Empire State Games Discrimination?

[NY_Rifle]

So I was trying to register for a tryout in AP for the New York Empire State Games. This is not an option.

I spoke with the regional director who told me that I had to qualify in either rapid fire or free pistol first, then I would be invited to qualify in AP.

So in my opionion I am being discriminated against and barred from competing in an event because I do not own or shoot in RF or FP. Since the event is state run and state paid for, can they legally do this?

[laxratnd]

Yes i know what your going through. We have the same problem with air rifle. We must qualify for smallbore rifle to then try out for air rifle. Yes it is not far but they can do it. We have tried to challenge it many times. Since the state pays and runs it they can basically do what they want. There excuse for not letting us to it is because it would cost more money for them. Because instead of just having one team doing both you would have two separate teams. We try to support it by having air rifle shooters that didnt make the smallbore team come and still shoot the air rifle match. Just to get numbers for them to see. Its just something the state wont go for. Let me know if you find out anything else.

Lax

[NY_Rifle]

I spoke with my regional director today who made some calls to Albany. Albany said that the qualification thing was put forward by the shooting community and was not a ESG decision. So the state chair is looking into it and is supposedly going to challenge it.

[laxratnd]

ill tell you that it was not the shooting community that put that into effect. We dont even like the rule.


lax

[JohnD]

I've been involved in the Empire State Games as a competitor since 1992, and Air Rifle and Men's Air Pistol have been done this way the whole time. If this was put forth by the shooting community, it was in response to limitations, real or implied, set by the State. In 1994 the team size was cut from 3 to 2 in an effort to save money. In 2003 they tried to drop shooting from the games altogether.

I would hardly refer to it as discrimination.

[bellyshooter]

For the two years that my husband and I lived in New York, we participated in the Empire State Games (1995 and 1996). They had just reduced the number of team members from each region from three to two, and, just as now, the air rifle spots were available only to those who were already going to the Games for Smallbore.

Considering how anti-gun NYC is, I was grateful that there was an opportunity to shoot at all, and that pistol, rifle and shotgun were all included.

While I can understand your frustration, it certainly isn't any more descriminatory than the Olympic Games having Men's Prone and no Women's Prone or USA Shooting limiting their Regional Events to mirror the Olympics.

Perhaps you can take a cue from US Shotgun Team Member, Kim Rhode. The event that she won two Olympic medals in was cut from this year's Games. Her response was to make the Olympic Team in a new event.

If competing in the Empire State Games is important to you, you may want to try to shoot another discipline to get there. What I hate to see is the angry response of "if this is state funded... we can MAKE them do it my way." More likely, shooting will be viewed as more hassle than it is worth and your state will lose a very well-run and well-contested match (which kind of 'descriminates' against smallbore shooters in that it is generally held at the same time as Camp Perry's Smallbore Phase...)

Shooting has a rich history in the Empire State Games, become a part of it!

[Bruce Martindale]

I was once there too but it isn't "discrimination". It's their games and their rules. We have talked about it endlessly. AP was my main strength but I couldn't get into the games. My understanding of the reason was NY limited the number of participants to fewer than the number of sports we had. So either dump a sport or hold athletes to a higher standard.

You can still qualify in Free with a standard pistol. I have done it and so did Ed Hall. For that matter, you can shoot RF with a std pistol even tho space guns are still allowed. I did it at Rochester and had the lead all the way to the last 4 sec finals string; took Silver.

Try it anyways, you'll be better for it. The shotgunners by the way get nothing. We get room and board. That is worth something to me. The first year I qualified, they cancelled and reinstated shooting, all at my cost.

Hope to see you at Binghamton this year.