Tim N wrote:jasmay wrote:Should “national championships” be A B & C grade?
What about 2 divisions, Long range and Short range championships.
Short 300-600
Long 800-1000
Shot at separate times of the year.
Sounds like a great idea
Seconded,,,,or is it thirded.
The Nationals worth winning are the ones with the competition present, which in recent times were the Queens events that had the National team training attached rather than the actual Nationals.
We do need to differentiate the Nationals from the other Queens somehow. Perhaps an A grade only event is the way to do that. 700 - 1000 seems like a more testing format.
The location argument has 2 sides to it. It's easy to say ACT is central to the Southern States, what about NQ, WA, NT and Tas. For these shooters it doesn't matter where the event is, Travel is expensive. Pander to the masses or be inclusive? Moving it around does make sense BUT I also feel clubs could do far more to cater to the interstate travellers. Do ANY of the State ranges have a loading room? Everyone knows we cant fly with enough ammo to complete a Queens so we have to travel with all our loading gear. A centralised loading room also provides a training opportunity that MANY shooters would pay for (PRS, hunters and plinkers alike). That's an income stream in itself. How much gear would the State shop sell if loading courses were taking place on site?
Further to the travel issue,
Flying means no wheels, no wheels means no accommodation. All the State ranges I've been to have camping facilities but not genuine camp sites. S&T associations have the land and Tourism Australia has the grant money. Why not have a genuine campsite at every State range? It would increase exposure, provide a facility we, as shooters, need and would provide a genuine income stream throughout the year. S&Ts wouldn't necessarily have to manage the facility, just lease the land and have block bookings for major comps. Hell, that even gives the camp managers something they want,,,, a holiday!
Yes I do realise there are all sorts of legislative hurdles to jump, but no big win comes easily.
Just a thought.