1/1/11 – State of the Club

The October – December quarter of 2010 was a good one for FCS.  Our attendance was 111 people, which tied our fifth best for this quarter and was six participants above last year’s attendance of 105 for this quarter.  We blew away what was our average for this quarter (62.91).

We had 12 events, which tied our third best for this quarter.

We had two men join the Club, 10 members renew their memberships, and 10 first time guests.

We had one officers vote and one poll.

Yearly Attendance Grid

Yearly Events Grid

* = Record

# = Includes Drott and/or Sullivan season dove lease hunts

2010 was a good, but not great year for the Club.  We had 428 attendees for the year, which was out fifth best year to date.  We hosted 47 events, which was also our fifth best year to date.

As was noted on the 2010 Statistics page, we set three attendance records for event categories in 2010: student instructor/student sporting clays shoots (16, the old mark was 12), sporting clays tournaments (14, there was not an old mark), and chuckar and quail hunts (6; there was no old mark).

We also set three event attendance records in 2010, including the fall blast and cast (dove hunt and bass fishing trip) (13), a guided teal hunt (6), and a sporting clays tournament (4).

We canceled three hog hunts, the 24-hour sporting clays shoot, the father/child deer and hog hunt, the non-chartered bay fishing trip, and a November duck hunt due to lack of interest/projected poor attendance (with the exception of the father/child deer and hog hunt was canceled because Frank Hamilton, the landowner, was on a mission trip in Africa).

Our average number of attendees per event was up from 8.80 in 2009 to 9.11 in 2010.

We ended the year with our highest number of membership renewals (52; the record was 49), our fourth highest number of active members (56; the record is 81), our fourth highest number of first time guests (33; the record is 50), and tying our eleventh highest number of new members (5, the record is 32).

During Fiscal Year 2009 (9/1/09 – 8/31/10) we took in $ 1,508.99, which was our third best to date (the record is $ 1,791.87).

We met one of my 2010 goals:

1. Gain 12 new members (not met – we gained five)
2. End the year with 66 active members (not met – we ended the year with 56)
3. Have 494 participants (not met – we ended the year with 428)
4. Implement 49 events (not met – we implemented 47)
5. Implement a Father/Child and Youth Five Stand and Skeet Shoot (met – we held a Father/Child Clay Target Shoot on 6/19/10 and had 21 participants)

I am puzzled as to why we only gained five new members.  Since 2001 we have gained at least 10 a year.  This is my greatest concern for the Club.  If we do not continue to grow, we will eventually begin to decline.  Despite the fact that we had our highest number of membership renewals (52) having only five men join the Club caused us to end the year with only 57 supporting members.  This is three members below the 60 supporting members that our budget called for.  To compensate we did not renew our NRA membership and have not bought any new DVDs for 2011 Club meetings.

I am sure that the poor U.S. economy is responsible for us not being able to meet my participants and events goals.

For 2011 I have five goals:

1. Gain 8 new members (a 60% increase over 2010)
2. End the year with 63 supporting members (a 11% increase over 2010)
3. Have 471 participants (a 10% increase over 2010)
4. Implement 55 events (a 17% increase over 2010)
5. Implement a Clay Target Shoot for a youth organization.

The next quarter promises to be an exciting one for FCS members and guests.  We have 16 events planned, including:

• Saturday, 1/1/11, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM – “Bring in the New Year” Shooting Range Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shoot Range near Jonestown.
• Friday, 12/31/10 through Sunday, 1/2/11 – Winter Dove Retreat at Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.
• Sunday, 1/2/11, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Year End Finale (Sporting Clays Tournament) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club ( 8707 Lindell Lane , Austin , 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/7/11 through Sunday, 1/9/11 – Father/Child Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Friday, 1/14/11 through Sunday, 1/16/11 – Non-Guided/Non-Chartered Blast and Cast (Coastal Duck Hunt and Fishing Trip) near Corpus Christi .
• Saturday, 1/22/11, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – “Clays Covered with Ice Sickles” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane , Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 1/24/11, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Mighty Fine Burgers (10515 North MoPac # B205, Austin, 512-524-2400).
• Friday, 1/28/11 through Sunday, 1/30/11 – Non-Guided Hog Hunt at a location to be announced.
• Saturday, 2/5/11 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Joe Schram at the Spanish Oak Hunting Club near Thrall.
• Saturday, 2/12/11, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – “Spread the Love (Broken Clay Targets) Around” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club ( 8707 Lindell Lane , Austin , 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 2/21/11, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Friday, 2/25/11 through Sunday, 2/27/11 – Non-Guided Hog Hunt at a location to be announced.
• Sunday, 2/27/11, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Red Apple Open (Sporting Clays Tournament) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club ( 8707 Lindell Lane , Austin , 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/5/11, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Spring “Break the Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club ( 8707 Lindell Lane , Austin , 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/19/11 – Non-Chartered White Bass Fishing Trip at Colorado Bend State Park .
• Friday, 3/25/11 through Sunday, 3/27/11 – Non-Guided Hog Hunt at a location to be announced.

I hope to see you at an FCS event soon and hope that our Lord blesses you and yours richly throughout this New Year.

Following His trail, 

Randy Rowley

President

The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen