What TomK Said - Time and Money

TomK ... I hope you read this. In reference to your post about a lack of time, money, commitment available.

TomK

You make a great point.

You are like what we once called the "Penalty A Shooter." It was a class you were put in if you did not have enough targets. OH and PA each had thousands of the Penalty A Shooters. Like you they had little time or finances to dedicate at one time.

The Penalty A's would show up for for the Grand by the thousands on the weekends. They were blue collar shooters and college kids. They would shoot 3 big shoots a year. Sometimes the PA's only shot one event.

The PA's invested mega bucks at the home club on the practice range. I would shoot 400 birds on a practice day.

The big money came from the Penalty A's even tho they shot 870's and BT99's.

The Penalty A's were kicked to the curb by the ATA. Ohio changed the rule from shooting Penalty A to bumping you up an extra class. Now the PA's would have to shoot with the pros. They added the plus 2 yards. The PA's stay home even in Ohio.

A major nail in the PA's Coffin was they could not drive an extra day before and after the shoot to go to Illinois.

Vandalia used to be full of cars with people sleeping in them. I slept in a small van.

The next "Penalty A" type shooter to be kicked to the curb will be the SCTP shooters when they graduate.

 

IF a post claiming 75% of ATA members since 1995 are gone is anywhere near accurate, some sort of major demographic shift has occurred. You suggest rules penalizing shooters who practice heavily and come to only a few big shoots were those members. Others suggest Sparta drove them away. I personally think a registered shoot is a slow motion event that takes too many hours to shoot 100 singles, 100 handicap, and 50 pair of doubles when enough shooters show up to make it interesting.

These theories are not exclusive. Heck, when I get more free time I wil register more targets. But I need a lot more free time before I can spend it that way.

 

Edit time out: is it correct to measure the sport by one events attendance? It always seems to swing around to The Grand numbers. Makes sense if that was one of the few events you shot and you absolutely loved it, not so much if you were a local / regional shooter who just dabbles in far away shoots when you can.

 

It would take me 3 days to register 100 targets in Sparta, 2 days traveling, I dont have that much time. If not going to the grand why register?

Now I just shoot the local meat shoots and the CC. No penalty yardage at the Buckeye and Cardinal Classic.

 

Then the sport is a failure!

 

This could be why I have trouble understanding some things. If that was what it meant to you, why indeed. Cardinal center sounds like one heck of an awesome place. It is good that your region has an awesome growing facility to fill the void. Perhaps it should be on my list of places to get to. Autumn grand is next on my list.

 

App. 10% of ATA member shooters attend the grand. The other 90% don't care!

 

From my files, I offer some very interesting comments related to this discussion, that were recorded over a century ago. They appeared in issues of Sporting Life magazine during March 1912.

There are some notable names below, some having been inducted into their State as well as the National Hall of Fame.

As you will see, just as today, there were many views about the future success of our sport.

I hope you find their views interesting.

Enjoy Our History !

​

 

"Registered" Trapshooting has followed the path of the "Car Show".

In the past there was enough interest that people would spend their time, hard work, and money to "show" their "Car", and had great pride if it was top prize winner. As interest waned, you can pay the "fee", and park your beater "in the line" so all the lazy people will not have to walk very far to see other peoples hard work. Now paying "customers" have to see this non-competitive junk for their money. Making the result a faster death for a desire to have a competitive "Show Car", and less people interested in paying for "looking at junk".

10 "True Show Cars" would be a small show, 10 "True Show Cars" mixed in a "parking lot" of non-competitive junk, is death to the "Show".

"Registered Trapshooting" can change it's path and serve the serious "competitive" shooter, or it can stay a place to waste the day watching others trying to earn unneeded yardage, and the "Club" being told the result will be "more targets in the air", and that "makes more money". The faux 27-yard non-competitive shooter will never be in a hurry to not win, or qualify for the much needed reduction.

Not many want to, or will, sit around for hours and pay their money because some believe "targets in the air" and "Cars in the Show", makes for "better business".

FWIW .... I do much more the "whine" in cyber-chat about the "fantastic direction" .... it doesn't do much in the way of "ATA" leadership approval, but that is such a small "price to pay".

 

HistoryBuff -

That was great! I only read your highlights, but it was great! Substitute today's currency - Time -and it is all still true today.