IPSA Competition Licence Course

coffeepot

packas:If you're interested in IPSC (practical shooting) take a look at the IPSA (Irish Practical Shooting Association) website www.ipscireland.org. IPSA is the governing body for IPSC in Ireland

Sounds interesting, but I have a few questions:

packas: In my view the advantage of the competition licence is that it's for want of a better word an IPSC "passport" that allows you to shoot internationally in competitions.

So I take it you would be getting an internationaly recognised qualification? Would this help with further applications? Is it mainly a safety course? Do you get to shoot much while doing the course? How much does it cost?


I shot an unofficial course or two myself, it was great fun!:D

macnas

Unofficial matches can be great fun alright but at some stage in your Practical shooting career your going to want to venture beyond your club range comfort zone and shoot where the rules of IPSC are strictly applied. Possibly even an international match where you will need an RD sign off on your entry form and you will not get this unless you have a current competition license.

Safety does take up a good portion of the course but it does deal with other elements of practical shooting too and there's plenty of shooting to be done on the second day of the course in order to qualify.

fishdog

So I take it you would be getting an internationaly recognised qualification?

If it is run by the IPSA, yes.

Is it mainly a safety course?

Yes, but you learn alot more than just safety

Do you get to shoot much while doing the course?

When I did it we shot sevral hundread rounds over 2 days. I think it was about 500 rounds. I really enjoyed it.:D:D:D

How much does it cost?

I am not sure how much it is now, but when I did (over 2 years ago) it was under €100. We paid for our own ammo that was supplied to us at a good price.


I would agree 100% with macnas.

Bananaman

I shot an unofficial course or two myself, it was great fun!

I wouldn't let someone who had not done a practical course run a stage.

I have had a couple of people start in a Cooper Ready position and engage a stage without moving. No Holster or movement until they have done the course.
That was the same rule that was applied to me until I had done my course.

Holstering, Drawing and movement are something you need to learn to do properly and SLOWLY before you can be let loose on a stage at ful speed.

B'Man

Rew

Who around is running offical courses?

MortgageMan

Each practical club will have a liason officer with IPSA who will arrange the course.

The requirement is a minimum of 4 and maximum of 6 people per course.

The course is over two full days and costs € 125, you will need 350 rounds for the second day.

V Bull

Rew wrote: »

Who around is running offical courses?

I have asked around and have been told that the only "offical courses" / Practical Pistol Competitions being run are being run by the IPSA themselves. Only IPSA / IPSC competitions and "offical courses" are advertised on their website (www.ipscireland.org), all other practical competitions are unoffical and have no connection with the IPSA. Similarly up in Northern Ireland, the only offical courses / practical competitions being run are run and organised by the UKPSA and their affiliated clubs such as Kells Rifle & Pistol Club .http://www.kellsrpc.com/.

les45

Just to add to the topic , the course content is being reviewed over the Christmas break with some additional elements being added .The course manuals will be sent out to each Club Rep 2 Weeks before the course weekend , with a 20 to 30 question paper on the first morning of the competition licence course , the pass rate for this exam will be 80% . In addition to the course each successful student must compete and finish witout incident a IPSA/IPSC approved club match . On receipt of pass certificate and match report a competition licence will be issued . The IPSA competition committe are finalising the match calander for next year , this will be published in January on the IPSA Web Site . As a footnote during the recent IPSA Range Officers Phase One assessment a number of Candiates scored in excess of 95% on a 80 Question Paper based on Manual that comprises in excess of 350 pages .

John FitzGerald RD IPSA

Bananaman

Both Hilltop and Kells run Club Practical Competitions i.e. not recognised by the National bodies but in essence applying the same stringent safety conditions.

They both have scheduled Sanctioned matches i.e. recognised by the respective national bodies, also.
Level 1 = Club, Level II = National, Level III = International.

Both Hilltop and Kells have run Club Practical Courses in the past (members on invitation only).

As far as I know people with the national or club course certificates can attend those club shoots once they register in advance. I know Kells runs the occasional practical shoot which is only open to Kells RPC members.

In Ireland and the UK only people with recognised national certificates are allowed to enter sanctioned matches or to travel to sanctioned matches abroad.

I can understand this as the clubs have to facilitate their own members as well as the greater sport. Not everyone wants to travel to competition and not everyone wants to be going up against the best in the island every time they shoot.

B'Man

Bananaman

If you want to do Practical ask in your Pistol Club and get them to contact the IPSA about a course - try to round up 4 to 6 lads and get it on the calendar.

B'Man

V Bull

Bananaman wrote: »

Both Hilltop and Kells run Club Practical Competitions i.e. not recognised by the National bodies but in essence applying the same stringent safety conditions.

They both have scheduled Sanctioned matches i.e. recognised by the respective national bodies, also.
Level 1 = Club, Level II = National, Level III = International.


B'Man

I didn't know that the Hilltop Club have scheduled an IPSA sanctioned match (level II plus) !!!!!!!

When is this going to take place and when will we see it posted by IPSA & Hilltop ???????

I have searched all the websites and more...........no mention of a scheduled sanctioned practical pistol competition for the Hilltop in the past or yet to come.

Hey B'man, where did you see the posting or advert for it ??????

les45

Ireland and the UK are not alone in this requirement , IPSC Canada have what they call the black badge , IPSC Hong Kong , IPSC Denmark all have competition licence courses. The Swiss and Namibia IPSC regions have requested a copy of our new manual as the foundation for their future training and certificate courses . The clubs will play a very important role in the initial training of shooters to prepare for the competition licence course , Hilltop have already done alot of work in this area with a very strong club ethos on saftey.
With a number of clubs in Wexford, Cork and Kildare expressing and booking courses for 2008 this combined with the work being undertaken at Hilltop the foundation for the sport is now firmly in place . I am waiting for the complete results of phase one of the Club Coach / RO Course but as I stated previously the results are very promising , the various club coaches will be on the ground explaining and assisting sports shooters intersested in IPSC Pistol and Shotgun .In the new Year the IPSA will have contact details of the various club IPSA reps , they will be only too happy to answer any questions you may have .

John

packas

V Bull wrote: »

I didn't know that the Hilltop Club have scheduled an IPSA sanctioned match (level II plus) !!!!!!!

When is this going to take place and when will we see it posted by IPSA & Hilltop ???????

I have searched all the websites and more...........no mention of a scheduled sanctioned practical pistol competition for the Hilltop in the past or yet to come.

Hey B'man, where did you see the posting or advert for it ??????

Hi B'man. I'm on the competition committee for IPSA & I've heard nothing about a sanctioned shoot at Hilltop. Have you any more details? The more clubs that are running official IPSC shoots the better in my view

Bananaman

Apologies.

My mistake

[puts hand out]

There are no scheduled IPSA sanctioned matches in Hilltop.

My bad.

B'Man

coffeepot

Thanks for all the replies.

€125 sounds like a great price for such a good course.

I like the idea that everyone taking part in sanctioned shoots has such a high level of safety training.

Safety is everything. One accident and its all over for everyone.

I will be making every effort to get on to the competition licence course ASAP.

Taradusk

:(Anyone have any info on what happened with the IPSA practical course scheduled for Hilltop on 29th and 30th Dec? It didn't happen for some reason or other.

coffeepot

Anyone have any info on what happened with the IPSA practical course scheduled for Hilltop

It seems (read the last few posts) that Hilltop do not do IPSA practical pistol.

cantona

Unfortunatly the necessary paperwork, required prior to any course being run, has not been recieved. This course will be rescheduled early in the new year when all the paperwork has been recieved and is in order.

Taradusk

It seems (read the last few posts) that Hilltop do not do IPSA practical pistol.
Hi Coffeepot, thanks for that update on what the rest of us know from reading the posts.

Cantona, thank you for the info, but I am reliably told that all documents in connection with the course were ready and in order, so I am still wondering why it was cancelled.

cantona

The above courses are run for members of the IPSA. Once an application for membership is recieved, it is put before the committee for deliberation. In this case we (IPSA committee) had agreed to meet at short notice over the christmas period, to process the applications and have them done before the course on 29/30 December. To date(31/12/07) none of the 6 people looking to do the course are members and NO applications have been recieved from the any of the 6 and as they are not members the course was put on hold till this was remedied.

Your reliable informant has fed you wrong information. We went out of our way over the christmas period, when people were working or had family committments etc, to accomodate the people looking to do this course but the fault does not lie with the IPSA, who bent over backwards to assist, but elsewhere. Maybe your reliable informant can assist you with this.

Hope this answers your question to your satisfaction

MortgageMan

As Cantona said the course in Hilltop will be rescheduled for January when all paperwork as been put in place. This course was not advertised and was been held to accomodate I request I made to IPSA.

Taradusk if any of your reliable informants would talk to me please send me a PM with their personal contact details, I will be delighted to enlighten them and update them with correct information. :mad:

I look forward to the IPSA course, and I will endeavour to ensure that all documents are with the committe either late this week or early next week.

I wish all a Happy New Year.

Bananaman

Taradusk,

Lets face it - this is a new departure for all involved and everyone should be given a bit of slack. Everyone is doing their best to make this stuff happen. We are talking about a very compressed and ambitious schedule which by its very nature will be a bit fluid until the dust settles.

IPSA are doing all in their power to help everyone, who is interested in doing so, to do what is necessary to become recognised by IPSA so they can attend and compete in sanctioned matches. For those a bit longer in the tooth, they are also doing all in their power for them to do what is necessary to become recognised by the IROA as Range officers so they may officiate over sanctioned shoots.

Some individuals, such as MortgageMan and SidneyReilly and also doing all in their power to help facilitate the same.

People such as Pat@Hilltop have done sterling work providing training rooms for these courses and world class ranges for the subsequent competitions to take place. At no small expense I might add.

That's just the stuff I know about - there are a lot of people working in the shadows to make all of this happen - they are giving of their time and pocket to provide the likes of you and I with the ability to compete in and enjoy this sport.

Inevitably, we all forget to dot an I or cross a T once in a while.
If you were scheduled on the postponed course I can understand how it may be an inconvenience but you can be safe in the knowledge that you will have your opportunity to be tested.

I recently helped to organise a group for a course which was also postponed due to scheduling conflicts. Once we had a date where people could attend, it all fell into place and went extremely well. We were quite tight with dates with Christmas bearing down on us etc. but everyone was very accommodating from the trainer to the range to the people attending the course.
Remember everyone has a life outside the range too - honest I read about in the digest

Bottom line - a lot of people - both in sight and behind the scenes - are doing a lot to progress the sport in the country by massive leaps and bounds right now. Lets just do what we can to help them along.

I have no doubt that 2008 will be the year that Practical Shooting comes of age in Ireland. A lot of people have been working away over the last few years in pockets around the country. They have all individually made some great leaps forward - the same high standards have been maintained by all. Last year we started to see some of those pockets start to come together and it made for some great days out. This year I hope we will have few days where we get them all. Then we'll start to see if we are actually any use

B'Man

Taradusk

Hi Guys.
The replies are quite informative, and woke me up a bit. I fell into a web spun by someone else, and posted about something that I had little knowledge of. I have no involvement whatsoever with the course, and will know better who I listen to next time before posting, if I ever post again. A valuable lesson for me. The sport is divided enough without my ramblings.
Sincere apologies.:o

tomla1966

Takes a man too admit he is wrong .............Fair play.. We ALL @ some stage in life get drawn in by false info. Dont let it put u off Getting involved in shooting or/and posting on boards

Bananaman

Dont let it put u off Getting involved in shooting or/and posting on boards

Here Here.

There's always loads of sniping on boards - that's part'o'd'craic of it.

B'Man

coffeepot

Fair play Taradusk. Keep posting.

BTW I was not trying to be rude when I said

It seems (read the last few posts) that Hilltop do not do IPSA practical pistol.

I just wrongly assumed that Hilltop did not do IPSA anything.

Happy shooting

cantona

Sorry if my reply came across as heavy-handed.

I knew that we(IPSA) were in the right and was affected/influenced by IPSA bashing by some previous posters.

We are here to promote/build/expand pistol shooting in Ireland and will always go out of our way to facilate these ideals.

Keep an eye on our website www.ipscireland.org to see when our next course/competition is on and feel free to drop in on us to see/feel/experience what goes on.(we have not yet had anyone who came to see us, go away unhappy, including members of the authorities).

Once again, if I made you/or your inquiry feel unwelcome, I offer my apologies.

MortgageMan

Here's to a good year in 08.

I am looking forward to the upcoming competitions and bit of craic.

premier1

MortgageMan wrote: »

Here's to a good year in 08.

I am looking forward to the upcoming competitions and bit of craic.

why it is not that you and that sig are any good

MortgageMan

Now now be a good boy, New Year new start.

If I promise to practice more will you promise not to pick on me. :rolleyes:

Bananaman

From the movie U.S. Marshals

Sam Gerard: [looking at Royce's Gun] Got a back-up weapon?
John Royce: Never had the need.
Sam Gerard: Get one.
[hands back Royce's gun]
Sam Gerard: Keep it in your suit unless I tell you to take it out. Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol.

B'Man

MortgageMan

Now now be a good boy, New Year new start.

If I promise to practice more will you promise not to pick on me. :rolleyes:

premier1

N0