Shotgun Side Match Observations, July 14

[TheDanielism]

At today's IDPA match at Clear Creek (July 14, 2012) the Shotgun Side Match was cancelled in an unexplained temper tantrum by a Safety Officer at the match.

There was a lack of organization and punctuality and a lot of questions were being asked by shooters trying to get the side match going. Instead of answers the SO had a meltdown and cancelled the match after cursing loudly in front all of the shooters waiting for the side match.

I believe this is unacceptable behavior as the title of this thread states, and I am very disappointed in the handling of the seemingly simple situation. I can understand that we were out there for a very long time before this getting through the primary CoF's, but there is no excuse for an outburst and cancellation of a match many were waiting 30 to 45 minutes for only after helping break down other courses. I believe a leader should always rise above situations similar to this and take control instead of losing control.

As of now I will not be shooting at any more IDPA events at this range and I hope the leadership of this club organizes and takes control of future matches instead of leaving a dozen people waiting for a match that will not take place.

[ChunkyMonkey]

We'll accept your behavior of not saying hi, first. Hi! Sorry you had a bad day.

[TheDanielism]

I'm sorry I didn't say Hi first. Hello!

I'm not having a bad day, I had great fun at the match. I was simply disappointed in the handling of what didn't seem to be a bad situation. There are other matches elsewhere in our region, and I will attend the matches with better leadership.

[Irving]

Did you volunteer to be the leader and remedy the situation?

[cysoto]

Because of scheduling conflicts, I haven't shot an IDPA match at Clear Creek in a while but I do know many folks who work this match and I assure that that these guys and gals work really hard to make this a safe and fun event for all the participants.

I am sorry that you had a bad experience at today's match. I neither encourage nor applaud temper tantrums (especially around event participants) but I understand that, for a few folks, keeping their emotions in check can be challenging. Nonetheless, neither the FRIDPA BOD nor IDPA HQ tolerates this sort of behavior from any of their SO's, so you can be certain that this will not happen again!

[SA Friday]

You might take this as harsh, but until you have ran a match you really don't have a clue. You were upset an SO blew a gasket? Did you talk to him as to why, offer to help, or did you just walk off all offended... More than one match has ceased to exist due to complete lack of help from the 75+ shooters that just show up, blow their load, and leave.

[C.hud]

I shot today for the first time and had a blast! I wasnt there for the side match incident but shit happens people get pissed off. I have run other sporting events in the past and it does get frustrating. I'm not defending this individual nor have a clue who it is, but every SO i met today was friendly and helpful. Anyways, unless something comes up with my schedule, i plan on attending the next match!

[Irving]

Looks like the unacceptable behavior may have been on the part of the shooters.

http://www.coloradoshooting.org/fridpa.htm

[MoreAmmo]

The side match was canceled by the match director. There was too much deviation from his instructions as to the setup of the stage and firearm handling procedures. Because of all the deviation and confusion, I suspect that he wasn't satisfied with the safety of the side match. I'm sure it was a tough call to cancel with so many waiting to shoot. However, I am satisfied with not having been able to shoot a potentially unsafe side match. I feel better knowing that the Director is willing to make these tough calls to keep the matches safe.

And for the record, I think most (all?) of us who were waiting to shoot the side match did contribute a fair amount of labor in the break down of the stages.

[Woodchuck]

I was at the match on Saturday and was right there in the midst of the side match cancellation.



There were perhaps a record number of shooters at the match on Saturday. There were 27 shooters just in my squad.



The 4 CoFs were very creative with the Red Coat theme and the stages took a long time to set up. Awesome job done by all.



Bay 4 with the tent was very unique and I was happy to see an imaginative way to shoot. Although bay 4’s CoF took the longest – it was still worthwhile. This is where I take exception to the punctuality comment by TheDanailims. The side match starts after the main match completes. It is that simple. We were not behind schedule, since we do not start the side match until all the shooters have completed the main match. We were waiting on bay 4 to finish.



Setting up and breaking down the stages is part of what makes a great match. This is always done by volunteers and since some of the side match shooters were waiting for the main match to finish on Bay 4, it made sense for us to do it. Like I stated, someone has to do the work and why not us.

Could the situation have been handled better? Maybe, but what conflicts in life couldn’t? We should all be willing to give latitude to individuals whom time and time again have proven themselves to be very hardworking volunteers with great attitudes.

[Gravy Sandwich]

My squad had 28 shooters, the largest group I've ever shot with in competition. Some matches around here don't get that many shooters in total. It was a marathon event, but the SOs in my squad did a great job managing the group and keeping everyone safe through the main course of fire. Though this was the second cancelled side match I had hoped to shoot, I was more miffed at my horrible weak handed reloads from the prone position. Gotta work those into my training sessions, i guess.

[Irving]

Two different people in my group tried to "fix" the bridge in bay 1, haha. That's what happens when you get a bunch of guys together. "I see the problem, someone forgot to put that support under that part of the bridge." LOL.

I wish I had someone film me on the bridge stage, I thought I did pretty well.

[Woodchuck]

Two different people in my group tried to "fix" the bridge in bay 1, haha. That's what happens when you get a bunch of guys together. "I see the problem, someone forgot to put that support under that part of the bridge." LOL.

I wish I had someone film me on the bridge stage, I thought I did pretty well.


Irving, Yes, the bridge was that way by design. Since the ground was uneven the added support in the middle would make the bridge pivot on the center high point. This would make it a hazard. A little bounce in the bridge was the stage layout. Another fun course of fire for the day.

[TheDanielism]

I can see your points, and you have all made good ones. The organization an the handling of the situation is where my beef is. I want to stress that I do understand that the side match wasn't being setup to te specs of the match director. This is where the organization failed. Communication, especially in an environment we are in is detrimental to safety and organization. Several SO's were very unclear on what the safety rules were supposed to be. I believe all of the SO's should have been very clear on this since the post on the home page of the website stressed what the match director(?) was attempting to clean up.

There was also time to setup the course to his specifications and shoot, but I was disappointed in the quick response and emotional outburst to what we had setup.

I do want to admit I was unclear about bay 4 finishing up at the end of the day. I apologize for discussing the punctuality of the match and I really do appreciate all of the work done by shooters and leadership alike.