New Match Sanctioning Program for Junior Three-Position Air Rifle Events

By Gary Anderson, DCM

Sponsors of position air rifle matches can now obtain official National Council sanctioning for their matches by applying though the CMP.

Shooting clubs, JROTC organizations and other shooting sports organizations that sponsor three-position air rifle matches for juniors can now obtain National Three-Position Air Rifle Council sanctioning for them through the CMP. Match sanctioning offers a “seal of approval” to potential participants that a competition will be conducted according to high standards with nationally recognized rules.

To sanction your three-position air rifle match, download the application form and instructions from http://www.odcmp.com/3P/ sanctApp.pdf.  Then complete the application and send it with the $10 or $20 sanctioning fee to the CMP.

The National Three-Position Air Rifle Council is an association of national youth-serving organizations that conduct three-position air rifle matches. Current Council members are the American Legion, BSA-Venturing, Civilian Marksmanship Program, Daisy/U. S. Jaycees Shooter Education Program, National 4-H Shooting Sports, U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit, USA Shooting and the Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC Commands. The Council was formed so that all three-position air rifle matches in the U. S. could be conducted with common national rules. The Council provides National Standard Rules, keeps national records and administers an excellence-in-competition awards program through which school-age junior shooters can earn EIC points and, for the best juniors, the prestigious Junior Distinguished Badge. The CMP, which already offers an active and growing EIC and military rifle match sanctioning program, is now administering this new match sanctioning program on behalf of the National Council.

If your organization plans to conduct any type of three-position air rifle match, you should consider sanctioning the match. Sanctioning your position air rifle matches through the National Council offers several benefits, both for the sponsoring organization and for the coaches and shooters who will participate:

Promoting participation in position air rifle matches will now be possible through the CMP’s web-based “Upcoming Matches” list service that gives dates, locations and contact information for all sanctioned matches.

Quality Assurance for Competitors. Sanctioned match sponsors must agree to use the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules and follow established procedures for conducting their matches. As a result, sanctioned match participants can expect well-run matches.

Match Promotion. All matches that are sanctioned in advance are listed in an “Upcoming Events” listing that is posted on the CMP website. Future air rifle events are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchUpcomingSearch.cgi?designation=AIR. This list will give juniors and coaches who are searching for matches to attend information about dates, match locations and contact persons.

Results from sanctioned position air rifle matches that are reported to the CMP will be posted in electronic match bulletins that can be downloaded and printed or that can also be viewed by anyone interested in scores from a tournament.

Internet Score Posting. Most sanctioned matches are eligible to have their competitors’ scores posted on a popular Internet results system that makes those scores available to anyone who is interested in them. Sponsors of CMP Cup Matches, USA Shooting Junior Olympic state qualifiers and regular sanctioned matches may submit match scores via email on a spreadsheet that will be used to post those scores on the web in a match bulletin format. The electronic results bulletin for the Camp Perry Open that is posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=1924 provides an example of these electronic results bulletins.

National Records. Only scores fired in officially sanctioned matches can count as national records. Current national position air rifle records are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/3P/Records.htm.

Participant Certificates. Match sponsors may, at the time they request match sanctioning approval, request blank participant certificates at no additional cost. After competitors' names and match information are printed on the certificates, they can be presented as a souvenir of their participation. This recognition can be especially important for matches where there are large numbers of new shooters.

Gold (top), silver and bronze Achievement Pins that sanctioned match sponsors may purchase to award to competitors in their tournaments who exceed established cut scores.

National Council Achievement Pins. Sponsors of sanctioned matches are eligible to order gold, silver and bronze achievement pins that they can present to juniors who meet established “medal scores” for junior three-position shooting. The pins cost $1.00 each and can be ordered through the match sanctioning application. The medal scores are computed on the basis of scores fired in national three-position air rifle postal competitions so that approximately 40-50 percent of the competitors will earn bronze, silver or gold pins. Details are provided in the instructions that accompany the application forms.

One-Stop Match Supply Source. Some essential supplies needed to conduct position air rifle matches also may be ordered through the match sanctioning applications. These supplies include targets, rulebooks and CBIs (clear barrel indicators, now required for all air rifles). The cost of ordering targets through the CMP is only $12.50/250.

There are five different types of position air rifle matches that can be sanctioned through the CMP and National Council.

Regular Matches. Most air rifle matches are sanctioned as regular air rifle matches. These are one-time events that may have 3x10 or 3x20 courses of fire, with or without finals, and with or without team events. Competitors in regular sanctioned matches may earn achievement pins and set national records and results may be posted on the Internet.

Leagues. Leagues involve a known group of teams or clubs that fire an established series of shoulder-to-shoulder competitions. Position air rifle leagues can now be sanctioned through this program.

Postal Matches. The new National Council match-sanctioning program provides, for the first time, for the sanctioning of postal matches. This will make it possible for postals to be listed in the national upcoming events to give them additional publicity that can increase participation.

CMP Cup Matches. These are major competitions with 3x20 courses of fire that have a range capacity for 50 or more shooters. CMP Cup Matches are important because the top 10 percent of all Non-Distinguished juniors in these matches earn EIC credit points that count toward the awarding of the prestigious Junior Distinguished Badge.

State Junior Olympic Championships. Junior Olympic State Championships are special events where the winning teams and some individual shooters can qualify for the National Junior Olympic Championship. State Junior Olympic matches must first be approved by USA Shooting and are then recognized as sanctioned competitions by the CMP and National Council.

Participant certificates that may be completed and awarded to shooters are available at no additional cost to sanctioned match sponsors.

If your club or organization plans to conduct any of these five types of three-position air rifle competitions, you may apply to have your match officially sanctioned by submitting an Application to Conduct a Three-Position Air Rifle Match to the CMP. Application forms may be downloaded from the CMP web site, click on http://www.odcmp.com/3P/sanctApp.pdf. From there you can download the application form and detailed instructions that accompany the form.

The fees for sanctioning a position air rifle match are $10.00 for a Regular Sanctioned Match, Postal or League and $20.00 for a CMP Cup Match. No additional fees are charged for individual shooters who participate in your matches.