PRS Talk Club level matches

[High Desert duck]

There have been a couple threads lately in regards to pricing of local club level matches, and I didn’t want to hijack them. So new thread.
I run a club level match in the Albuquerque New Mexico area. We run the match for $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Course of fire is usually 65-75 rounds, targets 200-1200 yards. steel to 1000 to practice, and check dope before the match. No lunch, no prizes, usually 2-3 guys per squad work as Ro/spotter scorer. The concept being practice for bigger matches, learning the game etc. I think our area border wars matches were only $40.
For the prices I see back east and away from New Mexico, what all is getting folks to pay that much. Not trying to start anything just looking to figure out how to grow or improve my match.
On a side note what is the hit percentage of the winners?

 

[C.R. Adams]

I pay 50-75 pesos for monthly matches for less than 100 rounds. that just seems to be the going rate here in Texas. also, we have water at stations and get a sausage wrap or so for lunch. I thought we were getting a pretty good deal at those prices.

 

[rothgyr]

I'm just barely getting into the competition scene - what constitutes a club match, and how does one find clubs? I've shot the Blue Creek match up in Northern Utah, and wasn't sure if it was a "club" match, or PRS match. Price was about $40, I think.

 

[High Desert duck]

I'm just barely getting into the competition scene - what constitutes a club match, and how does one find clubs? I've shot the Blue Creek match up in Northern Utah, and wasn't sure if it was a "club" match, or PRS match. Price was about $40, I think.

I’d call a club level match a monthly recurring match usually without prizes, informal, less than 100 rounds. We average about 20 guys.
im not sure the best way to find local matches. Depending on where you are there is a club level match once a month march -September in Farmington NM. Great match.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

Sign up for Practicescore to find matches. That's how all of our club matches receive payment, squad, put out COF, etc.

 

[rothgyr]

I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[accurate obsession]

Nice, for some reason around me they think a single day match is worth $75-100. I'll give back the hot dog and trophy and pay $40.

 

[Dthomas3523]

$50 (sometimes including a $10 mulligan) is about the going rate down here. Both for centerfire out to about 1k yds as well as Rimfire out to 350yd matches.

Anything less than ~$40 or so per shooter isn’t appealing or worth it to ranges to allow clubs to use their facility. Depending on the range either most or all of that goes to the range and the $10 optional mulligan goes towards the “club” that is MD’ing the match and keeping scores.

If you only have a handful of shooters, I’d raise your prices a bit if you can. If you have a lot already, you’re going to have to slowly raise the price as you’ve have gotten a lot of people used to $15 now and you’ll lose a lot of them (unless you don’t have any extra costs and $15 takes care of everything you and the range need).

In a normal club match, you’ll want the winner in the 85-95% of available points. The point of club matches is to grow and increase from the local (not National) population. If your winner is in the sub 80%, the rest of the field is going to get crushed and miss a lot. Missing a lot = less turnout eventually as they don’t have as much fun.

I’d shoot for 90% of available points for winner and adjust difficulty over time as the combined skill level of your club increases. Remember that typically 80% of your shooters will be intermediate/pure hobbyist skill level. 10% will be higher level shooters that will adapt to whatever you throw at them. 10% will never improve no matter how long they shoot. The 80% is the ones you have to really pay attention to.

You can do a couple harder matches a year. Like a finale and another mid season match. Just announce ahead of time they will be a little harder. This leads to much less grumbling as people go in realizing it.

 

[accurate obsession]

$50 (sometimes including a $10 mulligan) is about the going rate down here. Both for centerfire out to about 1k yds as well as Rimfire out to 350yd matches.

Anything less than ~$40 or so per shooter isn’t appealing or worth it to ranges to allow clubs to use their facility. Depending on the range either most or all of that goes to the range and the $10 optional mulligan goes towards the “club” that is MD’ing the match and keeping scores.

If you only have a handful of shooters, I’d raise your prices a bit if you can. If you have a lot already, you’re going to have to slowly raise the price as you’ve have gotten a lot of people used to $15 now and you’ll lose a lot of them (unless you don’t have any extra costs and $15 takes care of everything you and the range need).

In a normal club match, you’ll want the winner in the 85-95% of available points. The point of club matches is to grow and increase from the local (not National) population. If your winner is in the sub 80%, the rest of the field is going to get crushed and miss a lot. Missing a lot = less turnout eventually as they don’t have as much fun.

I’d shoot for 90% of available points for winner and adjust difficulty over time as the combined skill level of your club increases. Remember that typically 80% of your shooters will be intermediate/pure hobbyist skill level. 10% will be higher level shooters that will adapt to whatever you throw at them. 10% will never improve no matter how long they shoot. The 80% is the ones you have to really pay attention to.

You can do a couple harder matches a year. Like a finale and another mid season match. Just announce ahead of time they will be a little harder. This leads to much less grumbling as people go in realizing it.

You are quite right, in the match I'm affiliated with the best shooters have been doing 70-80% and hobby shooters appx 30ish. They get pretty whipped and discouraged, I've got some adjustments to make.

 

[Dthomas3523]

You are quite right, in the match I'm affiliated with the best shooters have been doing 70-80% and hobby shooters appx 30ish. They get pretty whipped and discouraged, I've got some adjustments to make.

Yep. I used to get a little irritated at club matches where 7 stages were fairly easy and there was one hard “separator” stage. Felt like the entire match was hinged on that stage. Which, it is for the top shooters.

But I ran a match with the goal of top shooters getting 80% on every stage instead of 100% on 7 and 80% on one. The result was the rest of the field getting absolutely crushed.

Now, I understand the “separator” stage for *club* matches. It’s a necessity to keep the crowds large.

For special matches or two day national match, make it all 80%. For club matches, you have to make them easier.

 

[accurate obsession]

I’d call a club level match a monthly recurring match usually without prizes, informal, less than 100 rounds. We average about 20 guys.
im not sure the best way to find local matches. Depending on where you are there is a club level match once a month march -September in Farmington NM. Great match.

The club matches in the SE pull close to a hundred people and cost $90<> but they are not monthly (there may be one each month but at different venues).

 

[High Desert duck]

But I ran a match with the goal of top shooters getting 80% on every stage instead of 100% on 7 and 80% on one. The result was the rest of the field getting absolutely crushed.

This is what I have been doing. Trying to set the course so that there is a tough part of the stage so the “pros” will get close to cleaning it and the field will get 60-80%. I may try a separator stage next time.

We are really lucky at our club and the match is not a money maker and the clubs primary goal is to encourage the members to shoot it.
I think I am mostly struggling to build the size of the match more from an self imposed intimidation in the new shooters (the COVID isn’t helping build numbers at the match) I can’t get them out to get them hooked. I am thinking of working with the club to run a train up course the day before a couple of times a year. Another thought was to have shooters buy into a year long points race with prizes and a BBQ at the season finale. Maybe I should try a local “pro”-am

 

[Mormegil87]

Our club match up here is $50 or $60 per shooter. In all honesty I'd probably pay more. Our MD does a really good job with the CoFs and they rival, if not flat out beat the CoFs from a lot of the two day matches I've shot. We also don't have a prize table until the finale which helps keep the bull shit in check.

 

[Forward543]

$40 per Or $50 with lunch and breakfast. Push for 85%+ for club level.
Make multiple stages that are easy to hit the first 6-8 shots, and go to work to get the last shots. Can be done multiple ways. You can do lots of movement, target arrays with a big and little target, make a stage mentally challenging.
The lazy way is to just put up tiny targets, but it does not separate unless the wind is the same for the whole match (Never is). I generally run .5-.6 mil targets out to 800-900 then at least .6mil . when sizing targets I try to make them fit the average wind bracket. If you have a .4 wind bracket, that is the smallest target you can run at that distance, but if you make them all that size you better have alot of National level shooters. I find its more fun to make average .6-.8 targets in the majority of your targets, then test a shooters target acquisition or ability to make multiple positions. Using different stressors is a better way to control the stage quality. Time, environment, position, target size/ location, mental chaos. Only push for 3 of the 5, any more and you have a circus, any less, and it can get boring.