New Shooter have a beginner place, what about new Clubs?

[seancswife]

So being new I find myself thirsting for knowledge, both for my self and my club. I know that success leaves clues, so I am looking for a template possibly of what has made clubs successful starting action shooting and of course what to avoid. I know we have this whole forum for new shooters, does anyone have suggestions for where new clubs might find helpful info on starting up? We are starting with IDPA and looking to grow that 1st.

I know the 1st three rules are Safety, Fairness, and Fun for attracting new and existing shooters. I just think there could be more I could be doing to make our club a successful place where people want to come shoot.

Thanks for any help!

[Joe4d]

look at your market, also look at the other clubs and their calender, A recipe for disaster is to hold a match on the same day as another established match with a big draw, I am pretty biased towards USPSA, is there any in your area ? Which ever way you go pick one and follow the rules to the utmost of your abilities, For USPSA contact your section and area coordinator let em know what facilities you have.

If I had a range to get a club going I would try to do at least two matches a month, one of them would be a rimfire challenge steel match maybe on a week evening, the other a USPSA match.

There is a whole forum section "MATCH MANAGEMENT" lots of good info.

Edited May 19, 2011 by Joe4d

[MarkCO]

look at your market, also look at the other clubs and their calender, A recipe for disaster is to hold a match on the same day as another established match with a big draw

Yep! Intro clinics are good as well.

You will also want to talk to the range and figure out if you are "part" of the range covered under their insurance, they buy and own props, targets, etc., or are you independant and pay a trespass fee. There are distinct operational and legal advantages and disadvantages to both.

NSSF has a grant program (you just missed the 2011 deadline) for helping clubs, as do some other organizations. Might contact the state DOW office and see if they are hot or cold towards you. Sometimes you can get grant money and they may also start to send shooters your way, especially if you can get a few of their officers involved. The local PD might be another good place to sniff around and see if you can start a mutually beneficial relationship.

Work WITH the "competing" disciplines instead of against them. A LOT of clubs where action pistol sports get kicked out of is due to the bravado and turf wars between "straight-liners" (hi-power, bulleyes, benchrest etc.), shotgunners and us "dangerous" types who run around with loaded guns. USPSA has some good info to educate Boards and such.

I've helped start 2 IDPA clubs a USPSA club and several new disciplines within existing ranges. Realize that there are those who want you to fail, for one reason or another. Just don't take that as personal and keep on smiling.

Remember this one thing, no matter what...these are "games" with rules and the more consistent you are, the less stress you will have. If you let Tactical Timmy rule your range, you WILL have greif.

[seancswife]

thanks guys. We did look at the local area and are making sure that we are not competing with other clubs. The closest one to us runs on the 1st Sat of the month, so we are going for the 3rd Sat of the month. I have been reading the match thread as well and there are lots of good info about holding the match. My question really is more about getting folks to the match so that it flourishes. I guess one of my other questions is does this sport only grow by word of mouth?

Thanks again for any and all feedback. Almost want to start a survey thread to see how folks got into or found out about shooting in there local area.

[The_Vigilante]

Contact all gun-related businesses in the immediate geographical area and let them know about your new club. Leave flyers at these locations. Contact local newspaper/media to see if they can run a story about your new club.

[Joe4d]

dont just put out a "we shoot the third saturday" put out actual dates so people know the flier is current. Make sure your match is listed on the parent organizations websight. That way you'll pick up some traveling shooters, good to have a websight yourself where you can post results quickly. Make sure your match announcement's print, email, web, Include basic info, Game(IDPA,USPSA etc), Date, time, location, and I mean an address exact location including state and nearest city, registration procedures, general round count would be nice, oh and no abbreviations not in general use.

So often I see match announcements like this, "The BGC will be holding our monthly shoot next sat see you there,"

huh ? yep you see them alot. basically announcements that only someone who already knows about the match would understand, make sure it is written to someone that knows nothing about it.

Once you are getting people there matches that start on time, have decent legal stages, and follow the rulebook will keep people coming back.