Local match capacity survey

[Fishbreath]

There has been some talk on various social media about matches filling up. In some parts of the country, it seems like it happens for just about every local match, while in others, there is capacity to spare.

 

To help steer that conversation, I thought it would be worthwhile to generate some data, so I wrote up a quick survey to gather information on match crowding conditions around the country. It shouldn't take more than a minute or so to fill out, so if you have a bit of time to spare, I'd appreciate it.

 

I'll release the raw data on March 25, and do some analysis of it the following week.

[motosapiens]

I filled out the survey. fwiw, before the scamdemic, it looked like we were getting pretty close to having to worry about filling up at my local club, but thankfully the government solved that problem for us. Things are starting to pick up again tho. We had 50 folks for our 3rd sunday match (usually less well attended than 1st saturday). We start to worry when we get over 60 because it means we have to juggle some things to make the match flow. Normally we run 6 stages, and we have squads start on 4 or 5 of them, but not the classifier. We usually try to put the classifier and a shorter field course or speed shoot next to each other. If we get more than 60 people we either add a 7th stage, or start people on every stage and just tolerate the backup that comes from running two small stages next to each other.

 

If we start consistently getting numbers in the 70s, we'll have to make some adjustments. 

[ColoradoNick]

Every match around here seems to fill up within 10 minutes. Kind of irritating. Some MD's have the matches on practiscore with a date/time for sign up, and others who randomly send out an email saying registration is open.  Makes planning a PITA. 

 

[RadarTech]

It’s a little early in the year for matches.. many clubs in north have not even started to hold match… if you’re only looking at matches from A2, 4,6 and some of 8 you will not see all of the US…

 

[Fishbreath]

I'm asking about trends in 2021 and 2022—I think most places were fairly uncrowded in 2020 and 2021.

 

I may follow up with another survey at the end of 2023, since signs point to more attendance.

[ChuckS]

15 minutes ago, Fishbreath said:

I'm asking about trends in 2021 and 2022—I think most places were fairly uncrowded in 2020 and 2021.

 

I may follow up with another survey at the end of 2023, since signs point to more attendance.

The primer shortage has had an effect for quite a while and probably still does...

[Sarge]

5 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

The primer shortage has had an effect for quite a while and probably still does...

Depends locally I guess. I thought the same thing but the two best local matches stayed at near capacity since the beginning of pandemic, primer shortage, etc until now. Our first match is next weekend and it filled in one day.

[Zachjet]

I filled out survey, but I wasn’t shooting in 2021 so I left that part blank 

[shred]

USPSA fills pretty fast around here.  IDPA and Steel and outlaw somewhat less so.  Depends a lot on the weather and the match reputation.

 

Most clubs offer early signup notification to club members as an incentive and there's always volunteering to help as a way to get in.

 

[MikeBurgess]

locally we our matches may go to a wait list but that's more to allow us to fix squadding issues than limit attendance, we have never turned shooters away.

Pre primer/ammo shortage were running 7 squads and 90-120 shooters a match, since then we have dropped down to the 65 to 75 range most months. as a MD I'm torn on this, I would love to get back to the big numbers but I also really like getting done and off the range several hours earlier, 6 squads of 12 is so much faster than 7 squads of 17+

 

[motosapiens]

2 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

locally we our matches may go to a wait list but that's more to allow us to fix squadding issues than limit attendance, we have never turned shooters away.

Pre primer/ammo shortage were running 7 squads and 90-120 shooters a match, since then we have dropped down to the 65 to 75 range most months. as a MD I'm torn on this, I would love to get back to the big numbers but I also really like getting done and off the range several hours earlier, 6 squads of 12 is so much faster than 7 squads of 17+

 

I've mentioned this before, but I would probably go dirtbiking rather than shoot in squads of 17. If we get to that point here, I would probably try to go to a morning and afternoon shift, or leave the stages up for sunday too, so we can get two full shifts of 70-ish through. Just need a second MD to supervise teardown and post combined scores. Of course not every club can leave the stages set up that long, but we are fortunate in that our matches only use about half of our available pistol bays, so non-competing club members still have plenty to do.

[MikeBurgess]

1 minute ago, motosapiens said:

I've mentioned this before, but I would probably go dirtbiking rather than shoot in squads of 17. If we get to that point here, I would probably try to go to a morning and afternoon shift, or leave the stages up for sunday too, so we can get two full shifts of 70-ish through. Just need a second MD to supervise teardown and post combined scores. Of course not every club can leave the stages set up that long, but we are fortunate in that our matches only use about half of our available pistol bays, so non-competing club members still have plenty to do.

I wish we could do that, we close the whole club down for matches so to keep the general memebership happy we need to be off the range asap.

on the bright side its fun to ridicule your friends when they skip your match to go to a sectional somewhere with less competition that if they just stayed home. 

[RadarTech]

9 hours ago, motosapiens said:

I've mentioned this before, but I would probably go dirtbiking rather than shoot in squads of 17. If we get to that point here, I would probably try to go to a morning and afternoon shift, or leave the stages up for sunday too, so we can get two full shifts of 70-ish through. Just need a second MD to supervise teardown and post combined scores. Of course not every club can leave the stages set up that long, but we are fortunate in that our matches only use about half of our available pistol bays, so non-competing club members still have plenty to do.

Agreed.. if a local was that big, I’d be doing something else that day.. 

I dislike the 13-14 shooter squads in the summer too.. 

[Joe4d]

10 hours ago, RadarTech said:

Agreed.. if a local was that big, I’d be doing something else that day.. 

I dislike the 13-14 shooter squads in the summer too.. 

Big reason I quit shooting USPSA,, the stand around to shoot ratios got ridiculous.  Was only1 match within about 2 hours,,  So came down to an 11 hour day for roughly  3 minutes of shooting. 

[AKGrahamw]

I went to the standby list on several matches during the last year two years, for every one I was picked up to shoot, only once was with less than a weeks notice to find a room.

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by AKGrahamw
spelling and grammer

[Barcode1337]

This is always such an odd topic to read about. I'm the MD at a club in Northern MN. There is a pretty big USPSA culture down in the metro area, but up where I am we're the only club, and besides the "points series" match that I host in our state, I don't think I've had more than 20 shooters at a single match in the past 5 years. I'm typically more concerned about breaking even on materials than I am on running out of space.

[Joe4d]

51 minutes ago, Barcode1337 said:

This is always such an odd topic to read about. I'm the MD at a club in Northern MN. There is a pretty big USPSA culture down in the metro area, but up where I am we're the only club, and besides the "points series" match that I host in our state, I don't think I've had more than 20 shooters at a single match in the past 5 years. I'm typically more concerned about breaking even on materials than I am on running out of space.

Maybe look at your weekend and the competition ? Looked at the map and seems Duluth is 140 miles from Minneapolis.. assuming that is the city.. Either lots to chose from, or competing weekends,, or maybe the match lay out ?
DO you go to the other matches ?
I lived in VA and matches I went to were that far away.. although, I had no other options.. If there were a couple a month near me I woulda done them.

 

[MHicks]

In my local  more rural area there are 3 clubs within about 1 hour of me. Two of the clubs only have 3 bays. We reset to shoot 6 stages including a classifier. That limits us, usually 25 to 30 shooters a little less in winter. The other club has 6 bays and maybe 10 to 15 more shooters at times. A lot of shooters shoot at 2 of those 3. Rare to fill up to max. We're glad to have the 3 matches fairly close by.

 

About 2 hours away in the bigger cities they're closer to 80 or more and fill up faster. 

[zzt]

Every match I want to shoot fills up quickly.  At my home USPSA club, all the spots except 10 are filled in under two minutes.  The MD reserves those ten spots for club member who were waitlisted.

 

A second club runs five squads of 15 shooters.  The waitlist is closed the next day with 110 signups (last match).  Only 70 actually showed up to shoot.  It is that way every month.

 

The third club fills up, but not in minutes.  I've actually been able to register the next day when someone withdrew.

 

The fourth club I no longer shoot at.  Too far and too long a day.  When you register you are put on a waitlist.  The MD sends  approvals out the next morning to all the ROs registered, with a request they spread out among the squads.  After that, shooters are approved in the order of signup.  You only have minutes to sign up at that club if you want a chance to shoot.

[Boomstick303]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:44 AM, ColoradoNick said:

Every match around here seems to fill up within 10 minutes.

 

If you are speaking of indoor matches or special matches like the Rocky Mountain 300 in the Denver Metro area, yes.  When outdoor season is here this will not be the case, unless its Aurora.  That match fills up because its only 15-30 minutes for people to get to.  The rest of the matches tend to be close to full but not completely full match to match.  To be honest its kind of perfect attendance in most instances.

 

 

[Barcode1337]

4 hours ago, Joe4d said:

Maybe look at your weekend and the competition ? Looked at the map and seems Duluth is 140 miles from Minneapolis.. assuming that is the city.. Either lots to chose from, or competing weekends,, or maybe the match lay out ?
DO you go to the other matches ?
I lived in VA and matches I went to were that far away.. although, I had no other options.. If there were a couple a month near me I woulda done them.

 

 

Sure have checked it out. The state does a "points series" to get people to frequent some of the other clubs. I've got mine in on that for the past number of years and have been able to get a handful of metro folks up here to shoot throughout a season. So I've been attempting to grow that way, but I've since focused more on converting and retaining more local folks. I have found that the demographics of this area are more "I train for tha streets" IDPA folks, so I try use IDPA as a gateway for USPSA. It's been working relatively well.

 

I think there are 5-6 clubs/matches that shoot down there with much more frequency, so those folks have a lot more options, much closer to make it not worth driving 2+ hours. It just is what it is living up in nowhere. Or maybe I do need to get good and put on better matches.

 

[PA_USPSA]

The matches I shot in PA/NJ fill up within minutes.  Typically 15 shooters per squad.  The number of squads is dependent upon the number of bays the club has.  I've always been able to register, but I've always registered as soon as registration opened.

[ColoradoNick]

18 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

If you are speaking of indoor matches or special matches like the Rocky Mountain 300 in the Denver Metro area, yes.  When outdoor season is here this will not be the case, unless its Aurora.  That match fills up because its only 15-30 minutes for people to get to.  The rest of the matches tend to be close to full but not completely full match to match.  To be honest its kind of perfect attendance in most instances.

 

 

Even the BRC steel match this weekend is full and weather doesn't look that great. I'm pretty sure the March BRC USPSA match also sold out? It was in the mid 20's and cloudy for most of the match. I think so far everything this year has filled up within a day at the longest? I think consistency between clubs would help. What stipulates a cancellation as well as when they are posted.

Edited March 23, 2023 by ColoradoNick

[Racinready300ex]

Forgot to sign up for a match last night, it's full today. 

[motosapiens]

1 hour ago, Racinready300ex said:

Forgot to sign up for a match last night, it's full today. 

thankfully I never have that problem. No matter how full my local match is they have to let me in because I design and build one of the stages and often co-MD.