Soccer vs HS Football vs ... IPSC!

Soccer may be 'in,' but it's not an injury-free sport:

With all the recent coverage given to the World Cup, interest in soccer is frequently described as reaching a "tipping point." Even President Obama has done his part to popularize the sport: taking time out from his busy schedule to watch the U.S.-Germany match, playing soccer against a robot on his recent trip to Japan, and chatting with foreign leaders about the game's finer points. But the president appears unaware of the health risks. He has strongly warned Americans about the risks of playing football, going so far this year as saying, "I would not let my son play pro football." He hasn't offered such similar warnings about soccer.

Oh yeah.

Osama ... sorry, OBAMA hasn't seen the Geek  Blurb which is the BOILERPLATE sent to everyone who asks to be registered in the "Introduction to USPSA" class at ARPC.

There's a whole big slew of text sent in response, but the bottom line is this:

USPSA IS SAFER THAN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL!

True fact.  Think about it.

Every year you read about some poor adolescent guy who goes out for football, and drops dead on the field.  It may be a Heart Attack (undiagnosed), Asthma, whatever ... kids try to be jocks, and the end up dead.  Sorry, that sounds rude and unfeeling but folks; if you let your kid play soccer, football, whatever, you may be sending them to their grave.

Not so Practical Pistol competition.

Let's compare:

How many kids have died playing high-school football this year?



Nobody is saying, for sure.   But take a look at these statistics!

Answer: A Lot!  Not just in football (American Style) but also/more in Soccer (International "football"), at all ages.

Now, compare these statistics to USPSA/IPSC deaths in the past ten years:

>silence<

The answer is, IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation) competition is safer than ANY high-school sporting competition you can name.  Nobody dies.  Nobody goes home bloody.

(Even cheer-leaders sing the blues!)

Why is this possible?    This is a sport where people go running (literally!) around with loaded guns, shooting at cardboard and steel targets with real, loaded guns, and NOBODY gets hurt?  How can this be????

The answer is .. whenever high-school players enter the field, they are just one of many players.  Eleven football players on each team (for example), and only two or three referees  ... at most ... to watch them.

In IPSC shooting competition, there is only one shooter at a time who is actively competing.  And there are two "Range Officers" (RO's) watching him or her, every second of the time.

The RO's are watching the gun.

The competitor is responsible for everything the gun does, but the RO's are monitoring every thing that the competitor does with his gun.

The competitor has been trained to pay attention .. even if peripherally ... to instructions from the RO.  If the competitor acts in any way that the RO considers even marginally 'dubious' (unsafe), the RO will yell "STOP!"  (And the RO is immediately at hand to ensure that the competitor will instantly comply with all RO instructions!)

Perhaps that's the difference: football, soccer, etc.  ... they're all Team Sports.  IPSC (Practical Pistol) is truly an Individual Sport, and it is monitored very carefully because we all know that the possibility of personal injury is high.  But it rarely happens.

Sure, sometimes a competitor will slip and fall down on the pea-gravel that covers most playing fields; that hurts!  (Think "Road Rash" in an extreme degree!)  And  that can be scary, because they are running around with a loaded gun!

But the triple-redundancy of USPSA/IPSC rules ensure that (1) the finger is ALWAYS off the trigger, except when actively engaging targets) and (2) the competitor is ALWAYS aware of the danger, so he/she is sure to ALWAYS have his/her finger off the trigger, and (3) there is ALWAYS a RO close beside beside the competitor, ensuring that the gun in ALWAYS pointed in a safe direction, and the shooter's finger is ALWAYS off the trigger until he/she is actively engaging a target.

And if the shooter should fall?
  (1) finger off the trigger, ALWAYS
  (2) gun pointed downrange (safe direction) ALWAYS
  (3) RO watching to ensure that these safety imperatives are observed, ALWAYS

During intense physical exertion, under the pressure of time and safety considerations ... competitors still fall down.

I've been competing for 30 years, and been a Certified Range Officer for 20 of those years.  I have seen a lot of competitors fall (I've fallen myself!) and I have yet to see anyone fall without managing to control the gun, first ... even if it means that they have to sacrifice body-parts to "Road-Rash" and extreme bruising.

For the past five years, I have been instructing a monthly class on "Introduction to USPSA" .. teaching tyros the nuts and bolts of  SAFETY while competing in USPSA matches.  Nobody has EVER successfully completed this course of instruction until I am sufficiently confident that they are safe enough that I will shoot with them, or watch over them as a Range Officer.  When I award them with their certification card, I am certifying that I have such confidence in them, that I will be the person closest to them when they compete.

And if I am their Range Officer  when they compete, I will stop the IMMEDIATELY if they  violate the smallest safety rule, and send them home.  I have done so, in fact, many times.  It saddens me when I have to Disqualify any shooter from further competition, especially a New Shooter.  But I would rather discourage them from continuing to compete, than to allow them to continue if/when they are NOT in the best frame of mind to run around with a loaded gun.

I've even DQ'd my Girlfriend, when it was appropriate.  That has not led to entirely convivial relations, but she was a Certified Range Officer herself, so she always understood.  (And yes, there were times and matches when I myself was not operating at the peak of my game, and friends and strangers sent me home because I was Not Safe!)

ANYBODY can be below the peak of their competency, on any given day.  The job of the Range Officer is to be aware of that lull, and to stop any competitor who fails to perform according to the very stringent standards of "Running and Gunning". It's embarrassing for the competitor, and a burden for the Range Officer (we're a close community, and when we "DQ" someone it's usually someone who is a personal friend), but if you are an IPSC/USPSA competitor and you are DisQualified by a friend ... you know that he/she has a better perspective than you do, and so.  And so.

And so you know that the Range Officer is probably more disappointed than you are.  You have only shown that you are not at the top of your form on this day.

Your friend, the Range Officer, has reluctantly (but judiciously) determined that you are not safe today, and he has the sad duty to inform you of it, and send you home.  And his day is ruined.

Personal vs Team Sports:
And that IS the reason why people running and gunning are less likely to be injured, although they may be Old and Slow ... as opposed to ribald teen-agers who are playing Football when they are in the best physical condition they will EVER enjoy during the rest of their life!

High-school sports are typically team-efforts.

Old people, Practical Shooters ... they are individuals.   They train as individuals, and when they compete, they have their own angel/devil on their shoulder, making sure that they are always SAFE.   The poor young Bastards in High School Football are still trying to learn how to play well together .. and not doing all that good a job of it, at that.

And the referees ... two or four of them for two teams of five or nine or eleven on a side, or whatever?  They aren't responsible for the Individual.  They're responsible for The Game.  They may be concerned with the safety of the players, but they have so MANY of them that they can't keep track of them all.

And that is NOT their job!

In IPSC/USPSA ... that's the entire job of the Range Officer.  He/She need keep track of one single person at a time, and the entire attention is concentrated on every .... single .... step .... you .... take.   Every move you make.

I'll be watching you!