Quote:
Originally Posted by BAM-BAM
FWIW..... I was active in our local clubs USPSA matches for about 5-6 years.... then the boys came along (3 years apart)...... after about a year I felt guilty leaving my wife with the boy(s) for most of two Sundays a month for 6 or 8 months a year.....plus Sat and Sun were the only 2 days when we could all be/ do stuff together.
A few years later the Boys got into Soccer........which continues to this day 18 years later...... w/ club games on Sat. or Sunday..... year round; outdoor and in.
Simply put ......for me it became "family first"......... so I'd suggest you assess the club members against this standard .......do they have young "Kids"!!!!!!!!
I really only got back into shooting when the youngest hit middle school and I could slip away for an hour or two to shoot by myself during the week.
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Okay I get that family come first, and I have had more than my share of "family matters" that have pushed shooting into second, third and even lower priorities over the years. But I am not certain this is always a factor.
In this country pistols can only be fired as a member of a recognised club, and you must participate in club events 12 times a year. In my club during months that have five Sunday's the fifth Sunday is designated as a working bee. Repairs, range development and general tidying up get done and these are designated "club activities".
Historically only 10 - 15 people would turn up for these working bees, so the club introduced a membership levy of $80 a year, reducing by $20 for every working bee attended. If you cannot make a working bee due to work or other commitments then you can ask to be allocated a task to complete in your own time. Working bee participation is now above 90% for each and every working bee.
When I first transferred in to my club in 1997, every Sunday morning there would be 10-12 shooters on the ISSF range. When the member who set out the targets and ran the events decided it was too much for him to do it continually and sought assistance on alternate weekends, shooters would turn up, see no targets set out or anyone "in charge" and go home without even firing a shot.
And as I said, when, after a few years, I was told I was the only non committee member actually running a month event for our club champs I was very surprised. (In fact many of the club champs categories were not awarded last year and there are several shooters whose main shooting discipline is in those categories).
And as a side note we have two junior members on our committee. One is the 2018 EoT (US) Junior Champion and #7 overall at EoT this year. The other at 14 is a NROI certified R/O who has R/O'd at our Nationals, and she knows her stuff!. Both participate fully at committee meetings and put forward some great ideas that we "old fogeys" wouldn't think about.