USPSA Growing in members

From a USPSA press release about the Area 6 Championship I found this interesting little tidbit:

“The turn-out for this year’s Area 6 match is incredible,” said Dave Thomas, executive director for USPSA, who will be attending the match. “Overall we’ve seen an 18% growth in USPSA membership during the last 28 months (emphasis mine – ed) and a 20% increase in Area 6 match competitors over last year. This is very good news for both USPSA and the shooting sports as a whole.”

USPSA is divided up in to 8 regions, or Areas each of which holds their own Area Championship match. For example, I live in Area 5, which comprises Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio. Area 6 includes Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The Area 6 Championship match has rapidly become a “little National”, due in no small part to the large number of firearms/accessory companies located in that region. It also doesn’t hurt that Glock is a huge sponsor of the Area 6 Championship, which only increases exposure and attendance.

What really makes me happy though is that USPSA has experienced 18% growth in the past two years. It is always a good thing when the shooting sports, and hopefully that expansion includes youthful shooters – because without the youngsters we’re all in trouble.

It does look like Area 6 is going to be a huge match this year, they’re expecting right around 400 shooters, and have 29 sponsors for the Championship, including Glock, Starline Brass, and many, many others. I hope that Area 6 and USPSA continues to grow and bring in more shooters as well as bringing positive media attention to our sport.