Romero New 3GN Director of Competition

By Chad Adams

3-Gun Nation recently named Rob Romero to the newly created position of Director of Competition. In this role, Romero will effectively be both tournament director (overseeing 3GN Tour) and match director at 3GN-produced Pro Series matches.

The move emphasizes 3GN’s goal to create the highest level of 3-gun competition, built by pro-level 3-gunners, for pro-level 3-gunners. Romero’s stage designs will focus on shooting, minimize inconsistencies in stage and target presentations, and ultimately, create the most competitive 3-gun stages possible, yet maintain fairness across an entire field of elite shooters.

Romero, a top 3-gun competitor in Tactical Optics and defending 3GN Heavy Metal Division Champion, wanted the Director of Competition job so badly he agreed to not participate in the 2012 3GN Pro Series, where he would be a favorite to cash in on the Tour’s more than $150,000 is cash prizes. Instead, Romero jumped at the chance to shape what 3GN’s professional 3-gun tour will become.

“I wanted this job, I put myself out there,” Romero said. “I have ideas of how I see this sport can be better. I think I have the credibility and experience for people to give me the shot to prove it. I think with a smaller venue, with the best 3-gun shooters in the country, I can create a circuit which limits the time away from family and jobs while at the same time accomplishes our mission of creating an action-packed event that brings out the best of the best. Most of the bigger matches cater to everybody involved, so attendance is huge, and people have to sacrifice several days in order to shoot the match. There was never really a match for a guy who shoots 16 matches a year. These matches are really geared to the professional shooter who shoots every match on the circuit.”

Romero’s stages will be built for television; a critical step in what 3GN believes can propel the TV show on NBC Sports Network to the next level. But make no mistake, the 3GN stages will pull no punches in the way they challenge competitors.

“Competitors can expect these stages to be extremely fast and dynamic,” Romero said. “Difficult offhand rifle shots, reasonable distances on birdshot on clays and steel – everything is basically geared towards shooting at top speed. It’s going to be action-packed. I want stages to have a direction; I want shooters to feel they can push themselves to the limit of their abilities on these stages. After all, it is called action shooting. Lying on your stomach, looking up at the R.O. to ask if you got a hit—that isn’t going to happen.”

Blending the wide open, all-out speed featured at venues such as Superstition Mountain and AR15.com-Rockcastle Pro-Am with the multiple possible strategies involved at last year’s FNH USA Championship, Romero’s 3GN Pro Series stages will challenge professional 3-gunners on many levels.

“Stage design will feature shooter’s choice, leaving multiple open-ended strategies available to every shooter,” Romero said. “I don’t want an assembly line of guy’s shooting the stage the same every time. I want each shooter to evaluate their strengths and be able to use them the best as they see fit.”

Romero's stage designs and match philosophy will be put to the test when the 2012 3-Gun Nation Pro Series kicks off March 31 at the Ancient City Shooting Range in St. Augustine, Florida.

Posted on 2/13/2012