In our new shooter meetings (and often in the regular shooter meetings) we often try to remind people about match etiquette with regarding to helping set up, reset stages, and tear down stages. However, it appears that making it more clear is necessary so that everyone understands what is expected of folks at local matches (and major matches) so that miscommunication doesn’t arise.
Reason being: I’ve heard recently from several sources that various shooters at ENPS matches have complained about being “yelled at” by ROs while on stages, while others have complained about “abrasive staff” (among other comments).
Upon hearing this, some of the experienced shooters (and not the ROs in question) were asked if they had heard anything unexpected, out of the ordinary, or rude—and the response was uniformly “No.”
So what happened?
Pretty simple, actually. General match etiquette is this:
1) Everyone is expected to help set up stages when they come to the match. Matter of fact, people are expected to come early to help set up stages. There is no dedicated “match setup staff” for the ENPS matches—the people designing stages have individually volunteered their time to build a stage, and need help doing so. No one gets paid, and if shooters want to have stages to shoot, they need to help set them up.
2) While the match is running, everyone is expected to help paste targets, reset and paint steel, write out the shooting order on the scoresheets, and help run the scoring Nook. Everyone. (And anyone with an RO ticket is expected to help run shooters.) While matches are a fun social time, you can socialize with your friends while you all reset steel and paste targets just as easily as when you are sitting on your comfy chair at the back of the bay while everyone else works.
As the match is being run, there are only five people who don’t have to be helping reset the stage: The guy who just shot (who is going around observing the scoring), the guy who shot before him (who is still probably reloading his mags), the guy who is going to shoot next (because he gets to get ready to shoot), the RO (who is scoring), and the guy holding the Nook (who is recording the score). Everyone else should be out there resetting the stage. And if you only have 10 people on your squad, everyone needs to make sure they DO this, because you only have 5 people to get it done—the other five are busy!
If the RO looks up and sees that two people are resetting an entire field stage, or the next shooter is having to reset it so he can shoot, or the RO has to reset also in addition to doing the RO job (and these are all things I’ve seen at matches), it is the RO’s JOB to get everyone up and helping. And so they have to let people know.
The RO will probably be 20 yards downrange on the stage somewhere, and everyone is wearing hearing protection. As such, they have to YELL. Something like “We need more people pasting!” or “If you aren’t the next shooter, grab some paint for the steel!” or something like that.
That’s a notification that some people aren’t doing their job, and making it harder on everyone else, because everyone else now has to make up for them.
Don’t want to hear “Hey, Bob, grab some pasters and go help”? Great! Go help without having to be reminded.
3)After the match, every squad is expected to help tear down and put away their stage. Then, if other stages aren’t down yet, go help them, too. Now, some people can’t do this—stats has to be in the office, match director normally has several jobs at the end, etc. But everyone else who enjoyed the match? Is expected to help put it all away.
In general, shooters are expected to stay with their squad all day. Don’t walk off to look at other stages (stay on your bay and help reset), don’t leave before the stage has been torn down, and be ready when it is your turn to shoot.
If you don’t do that, you are making it harder on everyone else in your squad. And we all love shooting just as much as you do, and are shooting the same stages you are. So don’t play prima donna or excuse yourself by saying “I might win this so I need extra time to prepare” or “I need to walk the stage just a little more than everyone else.”
Stay with your squad. Help out. And you’ll have a much better time, because everyone will simply like you much much more.
All of the match staff at ENGC (match director, stats, coordinators, ROs, etc) — all of them are volunteers. None of them get paid. None of them are any different than you—they are all at the match because they love the shooting sports. They just happened to have spent their own money getting their RO ticket so that they can give back to the sport. It isn’t their job to reset the stage while you relax. Nor is it their job to build the stages while you wait. And it isn’t their job to tear down the stages afterward while you go home.
If the RO has to yell at you for help—then help. The RO isn’t being abrasive—the RO is trying to get YOU to do what you are supposed to do. He shouldn’t have had to ask in the first place.
Now—some people don’t know this. However, it gets mentioned in every new shooter meeting (which new shooters should have attended) and it gets mentioned often in shooter meetings, PLUS much of it should be obvious when the entire rest of your squad goes forward to help reset the stage.
Everyone else is helping out. Don’t just sit there and watch them work.
Please, help out. And don’t complain that you got yelled at for not helping out. Of course there was yelling—the RO is 30 yards away and you are wearing hearing protection. And you were making life harder for your squad.
Help out. And if you see someone on your squad sitting there not helping, toss them a box of pasters and point them to the nearest un-taped target array.
This isn’t an “ENPS only” thing—this is how USPSA matches work across the nation. You want to sit there and not help? Go shoot IPSC in a different country—seriously, in the big matches in other countries they hire people to paste for them.
In USPSA, though, we all help out with the work.
Don’t get mad at the RO for doing his job. And please do your job, as part of the match.
We’ll all have lots more fun.
(Even better, sign up for the RO class and get certified so that you can help out more!)
