Paul Shaw nails it!!

I read with total agreement Ontario delegate Paul Shaw's article in the November Trap & Field. His opinion echoes mine, the alure of spending thousands of dollars to shoot for trinkets is no longer there, due in large part to the decline of quality of trophy's. When I started shooting ATA targets some 48 years ago, you could actually win some pretty good purses and some pretty nice silver. Now, every year it gets worse. When attendance drops, so does the quality of the trophy's, and so it snowballs. To expound that, it now cost's many times more to shoot, giving greatly diminished return's. I've brought up the poor quality trophy's to our state board members in the past, only to pretty much get blown off.
I just can no longer justify it, so my shooting will be very limited, at least ATA shooting anyways. I'll probably sound ungrateful, but a couple of years ago when I won our state's doubles championship and was given a cheap chrome plated pickle plate made by Texas Trophys, with a cheap plastic ATA emblem stuck on it I was shocked and disappointed! I don't blame our association for this, that's our ATA that puts together the trophy packages. I was at least hoping for something from Wendel August. So now to shoot the Grand I have to travel farther, to a place with heat index's above this 70 something's comfort threshold to get my targets to avoid penalty and shoot for cheap trinkets to get my minimum targets on the way, what really is the point?! Thank you Paul Shaw for bringing up this point! You've got my sentiments!

 

Paul Shaw had the opportunity when he was President. Look at the minutes. You have heard that story for over a decade in this forum.

The ATA members told the Executive Committee we weren't going to the gun hate state. Real trapshooters shoot for money. I am guessing Paul wants to be relevant again. When was the last time Paul participated in a roll call vote?

Paul has proven he won't make changes. And now we know he can read this website.

 

Shaw was on the Executive Committee for years. He went along to get along. He got his free gun. All those years on the Executive Committee. He did nothing to increase purses, fix the handicap system, or change the grand location.

 

I forgot about him being a recent president, I only remembered his delegate capacity. But I think thats part of the problem, everyone wants to just go with the flow and it's killing our sport. It's just plain sad, at least in my eyes. Would like to hear from Paul why he did nothing to remedy the situation when he possibly could have. You'll never see the ATA B.O.D. send out shooter surveys asking what we the A.T.A. can do to improve. I guess that's why we have delegates, to voice our concern's, for whatever that's worth. Truth is as long as there's someone to put up with it, it will continue to be the same old, same old. Much easier that way. The ATA needs a REAL PR person that is willing to hustle. Lot's of newer shooters may not understand where all this is coming from, having never had the opportunity to shoot for trophy's that contained actual value and not only purses put up by shooters dollars but many thousands of dollars of added money. I almost feel like anymore the ATA act's like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to shoot. I guess maybe I just got spoiled shooting in the 70's and 80's.

 

I bet Paul kept his gun. Did he choose the K combo or the Perazzi? Now that he is delegate he can get another gun? What a racket?