Fresh start and new beginnings....

[Bob Mc Alice]

So I just get home from work today and check the mailbox. The usual crap plus an envelope from the NRA. Dues notice I wonder? Nope....a Christmas card from dear sweet Mrs.Chin again pestering me for never received match report cards. Now get this, I followed advice from you guys on going the direct email route. I submitted two delinquent forms this way asking nicely for an email received reply from ANY ONE there that may have got it. NOTHING. Then a month later I get a SECOND NOTICE nasty gram from her with CC to Conner asking for these reports that were EMAILED direct to her/Conner.

Sorry, I am getting pissed. Drink beer and relax, Bob. OK.. all is good.

She kindly supplies new cards and envelopes. Pissed off, I crumpled them and threw them in the trash. Two days later I decided to just fill them out and send them stains and all.

So today the nasty gram is again a SECOND NOTICE for failure to provide the multi page STATE MATCH report. I never got the first delinquent notice!! I SENT THE ORIGINAL ONE IN , Mrs. Chin !!!!!! And get this....also delinquent is the match report for the 9-29-12 match which was a state SMALL BORE match held at same range as mine but with a DIFFERENT match director. Oh yeah...the state match fees collected check I sent in with it WAS CASHED!!!!!

I will not respond to this notice at all this time. I am fed up with the bungling at the NRA silhouette dept. The NRA needs to clean house and get new people running the show. This stuff has been going on, off and on, with me for the eight years since I got drafted as HP match director at CRC. I love the game and running the matches but am right at the point of throwing in the towel as match director.

If any one here has the ability to forward this post to Conner or all the way to the top...please do so. I will NOT be sending in my 2013 match dates until I get complete assurance from the NRA tournament dept. that all is taken care of.

Yours truly and possibly ending being a match director,

Bob McAlice.

[Bob259]

It's good to vent Bob.....

Agree with your feelings, been there done that....

[cslcAl]

Bob,

I had the same experience with Mrs. Chin this fall after I had sent everything in. I called her and told her I had sent everything in already and refused to do it again. She told me she would mark the ones in question as reported.

I copied your post and emailed it to Dennis Willing. I forwarded the email to you as well.

Al

[DanDeMan]

Bob,

I've been though the same ringer with the NRA Competition Department; as match director for various silhouette championships and Black Powder Target Rifle long-range matches, 3 regional championships per year. After 5 years of dealing with the NRA concerning the BPTR matches I just quit having the matches sanctioned, end of problem. A former NRA national's match director and full-time employee at the NRA headquarters took me aside before he quit to seek employment elsewhere during nationals at Raton. He gave me what he though necessary insight into the NRA Competition Department; "The department is a total shambles." It seems to have remained in that state. Several buddies that are top-flight match directors and run some of the best matches I've ever attended have horror stories about the Competition Department that will either make you or cry or scream, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" If I was to pony-up and be an NRA match director again, I'd do everything possible by email so that the electronic trail would be easy to send back to the NRA with just a few clicks and a trivial amount of typing.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Thanks a lot, Al. Hopefully I will get some corrective action on this seemingly constant problem. Mean time I am going to draft my letter of resignation to my club's officials. Maybe even write up a cover sheet for the news letter seeking a new match director.

Help wanted: CRC looking for energetic individual to run/ direct all activities pertaining to the High Power Rifle Silhouette Program. As match director the incumbent will plan, organize, do lots of paperwork, ...blah blah blah and see your own scores degrade over time. You will get to shoot along side of a great group of shooters, sometimes up to six of them at once!


Just kidding, or not.

Thanks for the words, Dan. If this issue does not get resolved CRC will be hosting seven unsanctioned HP matches a year, or someone else will have to replace me. Bonner will have to save his best shooting for the "big time" events.

[kevinbear]

This sucks, my shoulder is just about healed and your quitting.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Now Kevin, no where did I say I was quitting. I will give the NRA a chance at resolving this issue. Hey... Why don't you join CRC and...better yet...I can sponsor you and get your $150.00 one time initiation fee waived if you volunteer to take over as H.M.F.I.C. of HP silhouette. That is a nasty acronym for match director. I saved Goodnight 150 clams when he stepped up to become Cowboy rifle silhouette head honcho. What'da ya say?

[kevinbear]

CRC is in a different time zone than Parker and I don't have a RV like you, I'm good for about 3-4 matches a year.

[cslcAl]

I got a reply rom Dennis Willing already. He stated he will look into the problem and if it can be fixed it will be. I suggested online reporting. I do think it is encouraging to get such a quick response. Al

[Bob Mc Alice]

Thanks very much for your help, Al. I read your correspondence with Willing and yes, it sounds like he will take some kind of corrective action. The email has got to be the most efficient way to get this report done. I often wonder why this silly monthly report is needed. "how many shooters?....any firearm accidents?......any rules clarifications needed? That is it. It has to be sent in even if a match has been cancelled.

I too, have no personal issues with any of the NRA staff. I have spoken to Greg, Pat and Jon many times over the years at matches and have only respect for their professionalism shown running matches. Hell, Greg is a hoot once you get to know him.

The next time I get a delinquent notice Colorado HP will need a new match director if sanctioned matches are wanted by our small group.

[chuckjordan2]

Not sure why you don't spend a buck or two and have your envelope tracked by the USPS. Add signature required and online tracking. Sure worth it for piece of mind. That way, you can get the info from the USPS and send them who signed for it and when it was delivered.

then let them (NRA) deal with it. It's your evidence that it was delivered and to whom.

No stress, no mess, and you're done with it.

[Bob Mc Alice]

chuckjordan2,

I appreciate your thoughts, but this will put more burden on me having to go to the post office and pony up more money than just stamps. I have never failed to send in all that is required of me being a match director. I complete this task usually within two days after my matches.

I believe that every form that I have ever mailed has made it to the NRA mail room. From there who knows where it ends up. It makes the most sense to me to get these requirements put into email format across the board, even paying the collected match fees on line. You will have an "electronic paper trail" to fall back on if needed. This is an internal NRA problem and hopefully Mr.Willing will work towards implementing this method of record keeping.

[Jim Beckley]

McAlice, I'm seeing R. Lee Ermey sitting on a couch throwing you a box of Kleenex, saying "stop whining like a little girl with a skinned knee, and run those matches, Mamby Pamby! A year and half after I turned the HP matches over to Rose, Sr, I was still getting those nasty grams.

[Bob Mc Alice]

I had a pleasant ten minute conversation with Dennis Willing at the NRA this morning. He did not realize the depth of problems the current paper reporting has been causing. He had a copy of my original SC post in hand and we went over each specific issue I had written about.

The entire tone of the conversation was apoligetic on behalf of the NRA and "we must do better".

It is possible that my two email reported match forms were sent to a .com adresse. They are set up for .org at the NRA. I will check my saved emails when I get home from work.

I told him that the online match registration process was user friendly, quick , painless and a whole lot better than the old paper, postage and pray it gets there method. He agreed that making the MD reporting online, including the option to pay match fees online, would be the best solution overall.

He will be working with the IT folks at the NRA to modernize the MD reporting system. He said he would keep me informed of their progress and straighten out my particular mess with them.

I also apoligized for complaining here on SC. I will keep you all updated as I hear from him.

[DanDeMan]

....I also apoligized for complaining here on SC. I will keep you all updated as I hear from him.

Bob,

Without guys like you explaining to us about the trials and tribulations you have to go through, little will get done. When you explain the situation online, heads turn and ears perk up. Sunlight is the best disinfectant for incompetence. Most shooters have no idea what some of us match directors have gone though over the years. I have heard from two of my MD buddies over the years tell their hair-raising tales of woe about dealing with the NRA's competition department. And, both those guys are not shrinking violets. Denny's gotten a dump truck full from both of them. Keep up the good work bro.