Like the emerging signs of Spring around us, there are emerging signs the 2023 Illinois State Match is growing ever closer. One of the signs is the recently published “Who’s Coming?” list. We posted the initial list, which is current through yesterday, a few moments ago. Click the image below or the link to the right to see/download the list Who’s Coming List. Perhaps you’ll see your name or perhaps you’ll see your buddies name(s).

Illinois State: Who’s Coming?

Don’t see your name? We’ve a remedy for that. Click here to see your registration options.

As we said in a recent post, we’re diligently working towards hosting the SASS 2023 Illinois State Championship. In fact, just today we placed our order for our two new awards: The Illinois State Record Holder pins and the Illowa Irregulars’ Club Record pins. (We also ordered the Clean Shooters pin.) See the images below. Click here to learn more about the State Record Stage and how you will have an opportunity to set a record.

With that, we wish you and yours the best. Hopefully our paths will cross one day, wherever that may be. Perhaps at the 2023 Illinois State Championship.

Calling all Cowboys: Our 2023 season is nearly upon us and we need your help to get it off on the right foot.

2023 will be a very interesting and rewarding year. We are scheduling eight matches this year, including our second Illinois State Championship.

However, the first order of business is to clean up the leaves, dirt, and debris that accumulated throughout the town during the many weeks of late fall, winter, and early spring inactivity.

This is no small undertaking – we need as much help we can get.

Spring Cleanup is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, April 1. We will be raking, picking up leaves and sticks, blowing leaves and dirt off the decks, and out of the storage areas, and generally just cleaning up whatever needs it.

If you can help us in any way it will be greatly appreciated.

Bring gloves, a sturdy rake, and a leaf blower if you have one.

Thanks, and we’ll be seeing you soon.

PK

Illowa Irregulars held a PractiScore tutorial earlier today. 15 people attended and were treated to a comprehensive review of how to set up a Cowboy match in PractiScore, enter shooters, sync matches and scores across tablets, and troubleshoot some common issues.

Many thanks to Wicker Nash for putting the program together.

We are making Wicker’s tutorial and step-by-step instructions available for download and use by others on our website. If your club uses PractiScore in your Cowboy matches you may find this a great place to get started or perhaps learn something new.

Click here to be taken to the Rules, Regs, and Instruction page of our website where you will find the download link to the tutorial.

Illowa Irregulars are methodically and diligently working towards hosting the SASS 2023 Illinois State Championship Mayhem On The Mississippi scheduled from August 18-20, 2023, our second state championship match in as many years. We are well into the planning, and hope to expand on what we did last year to make this even better. Side matches on Friday, 10 Championship-caliber stages across Saturday and Sunday, an optional Saturday evening dinner Cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the Celebration Belle, ending with a catered Awards Banquet in an air-conditioned community center.

If you are looking for something fun and interesting in August, take a look at the 2023 Illinois State Championship. We’ve a shooter-friendly range which features 100% covered loading and unloading tables; covered car ports on every stage to protect shooters from the elements, rain or shine; a central asphalt-paved path through the entire range; lots of shade, and berms between every shooting bay (we are NOT a lost brass facility). On-site dry camping is available.

We’re just having fun!

State Record Award: We are very excited to be introducing a never-before seen event at the Illinois Championship – the Illinois State Record Holder Award. There aren’t many “firsts” left in this world, but we may have found one: We developed a State Record Stage modeled after the World Record Stage (but with closer target distances), which we will shoot as part of the state championship match. We will recognize one Illinois resident shooter in each category who shoots the state record stage the fastest as holding the State Record. That shooter will hold the State Record until their time is bested at a future State Championship. What makes this interesting is that this stage is part of the match. In other words, each shooter gets one chance, and one chance only to set the record. There will be surprises.

We’re just having fun!

Illowa Irregular Club Record: If you’re not from Illinois, don’t’ worry, we’re using this same stage to establish the Illowa Irregular Club Record Award. This award will go to one shooter in each category (regardless of state residence) who shoots the state record stage the fastest as holding the Illowa Irregular Club Record. They, too, will hold the Club Record until it is bested at a future club match. To our knowledge, these awards have never been given elsewhere, ever.

We’re just having fun!

Mississippi Riverboat Dinner Cruise: We’re planning another optional Mississippi Riverboat Dinner Cruise aboard the celebration Belle. Join several dozen of your fellow SASS friends, old and new, us as we cruise up the Mississippi River on a warm August evening, dining, cocktails, and perhaps a little dancing for those so inclined.

We’re just having fun!

Stay tuned for more: Stay tuned for some more announcements about a couple of things we’re still trying to put together. We are working to finalize some of our side matches, and may incorporate a side match or two from our Fall Round-Up days. If you’ve been here for Fall Round-Up you may have an idea. If you’ve not, you’ll just have to wait until we know more.

We’re just having fun!

While we’re at it, let’s break the mold one more time (maybe). By that I mean let’s share some of the awards shooters are eligible to win, including the Championship buckle, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place buckles, Clean Shooter pins, State Record Holder pins, and Illowa Irregular Club Record Holder pins, and of course, the name badges.

Starting with the name badge, just imagine your Cowboy name, city and stage, across this unique name badge. We’ve incorporated a cut-out of a riverboat to symbolize the 2023 Illinois State Championship. Note we are also including the city and state for each shooter making the name badge a good conversation starter.

Here are images of the State and Club Record pins each of which will go to one shooter in every category that has the fastest time on the State Record State (psst, I’ll let in in on a little secret – I think it will be Stage 6). There will be a lot of shooters going home holding the State Record and/or the Illowa Irregular Club Record. As I said earlier, there aren’t many firsts in this game. Here’s one you won’t want to miss.

Here is an image of the Clean Shooter’s pin. Are you consistent enough to get one of these?

Here are images of our Costuming awards.

And, last, but certainly not least, here are the images of the Championship and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place buckles.

We’re just having fun!

We hope you enjoyed this teaser post and that it will prompt you to consider coming our way. We have two registration options, online and the traditional paper – whichever you prefer. We’d love to have you join us for one last summer weekend. We’re not the biggest club around, but we’ve nice facilities and we work hard to put on a good match.

Email with any questions.

Take care and we hope to see you soon.

Illowa Irregulars