Between The Berms: A Case Of Sportsmanship

Oct 3, 2012
Sportsmanship isn't a term that comes to mind when talking about the shooting sports. It isn't a team sport per se, so those cool stories about the opposing team helping an injured player around the bases don't happen at shooting matches. As an individual sport the sportsmanship in shooting is more along the lines of cordial camaraderie where competing shooters share insights on how to shoot a stage. Not exactly the stuff of a feel-good nightly news story. Two weeks ago at the IDPA National Championships, one of those heartwarming kinds of sportsmanship stories occurred. Mentioned briefly in last week's column, junior shooter Jesse Wills found himself in an unpleasant predicament when he showed up for registration. Planning to shoot in the Stock Service Pistol division using one of the new FNS-9 pistols on loan from Tommy Thacker at FNH-USA, Jesse discovered at sign-in that his mom Karla had registered him for the Enhanced Service Revolver division.
For Jesse Wills nothing gets done without the wheelgun, again. Photo: P. Erhardt
Jesse primarily shoots revolver in other disciplines and is an up-and-coming wheelgunner who's been fortunate enough to shoot alongside big dogs like Matt Griffin, Josh Lentz, Cliff Walsh and the incomparable Jerry Miculek. So it's hard to fault mom for assuming he'd be rocking the wheelgun at this match when she initially registered him. But instead of changing divisions prior to the match, mom assumed it would be OK to make the change at sign-in. And this is where the fun begins... IDPA has a deadline for division changes prior to competition which allows them to plan accordingly for prizes. You see, unlike some shooting sports that only focus on the top level winners IDPA puts a great premium on the recognition of shooters at all levels and can often go as deep as 5th place recognition in even the lowest skill classification. This focus on achievement at all levels is one of the reasons that IDPA is so popular among those new to competition. Because even an untalented shooting hack like a certain Shooting Wire contributing editor could come away with a plaque. (But oh-so-highly unlikely.) So you can see the need to lock in division assignments prior to the match. To add to what was certainly Jesse's growing frustration - frustration with his mom registering him in the wrong division and then not changing it in time - he stood a very strong chance of taking the Junior National title in what would be his last opportunity to do so since he turns 18 in just a couple weeks. At the registration desk Jesse was presented with two options: 1) Go ahead and shoot SSP but for no score; or 2) Shoot ESR and, though he stood no chance of winning, at least get scored. There was just one little hiccup, Jesse didn't bring any of his ESR gear - including the gun. Now comes the sportsmanship portion of the story...
Honey Bunny to the rescue. Photo: P. Erhardt
Toni Dandreamatteo, known throughout IDPA as "Honey Bunny" because that's what he calls everybody, and who already shot the match in ESR with the other match staff, quickly stepped forward to offer Jesse the use of all his gear and what little ammo he had left. Jesse graciously accepted Toni's offer in order to officially compete in the championship. Jesse even got additional ammo from a shooter that was unfortunately DQ'd but more than happy to help the young man out. Using another shooter's gear can be difficult enough, but when it's a wheelgun with more room for grip customization and fine tuning of the action than there might be in a semi-auto, it can be a bit more of a challenge. Especially if you don't get any range time with the gun (or ammo) before shooting a national championship. I caught up with Jesse after the first day of competition and asked him how he shot, when he delivered one of the best lines on performance I've ever heard. With a deadpan delivery Jesse simply declared, "A little girl with a BB gun could have beat me." That was not only ridiculously funny but also brutally honest. Even more interesting was that he displayed no outward signs of frustration or anger with his own performance.
After a rough first day, Jesse bounced back for a solid finish. Photo: Yamil Sued
Within a few moments Toni walked over to check in on Jesse, and when Jesse asked if he wanted his equipment back for the night, Toni immediately said no and told Jesse to hold onto it and dryfire before finishing the match the next day. Watching this unfold it struck me that there may not be too many people who would loan out their match equipment so casually. It's not like Jesse and Toni are shooting buddies or even good friends. They are to my knowledge just match acquaintances. But therein lies the charm of a guy like Toni, meet him once and you are a fast friend who he'll willingly help in any way. The next day Jesse shot much better and though he did not come close to being a contender for the Junior title - or ESR competing against Miculek (no hope there) - he did have a good time and probably learned a lot about sportsmanship.
Despite the obstacles, Jesse remained unfazed and focused on representing his sponsors. Photo: P. Erhardt
Before leaving to head back home to Virginia I asked Jesse one final question that had been nagging me. Why did he decide to shoot ESR instead of SSP considering he could have easily taken the other path in the competition. Proving that he might know a bit more about sportsmanship than I expected, Jesse explained that the sponsors who have generously supported him deserved a serious effort, and to shoot SSP for no score would not be respectful of their commitment to him. So in reality this isn't a story just about the exemplary sportsmanship of Toni Dandreamatteo, but also of a young man who knows there's a lot more to shooting competitions than the drama of winning and losing. An interesting sportsmanship story in the shooting sports may not be immediately obvious, but when you come across one, it's usually pretty great. - Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network Got shooting sports news? Send us an email at info@shootingwire.com.