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FSCA President's newsletter
January, 2006
First, allow us to apologize for not having
published a newsletter since last December. We are going to make an honest
effort to issue these newsletters more frequently in the coming months. Our
main focus has been on the annual shooting schedule, the state championship
event and this year's officer elections.
The FSCA Web Site - continues to be our primary information medium.
Thanks goes to Cindy Barton for her marvelous work on our website.
You can also find relevant information on national as well as Florida
sporting clays on the NSCA site thanks to Lori Hartmann, the NSCA Club
Secretary.
FSCA General Membership Meeting
The2006 Florida
Sporting Clays Association General Membership Meeting will be held on
Sunday, January 29, 2006 in conjunction with the Mid Winter Classic at Polk
County Skeet, Trap & Sporting Clays, 151 Race Pit Rd, Winter Haven, FL. We
expect the meeting to be reasonably brief, and will work it in between lunch
and awards.
The principle item
of business is the election of officers for the 2006/2007 term. Wayne South
heads a nominating committee to present a slate of candidates. Nominations
for Officers will also be accepted from the floor.
A meeting agenda
will be posted at the club. New business issues, and items for discussion
will also be accepted from the floor.
A mailer announcing
this meeting will also go to all Florida resident NSCA members in good
standing. Thank you Jerry Seaman for taking on this effort and all your work
for the FSCA.
In addition to
the FSCA General Meeting announcement, Jerry is sending Florida NSCA members
a copy of the 2006 shooting schedule. A printed calendar such as last
year's, will not be available for 2006.
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Major Florida Shoots On Feb 11 and 12 Mick Howells at Indian River
Trap & Skeet, Vero Beach is presenting the 3rd Annual FITASC
Fiesta (aka Treasure Coast FITASC) a two day shoot limited to 72
entries.
Again in 2006, we have the Rhino Rally in Williston Florida,
scheduled for February 16 through 19. Last year's event was well attended
with 165 registered shooters in the two day main event and it is expected to
draw a crowd again this year.
The Seminole Cup, always an exciting annual event, will be located
for the second year at Quail Creek from February 22nd through the 26th.
Last year's event brought rave reviews and was attended by 366 registered
shooters. This year looks to be even better.
The Florida State Sporting Clays Championship, hosted last year by
Quail Creek Plantation and will again be at Quail Creek from April 21
through 23.. There was a record 251 shooters last year in the main event
with 5 stand, FITASC, small gauge, SxS and Pump gun events making this event
all the more exciting.
New Florida sanctioned NSCA clubs:
In the past year several clubs in our state have closed their doors, a
fact all Florida shooters have lamented. On the positive side, several have
started up NSCA tournaments as well.
These
include:
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Mick
Howells' at Indian River Trap and Skeet
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Port of
the Islands Gun Club by DJ Gasaway
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Square
One Sporting Clays Club by Daphne Waldron
and...
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Waccasassa Plantation, Tom Tatum, Mgr.
These and
all NSCA sanctioned Florida clubs can be found on the ShootersPages.com
website at
http://shooterspages.com/fl_clubs.htm |
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Markham Park Sporting Clays in Sunrise (near Ft,
Lauderdale) has yet to reopen since hurricane Wilma hit the south Florida
late in October 2005. Extensive damage was incurred to the sporting clays
range and since markham Park is a county facility, county managers and
facilities repair the damage. Since the hurricane, Square One and Port of
the Islands Clubs have hosted scheduled Markham Park events, however some
progress has been made in repairing the course. For more information,
please see the Markham Park website at http://www.markhamsportingclays.org/
Club de Cazadores Cubanos, who formerly shot on the SCI grounds at
Trail Glades, continues to do their shoots at Port of the Island GC.
The 2006 FSCA Shoot Schedule is arguably the best most balanced
schedule that Florida has ever had. Thanks to the new guidelines spelled out
in the FSCA Bylaws, and with the cooperation of all of the Florida Clubs,
the shooters have somewhere to shoot on almost every weekend day all year,
except for a few in the summer. And, competition between the clubs for
shooters has been reduced to almost none. When two clubs are shooting on the
same day, they are generally widely separated.
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SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!
Worth repeating....
In a letter to the President, a shooter voiced his concerns regarding
repeated safety violations by a few competitors. In particular, he spoke of
an individual who habitually closes his O/U when he leaves the stand and
carries it horizontally at arms length, with the muzzle swinging around and
pointing at other shooters. This is a good shooter and a nice guy, known and
respected by many, with a bad unsafe habit.
So what can we do about that as shooters? Well, only repeated reminders can
break bad habits, and our job as shooters and potential victims is to do the
reminding. Don’t ever be afraid or embarrassed to politely and unobtrusively
point out safety violations to anyone. That goes for trappers and scorers as
well. REFUSE TO SHOOT at a station where the trapper is not wearing proper
equipment!!!
Jerry Seaman
FSCA President
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