Match Fees

[Gun Geek]

In the process of starting up an IDPA club.

As you can imagine there are some expenses associated with each match. We will have to charge a shooter entry fee to cover those expenses. Ideally we'd like to charge enough to cove expenses, and build up a little savings so we can buy some interesting moving targets.

What do you typically pay as an entry fee?

What do you think is too high?

Thanks!

Geek

[Jake Di Vita]

First let me caution you about using too many "intersting moving targets."

There is a club around here which I shoot at which used a ton of real fancy stuff that was kinda cool when it worked. However it got to the point where it was almost like shooting at a carnival. Proper stage design doesn't need anything more than a swinger or two.

That being said, I usually pay around $15-20 for a match.

[Tom Freeman]

We charge $12. The first 5 people that get there at least two hours early shoot for free.

[tightloop]

$15.00

[Flexmoney]

Gun Geek,

I see you are in Lexington, KY. Any chance you are starting up at that huge club that hosts the Glock GSSF matches?

$10-20, depending on what is offered.

[GlocknSchpiel]

At the two clubs where I shoot, the fees are $10 each. At the closest in Pa., if you assist in the set-up you save $5, and it's free to the SO's.

Most of the clubs that I have visited in the past have also been $10. Those clubs are located in Pa, Va, & NC. There are a few clubs around that have only 2 stages that charge $15, but I haven't been to any of those yet.....

Y'all be good & Happy Holidaze!!!!!

Bert

[rhino]

They charge $10 at the club where I shoot. The parent/owner club is the sponsor of the matches, so there is no range rental for the IDPA club. I think it's $20 at the other club near me, but I missed their first match (I was shooting with the varsity team ). Both clubs have five stages, and the $10 club usually has a pretty high round count.

[Gun Geek]

Flex:

That club is in Wilmore, KY, about 30mins from Lexington. It is called the Bluegrass Sportsman's League (BGSL). They already have an IDPA club. I am a member there and shoot IDPA and 3-gun regularly.

Here is their website: www.IDPAatBGSL.com

We are working with an indoor range Bluegrass Indoor Range (BGIR), seems there's a theme...

Here's their site: http://www.bluegrassrange.com

All of the shooting at BGSL is outdoors. Our goal is to provide a very different experience since we are indoor. Lowish light, cramped cover/hallways, quite a few no-shoot targets, etc

Jake:

Good input on not going overboard with the fancy stuff. I agree - we'll keep it simple.

[JD45]

The fee is $10 at two ranges where I shoot IDPA. I think IPSC is $14.

[Flexmoney]

That club is in Wilmore, KY, about 30mins from Lexington. It is called the Bluegrass Sportsman's League (BGSL). They already have an IDPA club. I am a member there and shoot IDPA and 3-gun regularly.

Here is their website: www.IDPAatBGSL.com

Huge club...they could host a Nationals...if they wanted.

[Nick Weidhaas]

We have (2) local IDPA leagues. One is held at the S&W Shooting Sports Center in Spld, MA. They charge $25 for not S&W SSC members or $20 if your a member. S&W shoots IDPA 3 times per month and runs 3 stages. I think $25 is a little high for 3 stages. Another local club charges $15 for a monthly match. $15 is also the match fee charged by the local USPSA club for monthly matches. $15 seems pretty reasonable. Maybe $20 if they put on 4-5 stages.

Nick-

[Gun Geek]

Flex:

I think things are going that way - toward things like nationals.

There's a bit of an old guard who doesn't like us run-n-gunners (that means USPSA, IPSC, IDPA, Glock GSSF). I think it just an issue of the style of shooting they grew up with. The club was founded as more of a hunting/fishing club and less of a gun club. Trouble is that action shooting is bringing in lots of shooters, attention, and $$ to the club. That will probably cause things to change over time.

The club is on 1500 acres, there is lots of room for expansion.

[Rufus The Bum]

$10 for members. $15 for non-members. I'd like to see our range offer half price to stage setters, but that didn't set well, so stage setters pay full price.

The quality of stages is directly proportional to what you charge to shoot. (No incentive=crappy stages) That's the cold, hard truth.

[Flexmoney]

Great range...I hope they can realize that there is room for everybody.

I'll quit drifting the thread now.

............

If you are shooting indoors, you might be limited of space/bays? If so, it could take a while to run shooters thru. Chances are, you could charge a bit more...and get a few less shooters. That might actually work out better.

[Tyro Shooter]

At the Lake Piru ISI club you pay $22 per match with a $10 additional gun fee

In having discussions with other clubs I’ve shot at,

For those that help out setting up and or as Range Officers,

Some do pay their Ro’s,

Some give a substantial discount,

Some shoot for free.

One club uses a three team approach with one team responsible for setting up, RO’ing and tear down for each monthly match; all active members get a discount for all of the matches they shot

But please remember that IDPA is not a prize sport ($$$$$)

We shoot this discipline because we enjoy it

If the entry fee is too high, many shooters will feel it’s too expensive to shoot and that they’re not getting (for example) $35 dollars worth of fun, camaraderie & competition.

And then you find that you have fewer and fewer show up each match.

As Jake mentioned don’t spend all of the money on fancy trick targets

Start your club with high round count & solid stage designs

Build a good sized group& listen to their ideas and suggestions then start tricking it out

Ohh and most importantly don’t make the shooters wait more than 1 week for the results

This is Just my opinion

I could be wrong

P.S. do you have an IDPA area coordinator??

If so try they as a source of information and inspiration

[tracecom]

$10 for club members, a little more for non-members, first-time shooters free.

[Gun Geek]

Tyro:

Thanks much for the info. This is one of those cases where more info is better.

We already planned on not giving prizes - for just the reason you indicated.

I like the concept of a tiered structure of a discount for a club member (duh...)

I am getting things together with an area coordinator.

Flex:

A little drift is OK on this thread. At the indoor range we have 2 separate bays. I think what we will do is set up any complex stages before the shooters get there. Once every one has shot a stage, we will tear it down, and put up a simple stage - a standard or a drill or something. Hey, this sounds like an idea for a new thread...

Keep it coming guys!

[DogmaDog]

My local USPSA clubs charge $13 for members and $20 for non-members. Members pay $20 annual membership fee, and are required to show early at at least one match to help set up. All are expected to help tear down after matches. IDPA clubs I've shot at were about the same.

First time shooters (at the club) shoot for $5

Even though it's not a cash awards game, I think prizes are a good idea. One club gives away ribbons, like you would win at the fair for your prize pig. One club awards a wooden plaque in the shape of an IPSC target, and then each subsequent match, awards the shooter a stick-on brass plate with the place and category engraved on it (e.g. "First Place, C Class"). These awards are relatively inexpensive, but they give the shooter something to hang on his wall, and a sense that he's being recognized for his accomplishments. In my view that's well worth it.

Good props are important, but are not necessary to good stage design. Also, complicated moving target contraptions probably aren't as important as the barrels and barricades that a shooter must negotiate/shoot around to hit the targets. Buy/build versatile props! The Klingon Invader phasing-drop-turner is neat, but a plain ol' barricade will add dimension to many more stages.

Oh, and for results, most of the USPSA clubs I shoot at post results at the end of the match. One shooter is a stats officer, who moves from squad to squad to shoot all the stages early, and then starts punching scores into his laptop. Results are available by the time tear down is complete. With IDPA scoring being simpler, you should be able to have the scores at the same time.

Finally, have a website with complete information! Give good directions to get to the range, and points of contact for information about the matches! There are matches near me that I have not shot in because I can't figure out where the range is located, and the e-mail I sent didn't get returned. Your club will thrive on new blood, so make it easy for new blood to fall into the trap!

DogmaDog

[Merlin Orr]

Finally, have a website with complete information! Give good directions to get to the range, and points of contact for information about the matches! There are matches near me that I have not shot in because I can't figure out where the range is located, and the e-mail I sent didn't get returned. Your club will thrive on new blood, so make it easy for new blood to fall into the trap!

Great info from Dog, IMHO. I think the web page is Very Important - I locate just about every place I have ever shot via the web. I also think the awards are quite important to a starting shooter. That little "whatever" they recieve gives a focal point and is the "carrot" to dangle in front of the donkey....

[TRG65]

Each of the 4 IDPA clubs I shoot at on a regular basis (3 WV and 1 OH) charge $10 for the first shoot (reshoots vary between 5 and 10), only 1 has the graduated scale for members vs. non-members. There is one USPSA club in Ohio, I've shot at that charged $25. I've only been there once. For my wife and I both to shoot and reshoot was $60, and that's too much. The people were nice, and the stages good; but not worth the money. That club is a regular shoot for several other forum members (Flex, Steve, Bill) so some think its worth it. That said, I'm considering stongly making the trip again, because they are one of the few clubs within 3 hour drive that shoots through the winter. So I guess it comes down to the strength of the need to shoot.

[RHall]

20 bucks

[Bill Nesbitt]

The clubs I shoot at all charge $10 for the first time through and $5 for reshoots. I have enough local places to shoot that price can be a factor because my wife shoots too. If the price is too high I will drive a little farther to shoot.

Three very important things about running a shooting club of any kind: Stage Design, Stage Design and Stage Design. Make sure they follow ALL the rules for that sport. Then make sure waiting is kept to a minimum. I have been to Bluegrass. It is a really nice facility but I didn't see the indoor range. If you only have 2 bays on the indoor range, you might want to consider 2 stages on each bay to be shot back to back. Keep round count up to at least 50 rounds for a local match and more is better if it doesn't degrade the spirit of the sport.

Good Luck,

Bill Nesbitt

[rmills]

We have a range that consists of four huge shooting bays that we built a few years ago for USPSA competition. Most months we hold one IDPA match but sometimes we hold two. We typically run 6-9 stages and charge $15. Since we don't have to send in classification fees, we usually generate positive income for the club (unless we need to purchase targets, etc.) Our bays all run parallel to each other which allows us to process shooters very quickly. Years ago, when I ran the USPSA matches, we processed upwards of 45 shooters in 2 to 2.5 hours. Range facilites and stage planning are the keys to rapidly processing shooters while allowing them to have a great time.

my 2 cents.....................

[buddy19]

My club charges $5, free the first time. We shoot five or six stages. The bays are side by side, so we split up in groups and rotate stages.

They give coffee mugs to the class winner. It has the club logo and "Defensive Pistol Class Winner" printed on it.

buddy19

[kdmoore]

10 bucks here too. $5 and you can shoot a second gun.

Seems to me you want to keep the shooting interesting, and I applaud that. To that end, I'll add these comments.

Don't know how you feel about traveling, but here's some free (.02) advice. I recently shot at the NRA range outside of DC. If you are ever in the area, I'd suggest that you plan on giving that a whirl. They have a 50 yard range. They set up 4 stages (the only time I shot it at least). I stayed to help take down (you can meet a lot of smart people that way!) It involved a lot of power screwdrivers, plywood galore, a door, barracades galore, walls, barrels and of course a ton of target stands. Also had a target that ran along a cable, but I didn't get a good look at that one. They had quite a system, and I think they could recombine the parts into a gazillion stage designs. IIRC, they charge $15 or $20.

DC has a lot of other attractions, so maybe an upcoming family vacation could be planned there? If so, you owe it to yourself to visit the NRA's museum.

I don't know what you have in mind for advanced targets, but drop turners, poppers, swingers, plates are all good basic fun, that should be easy to keep in working condition. Variety can be furthered by using one target to activate others (poppers fall on a rope to start a swinger) Also, movers can be used as shoot and no-shoot targets. One local range has the reactive centers to there metal targets, they have the same shape as std cardboard target, but the center moves. Poor mans reactive targets could involve balloons (with distance, no powder burn "hits").

For variety you can change more than targets. Don't forget to vary shooting positions (kneeling, prone, retention, point, strong hand, off hand, retreating, etc). Other ideas involve surprise stages (where shoots/no shoots vary in location). Lastly (finally) if you are indoors, you can add a lot of variety with lighting. Last week I shot by the light of flashing Christmas lights. Other times low/no lights. Once even with a smoke machine.

Hmmm, does paypal allow amounts as small as .02 cents to be sent