I agree that the people running the matches can make or break a club. The ball caps would not be allowed to shoot, just take it off and leave it in the car, but the tennis shoes would be allowed once if you were new and didn't know any better. Some clubs can really be rule nazi's but if they want new shooters and to grow their membership some lenience needs to be allowed. I am an RO and was running the timer a lot yesterday. We had two brand new shooters that made several errors that would have been a stage DQ for a seasoned shooter but they didn't have a clue what they did wrong until we stopped them and corrected them. If I had stage DQ'd them for all of those infractions they probably would have left with a sour taste in their mouth and not come back. As it was they were both really excited to pursue shooting with us again when the match was over. One of the first things that really stood out to me when I started was how friendly and accomodating the people were at all the clubs I shoot with regularly. I did shoot with a club that was not that way, very stuffy and full of themselves, and I have not gone back.
