 Syndicate, an all-women team from Germany. Photo by Skirmish.com  His world is the grass, the snake, and danger ahead. Photo by Skirmish.com  Feet and elbows tucked in, behind cover much as possible? Talking timer running? To play well under tournament pressure, the small things must be second nature. Photo by Skirmish.com  Indiana Captains Council  In the bunker's shadow he waits for his opponent to make a mistake. Photo by Skirmish.com  Christian Paintball Players Association  Campo Copa Brasil 2005.  No one is watching! He breaks out right, to move up.  He slides, marker up, into cover behind a forward bunker. Photos by Skirmish.com  EMR Paintball Park |
To step into the tournament speedball world is to get very serious about your game. Where an inch can be the difference between winning and losing, every little thing is critical. A bouncer or a chrono-kill on the other team take on extreme importance.
One step faster on the breakout gets you in the bunker instead of the dead box. Sliding one foot farther, scoring one more point-things you maybe laughed about in rec-ball-become ever-so-critical in tourneyland. Shooting your own player is no longer a joke, and neither is running out of air mid-game.
Testing the tournament speedball waters is easy to do. Find a local tournament, round up a few buddies, and enter. See how you like it! Scenario teams can play local events, or, as with speedball, head for the bigger, multiple-day games. All competitors learn how moving on past local takes dedication-and a fair amount of money.
XPSL The 2006 Xtreme Paintball Sports League (XPSL) will again host five West Coast events and give away more than $40,000 in prizes every event, plus championship rings for all the overall season winners. 2006 schedule: March 3-5 Southern California (SC Village); June 2-4 Northern California (Santa Clara Paintball Park); July 28-30 Northern California (location TBA); September 29-October 1 Las Vegas (location TBA); November 17-19 Southern California (location TBA).
For 2006 the XPSL, will offer 7player Rookie, 7player Novice and 7player Open divisions, plus a one-day 3player Young Guns division. New for 2006: Teams may pay for all five events in advance and save 10 percent on the already-discounted 10-day advance entry fee. Teams can register online at www.xpsl.com. Information: phone 714.719.9011; shawn@xpsl.com; rufina@xpsl.com.
ACTS The 2006 Atlantic Coast Tournament Series runs 3player rookie and 5player open divisions, plus optional special events. Archon Paintball is the major ACTS sponsor this year, with media support and BLU82 Productions event DVDs.
The ACTS uses modified NPPL rules, and a six-game format with the top-four teams going to a three-game finals. Player classification uses the ACTS ID card database with mandatory ID cards. The ID card system exists to protect the integrity of the series, to guard against players "playing down." For the prelims, the crowd must be silent. Finals allow crowd cheering. Points are awarded for placement, and the host field teams will referee their own event for points.
Rookie payout: Trophies to 1st, medals to 2nd and 3rd, cash based on $75 per team split 50/60/40. Open payout: Trophies to 1st, medals to 2nd and 3rd, cash based on $125 per team split 50/60/40. Final championship payout: A team must play every ACTS event to qualify for the cash and prizes valued at more than $10,000. All teams playing every ACTS event but not placing in the top three qualify for a "Second Chance Drawing" prize package. Pre-registration saves your team the $50 late fee. The ACTS is a BYOP series, so bring your own paint (or buy paint at the event), but NO staining paint is allowed (no red, neon pink, neon yellow, neon green, no iodine-enhanced fills).
The ACTS started Feb. 18 at Coastal Paintball MCB, Camp Lejeune, NC; 910. 451.7634; www.coastalpaintball.com. March 18 was at Real McCoy Paintball, Princeton, NC; 919.936.2025; www.mccoypaintball.com. April 8, Ground Zero Paintball, Lakeview, SC; 888.759.2578; www.gzpaintball.com. May 20, Ocean City Paintball, Ocean City, MD; 410.213.2500; www.ocpaintball.net.
June 3-4 or 10-11 is the Sun Fun Festival Coastal Classic at Myrtle Beach, SC, with a cash game, a 2 on 2 SKINS format with Juniors ages 10-17 on Saturday and the open event on Sunday; www.coastalpaintball.com. June 24 is at Command Decisions Paintball, Taylorsville, NC; 828.495.4155; www.cdpaintball.com. July 22, Master Blasters Paintball, Chesapeake, VA; 757.548.2481; www.masterblasterspaintball.com. August 19 the ACTS goes to Predator Paintball, Hillsborough, NC; 919.732.6327; www.predatorpaintball.org. See www.coastalpaintball.com for the full year schedule.
ICC The Indiana Captains Council (ICC) voted to go to 15 bps ramping for all divisions for 2006. The ICC is a player-run league. Each winter they hold their annual convention where they decide on any changes or alterations that will be effective the next season. Besides the 15 bps ramping, they voted that a player can "guest" on a higher-level team twice in the same season without changing his or her status. This means a rookie or novice player can try out or play on an Amateur squad without having to change to Am class.
Dates for the 2006 ICC season will be April 9, May 7, June 18, July 9, August 20, and September 24, with locations and paint sponsors to be announced. The ICC will add a paid photographer and an unpaid videographer. For complete details of the ICC Convention or more information, visit www.iccpaintball.com.
CPPA The Christian Paintball Players Association 4th Annual National Gathering will be at RM Sports in Texico, Illinois, on June 9-11, 2006. This annual event draws Christian players from around the world!
Play starts Friday evening with the Top Gun competition at 4 p.m. Saturday's events include recreational games including stock, pump, and Sup Air. Early Sunday afternoon is a 2player Bible tournament. Look for Christian Rock/Metal band SOZOROX (www.sozorox.com) on Saturday at 3 p.m. with Reckless Abandon leading worship that evening at 6 p.m. Sunday-morning service, 8:30 a.m. A great opportunity for Christian players to enjoy a weekend of praise, prayer, and paintball! www.christianpaintball.com
Camp Texas John and Kellie Tankersley of the Houston Rookie League and Tank's Paintball hosted a winter camp in Texas, with instructors from paintballschool.com. The three-day camp of December 28-30, 2005, was taught by Rocky Cagnoni of Brimstone Smoke, Mike Paxson of Chicago Aftershock, and Bea Youngs of Destiny. Training covered basics to advance, a chance to win an Angel G7, catered lunches, a free case of Chronic paint, and a camp T-shirt. Cost was $275 with a limit of 35 players. www.paintballschool.com; Houston Rookie League, Houston, Texas, phone 713.862.5555, hrl@houstonrookieleague.com.
Nocer Scenario teams, Nocer Productions's 2006 Scenario Game schedule of 24-hour games kicked off February 11-12 at Shoots and Splatters Paintball, Citra, Florida, and then it was April 8-9 at First Strike Paintball, Newberry, Florida (Quest for the Holy Grail IV; www.firststrikepaintball.com). For May 6-7 at Old River Paintball, Ocklawaha, FL, the game is Osborne's Identity (www.oldriverpaintball.com). September 16-17, also at Old River Paintball, it is Super Trooperz. Then November 4-5, AWOL Paintball, Pavo, Georgia, will host the final event for 2006 (www.awolpaintball.com).
EMR EMR Paintball Park, home field for Blue's Crew, will include unlimited compressed air and CO2 at all the EMR 2006 events. EMR plans 14 events (tournament, big game, scenario) for the season on eight concept fields and 24 playing fields. Event fees also include free lodging in EMR's 35 bunkhouses or free camping on site. Amenities include a swimming pond, fishing pond, volleyball, horseshoes, bonfires, and a full-service recreational center. Rental gear for paintball is available. ATV trails are being added so that one weekend a month, ATV enthusiasts can ride at EMR. An MS track is planned for the summer of 2006, along with airsoft games. Information: www.emrpaint ball.com; phone Blue or Deuce at 570.465.9622; emrpb@epix.net.
Midwest Series New for the 2006 Midwest Paintball Series is a division for newbies. Division 4 in the Midwest Paintball Series is for players who have played in no more than one tournament; non-electric markers only. It's designed to introduce players to tournament paintball. The series requires ID cards; register online. Note a change for Tornado Alley Paintball from the April event to the September event. Updates are at www.paintballtourney.com and www.mid westpaintballseries.com.
NPPL Team looking to play the NPPL, register early! A new membership Web site should help reduce the telephone registration waiting times. The NPPL announced Jasmine Vo has resigned from director of membership services for the NPPL for a position with an Orange County, CA, corporate events company, though she still plans on being at some NPPL events this year. ID card and roster information, contact Shawn Walker at 714.536.9050 or e-mail shawn@nppl.tv, and look for a new NPPL members' Web site with special features and its own help line, 866.4.MYNPPL.
Smart Parts/Tremor Smart Parts Inc. has teamed with Tremor on the private-label Tremor Shocker. In honor of Tremor's cause, a portion of the profits of every Tremor Shocker sold will be donated toward curing Parkinson's disease, through medical research and related charities. Tremor, a DII NPPL team, was founded by Parkinson's patient and tournament paintball player Christopher Clark and his wife Karen to raise awareness and funding for Parkinson's disease research. Contact: 410.961.7826; chrisdclark@gmail.com.
To Compete Fact: Many watch your performance in the speedball arena. Few see your woods game performance. Competition takes many forms, not all being right for each person. To compete is to pressure yourself to perform.
Send your tournament, team, and tactics news and comments to: co2@actionpursuitgames.com.
