State of the Club

State of the Club

Yesterday marked the last SDPS match of 2019… our annual Member Appreciation Match. Thanks to all who showed up and enthusiastically shot the match in some pretty unfriendly conditions. While nearly 70 shooter’s endured some rain and wind, we all did get under some dry cover and enjoyed a GREAT meal from our friend Ron at Sims’ Bar-B-Que. Then of course we celebrated with the once-a-year MAM prize table. Scores from the match can be found here.

State of the Club
Yesterday marked the last SDPS match of 2019… our annual Member Appreciation Match. Thanks to all who showed up and enthusiastically shot the match in some pretty unfriendly conditions. While nearly 70 shooter’s endured some rain and wind, we all did get under some dry cover and enjoyed a GREAT meal from our friend Ron at Sims’ Bar-B-Que. Then of course we celebrated with the once-a-year MAM prize table. Scores from the match can be found here.

The December match was also our Annual Member’s Meeting. I had the opportunity to share the “state of the club” with the attending members in-person. This email further details the various updates that were shared with the SDPS membership yesterday, and includes everyone in the message, including those who could not join us at the event.

As you will see in reading the following updates, there is a lot in store for the club in 2020. We’re looking forward to working with each and every member of SDPS to ensure the continuous improvement of our club, the quality of our club matches, and of course the major matches that we host each-and-every year. Please feel free to reach out to me, or any other club Director or Officer if you have questions or concerns about anything shared here today.

Sean Young
President | Sacramento Defensive Pistol Shooters, Inc.
[email protected]
(916) 960 7491

New SDPS Club Officers

We are pleased to announce that the following individuals have officially stepped into Officer roles with the club:

• Razmik Carapetian | Equipment Officer – Raz will be joining our current Equipment Officer Paul Baker in constant pursuit of managing the club’s property, equipment, and props. It’s been universally agreed that this is more than a one-person job. Razmik’s initiative in proactively repairing many of the clubs props in recent months is just one example of how he’ll serve the club well in this role.
• Kevin Ballment | Stage Compliance Officer – Kevin will be replacing Sean Young as the club’s Stage Compliance Officer, and will be responsible for reviewing the stages submitted by the Match Director for each monthly match. His job will be to ensure stage safety, appropriateness, and compliance with the current IDPA rulebook. He’ll work directly with the MD and stage designers (as appropriate) to facilitate appropriate corrections to stages prior to match day.
  

  New SDPS Website

• Another project that we’ve been very excited about is the SDPS website. We are currently building a brand-new SDPS website. The goals for the site are multi-faceted.
  • The first is to drive club membership by encouraging site visitors to get started shooting IDPA.
  • Second, we want to do our best to promote our world-class facilities (the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center.)
  • The last, but perhaps the most important goal for the site will be to serve the SDPS membership, offering news and resources, club communications, access to SDPS policies, and an online stage repository for use by our members and the general public.

  We will be reaching out in the coming weeks to solicit members for their favorite shooting pictures for inclusion in the new SDPS website. Don’t be shy, and send everything you have. We want to include a great deal imagery, and even video in the new site. We are hoping to launch the site in January 2020.

  2020 Major Matches

  The club will again be the host to two (2) IDPA major matches next year! We are already actively seeking volunteers to work the match. Please start planning, and let us know if you would like to join us as staff for one or both of these matches.

  • Reloaded Regional (Tier 2) – The match is planned for May 2-3, 2020. Match Director – Ryan Harrigan
  • The Western Regional IDPA Championship (Tier 4) – The Match is planned for September 3-6, 2020 – Match Director – Sean Young

  New Policies

  The SDPS Board-of-Directors ratified the adoption of several new club policies to go into effect in 2020. In addition, there’s been several good conversations, and a lot of movement in added clarity to some long-standing SVSC/FSC policies as well.

  • Rain-or-Shine – WIth Son’s of Action Pistol (SOAP USPSA) coming to the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, there’s an action pistol match every weekend now at the Range. How awesome is that! SOAP will be holding USPSA matches the second Sunday of each month. This had traditionally been the SDPS alternate rain date. SDPS will no longer have an alternate date available, so matches will be held rain-or-shine, unless it is overtly unsafe to do so. This will include lightning, extreme winds, and others to-be-determined. We will still confirm the day before the regularly scheduled match the status of the match. Updates will be posted to the website and/or emailed to the membership no later than 6PM . [Policy defined in writing and implemented by Jan 2020]

  • Squad CSO’s – An idea a long time in the coming, the BoD has approved a new policy, effectively negating the use of “Stage Managers” during our monthly club matches.The practice of having to radio a stage manager for a walk through is a thing of the past once this new policy goes into effect. Instead, there will be a dedicated Squad CSO assigned to each squad. These Squad CSO’s will be considered match staff, will shoot the matches for a discounted rate ($7.00), and must agree to serve as a Squad CSO during registration. Squad CSO’s will be required to do the morning stage reviews with match officials prior to the match. They will have the opportunity to discuss each of the stages, and ask questions. As an outcome, these Squad CSO’s will be responsible for giving the stage briefing to their squad for each and every stage in the match. We feel that this will not only improve match flow, but also allow our current crop of club CSO’s to continue to improve their skills [Policy defined in writing and implemented by Feb 2020]

  • Stage Committee – We are seeking 1-2 club members to volunteer for a newly created “Officer” position(s) as members of the Stage Committee. These individuals will work with match officials and the Stage Compliance Officer to regularly and proactively build up a vetted repository of stages that meet agreed-upon requirements. Stages will be reworked as necessary, ensuring stage diagrams meet the IDPA rulebook requirements, and to facilitate uniform, and objectrive stage briefings for all squads. While the BoD is actively reaching out to members who we feel would be perfect for this role, please let us know if you are interested. [Policy defined in writing and implemented by Feb 2020]

  • Build Crews – Match Directors for monthly matches will now be able to designate up to four (4) individuals as “build-crew” members. Build-Crew members will work directly with the MD to ensure the supervision of and/or direct construction of stages for the monthly match. Build-Crew members, along with the MD have the discretion and latitude to build stages in advance (Saturday builds) and/or the morning of the matches. VOLUNTEERS WILL STILL BE NEEDED FOR SETUP ON MATCH DAY! Build-crew members are responsible for supervising the builds, and meeting the deadline for completion. We will be looking to implement a 7:45AM deadline for the completion of stages for the monthly matches. This will allow for the “committee” walk-through of match officials and CSO’s to occur on-time, and ensure an early start for the match (prior to 8:30 AM start) Note that it’s still fully expected for shooters arriving the morning of the match to seek out the MD or Build-Crew members and find out where help is needed. [Policy defined in writing and implemented by Feb 2020]

  • AP Orientation (FSC) – All shooters who use the action pistol ranges at Sac Valley Shooting Center for practice must have completed the Action Pistol Orientation (APO). This has always been the case. There has recently been a committee established by FSC to review and clarify the APO policy.The committee is very inclusive, incorporating key members of FSC and invited representatives from all the shooting clubs at Sac Valley, including SDPS. In summary, the purpose of the committee has been to clarify the process of providing the AP Orientation, ensure objective testing of AP candidates, and registering those candidates who’ve completed the approved AP orientation with Sac Valley range staff. SDPS has submitted to FSC a list of approved CSO’s and SO’s who are approved by the SDPS to offer AP Orientation instruction to candidates seeking APO sign-off. The list of approved CSO’s and SO’s can be found here:

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N_q_ghpSAqWL4chsmb3QqUyG3PlTvSOf2ZVjT2JPp0Q/edit?usp=sharing

    Connex Access / Key List – In the past, it’s been common for SDPS SO’s who had APO signoff to be able to check-out the key to the SDPS trailers. There are several keys in circulation used by club board members and officers. It’s been requested by SVSC/FSC that the range staff no longer be responsible for distributing keys to SDPS members. This is a reasonable request. Additionally, there have been several instances in the past several months where SDPS trailers have been left unlocked for extended periods of time. It can only be assumed that this was caused by SDPS member(s). With the challenge of audit-trails and other procedural challenges, the SDPS board is considering multiple options for new locking mechanisms for the trailers. It has been discussed by the BoD and it has been determined that the best course of action is likely to limit access to the SDPS trailers to club directors, officers, and any CSO or SO approved to offer the APO class to candidates. We welcome input on this policy. [Policy defined in writing and implemented by Jan 2020]

  Please Update Your Email Preferences

  We’ve been having persistent issues with Yahoo Groups as our email group manager. Many members have reported not getting emails, or having them consistently go to spam. Therefore, the club has recently changed providers for our email marketing and communications efforts. You have received this email because at one point in time, or another, your email address was subscribed to the email list of Sacramento Defensive Pistol Shooters, Inc, otherwise known as “SDPS”. We want to be respectful of your privacy.

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