In NRA Registered tournaments, there is usually an official NRA Referee assigned to each tournament. The Referee is present to address scoring challenges, range malfunctions (alibis), interpret rules, and assure the tournament is run according to the NRA rules. Strictly following the NRA tournament rules is important because only at Registered Tournaments can National Records be set. As long as range standards and rule standards are uniformly enforced, it does not matter whether the record score was fired at Camp Perry or the local range because the conditions are supposed to be the same regardless of the location.
Because of the sheer number of matches in a given month across the country, it is often not possible for a NRA Referee to be present at every Registered Tournament. For years, the late Art Mueller came to every Sectional and State Championship match held at our club. After Art passed away, there were no other qualified Referees in the region.
In the absence of a qualified Referee, the club hosting a Registered Tournament is required to assemble a Scoring Jury. This is something that Ten X has done for several years now.
In general, the scoring jury takes up the task of resolving scoring challenges. The Jury’s duties are described in detail in NRA Rule 11.2 and 11.2.1. Essentially, the three member jury must recheck each shot value fired on a target submitted for a score challenge and also the entire score. This means the jury will review each shot on the target for correct value. Then the total scores will be re-checked and finally the aggregate score re-checked. Usually the scoring jury will review a challenged target together. Scoring overlays or other devices will be used only once per suspect shot. Under no circumstances will a shot be plugged, the plug removed, and the shot re-plugged by another juror. The shot is plugged once and each jury member looks at the shot. Often, when a juror believes that the shot is entitled to a higher score, they will make a + mark on the target. If two of the jurors believe the shot is entitled to the higher value, then the higher score is awarded. A majority vote is required. If only one juror believes the shot is entitled to a higher score, the shot value remains the same.
The qualifications to be on a scoring jury are relatively simple: the juror must be familiar with the various NRA qualification courses and with National Classification Rules. The juror must have a working knowledge of the NRA Rule book and the rules governing the scoring of targets. Also, one member of the Jury must be a member of the sponsoring organization and complete the reports required by NRA. The members of the Jury mayor may not be competitors in that tournament. A Jury member never rules on a matter in which he or she is personally involved.
An Example of a jury scored target is below:
Here, the red plus marks near the shot at the six-o’clock position indicate that two members of the scoring jury agreed that the shot scored the higher value. The two red minus marks next to the outward pointing blue arrow near the shot at the one-o’clock position indicate that two of the scoring jurors agreed that the shout scored the lower value.
In summation, the role of the juror is important in that it helps the match run smoothly and scoring challenges are promptly and fairly resolved. Please consider serving on a scoring jury at our next Registered tournament.
<Hat tip and credit to Doug White of the Greater Boston Pistol League for creating the original graphic used in this article.>
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