Well, yeah, sure…I suppose a USPSA match could make for a good date and if you both have a blast, then a wedding at the range can’t be far off? It has happened! But those types of dates aren’t what I want to discuss here. What I am talking about are the dates that we all have to keep in mind when considering the match calendar and scheduling major matches.
Hosting a major match involves a lot of details. One of the first details, and the one everyone wants to know right away, are the dates of the match. You can go about determining this in a couple ways and the size and level of your match may have a bearing on this. If you are hosting your Sectional/State match maybe you will just do it on your club’s normal match weekend so you just need to pick a month and away you go. Get the word out and hope no other big match close to you lands on the same weekend. This does simplify things for many clubs because they already have the range spoken for and maybe only have to do some other minor scheduling with the range board.
Some matches have dates that are done based on tradition. “Always the third weekend in October” for instance. The nice part about that is it makes it easy for folks to plan; especially those that have to declare their vacation schedule far in advance. If your match is on a particular weekend, and has been for long enough, chances are pretty good that other clubs near you are avoiding that weekend for their major match knowing it will be a conflict.
Or you can go the OCD route and spend hours pouring over the USPSA Major match calendar, or contacting those clubs around you that might be hosting a major trying to reach a consensus as to who gets what weekend and lay tossing and turning at night hoping you got a free weekend. That’s great. And then someone else will pop up and grab the same weekend. It happens…all the time.
Area and Nationals matches do their best to not land on other matches because they know they will draw shooters away from those matches. Area and Nationals are usually announced far enough in advance that you can move your match if you feel the need to. Or, maybe you know your match is catering to folks who aren’t going to travel across several states to go to an Area match or Nationals so you are good to go. Okay…great! You have your match dates in hand and are approved by the board. Let’s do that Form C!
But a minor detail that often gets missed on the Form C is that if you are having a staff match, the staff match dates must be included in the match dates on the Form C. So if your main match is Friday – Sunday the 13th through the 15th and your staff match is Wednesday – Thursday the 11th and 12th then when you fill out the Form C you need to specify your match dates are the 11th through the 15th. Missing this can get you into hot water. Many years ago the scores from the staff match at an Area Championship had to be removed because they didn’t include the staff match dates as part of the match dates. So, be sure to get your dates straight!
If you already submitted your Form C and just now realized you messed up on the dates, contact NROI and we can fix that for you. And speaking of NROI…don’t forget you have a deadline to submit stages for approval! Your deadline is 30 days prior to the match for a Level II, 60 days prior for a Level III.