I note that IDPA is going through a pretty spectacular boom, adding 800-900 new members a month! You'll also see in the release over on DRTV that they've added my good friend Paul Erhardt to handle their communications chores. Paul is quite simply the best marketer in the shooting sports...he and I have worked together for more than a decade, and his work speaks for itself.
As I've mentioned before, I'm also hugely impressed with Joyce Wilson, who heads up IDPA. She has done nothing short of an amazing job in guiding the organization through its growing pains.
I was really impressed with IDPA's growth when we filmed the very first IDPA Worlds for Season 12 of SG, a show that proved to be our highest-rated of the season...I only wish my shooting had been up to that standard! LOL! You can expect to see much more IDPA on both SHOOTING GALLERY and DRTV over the coming months...
This is good news for our shooting sports. Here-in also lies the answer as to why the SG shows that feature coverage of this type of competition have high ratings.
ReplyDeleteMichael, you're delivering what your market wants. No "central-planning" required.
Life Member
It is great news but with it come unintended consequences. At the local IPSC matches we have had to go to a computer based pre-registration program for matches. We just could not handle the volume of walk ins. Registration opens on Sunday nights for Thursday night matches. Registration opens at 8 PM, and is sold out by 8:10. There are a lot of excited new shooters out there that are being discouraged because of the lack of opportunity to participate.
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago Michael wrote on the topic of the scarcity of shooting venues. Finding the balance between the growth of our sport, and facilities to support that growth will be a key to our success in the short term.
BTW: this is a problem that every sport faces. If you need a facility to participate, you need revenue to keep the place open (under utilization is bad). Over utilization means many new and old shooters wind up disappointed. It doesn't matter if it is an ice arena, a soccer pitch, a swimming pool, or a tennis court the problems are the same.
Thor...you're absolutely right. It's one of the reasons that I was so vociferous in getting NSSF to set up a program to funnel Pittman-Robinson money to ranges ...they just announced another round of $400,000 in grants...that's not NEARLY enough, a topic that I expect to be brining up this weekend...
ReplyDeletemb
Practice while you can. Soon it will be like the origins of Okinawan Karate. The gov't outlawed it and practice had to be done in secret. Articles on the web talk of the Dutch outlawing IPSC. That is gonna be a coming here any day now. Just add it to the list of can't do's, with Kalifornia jumping up and raising their hand first to ban such "sports"..especially since the RINO's have selected a loser to go against Barry I could see a big push for this next term.
ReplyDeletenj_larry, I'm guessing by your username, you're in New Jersey, and that may be biasing your view a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the country has been progressing leaps and bounds in 2A rights in the last few years.
We now have only one state that doesn't have some form of CCW, more and more are becoming shall issue. Several states have enacted "firearms freedom legislation" to circumvent the unconstitutional NFA - at least for intrastate purposes.
Four states now have "constitutional carry" with several more in the works.
Quite a few states have enacted range protection legislation, helping address the very concerns brought up in this post.
And, by God, someone in D.C. now legally owns a handgun! Whether she'll ever be able to buy ammo for it is another story...
It never pays to be complacent, and we can't take these gains for granted, but the situation for most of the country is good and getting better all the time.
Hopefully, even despotic enclaves like New Jersey, New York will soon have their day in the sun.
IDPA works because it is based on more or less realistic scenarios. Unlike the other sports that are speed and equipment orientated/driven. It may seem slow and fuddy duddy to some, but it is the closest I know of to practice for real world events and even then it has some limitations and dumb rules/limitations. To me, its appeal is that you can actually use what you carry in what you carry it in and be reasonably competitive.
ReplyDeleteThaine
IDPA member and range officer
We had 52 shooters at our last little club IDPA bug match. More than half had not shot any type of competion before.
ReplyDelete100% said they will shoot more matches this year.