NRAA Policy on the future of F Class Discipline
HISTORY
As at July 2015
The NRAA acknowledges and recognises the growth and importance of F Class within the NRAA movement. F Class records go back as far as 2004 and perhaps even further with one grade in F Standard and a small F Open contingent. Rapid growth led to the introduction of Grades for F Standard and F Open began to grow rapidly once the move to Standard targets was made.
At the 2013 AGM, the NRAA was instructed to include FTR as a discipline mainly because of it being International. Growth in all areas has been remarkable with F Class being one of the success stories of the NRAA. Competition is expanding constantly and now F Class entries at Queens Prizes average 35-40%. Australia sent 2 teams to the World Championships in 2013 with the F Open Teams winning the Teams event and the fledgling FTR team doing very well. Two teams recently visited New Zealand and a reciprocal match has been arranged for June 2016. Nominations have been called for the next World Championships in Canada for 2017.
NUMBERS and STATISTICS
The NRAA recognises that the program is perhaps now a bit overcrowded with Competition Organisers having to cope with a large number of Grades. However, please note that the number of Disciplines and Grades included in a competition is at the discretion of the Organisers. From time to time, Directors get enquiries about this and the possible reduction of one F Class Discipline or Grade.
Here are the figures showing entries at two recent large Queens Prize Meets in 2014-2015.
| ACT Queens– Nov 2014 | VRA Queens Apr 2015 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Entries | 223 | 196 |
| Target Rifle Entries | 124 | 132 |
| All F Class Entries | 99 (44% of all entries) | 64 (33% of all entries) |
| Break Up of F Class Break Up of F Class | ||
| F Standard | 58 (58% of all F Class) | 37 (58% of all F Class) |
| F Open | 26 | 16 |
| FTR | 15 | 11 |
The figures above show that F Standard is still by far the largest contingent in F Class.
POLICY
While recognising that F Standard is not an International discipline it is still by far the most popular in Australia. Many F Standard rifles would not convert easily into F Open or FTR without considerable expense, and when we consider the demographics of F Standard Competitors, it would be unreasonable and expensive to ask shooters to convert to another discipline.
The NRAA intends to let the present structure of F Class Disciplines remain as they are as at July 2015. Should numbers in any of the 3 Disciplines decline, it will be by natural attrition, until a point is reached where it is not viable. At that point the NRAA will reconsider this policy.
NRAA Board
July 2015