Confessions of a Match Director
by
Gary W. Burris
A01202

Being Match Director for a major shooting competition comes with a lot of headaches. On the other hand, it also has a lot of rewards. I thought I’d chronicle my experiences so that people who have not had the opportunity to serve in this capacity would understand what’s involved. And for those who have served as MD, my hope is that you will empathize with me (or laugh at me) as I illustrate the “stages” you go through as MD for a major IDPA match. What I describe below is a compilation of experience and knowledge gained from several different sanctioned matches.

The Planning Stage……….

My IDPA club decided that it would be a great idea to put on a state or regional IDPA match. The first order of business is to select someone to serve as MD. The club needs someone with major match experience to serve in that position. I’m thinking to myself, “I’m the obvious choice.” when out of the blue someone suggests that I should be the MD. I must say that it is very flattering to be offered the position and I accepted as humbly as I could.

A date is set and application sent to Headquarters. Scenarios are put together and presented to the Area Coordinator for approval. Assuming that these hurtles have been overcome, the real work of putting the match together begins.

The Preparation Stage……….

The MD must assemble a staff of dedicated helpers. Otherwise he has no chance to make the venture a success. There are usually two or three people who are willing help do the bulk of the work necessary. However, it is the responsibility of the MD to oversee all the details to make sure that things get done. I’ve found that regular meetings with the staff and club officers are essential.

Select Safety Officers that have attended SO training and preferably had real world state or national match experience. These folks will be the backbone of the match and the difference between a great match and a not so great match will be determined by their performance. You need to be confident that your Safety Officers know the rulebook and apply the rules consistently, firmly and fairly. I’ll stand behind any judgment calls made by my Safety Officers. It’s never a pleasant thing to be placed in a position to question the opinion of a Safety Officer. However, I may override the ruling of a Safety Officer in favor of the shooter based on current rules if the call was questionable.

The Scorekeeping staff will need to enter scores and produce match scores in a timely fashion. Good scorekeeping software and hardware are essential. Have several computers networked together and some type of double-checking of the scores as they are entered. Do a little math to figure out how long it would take one scorekeeper to enter the scores for one competitor and then multiply that by the number of shooters in the match and you will get an idea of the task set before the scorekeeping staff. For example: suppose it takes the scorekeeper 30 seconds to enter one score sheet. If there were 12 score sheets per shooter that works out to be 6 minutes per shooter. And if there are 100 shooters, it will take 600 minutes or 10 hours to enter the scores. And this is without a coffee, lunch or potty break.

The IDPA requires that score sheets be carbonless, two page forms. The shooter gets a copy of each score sheet to check against the posted scores at the end of the match. Have a score sheet for each stage or shooting bay. If you are planning for 100 shooters and you have 12 scenarios you will need a minimum of 1,200 score sheets. But it is best to have at least 20% spare score sheets to cover late entries and lost or destroyed sheets. Excess score sheets can be used in future matches if they are designed generically. Plan on printing labels for the shooters to use on the score sheets.

Assign someone to pick up the score sheets from the shooting bays and deliver them to the score shack. The faster you get scores sheets to the scorekeepers the faster they can enter the data. If your range is spread out it might be best to have a four-wheel vehicle to run between shooting bays and the score shack.

You’ll need someone to serve as Range Master. Assign this person the responsibility of all the equipment and props needed for, and during, the match. This individual will have to move about the range during the competition to deliver new targets, tape and staples. He will need materials to fix range props that get shot or fail to function properly.

To help coordinate everything during the match, two-way radios are a great asset. Have enough for the MD, Range Master, scorekeeper and shooting bays.

Part of your safety preparations for the match needs to include a plan in case of medical emergency. Have phone numbers for medical, fire and police handy. A medical kit should be available at the range. An accidental shooting is a very remote possibility due to the safety measures you have taken. Other medical emergencies are much more likely to occur. This can include things like skinned knees & elbows, cuts, heat prostration, heart or asthma attacks. The sooner you can get medical aid to a victim the better.

Decide if you will have open shooting or you will squad the shooters at the match. Both are acceptable ways to run the match. I personally like open shooting because there is not as much administrative scheduling to do.

Arrange for all the necessary creature comforts that will be needed during the match. Have water and/or soft drinks available for the competitors during the match. Rent portable toilets if you don’t have enough facilities for the number of competitors expected. You may want to get some pop-up tents for shooters to get in out of the sun or rain if there are no covered areas on the range. And don’t forget to have plenty of garbage cans available. People will put their trash in them and cleanup after the match will be much easier.

Providing food for the competitors can be another headache. This is something you will need to address especially if your range is very remote from a food source. There are so many unknowns that you cannot give a guarantee to a food provider for how many shooters will avail themselves of their service. At best you can say that you are expecting X number of shooters and for the provider to plan accordingly. I’ve seen some matches where the food is included as part of the match fee. This is OK if you have someone willing to tackle this task. Just be aware that you can have a number of unhappy shooters on your hands if you run out of food.

Don’t forget your Safety Officers and staff when it comes to food and breaks away from their duties. It can be a very grueling adventure if you cannot take a break from running a stage in a match. Been there and done that. The point is, have extra staff to give them some relief.

You can expect to have competitors that will travel long distances to attend your match. Therefore it is a good idea to work with local hotels and motels to arrange special pricing for shooters attending the match. Select one as the “Match Hotel” where you can provide a check-in for the match. This is normally the evening prior to the match. It’s a good time for fellowship with the shooters and it gives the staff an opportunity to socialize with the shooters outside the competition.

Get your calculator out and determine how many targets will be needed for the match. Use this simple calculation to get a ballpark figure. Number of rounds in the match (R) divided by the number of threat targets (T) times the number of shooters (S) in the match divided by 50, ((R/T) x S)/50. Then take that result times the number of threat targets in the match. An example: 112 rounds in match, 46 threat targets and 100 shooters would result in ((112/46) x 100)/50 ~ 4.86. The approximate number of targets required for the match is 223(4.86 x 46 ~ 223 targets). This calculation is gives only an approximate number of targets required. Things like specified headshots, six or more shots to a single target in a course of fire and rain will influence the actual number required. Don’t skimp here. Order plenty of targets. You can always use the leftovers in future matches.

In the example given above there is a minimum of 11,200 shots fired in the match. You will need enough tape to cover all those holes and a good amount of spare tape to account for waste, extra shots taken and re-shoots. If every competitor shot only 5 extra shots over the whole match that would be another 500 holes to tape.

You will need enough timers for each course of fire or shooting bay. Be sure that the club has a sufficient number to cover the match. If the club does not have enough timers, ask the Safety Officers if they have their own or borrow from another club. It’s wise to have an extra timer or two because they are known to fail at the most inopportune times. Don’t forget to have spare batteries on hand for the timers.

Order trophies in plenty of time for the match. You may need to order additional trophies after the match if you have several late entries. Don’t agonize over this because it is common and shooters will understand. I believe that Match Directors worry way too much about this and go to extreme measures to try to prevent the problem. True, there may be additional costs to the club to mail the trophy to the shooter. This is why clubs charge additional fees if the shooter sends his entry form in after a specified date.

A lot of matches offer tee shirts to shooters. This can be a real headache to manage. Most entry forms have a place to indicate if you want a tee shirt and generally charge a little extra for the shirt. However, it seldom works out that you have a good count of quantity and size when it’s time to place the order with the tee shirt manufacturer. This is also why many clubs set limits on the number of entries. My personal feeling is that you should not limit the number of shooters for this reason. If they miss out on a tee shirt, there’s always next year.

I have a few more thoughts on limiting the number of shooters in a match. Many times this is done purely to make the logistics easier for the MD and staff. I don’t like to limit the number of shooters. Sometimes they won’t know until the last minute that they will be free to travel to the match. I don’t want to be in a position where I tell shooter number 100 that he is welcome and shooter number 101 that he cannot come and play. And you can count on there being approximately 5% of the registered shooters who are not able to make the match for one reason or another. There could be some valid reasons to limit the number of shooters. As with IDPA Nationals, there is a limited amount of time available that you can run shooters through the match.

Make contingency plans for weather related issues. What will you do if it rains? As they say in the entertainment industry, “The show must go on.” The only time I might suspend shooting is if there is lightning in the area. If it’s only rain, keep on trucking. You will need plastic bags to cover the targets. The best I’ve found are the plastic bags used to cover dry cleaning. These are fairly cheap and available from your local dry cleaners if you talk nice to them. Do whatever is necessary to keep the score sheets dry. Let the Safety Officer get wet along with the shooter but keep the scorekeeper and score sheets under cover because if the people in the score shack cannot read the score sheet all your work is worthless. Wind can be devastating to your match. Targets get blown down, walls topple and movers act funny. Be sure to anchor anything that can be influenced by the wind.

If you have a prize table, you will need to contact sponsors to donate items for the drawing. This can be a time consuming activity and is best delegated to someone other than the MD. Prize tables serve two functions. First, it is an opportunity for the gun industry to show their support for the shooting sports. Second, it’s a method to keep shooters occupied between the last shot fired and the publishing of the match scores. It is not mandatory that you have a prize table. Shooters don’t pay their entry fees to get a number for a prize drawing. They go to shoot the match and try to win a trophy.

Besides the prize table you can offer a side match to keep shooters busy while the scorekeepers work on getting the scores posted. These side matches can be a lot of fun. I’ve seen stump shoots and man-on-man competitions with plate racks.

Most sanctioned matches will have some type of matchbook. Basically, the matchbook will have the courses of fire and general guidelines for the match. These can cost hundreds of dollars to produce or they can be simple sheets of paper. Things change at the last minute so I wouldn’t spend a lot of money to publish these matchbooks.

Finally, the MD should prepare a list of items to announce at the shooters meeting. You need to define any range specific rules and things like where safe areas are located.

The Perspiration Stage……….

Things get pretty hectic as match day approaches. A last minute calamity is sure to appear when least expected. Be prepared to handle it if one of your Safety Officers informs you that a last minute crisis has come up and he has to be out of town on business the day of the match.

• What will we do if there are a large number of last minute entries?
• Do we have enough score sheets?
• Do we have enough matchbooks?
• Will the trophy count be correct or will we have to order more after the match to send to winning shooters?
• Will the scorekeepers be able to get the match results out quickly after the match?
• Will the weather be good or bad?
• How will we keep score sheets dry if it rains?
• Will our targets and various props withstand the wind if it is strong?
• Do we have enough food and drinks for the shooters?
• Will the club be stuck with the extra tee shirts I ordered?
• What have I forgotten?

The Pre-Match Day Stage……….

This is your last chance to fix any problems with the stages in the match. Walk through the scenarios with the match staff. These are people you have personally selected for their expertise so depend on them to help with things like safety issues. Mark muzzle safe points in all the shooting bays. Have them take a critical look at each course of fire and advise if they see something that would be a problem during the match. There shouldn’t be any traps in the scenarios that force Safety Officers to make a lot of judgment calls or that bring about a lot of procedural penalties. This type of thing just makes the Safety Officer’s work harder and it’s not much fun for the shooter either.

Watch each course of fire as the staff shoots and do any final tweaking. Once you are satisfied with a stage, mark the target position on the target sticks, and mark the ground where each target stand and prop is located.

Decide which Safety Officer will be assigned to each stage. You know each of them so try to match the SO with the course of fire. For instance if you have some senior Safety Officers, you might consider giving them a stage where there is not too much movement.

Hold a final staff meeting immediately after they have completed the match. Make the Safety Officer assignments. Quickly go over what is expected with each of the other staff members. Work out who is responsible for what including preparations for tomorrows match. I like to tell my staff that the match is now in their hands and they are free to run their stage or perform their job as they think best.

The Performance Stage……….

Match day has arrived. The first order of business for a Match Director is to hold a shooter’s meeting. This will be your first and only opportunity to set the tone for the match. Welcome the shooters to the match and inform them about any issues related to the match. Refer to your list of things you wanted to cover in the welcoming speech. Keep the meeting short and get the match started.

Keep moving. Move from bay to bay and socialize with the shooters. This will show that you are interested in how their doing and that you want to make sure they have fun. Critique the different shooting bays to see how things are progressing. Sometimes no matter how much you plan or how much you study the scenarios you cannot spot potential trouble spots until you have a range full of shooters. Usually a simple change to the way the Safety Officers are running the bay will be enough to solve the problem. If your Safety Officers look like they need a break, then grab a timer and get into the action.

There’s a good possibility that you will have to mitigate a protest or two. Listen carefully to the shooter’s point of view. Discuss with the Safety Officer involved what he observed. Evaluate the situation with respect to range specific rules and the rulebook. Make your decision based on your understanding of the infraction and the rules. Do this in respectful and professional manor.

The match is almost over. I say “almost” because even after the last shot is fired and the score sheet delivered to the scorekeepers there is a possibility that a shooter will have to re-shoot a stage because his scores were not recorded or are unreadable.

Now is the time to do the prize table giveaway in order to keep the shooters from getting restless. Also, a side match can help to keep shooters occupied while the final scores are being entered into the computer and the final scores calculated.

Once the scores are posted, give the shooters the opportunity to file any protests. A one-hour protest period is mandated after the final scores have been posted. Typically, after 15 minutes shooters have reviewed their scores and lodged any protests. After discrepancies have been dealt with you can then ask if there are any more protests and if none then suspend the remaining protest time and start the awards presentation.

Thank all the competitors for attending and the staff for the work they’ve done in the match. Make any post match speech short and get on with the awards presentation. Shooters who have traveled a long way will want to get on the road home. Be sure to wish them a safe return trip.

The Post-Post Match Stage……….

2005 Louisiana State IDPA Championship
by
Gary W. Burris
A01202

It was my honor and privilege to serve as Match Director for the first IDPA state championship held in the state of Louisiana. The Miculek IDPA Club of Princeton, LA, hosted the match. The club holds matches on the second Sunday of each month at the Shootout range near Exit 33 off Interstate 20 east of Bossier City, LA. My association with this club goes back to its beginning when I was asked to come and give Safety Officer training to the members. And I’ve been encouraging them since then to hold a state match. The club was a little overwhelmed by the prospect of hosting a state championship because they had no previous experience. So with the able assistance of Johnny Van Etta, Area Coordinator for Louisiana, Texas & New Mexico, we set out to make this match a reality.

I must commend the tireless work of Lou Wagner, Club President, for taking care of all the endless details that are required to host a match of this magnitude. Lou and I kept in touch by telephone, email and a few visits at the range for meetings in the months preceding the match. We had to work out any issues this way because I live five hours from the range.

While Lou took care of the details, I was free to put together a world-class staff of Safety Officers. I wanted to assemble a core group of Chief Safety Officers with state and national experience. I partnered these folks with Safety Officers from the club that had been through my SO training. The plan was to provide experience for the club Safety Officers so that they would be better prepared for future matches. The match ran smoothly with no need for the MD to intervene in problem resolution. While I’d like to claim credit for their fine work, it truly was the guys working in the trenches that made it all come together.

This was one of the last sanctioned matches to be conducted using the old rulebook. It was the final chance for many revolver shooters to compete in a major match using their moon clip guns in the SSR division.

There was more than enough room at the range to have upwards of 16 stages. However, that many stages would turn an enjoyable match into a grueling competition. Not to mention a lot of work for the staff. Therefore it was decided that we would focus on making this a fun match. We put together courses of fire that were simple yet challenging. The scenarios adapted for this match can be found on the Tactical Shooters Club web site ( http://www.tacticalshooters.com) on the “Scenarios” page starting about scenario number 1018.

A lot of shooters, including myself, tried to shoot the “simple” scenarios a little too fast and got a lot of points down. The challenging part of the equation was accomplished through the judicious placement of obstacles (like barrels, walls and non-threat targets) and by using varying distances for target placement. There were eight shooting bays with twelve scenarios and a minimum of 114 shots in the match. The match started promptly at 8 a.m. with a short shooters meeting. We used an open shooting format where the shooters could shoot the stages in any order.

Grilled hamburgers and soft drinks were made available to the shooters starting about 11 a.m. and shooters could break for lunch anytime they wanted. The match was essentially over by noon do to the fine work of the Safety Officers and staff. And while shooters were eating lunch and discussing the events of the day, our scorekeeping staff busily entered the scores. I had a couple of side matches set up to keep competitors busy while the scores were tabulated. However, we didn’t need to use them. The final scores were posted quickly and after about a half hour all scorekeeping issues were settled and the trophy presentation began.

I spoke with as many of the competitors as I could during and immediately following the match to gauge their impression of the way the match was run and to see if they enjoyed the competition. Without exception they all commented that they really liked the match. Perhaps the comment that best describes the match was given by one of the Chief Safety Officers. Myrin Young, Area Coordinator for Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia commented that the match was, “pure IDPA”. “All the stages were straight forward, simple and a lot of fun to shoot.”