The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) will discuss a motion at its February 24, 2025, board meeting to address gender equity in the sport by establishing an ad hoc advisory committee.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to follow and signup for notifications!
The motion, detailed in the meeting agenda [USPSA Board of Directors Meeting Agenda, February 24, 2025, p. 17] proposes a committee of 10 female and transgender shooters under 40 who have competed in at least one national event. The committee, chaired by Stephanie Thome (USPSA# L650), will prepare a confidential report—unless unanimously approved for public release—assessing the current environment for female and transgender competitors, evaluating policies, and recommending growth strategies and marketing campaigns according to the meeting agenda.
This initiative shows that the USPSA is putting in even more effort to broaden the appeal of practical shooting, a sport that has seen some pretty astronomical growth as has the rest of the competitive shooting world over the last decade.
The motion follows recent USPSA rule changes, such as the Limited Optics division introduced in 2023 and the Production Division capacity increases in 2024 which I think indicates that the board is more open to change than they have traditionally been in the past.
The USPSA as an organization and particularly the board of directors have fallen under a lot of scrutiny in recent years which have admittedly been quite turbulent from a leadership perspective.
