2001 Area 7 Championship

Although I will not assume the office of Area 7 director until January 1, 2001, I have been doing some preliminary work relating to the 2001 Area 7 Championship.

Match Venue

The match venue will be the Long Island Practical Shooting Association range in Westhampton Beach, LI. The current Area 7 policy for match location is to rotate between the Northeast; Eastern Lakes and Metro East Section, holding the match for two years in each section.

The hosting of the Area 7 Championship at this club with a proven track record of delivering large matches represents a continuation of the existing policy. The Long Island Practical Shooters range is the only one in the section large enough to host the number of stages requred for an Area Championship. I expect that Randy Cestaro will serve as Match Director for that match.

Match Date

A match data has not yet been set, however, I expect it will be somewhere in the mid September to Mid October range. This timeframe is being chosen for three reasons:

Staff Availability - We will be able to get the necessary staff at that time.
Club Scheduling - The host club runs several large events unrelated to USPSA/IPSC. This timeframe will fit with their schedule
Hotel Rates - The Hamptons on Long Island are a popular (and expen$ive) resort location during "peak season". We anticipate that a fall date will result in more favorable rates for our members.

We will not finalize a match date until USPSA President Michael Voigt has set the date for the US Nationals. We need to make sure that we don't directly conflict with the nationals.

Match Finances

A complete financial report will be posted to the USPSA web results area shortly after the match. The match director will maintain a separate checkbook dedicated only to the match. All income will be deposted to this account, and all expenses will be paid from this account. The complete list of all deposits made, and checks written, will be posted for our members.

It is my hope that other areas will adopt a similar "full disclosure" policy for their championships.

Award Policy

We have not yet set our award policy for this match. There is one thing I can promise you: Our award policy will be fully disclosed and published before we accept any registrations for the match.

Your Area Director's Role

As Area Director (as of 1/1/01), my role is not to serve as "match director by proxy." I intend to let the match director do his job, with minimal interference from the Area Director. Since the Area Director has an obligation to the members to assure that a certain quality standard is maintained, I will assume the following responsibilities:

Stage Review - I will be reviewing the stage designs. This is in addition to the normal NROI stage review for an Area Championship.
Squad Loading - I will review the squadding (number of shooters per squad, times allocated, etc.) to make sure it is reasonable.
Financial Review - I will review the financial plan for the match, and assure that the final report is published. I will also negotiate a contact with the match director and host club covering finance and reporting requirements.
Award Policy - The exact award policy is a job for the match director. My job is to make sure the policy is published in advance, so there are no surprises on match day.
Sponsor Policy Review - The treatment of sponsors at USPSA matches represents not only the Area, but the entire organization. I will review the match policies towards sponsor treatment to make sure that they reflect well upon USPSA.
Arbitration Committee - I will ask that any arbitration committee consist exclusively of individuals not associated with production of the match.
The buck stops with me - If you have any concerns with the Area 7 Championship which you feel are not being properly handled by match staff, please contact me. [This obviously applies to everything except match rulings which are properly addressed by match officials and the arbitration committee].

Rob Boudrie