TargetTalk

Just hosted first match of the season using the suggested format of firing smallbore followed by air rifle within one hour for every relay of shooters. The unintended results of the format are listed here. Constant range change overs from smallbore to air took too much time. Change overs were rushed resulting in damage to equipment. Additional time needed for change overs required teams to reduce the number of participants since we had to cut down the number of relays fired and for two teams it meant a second night of hotel rooms increasing costs. The NCAA Championship format shoots smallbore followed a day later by air rifle. Why not shoot all relays of each gun together and only need a single range change over to allow for more relays in a day so that more students can participate without increasing costs and risking equipment damage.

NCAA Rifle Committee might be a better place to go with your suggestion/question.

I think this Rules modification is to keep match fair for all contestants.

It would be possible to squad a smallbore shooter on an early relay and then have them shoot many (3+) hours later in air if this was not the case. This might force other shooters to shoot smallbore on relay two and then with the normal turnaround have to compete with the one hour delay.

Now ... that said, the rules modification document (at least the 2013-2014 item ... I don't have the current one) gives the teams a ... what I consider a "sneaky out". The second paragraph of Rule Mod 3 states:

Any deviation from the standard match format must be agreed upon in writing by the head coaches of each institution participating in the match at least one week prior to the scheduled start of the match.

So ... if you can get together a week before and want to run it different you could. I have seen matches run this way and at least I feel it is not in the spirit of fair competition as the coaches are clearly squadding their counters in the 1st relay for SB and the last relay for air to attempt to get higher scores ... or at least that's how I interpreted it when I saw it happen.

Part of the toughness of the NCAA competition is the duration of the match and how the shooters handle the fatigue.

Changeovers: Consider changing to a fixed target line and a moving firing line ... if OSHA rules are a concern, a quick mopping and dry is probably faster than moving all your targets.

The deviation provision still in current rules (2014-15 NCAA Rifle Rules Modifications). Note though that all designated NCAA Qualifier matches shall use the standard match format. Modifications at:
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files ... 0Final.pdf

Thanks for the link!

I interpret (and note I'm NOT a NCAA collegiate coach) the Mod 3-Para3:

Exception, all designated NCAA Qualifier matches shall use the standard match format.

to be the NCAA Qualifiers in February. All of the other matches are referred to as "countable contests".

I think these "deviations" that are permitted are pretty much required when you have 3 or more teams all shooting on the same day, otherwise you end up shooting into the late evening, even starting very early in the morning.

I have a range that uses a fixed target line and we move the shooters between the two firing lines ... if necessary we sweep & mop between the 50ft and 10m lines and with our airflow the floor dries within a few minutes. If needed a few box fans (or in the winter - jet heaters) makes the drying very quick.

I watched a match on the new USAFA range a week ago ... they move the targets ... and it was painful to see how much work/time went into that turn around. 2 folks w/ mops could have had that range space between the 50ft and a 10m line turned around in 15 minutes tops while another changed out the target faces.
(The industrial engineering courses come back to haunt me here)