The NASSA Regional Federation
Our NASSA Vision is based on the camaraderie, traditions and passion each of our Rifle Silhouette shooters share throughout Mexico the USA and Canada. Therefore much consideration was given to the structure and function of our NASSA Regional Federation made up of the following entities:
Mexico: The (4) NASSA Regions of Northeast, Northwest, Central and South Mexico.
USA: The (6) NASSA Regions of North Central, Northeast, Northwest, South Central, Southeast and Southwest USA
Canada: One Provincial Region made up of all the Provinces in Canada (under review).
“NASSA – An Association Built by Silhouette Shooters For Silhouette Shooters”
Mexico Regions/Clubs
This includes the NASSA Mexico Regions of Northeast, Northwest, Central and South Mexico
Legend has it our Rifle Silhouette sport had its origins with Pancho Villa’s men in Northern Mexico during the 1910-1919 Border War with General Pershing and U.S. Army troops. Bets about who was the best shot among Villa’s men led to live animal shoots at distance to prove who was the real Champion! After the conflict, Villa’s men returned home and carried these live-animal sporting events with them using their high power hunting rifles. Eventually live animal shoots were replaced with metal cutouts of animals, partly due to public pressure, birthing “Silhuetas Metalicas” (Metallic Silhouette).
Fast forward over 100 years, Mexico continues this long and strong tradition of Silhuetas Metalicas, making it the number one shooting sport in Mexico. Many of Mexico’s 31 Federal States have numerous Rifle Silhouette Clubs and competition is intense with the State winner of the Mexico National Championship claiming the right to host the following year’s Mexico National Championship.
To read more about the Mexico Regions and the Rifle Silhouette Clubs within the Regions, click on the link below:
USA Regions/Clubs
This includes the NASSA USA Regions of North Central, Northeast, Northwest, South Central, Southeast and Southwest USA
Highpower Rifle Silhouette migrated from Mexico across the Arizona/New Mexico border with gusto during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Within a decade, Rifle Silhouette in the USA was further energized when the NRA became the official sanctioning body and the Smallbore Rifle Silhouette discipline was added to the mix. Rifle Silhouette matches migrated all across the USA and soon became the fastest shooting sport in the nation.
Fifty years later, Rifle Silhouette is still one of the most challenging and enjoyable of all the shooting sports. There is something about hitting a Ram at 500 meters and both seeing and hearing that CLANG when the Ram falls down! Today in the USA there are many newer shooting sports that directly compete with Rifle Silhouette in attracting and retaining shooters. NASSA’s mission is to ensure we grow and flourish as one of the top shooting sports in the USA.
To read more about the USA Regions and the Rifle Silhouette Clubs within the Regions, click on the link below:
Canada Provinces/Clubs
This includes the combined Canadian Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchawan and the Yukon.
As Rifle Silhouette was migrating all across the USA from its origins along the Arizona/New Mexico border, it was inevitable its would move further north to cross the border into Canada. Championship Rifle Silhouette Matches in the Northeast and Northwest USA would attract Canadian shooters across the border and vis versa.
That tradition continues today with Canadians attending US Silhouette matches such as the NRA National Silhouette Championships when held in Ridgway, Pennsylvania and the Conard Bernhardt Cup Championship in Pe Ell, Washington. US shooters reciprocate by attending such matches as the Canadian National Silhouette Championships held on the Canadian West Coast. The Lapua Monarch Cup will only continue this trend as more North American Championships are held to bring shooters together from Canada, Mexico and the USA.
To read more about the Canadian Provinces and the Rifle Silhouette Clubs within the Provinces, click on the link below:
NASSA Regional Directors
The NASSA Regional Directors are the lifeblood of the organization, represent the interests of their localized Rifle Silhouette shooters. The importance of this role will be further emphasized with one Representative Regional Director from Canada, Mexico and the USA being proposed as a Board Member of a future NASSA 5013(c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation.
To read more on who are the current Regional Directors in Canada, Mexico and the USA and their specific responsibilities, click on the link below:
Why a NASSA Regional Federation?
One of the questions the NASSA Implementation Team often gets is why have a network of NASSA Regions throughout Mexico, Canada and the USA? The NASSA Implementation Team benchmarked many successful multi-national non-profit organizations early in our NASSA Strategic Planning Process. Virtually all these organizations divided up their geographic areas of operation into regions. A summary of our findings and our reason to follow suit are outlined below in no specific order of importance:
Support the Local Silhouette Community:
North America is a vast geographic area consisting of (3) countries and a rich and different cultural mix of languages and culture. And we could just be talking about Louisiana! By examining these differences and taking this into account when we established our NASSA Regional Boundaries, we hope to better serve the local Rifle Silhouette communities. Service translates into action taken by establishing specific and measurable Regional Initiatives that address the biggest opportunities for the States and Provinces that make up each NASSA Region.
Recruitment of Local Volunteers to Sustain and Grow NASSA:
Each NASSA Regional Director will need to build a local volunteer force in their respective region. The ability to delegate responsibilities at a more localized regional level provides many benefits, such as more volunteers into building and sustaining our association. This is critical for non-profit type organizations that rely solely on volunteers to do the heavy lifting. Some of these volunteers will get more involved in NASSA affairs and will support a succession plan.
Efficiency to Achieve the NASSA Mission:
Collaboration between various NASSA Regions to achieve specific objectives is more efficient and necessary to speed up progress. For example, Louisiana in the USA South Central Region is the Mecca for Air Rifle Silhouette in the USA. Bayou Airgun Club (BAC) in Baton Rouge knows how to make the best resettable air rifle target stands. The USA Southeast Region is coming to the Shamrock Air Rifle Silhouette Championship in March 2023 to benchmark BAC to speed up the introduction of Air Rifle Silhouette into the Southeast Region.
All this collaboration should be considered when setting Regional Initiatives for each NASSA Region. We want to drive leveraging each Regions’s core competencies and horse trading with with other regions.
Better Communication:
One of the significant findings of the NASSA Implementation Team is how little many Silhouette shooters know about what is happening in other NASSA Regions within North America. This is particularly true about what many USA Rifle silhouette Shooters do not know about Mexico.
The Lapua Monarch Cup has had a positive effect in tearing down barriers to learn about what is happening across our International Borders. NASSA hopes to further break down these barriers through the NASSA Website and the NASSA News and Multimedia tools we are building. Much of the information such as gun club information, match programs and schedules already exists on a local level. The intent of the NASSA website is to better organize the information and distribute the information.
A Stronger NASSA Team:
Rifle Silhouette shooter often talk about the lack of support from some of our sanctioning organizations. The NASSA mission is to build an association that is well organized and governed from the top of the organization but is driven and held accountable from the bottom up in which means the local Rifle Silhouette shooting communities that exist in all the NASSA Regions. We believe that the NASSA Federation of Regions will fulfill that role!