Do you or have you shot team competition your thoughts?

[pan60]

so have you been on or are you on a team that shoots competitions?

would you be on one give the opertunety?

would you be able to participate at the scheduled events?

what would you expect from a team?

how woulda team go about selecting members?
being a good shot I would imagine is only part of the equation.

I ask because it is of interest to me somethinging I have wondered about.

 

[Centercut]

Team Centercut at Extreme Benchrest 2023. It’s A Story Of Success!
Team Centercut at Extreme Benchrest 2023. It’s A Story Of Success!

This article from 2023 gives an idea and outlook of being on a Team.
We currently have 12 shooters on Team Centercut (the Daystate Wolf Pack took one of our best shooters to be their Team Captain).
It’s just as important to have good camaraderie as it is to have good shooters, and to be good representatives of your Sponsor and his brand.

 

[pan60]

Team Centercut at Extreme Benchrest 2023. It’s A Story Of Success!
Team Centercut at Extreme Benchrest 2023. It’s A Story Of Success!

This article from 2023 gives an idea and outlook of being on a Team.
We currently have 12 shooters on Team Centercut (the Daystate Wolf Pack took one of our best shooters to be their Team Captain).
It’s just as important to have good camaraderie as it is to have good shooters, and to be good representatives of your Sponsor and his brand.

this makes also add to the questions.
would you be willing to change guns scope other for a team if ask to? realizing that they are going to cost you MONEY : )

 

[Centercut]

this makes also add to the questions.
would you be willing to change guns scope other for a team if ask to? realizing that they are going to cost you MONEY : )

For me, no. That was the very first stipulation when I started TC. We get to shoot what we want, guns, scopes, ammo and accessories.

It’s not about the money. It’s about doing as well as possible at each event we shoot in. Some events I might shoot not my best gun just to test out a different setup.

Like at EBR this year I shot a .22 caliber Skout Evo with AEA 21.9 grain pellets. Certainly not on a level with my .30 Skout Epoch, but I wanted to give “One Gun” a shot - and was sorely disappointed by the very low turnout (17 shooters) and the amount of errors made in scoring and ranking shooters.
EBR is better than that!
Time to ditch the past, drop One Gun, and move to something more interesting and competitive like a Top Gun event.

 

[Solo1]

Id shoot on a team so long as i could shoot my ghost or was provided a gun the i shot as well and liked as well as my ghost. No electronic guns
This would probably never happen as there aren’t many air-gunners or matches near me.

 

[GHairgunner]

Wow Great subject! Lots of juicy stuff here.
So yes I shoot for the Daystate Wolf Pack. I love the target and field target aspect of the sport and would compete even if I wasn't on a team. I feel very lucky to have been asked to shoot with the Wolf Pack. It has many more advantages as compared to being a privateer. PS While I do get nice discount I'm still spending money just like you.

Competing has taught me each gun has its goods and bads. I have learned not to make that an issue for me to just fix it. I use the analogy that in the Porsche Cup everyone buys a Porsche and takes it home and works on it to turn it into a race car. So yes you can compete with a stock gun and even win once in a while, but most of the time you will get crushed by someone without your skills but spent the money or did the work to have outstanding equipment.

My team works very well in sharing ideas and things that have improved the guns we shoot with. I think that is the most important part of being on a team. If you are keeping things to yourself then you might as well be a privateer. If a team or a manufacture wants to get better it will be helpful to work with people willing to share ideas or even test out others ideas.

Here is some of my questions:
What could be done to attract more people to the competitive world? Most of the people doing it now have been doing it and there are not to many new ones, not to mention that a lot of new people just disappear very quickly.

In comps what can be done to have the best shooter win? Some of the big comps come down to weather and lane draw. What new comps can be done to attract new shooters. When I coached skiing they taught us that the kids we were teaching now had to have great experiences so they would bring their kids back to learning skiing there. In this sport we are NOT looking at this as generational growth in sales, just stick a new model out there and hope for the best.

 

[pan60]

I can only imagine shooting say for a team like AoA they wouldn't care what gun you shot but would probly want it to be from one of the one they sold were as daystar or BRK would want you shooting a daystate or BRK?
a local team club would care is my guess.
can a team be effective if they are spread out provided there is good comunitaion?

I would think theres at least two major events a team would want to be present for the pyramid or EBR.
for those of you on teams does any of your sponcers help with travel of is that all out of pocket.
for those not on a team would you able able or willing to travel for these events?

 

[Billm]

I would love to compete in competition, solo or on a team.
I could make it to almost any event now.
I understand the team concept and appreciate why a team sponsor would want you to use their equipment and see that as part of the deal. I also understand somewhat the concept behind Team Centercut. Team Centercut is a different ball of wax as far as equipment used, because of who sponsors them. In my mind it would be unfathomable to shoot an FX on Team Daystate for example.

Being a good shot should only be part of the selection criteria, just as important to shooting skills are how the selected person conducts themselves. Do they represent the sponsors and the sport well. Do they help attract new participants to the hobby.
The team should provide some kind of reasonable financial support, whether it be equipment, or entry fees, transportation support or a combination of the three. Technical support and training would be beneficial to the team and the participants.
From what I’ve seen so far, the U.S. national level events are not as inviting to solo newcomers as they could be. I’m referring mostly to benchrest, Field target seems a little more regional. Being in a team obviously helps with that hurdle.

Whether or not I would be willing to fund equipment changes out of my own pocket to be on a team, would depend on what the team is bringing to the table. In my opinion, the average shooter not already on the circuit, doesn’t care who is on what team. This isn’t the NFL where a team has national name recognition. I can only name one or two Wolfpack shooters and one Team Centercut Shooter, one Benjamin shooter and that’s because a team member that had ties to two of the teams reached out and helped me with two BRK rifles and a Benjamin factory shooter reached out and helped me as well.

 

[pan60]

one this that goes through my mind is that the arguing hobby is so small I dont see how soncership would be avalible to help with say travel so how many folks could and or would do that out of pocket?
just another thought as the day goes by.

 

[Solo1]

Well to me trying to make comps like ebr or rmac they have to start cutting down on pro shooters or have a separate event like ebr jr or something as a second event for joe average to shoot. I mean how many spots were left after all the promised spots were filled also places like aoa and utah need to help their dealers sponsor events at a local level. How else could you make it grow? Aafta needs to get with it too trying to bring in new members.

 

[pan60]

I was just chatting to a buddy about that.
all these companies need to try and help get more events going but its more then just them being will you have to have someone will to get it organized.
you have to have the land available to do somthing also.

aside from ebr or rmac how many events are out there?
I know Triston has his event up and running in Fl and well I think Jessica has one started not real sure what it is yet?

I know theres other events but personally no clue as to how many and there location.

 

[Billm]

Well to me trying to make comps like ebr or rmac they have to start cutting down on pro shooters or have a separate event like ebr jr or something as a second event for joe average to shoot. I mean how many spots were left after all the promised spots were filled also places like aoa and utah need to help their dealers sponsor events at a local level. How else could you make it grow? Aafta needs to get with it too trying to bring in new members.

Concur. I wanted to try 100yd benchrest. I couldn’t make the first two events and I was really disillusioned to find out that a large swath of slots for EBR are held back from the general public. Hence my comment of not very inviting to newcomers. I don’t need sponsorship for anything, just give me equal access and a fair playing field and I’ll be there. If you are on a team, should you really be shooting in a “sportsman” class? I have some other thoughts and ideas but they’re better kept for a different thread. Let’s stay on topic.

 

[Billm]

I was just chatting to a buddy about that.
all these companies need to try and help get more events going but its more then just them being will you have to have someone will to get it organized.
you have to have the land available to do somthing also.

aside from ebr or rmac how many events are out there?
I know Triston has his event up and running in Fl and well I think Jessica has one started not real sure what it is yet?

I know theres other events but personally no clue as to how many and there location.

The airgun community hurts in the U.S. due to the lack of a viable national organization. I know about airgun sporting association. But, to really grow airgun competition, an organization that provides assistance with rules and competition event organization would be useful.

 

[PapaT]

so have you been on or are you on a team that shoots competitions?

would you be on one give the opertunety?

would you be able to participate at the scheduled events?

what would you expect from a team?

how woulda team go about selecting members?
being a good shot I would imagine is only part of the equation.

I ask because it is of interest to me somethinging I have wondered about.

I am not
Certainly, but if you've seen my shooting it's no time soon.
That would be the goal/intention.
Much like a read about in the centercut article linked, camaraderie and support within the team.
Again, meshing and working well together would be important for a team dynamic in my opinion.

I have not gone to any competitions, although I think there are some near me along the eastern coast. I am hoping to go to, and maybe even compete, in some one day for the fun and test.

I don't think just larger competitions benefit from having teams/sponsors. Smaller, and more localized, competitions would also benefit from having groups. And sponsors could still see benefit in localized areas, eventually building to the bigger stages.

I do agree, more national organization and coordination would help the sport overall.

Just this Papa's $.02

 

[BenjeneerJohn]

I love being part of a team.

Team Iconic is made up of Crosman/Benjamin employees. We only shoot our products (except for scopes). Doing this for a living, we just don't take the time to practice like we should.

I have been to a few EBRs and PAC and the people at the events are what makes them so much fun. If you have the opportunity to attend and compete in an event, I highly suggest you do it.

John

 

[pan60]

how many members do we have that would be interested in being on a team?
can you travel?

 

[Billm]

how many members do we have that would be interested in being on a team?
can you travel?

Me, possibly.

 

[Franklink]

Well to me trying to make comps like ebr or rmac they have to start cutting down on pro shooters or have a separate event like ebr jr or something as a second event for joe average to shoot. I mean how many spots were left after all the promised spots were filled also places like aoa and utah need to help their dealers sponsor events at a local level.

1000%
Biggest benefit of being a team shooter would be getting those slots reserved for ....team shooters. At least at the bigger airgun events.

Next largest benefit would be access to the latest gear, and/or the equipment that your sponsors considers their tops at the moment.

 

[Grunt64]

For me personally, I don’t feel the need to shoot competition, but if someone’s thinking about trying it, I say go for it. Could be a great experience for the right person.

 

[Centercut]

I like being on a Team, but there are numerous misconceptions about Teams, especially non factory Teams like Team Centercut.

As an example.. lots of finger pointing - you guys all get into EBR early.

Now, the rest of the story. We had 12 shooters that wanted to come to EBR. Our Sponsor, Airguns of Arizona, gave us six spots. I had to decide who gets them. Luckily for me, six of us prequalified for early signup based on our performance(s) at various EFT events during the year. So six of us EARNED our way in and six were given a sponsors exemption.

All the latest equipment and ammo? Not true. Factory Teams maybe, but we don’t get heads up latest “stuff”, or even really know about the stuff in advance. We don’t get free ammo. We don’t get free entry. We don’t get free guns. We do get a discount on what our sponsor sells. And our sponsor does pay for the AirBnB for three of the biggest events - Oregon, RMAC and EBR.

I think the best part of being on a Team is the camaraderie and the sharing of knowledge and experiences.