Uk National Paintball league

[Buddha 3]

For the national events figure about half the lower division teams are in-state or not too far away. However the difference is in entry fees. You can play events with between 50-100 teams with decent reffing and prizes for $300-$500 entries whereas the big events are around $2000, give or take.
As for basic travel I drive 3 hours one way to practice every time and we have guys who drive double that. Course our practices are whole weekends too.
Fact is there is no real reason over here to play the big events other than to see how you stack up because many places have reasonably well organized and regular local and regional event scenes. Tho there is also no doubt that some block of lower division teams will play an event or maybe two a year just to do it.

Thanks Paul. Things don't seem to be much different when comparing the US to Europe then. Main difference is that entry fees for the big events in the US are way more expensive than here.
Most of the low division teams here also play just one or two MS events and fill their calender up with other, much lower level events.

As far as the travel goes, the effort you describe seems perfectly normal to me for a group of players that takes their game seriously.
One of the problems in western Europe seems to be an aversion to travel longer than an hour or so. Reasons may well be our fuel prices and the fact that car prices here are 1.5 to more than 2 times higher than in the US.

People complaining about congested roads don't really understand. Gridlock traffic is gridlock traffic. Yes, London is bad, but so is Amsterdam, New York and any other major city.

 

[Buddha 3]

i travel for 3 hours for training. M1 then M25. From junction 23A of the M1 round to Dartford on the M25. its a pain in the ass but if you want to get better you have to take those steps. so surely if one league was created that made such an impact it would be better to go to it and improve? nope? ahhh jst me then

That's the whole point. You want to get better and maybe get on a better team? You have to make sacrifices. You want to play just for fun? Just stick with your local team and series.

 

[Nick Brockdorff]

You guys are all bonkers

When I read people complaining about driving 300 miles for a major national event - it makes me laugh.

Political infighting - bla bla bla

If you want the UK to be top of the heap in Europe again, you need to stop all your petty bickering and make one big league.

Nick

 

[Robbo]

You guys are all bonkers

When I read people complaining about driving 300 miles for a major national event - it makes me laugh.

Political infighting - bla bla bla

If you want the UK to be top of the heap in Europe again, you need to stop all your petty bickering and make one big league.

Nick

......and no doubt there should also be no wars eh Nick?

 

[Nick Brockdorff]

Hmm - some wars are good - like StarWars

But seriously, political climate notwithstanding, if the promoters don't realise this is a serious WANT from most the players - then once someone else offers it, they will all jump ship.

Nick

 

[Robbo]

Hmm - some wars are good - like StarWars

But seriously, political climate notwithstanding, if the promoters don't realise this is a serious WANT from most the players - then once someone else offers it, they will all jump ship.

Nick

Nick, in the UK, some players may view this as a serious want and in some of these guy's heads, it's not so much a real need as against a need prodded by virtue of the fact it appeared on these boards; in other words, not enough really serious (and / or committed) people have this view.
Once again, it all sounds good on cyber-paper but fack all is gonna happen mate.
The situation you describe above could well hold merit in other countries but not here.

 

[Raffles]

OK - now we've all finished series bashing...

After I've had a chance to really think about this (yes - I took the time to think about it - rather than post on the reb-bound), one league can't work in the UK (at the moment).

The simple reason for this is that UK ball and UK ballers just aren't ready for it.

People are already complaining about the travel - and this while the idea is still in the debate process!

There are a few hard-core ballers who would welcome a single league - but it's no fun playing against the same team all the time (assuming you get enough players to make 2 teams ).

Regional leagues - all using the same rulebook (whichever that is) - is a good idea though. Trouble is, who's going to spend their time and money organising it?

 

[Buddha 3]

Regional leagues - all using the same rulebook (whichever that is) - is a good idea though. Trouble is, who's going to spend their time and money organising it?

Which is why I keep saying that paintball, like all other sports, should ideally be run by one governing body, with teams being proper clubs and players paying membership fees.
But given that we can't even agree on how many people should be on the field, that's about as likely to happen as Robbo sporting an afro.

 

[Raffles]

...that's about as likely to happen as Robbo sporting an afro.

One for the 'quotes' thread .

 

[Robbo]

But given that we can't even agree on how many people should be on the field, that's about as likely to happen as Robbo sporting an afro.

It just ain't happenin' mate, it just ain't happening !