Below is the letter that our Secretary sends to those clubs in the zone we are next taking the shoot to.  He usually sends this letter in January.  At the 2004 shoot (Fort Bragg) several shooters said we made this process seem too difficult for the clubs that would like to bid on our shoot.  Since several clubs seem to have perceived the bid letter in this light, I want to acknowledge their perception and try to clarify what is really used in the decision process.

Your club should want to host the Armed Services Shoot for a minimum of two reasons.

1.  It provides a forum for you to conduct your own shoot immediately before ours with a probable 100 + shooters based on our advertising for you, and profit from that shoot.

2.  Our shoot is the easiest major shoot you can possibly hold at your club.  Why?  All you provide are fields, targets, machine repair, water, registration/squadding area, and bathrooms.  We do virtually all of the rest.  You don't have to worry about collecting money, people to conduct registration, referees, proofs, scoreboards, shoot-offs, awards, shoot reports, etc. You also have a captive audience for a week with revenue from practice, food and ammo sales etc.

(LETTER SENT TO CLUB MANAGERS TO BID FOR THE SHOOT)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          December 2, 2005               

 

                The Armed Forces Skeet Association (AFSA) is an NSSA-chartered Zone Nine Association.  The membership consists of military shooters on Active Duty, Reserve/Guard members and Retired.  We are an association similar and equal to your state association.  We apply for our shoot dates directly to the NSSA and are fully responsible directly to NSSA for all reports and fees associated with our shoot.  The AFSA conducts one major shoot each year (the Armed Services Skeet Championships), in various parts of the country.  We conduct the shoot during a five day Monday to Friday 600 target competition.  In 2004 it was determined that we would reduce the zones from 3 to 2, now called the West and the East zones of the country.  The shoot normally has 125-160 entries.  Traditionally 70-100 of our shooters compete in a club shoot that you host and conduct the weekend prior to our Monday start.

 

  This letter provides you with all the information you will need to submit a bid for the shoot.

 

                The Armed Services Skeet Championships (ASSC) is the easiest shoot to run you will ever hold.  What follows may seem to be very detailed, but we have found over the years that club managers appreciate knowing what they are responsible for doing and what the Armed Forces Skeet Association (AFSA) members are responsible for doing.  When you work on your bid, please remember that you make your profits from both shoots, plus practice fees, ammo and food/beverage sales.

 

The ASSC Shoot  (600 targets) is somewhat unique in that it is held Monday through Friday.  The following information should help you prepare your bid.

 

The AFSA will do the following:

 

1.  Conduct all pre-registration (on line) and registration activities for the AFSA Championships.  No club assistance is required other than a place on site to do registration the weekend prior to the shoot.

2.  Fill all machines with targets as required throughout each shooting day.

3.  Host a Thursday night dinner off site, normally at a military club or large banquet facility.  All coordination is done by a local club/AFSA member.

4.  Provide all awards and distribute them.  Your only club involvement is to use your FFL to receive, store, and transfer the firearms given as awards.

5.  Conduct all scoreboard operations for the shoot.

6.  Provide all referees for the shoot.

7.  Submit all required reports to NSSA for the shoot.

 

The host club will be responsible to do the following:

 

Please note that most of these things are either completed prior to the shoot, or if accomplished during the shoot, require minimum manpower from your club.

 

1.        Provide at least seven skeet fields for the shoot (Monday through Friday).

2.        Stock the houses as needed with White Flyer targets at the end of the day to insure that no restocking is required during any normal shoot day.  (As noted previously, our AFSA members fill the skeet machines as the shoot progresses.)

3.       Secure written approval from your state association to exempt our association (AFSA) from paying daily target fees or any other state fees for the Armed Services Skeet Championship.  It should be noted that while the state association will not receive any target fees from our shoot, they will receive the target fees from a usually-sold-out preliminary shoot.  This requirement, if your state association will not waive fees, does not eliminate your club from submitting a bid.  If fees are not waived, please state what those fees are per 100 targets.  No club has ever won the bid unless state fees were waived for the ASSC.

4.        Provide drinking water/cups and trash containers for all fields each day, refilling or emptying as needed.

5.        Provide sufficient restroom or porta-potty facilities for the shooters/guests.

6.        Conduct a four gun (plus doubles) open shoot on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday immediately prior to the week of this shoot with “targets only” offered in each event.

7.        Offer an “active duty military” and “retired military” concurrent event for “honors only” and report the associated All-American points to NSSA.  (Note:  The preliminary club shoot has statistically been the fourth largest military shoot each year, only behind the AFSA Championships, The World, and the Mini World.)

8.        Designate a “point of contact” individual with an email address that can make decisions for the club.

9.        Provide an onsite “point of contact” that will be on the grounds and available through both shoots.

10.     Provide a minimum of 75 square feet of scoreboard posting area.  The area may be separate from the clubhouse or may include some club window space that is easily accessible from the exterior of the building.

11.     Provide staple gun, tape, suitable referee score sheets, clipboards, and writing instruments. Provide proof ammo if requested.  (AFSA pays for it.)

12.   Provide all machine maintenance and spare skeet machines as needed.

13.  Provide and operate practice field(s) throughout both shoots.  We recommend that you have the practice fields available from 07:30 AM until 06:00 PM every day.  They will be utilized fully.

            14. Provide a shoot registration and management area with electrical supply for AFSA use during both shoots.  (We need hookups for two computers and a printer.)            

15. Provide a public address system.

16. Accept, store, and transfer firearm (shotguns) awards with your FFL.  (Or make arrangements to do so.)

Set aside a minimum of 70 four-gun shooter slots at your preliminary club shoot for AFSA.

17. Usually the host club has hosted a beer party/potluck dinner on Wednesday night of our shoot. 

In Phoenix and San Antonio it was Tamales/beer.  At Fort Bragg is was a bar-b-que buffet.  This is not a requirement to host our shoot.

            18. Provide a completed club bid (see attached) no later than 1 April of the year prior to the shoot.  (e.g. April 1, 2008 for the 2009 shoot.)

 

                We have found that providing the above information makes it much easier for club managers to formulate their bids for our shoot and hope that it serves that purpose for you as well.  Most shoots of this size are labor-intensive and therefore costly for any club.  However, since AFSA conducts all pre-registration and registration including cashiering, refereeing, filling all skeet machines without interruption every day of the shoot, posts scoreboards, conducts shootoffs, and provides awards to all winners, the Armed Services Skeet Championships can be a positive money maker for your club.  Several clubs have hosted our shoot on numerous occasions.  Ben Avery in Phoenix, the San Antonio Gun Club in Texas, and Fort Bragg have each been our host three or more times.  

 

                Please send your shoot bid on the attached form, with any attachments you may desire, to:   Clint Kreuser, #3 Susan Court, Beaufort, SC  29907. 

 

At the upcoming AFSA Board of Directors Meeting we will discuss all bids for next year's shoot.  We recommend that you contact a local AFSA member or an AFSA Board Member and ask them to be available at the meeting to answer questions about your bid.  As an alternative, you may feel free to attend the meeting yourself - most successful bids are presented by club managers or club officers.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.  If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 1-843-521-1822 in the evenings or reach me by e-mail at cashdude@embarqmail.com.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                ________________________

                                                                                                Clint Kreuser, Secretary, AFSA

CLUB BID FOR  AFSA CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

CLUB NAME_________________________ NUMBER OF FIELDS _______

                                                                   

NUMBER OF LIGHTED FIELDS  _______

 

CLUB PHONE_____________________  NEAREST CITY _______________

 

CLUB POC___________________________  PHONE_____________________

 

CLUB MANAGER’S EMAIL ADDRESS_________________________

 

1.  PER 100 TARGETS BID - _________(E.G. $9.00 PER 100)

 

2.  WILL SHOOTOFF TARGETS BE PAID FOR BY CLUB?  ____YES   ____NO

 

3. BRAND OF TARGETS THROWN (WHITE FLYER PREFERRED)____________________________

ALSO, PLEASE SPECIFY ORANGE DOME, ALL ORANGE, OR OTHER COLOR.

 

4.  ATTACH A LIST OF MOTELS AND MILITARY LODGING FACILITIES IN THE LOCAL AREA, PHONE NUMBERS, NUMBER OF ROOMS,  AND THE PRICES THEY HAVE COMMITTED TO. (THIS IS IMPORTANT AND OFTEN A DETERMINING FACTOR IN BID SELECTION.)

 

5.  # MILES FROM CLUB TO LOCAL OR NATIONAL AIRPORT - __________

 

6.  # MILES FROM CLUB TO THURSDAY NIGHT BANQUET LOCATION - _________

 

7.                    CAN THE THURSDAY NIGHT DINNER BE HELD AT A LOCAL MILITARY INSTALLATION?  _____YES  _____NO  (POC NAME AND PHONE NUMBERS:________________________________________)

 

8.  DO YOU HAVE FACILITIES TO SECURE  SHOTGUNS FOR SHOOTERS?

_____YES  _____NO  (IF YES, IS THERE A CHARGE?)  $____FOR BOTH SHOOTS

 

9.  DOES YOUR FACILITY HAVE COMPLETE LIABILITY INSURANCE AND LOSS/DAMAGE INSURANCE FOR THE GUNS WE WILL ASK YOU TO SECURE?

_____YES  _____NO

 

10.  DOES YOUR STATE ASSOCIATION AGREE TO EXEMPT THE AFSA SHOOT FROM PAYING ANY AND ALL STATE FEES?  _____YES  _____NO

(If waived, a written statement from a state officer to this effect is required to be attached to this form.)

 

11.  PRACTICE ROUNDS WILL COST $________PER ROUND

 

12.  NUMBER OF PRACTICE FIELDS AVAILABLE DURING AFSA SHOOT: _____

 

13.  WHAT MID-APRIL TO MID-MAY SHOOT DATES DO YOU PROPOSE?  (Usually the second full week in May.)

______________________________________________________________________

 

14.  CLUB AGREES TO THE ATTACHED COVER LETTER PROVISIONS.

 

15.  AMMO COST AT CLUB:  12______, 20______, 28______, 410______.

 

WHAT BRAND(S) OF AMMO ARE AVAILABLE?_______________________________________

 

16. DOES YOUR CLUB HAVE AN FFL? _____YES  _____NO

 17. HOW MANY RV SITES WITH HOOKUPS DO YOU HAVE? ________

E ONLY 30 AMP_______

E ONLY 30/50 AMP________

W/E SITES__________

W/E/SEWER ________

 

IF NO WATER/SEWER TO INDIVIDUAL HOOK-UPS, DO YOU HAVE A WATER FILL OR DUMP STATION?  _______YES   ________NO

 

IS THERE A CHARGE FOR THEIR USE? _____YES ($________ PER DAY or ________ FOR THE WEEK) NO______

 

18. PLEASE PROVIDE POC AND EMAIL ADDRESS FOR WHOM EVER WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRELIMINARY SHOOT THAT YOU WILL HOLD.  (WE NORMALLY ADVERTISE YOUR SHOOT DATE WITH OURS IN THE SKEET SHOOTING REVIEW BUT DO NOT IN ANY WAY REGISTER, RUN, OR MANAGE YOUR SHOOT.)_____________________________________________________

               

19.  PLEASE ATTACH A LETTER WITH THOSE ADDITIONAL THINGS YOUR CLUB IS OFFERING TO GET THIS SHOOT. (E.G. BERETTA 682 FOR HOA, KEG PARTY(IES), WEDNESDAY EVENING BUFFET PLANS, AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT MAKES YOUR FACILITY PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE FOR SHOOTERS)

 

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION.

 

If your club is the successful bidder for the shoot, the above becomes a binding contract on both parties.

 

In the name of this gun club or shooting facility I agree to be bound by the above conditions and proposals.  State association statement is attached.

 

_______________________________                     Date Signed: __________________

CLUB MANAGER OR PRESIDENT

 

In the name of the Armed Forces Skeet Association, your bid is accepted subject to the conditions and proposals contained in this document.

 

 

______________________________________

PRESIDENT, Armed Forces Skeet Association           Date Signed: _________________