Steel Challenge Moves To Florida In 2012

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — The Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) the national governing body for the sport of Speed Shooting and organizer of the Steel Challenge, announced that 2011 will be the final year that the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships will be held in California. Citing the increasingly unfriendly political climate of the Golden State, officials announced that beginning in 2012 the Steel Challenge will be held in Frostproof, Florida, at the Universal Shooting Academy.

“The decision to move was not made lightly and for the last year we have been in discussions with ranges across the country in search of a new home for the association’s premier match,” explained Dave Thomas, executive director of SCSA.

In addition to California’s political climate which has often restricted the growth of the match due to the prohibition in the state of certain types of firearms, the need to expand the sport of speed shooting on the East Coast was also a key factor in the move.

“We have been working in the last couple years to expand the Steel Challenge format, particularly through the formation of the Scholastic Steel Challenge,” said Scott Moore, director or the Scholastic Steel Challenge. “With such a strong base of practical shooters in the southeast region of the country, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit headquartered in Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the obvious differences in political views you find in the south, the move to Florida in 2012 puts SCSA in a great position to grow over the next couple years.”

Response to the move among sponsors, who were informed earlier last week, has been extremely positive according to Thomas and Moore who noted that industry support for the Steel Challenge has always been strong. They pointed to the growing list of industry partners for the Scholastic Steel Challenge as evidence of the sport’s long term potential to draw new shooters and the value the program has among manufacturers.

While 2012 marks the end of the World Speed Shooting Championships in California, SCSA plans future major matches in the state and is working with Steel Challenge co-founder Mike Dalton to schedule a sanctioned regional championship at the Piru, California, range facility which will host its final world championship shoot this August.

“We recognized all along the importance California plays in Steel Challenge competition and are pleased that the tradition of ringing steel in the canyons of Piru will continue as part of the future regional championship series,” said Thomas.

For more information on the Steel Challenge Shooting Association visit SteelChallenge.com, follow @SteelChallenge on Twitter, ‘like’ Steel Challenge on Facebook or read the Steel Challenge blog.