2025 Nationals changes

[Potshot2023]

Following on from changing to ICFRA scoring, the 2025 Nationals is no longer catering for F Standard or TR Grades, and excluding Sporter altogether. Positive forward thinking or a damaging backwards decision??

[PeteFox]

Following on from changing to ICFRA scoring, the 2025 Nationals is no longer catering for F Standard or TR Grades, and excluding Sporter altogether. Positive forward thinking or a damaging backwards decision??

No longer offering the 'B' grades or Sporter, see image

WTF.jpg

Link to full text >> https://nraa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/ ... cement.pdf

Well they have declining entries, and the surefire way improve on that is ......... to limit entries?? WTF

Dropping Sporter? because it is an introductory discipline. My opinion? Sporter will eventually be our biggest discipline, that is of course if we actually let them compete.
Time for a board turnover I think. The elitist ICFRA centric attitude is getting a bit old.

Pete

[Benji]

I’m quite new to this sport, I started in PCO and have moved to FO, I like both and I’m curious on the reasoning behind the decision it seems like a backstep for the sport. Being the Nationals I would think it’s only people showing up with an actual interest in the sport.

[bobped]

During my days as a Board Member we saw our main objectives as fostering, regulating and encouraging ALL aspects of our sport. Sadly this seems to no longer apply as the present Board seems mostly to be concerned with fostering International Competition.
I would suggest that the falloff in Grade numbers is more due to the design of the program for the National Kings. I've been told it was designed with a preponderance of long ranges to give our elite shooters more experience. I would suggest that our B and C Grade shooters look at that program and say to themselves - "Why should I go to that competition? Its expensive to get to Brisbane, its far too hot in October and I'll probably get a thrashing. There are other competitions that cater far better for me, so I'll give it a miss." I personally know 3 shooters who have said that to me, and I'm joining their ranks.

Worse still, there's a very strong movement to do away with the "6" value for F Class Shooting, with will have a lot more ramifications that might first appear. I believe that this comes from pressure from members who shoot, or want to shoot in our International F Class teams at the World championships. They say that they are disadvantaged by having to adapt to the different ICFRA methods of scoring at those competitions. i.e. scoring a "5" for the V Bull instead of our "6" and a V Bull for the present Super V. Maximum points score for F Class would then be 50.
Its seems that it was not that massive a disadvantage as they have won 2 of the last three World Championships!

When we designed the present F Class Rules years ago we worked very hard to get a system where everyone could shoot together in the same squads and on the same target. The only difference was F Class scored a "6" for the V Bull. Before that F Open shot on a different target which had a 10 ring. There were only 2-3 F Open shooters at the most and they were a pest to organize targets for. We changed that so they shot on the same targets and scoring as F Standard and low and behold, F Open took off after that. Look at it now. FTR didn't exist at that stage but when it did happen, they went to our present "6" targets as well, and we all got together as one big happy family and prospered to the stage where F Class is now 50% of our movement.

Changing for the "6" to a "5" for F Class Scoring
Much of the NRAA F Class Rules are the same as ICFRA Rules. Mainly the scoring values are different.
1. The whole world doesn't do it . ---- The USA doesn't. They mostly use a 10 ring target, but guess who won the last World Championships? Guess who won the Individual Championship? Also our F Open Teams have done it twice.
2. Lets take the VRA Kings as an example of what might happen. Bendigo has manual marking.
(a) With ICFRA scoring, the Bull in TR is different to the Bull in F Class. If and F Class shooter takes over from a TR Shooter you will need to ring the marker and tell him to mark what used to be the V bull as a bull. The bull is now a 4. The Target Rifle Bull is 2 MOA and the F Class Bull is 1 MOA. (Confused?)
(b) If they forget to tell the marker or the marker gets it wrong, I might have 2 MOA Bull to shoot at. Getting a 50 would be easy then!
(c) Probably because of all the fuss and potential for mistakes they might decide to shoot TR and F Class in different details. Then as an F Class shooter I can't be bothered to hang around waiting while the TR shooters do their detail, and the whole movement over the years (or less) gradually separates into 2 different parts. I might even start thinking about organizing a Prize Meeting for F Class only, which would save a lot of fuss and bother with different targets, different scoring and different shooters.
Look at the UK. F Class and TR don't mix at all. The F Class UK Championships are shot at different dates and the 2 codes don't mix. Can we afford to let that happen in Australia?

Then all the work we did years ago to make sure everyone worked together, shot together and got on together might come undone.

PLEASE NRAA - The system ain't broke, so you don't need to fix it! I'm pretty sure 98% of our movement are happy with things at present.

If you agree with me, you need to get in touch with your State Association Councillors and get then to vote against this at the next Special General Meeting being held by the NRAA to consider this. That's not too far away.

[Potshot2023]

Well put Bobped. Also, Sporter was introduced as an entry discipline as well as to attract a younger and different demographic. Excluding it from the Nationals hardly does that, and puts paid to NRAA's constant quoting of 'Inclusiveness" being a central part of its Philosophy and Mission. Less emphasis on PC policy production and more emphasis on membership would be welcomed.

[Lithgow]

Well put Bobped. Also, Sporter was introduced as an entry discipline as well as to attract a younger and different demographic. Excluding it from the Nationals hardly does that, and puts paid to NRAA's constant quoting of 'Inclusiveness" being a central part of its Philosophy and Mission. Less emphasis on PC policy production and more emphasis on membership would be welcomed.

Sporter may have started as an entry level class but then they let us loose with PCO, a recognised Sporter class for the experienced or custom rifle builders.

Exclusion from the Nats is disappointing and thats a mistake in my view. The last couple have had low entry numbers but keeping it in Brisbane each year is a joke, the nats should be a new state every year, otherwise it's just a 3rd QLD Kings, no thanks.

Each states Kings has had varying support in all classes, ACT was the biggest roll up of FClass shooters I've ever seen, it was awesome, but not all events are going to be the same and deciding to chop classes isn't the way to go.