What you said
@Lowlight resonated with me a bit man, that we need to do more as a community to share experiences and lessons learned... I put together a bit of a ramble video to cover off on the IPRF last week. Fortunately, I have a small platform to climb up onto and make some noise, but it's still just a token effort, difficult to get much traction and put a lot of time into video editing and creation.
Was good to catch up with you mate.
Video Link
In Australia, local clubs are run by a handful of motivated and eager shooters who eventually get taken advantage of and burn out... It's a difficult situation, where a club won't exist without people who are motivated, but who generally end up doing the bulk of the heavy lifting with meetings, organising everything, setting up and taking down targets etc.
I've been shooting PRS since 2017 just after it kicked off here. A lot has changed in terms of barricade quality, stage planning, match book creation, shooter skill, equipment etc. but I also agree, that most of the top level shooters generally keep to themselves and we do have a tendency to go insular at times despite best interests at heart.
Some clubs are open to training days with 'pro shooters' to come in and run through some skills development, this is always received well and pushes newer people months ahead in terms of lost opportunity and development.
I would like to see 2025 be a rapid development year with every second club match, do half the number of stages, run TWICE... With a quick pre-stage chat, a rehearsal (run 1), debrief as a group then final run. This will greatly boost opportunity to try different things, be watched by helpful eyes and provide additional exposure to what normally happens only on the clock for most shooters.
We need to put aside club championship points, medals and all that crap sometimes, for the greater good.
Burn out is definitely a thing in Australia also, we get a lot of new shooters who turn up for a while, get mauled by wind / barricades / lack of equipment or inappropriate equipment use etc. then disappear... It's a shame, when we should all be pushing forward together.
FWIW...
Thanks,
J