Slow Sign-ups can kill matches

June 14, 2003

The 2003 New York State Championship was recently canceled due to slow competitor sign-up. Although Square Deal Sportsmen's was committed to putting on a first rate match, they just couldn't do it with only a few dozen competitors registered by early June. Since many competitors make significant commitments based on match dates (family and vacation schedules, nonrefundable airline tickets, etc.) "waiting to see if sign-ups picked up and cancel the match later if necessary" was simply not an option.

I commend the host club for having the foresight and integrity to face this issue head-on, rather than place the competitors plans, and money, at risk.

We all need to learn from this!!!

The lesson is simple. If there is a big match you want to go to, sign up for it as soon as possible. If everyone waits until the last minute since they don't want to part with their match fee well in advance of the event, we could see this happen again. Contrary to what some may think, matches aren't generally a big money maker for clubs, and it's not reasonable to expect them to expend significant amount of risk capital in the hopes of voluminous last minute registrations.

Clubs need advance sign-ups for several reasons:

• The club and match staff need to know the event will be worth their effort.
  
  
• Some bills (prop construction, score sheet printing, tent rental, etc.) must be paid for prior to the match.
  
  
• "Prize Matches" need to buy the merchandise many weeks before the matches, since they are frequently dealing with manufacturers, not picking up the merchandise at the local gun shop.
  
  
• The way in which a match is produced frequently relates directly to the number of advance signups. A healthy advance sign-up often means more "new props" and less "Reused old walls and doors." It doesn't change the prop budget if a match gets a flury of last minute registrations after props have been purchased and construction started.

A final note...

I don't want to hear any griping about the NY Cancellation from anyone who did not already send their paid registration in to the Square Deal Sportsmen's Club for this event.