County Championships

[maddmatt]

Just wondered want the general consensus was on County Championships? In Surrey a lot of the disciplines struggle to get any meaningful numbers to attend, we are talking less then 10 shooters on average. So, with low participant numbers is there any point in County Championships? Just asking...

 

[Hamster]

You do have a point but the people who win still deserve it in my experience as you tend to know who the better county shots are. You could say the same thing about some world titles in certain disciplines or even some very high profile disciplines world events when held in such far away locations where participation by those with a chance to win are not always feasible either financially or practically. 

 

[maddmatt]

Well 2 shooters shot the UT County Championship, so what does that prove at a County level?

 

[Les53]

Well 2 shooters shot the UT County Championship, so what does that prove at a County level?

We have a lack of trap shooters down here too! By the look of it we may soon not have a ground to shoot trap at either!!!!

 

[Shaun Hopkins]

Well 2 shooters shot the UT County Championship, so what does that prove at a County level?

Who came third? :spiteful:

 

[Hotshot100]

Well 2 shooters shot the UT County Championship, so what does that prove at a County level?

That there is a lack of interest in the discipline. I think that unless there are at least 2 entrants in a category and say 5 overall that it isn't really a championship.

Surely to be a champion you must have to beat another competitor. Just my opinion.

 

[wylye]

Our Sporting and Fitasc County Championships always have a good and meaningful attendance. This stems mainly from the fact that the county picks their inter-counties teams from the championships and does not pick them from the averages book or contacts list on their iPhone. If you don't have to shoot the county championship to get in the team then why bother?

My county is Somerset by the way, not Wiltshire.

 

[RobertBeard]

No doubt the free cider helps to celebrate afterwards! :lol:

 

[Will Hewland]

I was chatting with a chap from the Sussex committee today. He is very involved with their championships. Even he is amazed that there are 15 separate disciplines to cover. Inevitably some are very poorly supported especially as a lot of the trap shooters are often abroad so can't make it.

 

[maddmatt]

Our Sporting and Fitasc County Championships always have a good and meaningful attendance. This stems mainly from the fact that the county picks their inter-counties teams from the championships and does not pick them from the averages book or contacts list on their iPhone. If you don't have to shoot the county championship to get in the team then why bother?

My county is Somerset by the way, not Wiltshire.

This is how Surrey do it Ian, what has come out of the conversation is that we (Surrey) hold County Championship events in disciplines that only attract 2 competitors, I applaud the fact they turned up to give it a go, but with the exception of the sporting disciplines (ESP, FSP, STR) the others are poorly attended.

So have County events had their day? Apparently there are 1200 CPSA registered shooters in Surrey and yet the County events are not well attended, is this a common trend with other Counties?

 

[sscottsmith1234]

This is for sure a common trend within Counties, Buckinghamshire is exactly the same, ESP and FSP are well attended and competitive. However the remaining trap disciplines are poorly attended, last year I was one of only two to attend the all-round event, I 'decided not to bother this year' - I believe this is the same as many other shooters. I also suspect this could also stem down to the lack of availability on these disciplines, I don't even believe there is any trap grounds in BUCKS? Other than E J Churchills who don't run competitive events - other than Sporting.........  :hunter:

 

[wylye]

I think you should persevere with County Championships because it is probably as far as the average shooter will get. I remember my first badge for shooting for the County and I was chuffed to bits! Very few will attain the lofty heights of representing their country and even if trap shooters don't turn up, a few will and they will walk away with their badge/shirt/cap/fleece etc.etc.

 

[chippy]

In norfolk we run some county shoots with suffolk so keeping the entries up and adding a bit of intercounty rivalry.

 

[ips]

i am all for county championship however i must admit to winning once when there was only two of us so i didn't feel any credibility with shouting about it or wearing the badge. its a shame that some are so poorly attended its the one shoot per year that anyone interest in a particulars discipline should attend, what is wrong with some people.

so question should you be proud of winning one other or keep quiet like i did.

 

[Salopian]

You should be very proud of anything that you win, because even with only two participants, one has to come second. You have to be in it to win it.

I thoroughly recommend that you should have to qualify to represent your County and qualification process could be best aggregate score over a number of qualifiers, that way you hopefully will get a decent turnout but more importantly it will show who cares about their County and their shooting.

 

[Fuzrat]

I think it comes down to the percentages that Don Brunt showed in his magazine piece. Sporting is always going to be well attended as thats what most people shoot, but being a democracy (at the moment) all disciplines should be catered for.

As for the original question, The county champs are a decent money spinner for the counties, even if only 2 shooters turn up they will get a couple of quid in levies. Is it worth the hassle of organising a championship for the few shooters of a certain discipline within the county? I think so, purely because it entices people to give something different a go. If for instance, nobody turns up for a certain event then think about not running it.

Quite honestly its up to us to support our counties while we still have them. 

 

[blaser f3]

Only a few couple of shooters turning up at certain disciplines in the norm in most counties , I have said on quite a few occasions that this an area where HQ should step in an say , any  discipline that had less than say 10 (or more) participants in the last County Championship Must join with other counties in the same position (and  the same region)  and have a joint championship ,this will help in quite a few ways . It would free up dates at grounds in the region making life easier for the person organising the county shoots i,e more dates to play with . The grounds would be happier to hold these shoots as they would know there would be a lot more shooters turning up i,e more money made .  The shoots would be a lot better and more competitive (rivalry between counties for bragging rights ,always a good/fun thing ) and as we all know  more shooters make good  shoots and the more the better (also they would  have a higher profile ,which could prompt  more shooters think its worthwhile shooting whether it was their chosen discipline or not ) How many shooters honestly want to shoot a comp when there are only a couple of shooters there ?? 

Also more shooters means more levies for the counties (not a bad thing )

 

[wylye]

The down side is that with multiple counties holding a joint shoot then the levy is divided between them. So four counties with a £2 levy, 100 entries equals £50 for each county. A quarter of what they would have had with a sole championship. As a general rule I think sporting is fine and has few problems. You trap boys need to get your act together and sort it out as you clearly have major issues to tackle.

 

[Richard59]

Think that there are neighbouring counties that do double up on some of the trap events already, though with falling numbers in some events appreciate its difficult to entice new faces for a possible one off which is in itself a serious competition.