There are many things that make USPSA a great sport. The friends, the competition, and traveling to matches. But all of that would not be possible without all our wonderful volunteers!
USPSA relies heavily on volunteers at all match levels. Let’s start at local matches. It takes folks to step up and serve as match directors, range masters, stage designers, stage and prop builders, and range officials. Without these volunteers the matches would not happen. When was the last time you thanked these hard working individuals? When was the last time you helped at your monthly match? Remember that more hands make lighter work and that a team makes it possible for people to take a break from running matches when life happens. If only one person does everything, then matches stop happening when that one person can’t make a match or gets burnt out and quits.
A big thank you also goes to the clubs and match directors who take on the challenge of hosting Section, State, and Area matches. The time commitment for these major matches is much more than a monthly local match, and often the planning starts a year before the match. Registration opens months before the match which means the number of stages and squads needs figured out. The Form C and stages need submitted to NROI for approval. And sponsors need to be contacted. Successful matches have awesome volunteers at the helm and hopefully they also have a good team to support them.
And of course we give thanks to our certified range officials. We could not hold any matches without the 3975 Range Officers, 1426 Chief Range Officers, 42 Range Masters and 11 Range Master Instructors. By the numbers, 14.8% of the USPSA membership is a certified range official. Thank you for keeping your certifications current and working matches at all levels!