 Great move! Police & Firefighters Olympic Games '05. Photos by Jim Rossi  Maxtier (Placer County Sheriff's Department) in a paintball sniper position on the challenging Hyperball field.  The competition field. Herbie's Paintball Games, Fernley, Nevada.  An aggressive breakout, with the referee (lower left) watching for paintball breaks while staying out of the line of fire.  Contra Costa Fire Department.  Champions! LASD (Los Angeles Sheriff's Department). |
Five on two-an upset in the making? Shooting what he thought was the last opponent, a Blue Knight began a victory dance as he ran for the flag pull! In 94 degree heat, law-enforcement officers and firefighters competed in paintball, in the 2005 Police & Firefighters Olympic Games. The paintball event site was Herbie's Paintball Games in Fernley, Nevada. The heat and lack of shade added additional challenges for hundreds of competitors from around the western United States.
Match rules had teams playing two five-minute dual-flag capture-the-flag-style games. The combined points from both games determined the winner of each match. The winner was awarded one match point out of a possible five. On the first day, teams were separated into three possible divisions based on the total number of match points earned. The three Hyperball fields had flag stations on opposite sides, and offered minimal cover. Games frequently ended in a draw as a result of the flag station locations, which allowed teams to choose to remain passive. By comparison, tournaments with a single-center flag format see very few stalemates.
Fire x Blue Knights On Day One, Team Fire tried the passive approach to defend against the Blue Knights. The Blue Knights' aggressive style of play cost them an elimination in the first few seconds; they immediately filled the back position to continue their aggression. Because they were able to coordinate movements on the field, the Blue Knights gained an advantage over Team Fire, tactically eliminated them, and won.
Cochino Boys x Centurians Gold In another Day One match-up, the Cochino Boys had the entire team shooting off the break as they unleashed a barrage of firepower against the Centurians Gold. The team kept up their barrage, which prevented the Centurians from advancing. The game turned into a competitive battle of attrition. Players traded fire and were eliminated equally. The Cochino Boys eventually advanced. A Centurians player shot a Cochino Boys back player in the mask, but after a paintcheck the ref called him clean. After the call, the player-wearing an obvious mask hit-advanced and took out a Centurians player. The head field ref noticed the hit and eliminated the player with some resistance. Unfortunately, this happened after the game was over and after the player was allowed to play on. Not enough referees, and their inexperience in making decisive field calls, frustrated a number of teams.
SJPD Allstars x Centurians Blue The San Jose Police Dept. (SJPD) Allstars approach against Centurians Blue, on Day One, was to run to their positions rather than shooting off the break. The tactic paid off, as Shultz made it safely to his back corner position. He laid down enough cover fire to allow his front player, Francisco, to advance into the mid-field snake on the tape line. The Centurians' Hernandez shot the snake player, which stopped the Allstars' advance. With a minute left, the Allstars had two players facing a lone Centurians back player. The Allstars' Woolsey advanced along the tape past midfield, only to realize that he was out of paint. He improvised and dry-fired to draw the attention of the last of the Centurians.
Shultz advanced on the other side of the field to take advantage of the distraction, and then attempted to eliminate the last player by running up to the last player's bunker, which was preventing him from grabbing the flag. However, in his adrenaline-induced state of haste, he did not hit the last player, nor did he make an attempt to grab the flag. A discussion ensued to determine who was eliminated. The game was called over prematurely and ended in a stalemate.
Their second game was a battle for the match point. It was another slow game of attrition until the Centurians made a final push with a minute left. The game lasted approximately 30 seconds longer than it should have and the Centurians won the game and the match.
Team Fire x SJPD Allstars The SJPD Allstars continued on Day One to play against Team Fire. Off the break, the Allstars lost an entire side. Team Fire rapidly advanced, leaving a four-on-one match- up. Joseph Paolini of the Allstars took out two opponents and held off the remaining two until the last minute of the game. Team Fire advanced, but they were not coordinated as a team. Paolini picked off the remaining two opponents and won the game-in an incredible display of tenacity and focus.
Centurians Blue x Team Fire Team Fire continued on to play against Centurians Blue on Day One. Carl Jewell from Team Fire reached a key spot on the field, preventing the Centurians from advancing. Jewell eventually tried to make it to the snake on the tapeline, with a minute left, but was eliminated. Gong from the Centurians pushed on the other side of the field and eliminated two Team Fire players as the Centurians quickly overran their remaining opponents. A flag pull was followed by a flag handoff to Jones, who scored with only seconds left in the game. {mospagebreak}
 Cheerleaders!  The hard-working tournament director.  Blue Knights (Banning Police Dept.).  Santa Clara DOC.  Team Felony. |
Day Two Local firefighters and their families cooked a wonderful feast for the participants on Day Two. Free bottles of water were available to prevent dehydration in the desert climate. Day Two scores would establish ranking for Day Three. Games started on schedule, with forfeits to the teams who did not arrive on time.
Hardtime x Centurians Blue Hardtime tried to move up the field against the Centurians Blue. Hernandez from the Centurians slid into the midfield snake on the tape. Quickly he moved up to the far end of the snake on Hardtime's side of the field. Snapshooting, he eliminated one opponent. Then he tucked back into the snake and waited a few seconds before repeating this tactic. He eliminated most of his opponents.
The remaining Hardtime back player did not know that Hernandez was one bunker in front of him. As he finished loading and was closing his hopper, Hernandez ran up and tried to eliminate him-but was unsuccessful. Two remaining Centurians quickly advanced and shot the last player. One of them grabbed the flag, and was only steps away from hanging it when game time ran out.
Cochino Boys x Team Felony The Cochino Boys once again started their match against Team Felony with the whole team shooting off the break. Both teams played cautiously, and neither team had lost a player during the first minute. The back player on Team Felony was eliminated and shortly thereafter another back player was being checked. Unfortunately, the player accidentally shot himself while being checked and was also eliminated. With the Cochino Boys up five to three, Mike Mallot of Team Felony advanced along the tape. He took out two Cochino Boys before his opponents crossed up their fire long enough for time to run out. The game ended in a stalemate, three against two.
Santa Clara DOC x Team Fire The Santa Clara Department of Corrections (DOC) communicated well, relaying opponent positions and coordinating their movements. With the majority of the team being women, effectively working together, Team Fire had a difficult time advancing without DOC coordinating firepower against them. Each team lost a player off the break. DOC lost a key back player. Team Fire's Taylor slid into the snake on the tape about two minutes into the game. A referee checked him, calling him clean. Taylor became impulsive and boldly moved to run the tape in an attempt to eliminate the remaining players. However, he was quickly shot, as DOC had eagerly observed his movement. His elimination freed up the side of the field and the DOC advanced, winning with two players remaining.
Placer County SD x Santa Clara DOC Santa Clara DOC continued on to play against the Placer County Sheriff's Department. DOC took out an opponent on the break. PCSD's Maxtier advanced to the center of the field as usual. He had been the most aggressive member, reaching the center of the field consistently, and from that vantage point had been able to prevent any advancement to the snake. Maxtier explained, with a smile on his face, "I usually wait in the center of the field until they forget about me." However, in this particular game he was eliminated before they forgot about him. DOC quickly lost another player.
With the count four DOC to two PCSD, DOC's Ansnow moved up aggressively and shot at the remaining two players. Even though she communicated well to her teammates, DOC was unable to methodically coordinate an attack on the remaining two opponents. DOC's Haili was taken out while trying to advance on the far tape. PCSD's Reed advanced to the snake with a last-ditch effort. He eliminated one player, and then rapidly ran for the far end of the field. On the run, he took out the last two opponents, and won the game.
Day Three On Day Three, the teams played the finals. Three divisions each would name their Gold, Silver, and Bronze winning teams.
Hosers x Team Felony Team Felony took charge of the final game against the Hosers. First they took out Rezac, a back player, by shooting him in the foot. The player tucked his foot in, concealing the hit, but a ref pulled him out. Another of the Hosers was taken out before he reached his bunker. In the first minute, the Hosers were down three to four. Helmic of the Hosers ran for the snake in a desperate attempt to take the initiative. His valiant attempt was thwarted as he was eliminated prior to reaching it. Mike Mallot on Team Felony pushed the opposite tape and tactfully eliminated the remaining opponents.
Blue Knights x LASD The Blue Knights with their aggressive style of play battled for the Gold in Division A, against the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD). The Blue Knights implemented a unique strategy by putting three players behind the same back middle bunker. This allowed them to shoot down key lanes right from the break. Unfortunately, one of their own players was eliminated within the first 10 seconds. LASD gained ground. The Knights played aggressively and tried to move to various positions. However, LASD quickly outnumbered the Blue Knights five to two.
The LASD players were not coordinated in their attack and were picked off one by one by the remaining two Blue Knights. It began to look hopeful for the Blue Knights to pull off an upset. Chris Ignacio shot what he thought was the last remaining LASD player near the last row of bunkers, right after his teammate was shot out. He began a victory dance as he ran to grab the flag. In disbelief and joy, he grabbed the flag. However, his joyful moment came to a sudden halt as three balls broke on the center of his back. He quickly turned around in disbelief only to realize that he was eliminated.
The last LASD player had become hyperfocused on watching the tape, and was not watching the rest of the field. The cheering and shouting from the last of the Blue Knights seemed to have caught his attention, as he slowly pivoted and shot both opponents. The second game seemed even more intense. LASD played very aggressively and advanced quickly to forward positions. The Blue Knights tripled up on the center middle bunker, again using the same strategy. LASD had numerous angles on the same bunker, which made the three players extremely vulnerable. Their strategy seemed to be their downfall, as they were quickly eliminated. The game ended with three live LASD players remaining in their decisive victory over the Blue Knights.
For the Gold This competition displayed the most intense performance in the series of tournaments to date. With rapid-shooting paintball markers, and the players' skill levels, proved impressive to all, including the cheering sections some teams brought with them. Only one team, though, would win the Olympic Gold medal.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department proved themselves to be the best team of 2005. Competitors will have to wait yet another year for their chance at the gold.
Jim Rossi writes from San Jose, California.
RESULTS DIVISION A Gold: Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept.
Silver: Blue Knights (Banning Police Dept.)
Bronze: Alameda County Fire
DIVISION B Gold: Team Felony (Prison Guards)
Silver: Contra Costa Fire Dept. Hosers
Bronze: Sacramento County Police Dept.
DIVISION C Gold: Placer County Sheriff's Dept.
Silver: Santa Monica Police Dept.
Bronze: Santa Clara DOC
