First things first – Thank You.
- The new competitor orientation class continued as a multi-station demonstration-based learning process that has been working well for us. Many thanks to the people that used their knowledge and skills to get another batch of new people off to a good start in our sport.
- We averaged about 15 people on our match setup crews; which, once again, was a fantastic level of support. I can’t say enough about the quality of the work that goes into converting the stage designs from ideas into reality.
- Nathan Lingsch, Rich Alloway and Ron Rodgers provided much appreciated stage designs throughout the year. These guys literally saved the day toward the end of the season when I was having trouble putting matches together.
- The number of people that stayed to help with post-match teardown was impressive and appreciated throughout the year.
- And, of course, my wife Deb went above and beyond to make things happen throughout the year.
Accomplishments this season included.
- We ran our full complement of 8 monthly matches and the new competitor orientation class this year.
- We averaged 91 registrations per monthly match (up from 82).
- We had 100 or more registrations at 1 monthly match this year (down from 2).
- 60 new people signed-in to shoot or signed waivers to watch in 2023 (down from 61).
Here’s the trivia round-up from this season.
- Total Registrations: 724 (up from 652)
- Total Round Count: 980 (up from 879)
- Total Rounds Fired: ~89,000 (up from ~72,000)
- Just looking at USPSA member numbers, approximately 15 new USPSA members shot at EH in 2023 (down from 16).
Observations.
- Total attendance increased about 11% in 2023. We’re still about 13% below the 2019 peak year (pre-Covid), but match attendance is definitely growing throughout the Western PA Section.
- Shooter involvement with stage designs, match setup, match teardown, and range officer tasks is still good. I think there is a noticeable (and welcome) “changing of the guard” going on as younger shooters are becoming more involved.
That’s my season wrap-up. As always, please feel free to provide any constructive criticism of the job I’m doing or suggestions for improvement. I’ll see you in March.
Roger Elder, Match Director