Rules

[Jim Wheeler]

I have to agree with Nimbus on this,, the general lack of regard by some to the rules and etiquette of the shooting sports is quite frightening at times!  only been shooting in uk for 12 weeks now, and seen people with head gashes from clay fragments, no eye /ear protection,,and a few 'bully' types demanding 'no birds' etc., which is ok if justified. by the same token,,some of the 'refs' are very slack too. rules are, in fact, rules.

I asked GD a while ago why it is expensive to shoot here in the uk,compared to SA, (where its close to half the cost of uk) he told me it is because of the 'professionalism' of uk shooting,,all reffed by professionals, new machines,, no hiccups in the organising of major shoots etc. I remain to be convinced.

I am NOT having a moan. A few facts.!

 look closely the next shoot your at,,, and i'll also report back in 6months,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[PhilR]

I would think GD had his tongue firmly in his cheek with that response.

 

[Salopian]

I heard he was very impressed with the refereeing at the Finals at The World Sporting at EJC.

 

[Jeremy Baker]

I heard he was very impressed with the refereeing at the Finals at The World Sporting at EJC.

It seemed that way......

 

[mx8]

Firstly, this is an expensive hobby.

I doubt any of us want to spend £100 and have a tyrant scoring.

We want to enjoy a shoot, but we want fair refereeing , unbiased and not allowing cheating, or an advantage to any competitor.

The real issue is no one wants to pay a fair price for qualified referees.

I think we do need to raise standards and enforce the rules fairly and even handedly. Sadly we have people in authority who do not know the rules themselves.

FITASC Sporting is possibly the one discipline that suffers most from poor rule enforcement, both from a competitors and an organisers point of view.

But all that being said, I think that with enthusiasm and diplomacy, most disputes can be resolved.

and don't forget honesty and sportsmanship 

 

[ips]

The best refs i have come across is on the national dtl circuit there always very good with few arguments or bad calls from my experience.

 

[westley]

Yes the problem is that in sporting you need 10-14 refs. They will never be shooters as they need to man their stand all day. The rules are few and simple, so no need to post on each stand. Just tell the bloody refs!

Ever thought about becoming a REF. then ?

 

[westley]

Before we all become like the Footballing fraternity and blame the Refs for everything that goes wrong on a shooting ground in a sporting comp. Remember, the 'Qualified' Refs have ALL had to do the 1 day course at THEIR expense, to become 'Qualified'. Currently the cost for this is £75 and may include a couple of hours drive to arrive at the shooting ground that is hosting the Course. So, to become 'Qualified' it is going to cost in excess of £100. Having 'Qualified' one can then travel, again at own cost, to possibly stand all day in all weathers, with probably only 1 break to get something to eat and drink, listen to shooter after shooter bemoaning their bad luck at getting out of bed that morning, looking occasionally at what cartridges are being used (and YES I have seen 36 grams used in ESP) being verbally abused for pointing out the rules that YOU took the trouble to learn, standing firm against the deposition who are trying to tell you that "Arry really did hit that last clay and it was NOT the wad that they saw", the same group that are calling for a 'no bird' if the wind happens to blow when they are shooting. Then you get the opportunity, between squads of shooters, to pick up all of the empty cases lying around inside the cage, the ones that some posterior parts have ejected there and of course those lying outside from those despicable auto things. You look forward to the occasional trap malfuntion, this inevitably leads to a shooter malfunction and you take the flack for something entirely beyond your control. Eventually, when all of the shooters are back enjoying something to eat and drink in the comfort of the clubhouse or tucked up in air coditioned motors on their way home, the Ref is still being bitten by every damned fly on the Universe whilst again picking up the empties and making the traps safe before leaving the stand. They can then make their way home in their brand new Rangey, paid for with all of the £60's they have earned from Reffing and wondering why the Reffing ell they do it ! Of course they could just turn up with their gun, enjoy a full breakfast before going out, pay their entry and moan at the cost. Then tramp their way around some 14 stands, each with someone who is "paid"! to score for you, clean up your empty cartridge cases and listen to your every excuse as to why you missed that last pair through absolutely no fault of your own. Having enjoyed themselves so far, they could then retire to the clubhouse and moan to anyone that will listen about the 'quality of the targets' the 'standard of the Referee's' the 'colours of the targets' the 'number of empty cartridge cases under your feet at the stands when someone is paid to clear them up' and even the state of the Country and the C.P.S.A. "What ! me do something to alter things, no bloody fear".

 

[BoB1]

I agree with ips and westly.

Shot in front of dozens of dtl refs, never came off a line and thought "what a **** of a ref, no clue". They have all without exception, been fine. Alot of them are proper top blokes.

And Westlys piece sums up pretty much what I think of the whole thing. The refs have a tough, mostly thankless job. Put them under pressure, complain, cheat etc, they're either going to make even more mistakes, or become jaded & stop caring. They're not machines

 

[Angelfire]

Thank God I was Tarpist in my other life. The post #67 by Westley just confirms my decision.

By the way Wes, 10 out of 10 for length of post, 9.9 for content, a real cracker.

Phil*

 

[westley]

Thank you Guy's, I am better today, thanks to renewed stocks of Valium !