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[Spikeman]

Ok guys & gals I need your input into a sport I have played for the last ten years or so...



The Sport is Tournament Paintball and I am still amazed that people are still unware of how big this is getting - Maybe this is me looking from within but this is why i ask you. The question is...

Did you know that there was a Professional Tournament Scene in paintball aside from the weekend warrior type games that the general public play?

I will probably ask some more questions later but for now this will suffice. I want to try and bring a big tournament locally to me and want to pitch it to local companies for sponsorship and to the media etc.

p.s. if you don't believe me about this being a serious scene then look at my avartar!

 

[Bronto]

sorry m8 never had a clue, went a few years ago with a firm I was working for (lorry drivers mainly) had it against a team of office wallers, they took it quite seriously (thought they were in the army on manouvers) lol, ended up as usual on the pi55

 

[davidh]

had a go once
loved it but when we finished didnt i end up on my arse fell over and twisted my knee

feck

 

[RAB - P]

you have obviously not seen me play medal of honour m8 nobody would want me in there team end up getting shot in the back.eyesight is terrible but did manage to save 20 men once.............. shot the cook.

 

[madbomber]

seen it on.sky getting mentioned once

 

[siross]

never knew, just thought it was a hobby

 

[wasnotwasD]

Really professional? like being paid for it by sponsors & that?

What a job!!

I never thought it was anything more than a week-end hobby thing. There is a disused building 2 mins walk from me where they used to run it. But it must not have been viable, as it aint been used anymore since about 6 year ago.

 

[Spikeman]

Yes there is sponsorship but in the UK no one really gets paid to play just freebies that help with their playing costs. The US is totally different with a lot of cash being injected into teams. Some teams even have transfer fees that they pay the players joining the team figures of $5000 to $10,000 are not unknown.

I used to play for a UK fully sponsored team and it was great we used to play all over the place, US, Canada & all over Europe and all we had to pick up was our travel. Although we got that paid on a couple of trips too. So a days paintballing used to cost me on average £35!!

A bit more info for anyone who is interested in technical bits.

The markers (guns) that are used for this type of play are electronically controlled and shoot paint at speeds of around 14-20 BPS (balls/second)! They are firing each ball at around 300 fps (feet/sec). Being electronically controlled means that we can re-programme the PICS!! - although I haven't played around much with that yet.

Most players carry around 900 paintballs for each game and a typical tournament will be in the region of 8 games for the initial rounds and then the finals. Game times are for normal flag type games 5-10 minutes. For Xball they are 1 hour with an end swap halfway.

Xball is fast & furious with players going at each other time and time again to score the most goals in the 1 hour period. Once you're shot out you leave the field until that play finishes - then it's a 1 minute turn around and then your back on. Generally there are around 18-20 smaller intense games played.

The top European (well almost European) is "The Russian Legion" - these guys are fully sponsored by a bank in Russia. They have a full time coach and are great ambassadors for the sport.

@Diamond - How big is that old building? I'm looking for an indoor venue for a tournament in winter. If the site there failed it is due to one thing - poor management. As long as you get the customers in a paintball site will always make money. How you get those people there with incentives, facilities etc that's down to the management. But once you get the customers you need to keep them by not ripping them off so that they come back and tell their friends. The location and the disposable income in that area may have played a part in the demise of this site but again that's the management.