We often get asked why there is never a RO, CRO, or SCRO class at ‘my club’ or ‘near me.’ The short answer is that no one has requested a seminar. All it takes is for a member to step up and organize a seminar, and here is how to do it.
Many folks want to take the seminar at their home club. It’s understandable. You know all the people, you can sleep in your own bed, and you don’t have to spend a ton on gas. While others, usually with a lot of travel reward points to redeem, will travel across the country to take a RO or CRO class – I have taught classes with students who have done this! When I took my RO class, it was in a city 90 minutes away. It was an investment of time and money, but I was very much surprised on what I learned that weekend and how it helped me a better competitor in addition to allowing me to help officiate at local matches more effectively.
NROI doesn’t have a set schedule or rotation where we go teach classes at clubs. It really is on the clubs to request seminars. Some clubs host a RO or CRO seminar every other year, or every few years, or when they have enough people interested in a class. Other clubs never host seminars, mainly because no one has stepped up and organized one! It really isn’t that hard to do!
First, gauge the interest in your club and maybe even your section. NROI requires at least 10 students for a seminar, but most clubs aim for at least 20 students. Why? Because it is more cost effective. All seminars have a base price of $800 for 20 students, plus $40 for each student over 20. Note that if you plan to host a seminar, there are other costs and don’t just charge $40 per student unless you have other funds to cover the additional expenses.
USPSA covers the cost of the instructor to travel to and from the closest airport, but the host club must cover transportation, lodging (2 nights) and meals for the instructor while at the class. If the club doesn’t have a clubhouse for the seminar portion there is also a room rental cost. And we strongly suggest providing lunch on Saturday for the seminar, so work that into the cost too. And remember that range space is also needed. The number of bays depends on which seminar (1 bay for RO and SCRO, multiple bays for CRO), but those need to be reserved with the range facility. And we have done classes at indoor ranges too.
Also, make sure you always have students pay the registration fee before class! Even if there is some sort of free seminar incentive by the club, Section or Area. If you don’t collect money ahead of time, then there is usually a ton of no shows on the day of the seminar. Maybe give students who take the class and pass the final exam some free match vouchers as reimbursement or even require some time being ROs at local matches to get reimbursed. And did I mention we can pair the RO and CRO class with your local match weekend? The RO students can shoot (and of course RO) during a local match for the range exercise and the CRO class can build a match for your club to shoot.
After gauging interest in the club for a seminar, making sure there is a facility for the seminar and bays available on the range, anyone who wants to organize a class can request one on the USPSA website (that web page has all the details about hosting a class too). It’s a simple form and it will require you to enter a preferred date and an alternate date. Why? Because there are only 11 Range Master Instructors and some weekends half of us are teaching classes and the rest are working matches (or have non-USPSA obligations because we occasionally have lives). For example, don’t try to host seminars on the same weekend as Nationals matches. A majority of the RMIs are probably working Nationals. And those that aren’t might already be scheduled for another seminar or have other obligations. So the chances of getting your preferred seminar date is low. Once we schedule a RMI, we provide a registration page and more details and the RMI will work with the class host to make sure things go smoothly.
So the moral of this story is that it just takes someone to step up and volunteer to coordinate a seminar. If you want a RO, SCRO, or CRO seminar at your club, find out if you have enough people interested, make sure you have facilities, and put in a request. We already have classes scheduled into 2025 and you can never start planning too early.