club "championship". It'll be the number of points you shoot at each match, plus 5 bonus points for 5 in a rows, 10 bonus points for 10 in a rows. At the end of the year I'll add them up and have some sort of prize. I figure attending frequently and shooting well will pay off doing the side championship thing.
After running some numbers at the midseason,
So far in 2011, we had a total of 39 different shooters from Pa., NY, and NJ. With a record high of 21 shooters and a low of 12 shooters, there is an average of 15 shooters a match. This is an average of 5 shooters per match greater as compared to the 2010 attendance (10 shooter average), and an increase of 18 different shooters (2010 21 different shooters) at the 2010 mid season point.
October 2011 = __ shooters…………October 2010 = 11 shooters
September 2011 = __ shooters…….September 2010 = 9 shooters
August 2011 = __ shooters…………..August 2010 = 9 shooters
July 2011 = 21 shooters (RECORD)..July 2010 = 15 shooters
June 2011 = 12 shooters………………June 2010 = 12 shooters
May 2011 = 12 shooters……………….May 2010 = 2 shooters
April 2011 = 20 shooters……………..April 2010 = 11 shooters
March 2011 = 14 shooters……………March 2010 DATA NOT AVAILABLE
So it definately looks as though smallbore silhouette is shrinking in popularity nationwide, we are actually growing in my immediate area.
Another thing I changed up just the last match is breaking down the match winner to shooter class. Our AAA shooters clean house each time, so now a match winner is not just the person that has the highest score (I call him the "highest scorer" both in hunting and standard division), but broke it down to match winner in every shooter class.
So now we'll have (theoritcally, including hunting and standard divisions) 10 ways to be able to be a match winner:
2 M
2 AAA
2 AA
2 A
2 B

Now there's hope for a B class shooter to get an "atta boy".
I usually get one of these out as they apply:
[img width=583 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/SILHOUETTE%20STUFF/matchwinnerexample.jpg[/img]
[img width=588 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/SILHOUETTE%20STUFF/highestshooterexample.jpg[/img]
[img width=581 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/SILHOUETTE%20STUFF/comboaward.jpg[/img]
I know it may seem a bit corny, but at least it's something. When returning from the match and getting the scores ready for the NRA and the website, I'll fill in the blanks in the master copy so it looks nice and neat, then email (preferred) or mail out the certificate. I'd like to get something nicer for the shooters, but I also want to keep the entry fee low. Many say $6.00 is dirt cheap, but I just don't want to raise it more and possibly risk losing a few shooters, unless I have to. It's a fine balance between awards and prizes vs. income!