Hi, good to have p8ntballer back isn't it.
I was hoping to have everything finalised and announced by now, but one or two details are still provisional. (There's only so many hours I can spend on the phone each day.
) Should be announcing in a week or so. But in answer to the questions raised…
Committee
One the things I have been working on is the establishment of the organising committee for university paintball events. Not only from the practical point of view of sharing the load but also for the sake of our credibility with the likes of BUSA. A committee that is either part of or recognised by the sport's national governing body is actually one of their requirements. There is also the fact that I will be graduating in a month or so. Once everything is set up I intend to step back. While I will be happy to chip in with a bit of guidance from time to time, it is a uni league and belongs to the students and should be led by them.
However there are a number of criteria and pitfalls we need to be mindful of when setting up the running of university paintball. A few years back there was an attempt to get uni paintball going. It fell on its arse because too much time was spent faffing with committee structures etc. It ended up as a talking shop that got nothing done. Committees are a good way to run established systems, but they are not the best way to innovate and set things up. They are also a good way to ensure that the running is representative of everyone involved. But this can also be there weakness when setting things up, because people often don’t know what they want and end up screwing things up (due to the Dilbert principle). Once things are up and running, a committee is essential to maintain continuity and to ensure fairness. But to start with the priority has got be getting things running which is best done without the confusion of too many cooks.
The plan I am currently working on is to set up the league in consultation with the host universities, and seeking the views of the clubs. Then, once everything is set-up, to hand over to an interim committee made up of reps from the host universities. Towards the end of the season you guys can elect a proper committee ready to run next year.
UKPSF
I have been speaking with Steve Bull (head of the UKPSF) about a number of things such as the affiliation package, but there are no plans for the UKPSF to run the league. They will help us with a number of things that will allow
us to organise the league with greater ease.
Website/forums
One of the benefits the UKPSF will provide us is a university paintball section on the UKPSF website where details of events, the different clubs, etc will be published. We will also have a forum for people to discuss the league and other issues such as how to start a club, funding etc. The cost of hosting of this will be covered, so no extra cost to the universities. This should be up and running later this term.
