Are we just a bunch of saps or do we have any power?

[Raul]

best ting i can suggest is going down the club route. ignor the manufatures and go streight to the sites and retail

e.g. if sites started to band together to create clubs then this would also shared their regular customers and possibly share some of the money taked (possibly increasing profits for all, and increasing the amount ot players) lets face it, it dose get pretty boring playing on the same fields over and over again! and for that reason i dont do walk ons as much as i could

and in regards to retail, some suppliers are already doing dicount cards (JP has the yellow card) and if mebership to the UKPSF was supported by these guys and give discount just for being a member then this could initialy be a way to kickstart mandatory registration for all players

Matt

 

[Return of the Silver Fox]

Like it or not this is not a spectator sport the general public will be interested in so the only people interested in it are players (for the enjoyment) and manufacturers/organisers (enjoyment and money).
I think part of the problem is the current format. In the late 90s and first half of the last decade there seemed to be a greater number of teams that had consitant squads and played a number of series. You actually felt like the travel was worth it as you had a reasonable amount of game time.
Another aspect is that the format allowed newer teams to knock heads with those at the top of the tree. This caused some real upsets and added to the overall excitement. I supported locking leagues originally but, to be honest, I've changed my mind and would only lock one league (in the UK) and let the rest fight for the scraps. There aren't enough teams to support any more than this effectively anyway. It would also have the potential for newer teams to climb the tree quickly and therefore encourage the commitment we are looking for.
If this happens I believe you will see an increase in the regular player base, a greater willingness to join the UKPSF/fed, and more influence.

 

[jitsuwarrior]

I think the club route could work as long as they are affiliated to sites and people support the UKPSF, but like previously mentioned Promoters need to force this. Regional leagues building into a Premiership national league would be healthy competition and the Shoot The Rainbow style tournament (or Fed Cup) would be I suppose like a FA cup of paintball.

 

[Robbo]

No disrespect intended toward Bully but the UKPSF couldn't do it alone .. they would need the Fed or at least a large chunk of industry support.
If the UKPSF could have done it, it would have happened by now since they have been around for an awful loong time now.
Any players' mobilisation would need support from the industry and the UKPSF just isn't capitalised enough and it's no use suggesting the membership fees from players would do it because then it's the classic chicken and egg scenario .. you don't get the members in without the money and you don't get the money without the members which is precisely the reason why you need the industry as a financial bridgehead.

 

[jitsuwarrior]

Pete

I appreciate what you are saying but to put this in perspective in the UK alone, in your opinion what sort of financial injection would the industry/ promoters/ UKPSF need? £100K? £Million or just tens of thousands? I appreciate this is just your opinion but I think you are better seated to answer this than Joe Public.

I think the average baller has no idea just what it will take to turn things round. This ain't Help For Heroes where everyone wants to be seen to be helping, but this is serious paintball needs sorting and in my opinion one organisation for Scenario, big game, Recball and Tourney would certainly benefit everyone.

 

[DJForbes]

[FONT=&quot]Wouldn’t it just take the correct league set up to sort this out?

If a league had a system set up to make you want to return.

If it made you wants to return it could put in place anything it wanted to make you play.

I.e. team roasters? Insurance etc?


I think it would take prizes worth winning as someone else mentioned with cash prize at the top division and kit or sponsorship at lower levels. (Sorry cant remember who suggested it)

once that was in place I recon things would get to the stage your talking about naturally



sorry my inside into tourneys is limited with only playing one round of cpps and scottish events. but i think this would make more teams at the top level of the sport and would give other teams and players motivation to improve to get into those top slots.
[/FONT]

 

[basktm]

[FONT=&quot]Wouldn’t it just take the correct league set up to sort this out?

If a league had a system set up to make you want to return.

If it made you wants to return it could put in place anything it wanted to make you play.

I.e. team roasters? Insurance etc?


I think it would take prizes worth winning as someone else mentioned with cash prize at the top division and kit or sponsorship at lower levels. (Sorry cant remember who suggested it)

once that was in place I recon things would get to the stage your talking about naturally



sorry my inside into tourneys is limited with only playing one round of cpps and scottish events. but i think this would make more teams at the top level of the sport and would give other teams and players motivation to improve to get into those top slots.
[/FONT]

Being new to this as well, i do agree with you.

One thing that really surprised me was the lack of "progression" their is no incentive for me to train hard and grow through the ranks, as in football and all other sports.

TBH this really did astound me that teams can choose the leagues/diversion they play in, like said above, if their was a league system in place then their would be an incentive to be at every event.

Prizes dont need to be massive, in most lower league sports, just the trophy and bragging rights of winning said league or cup.

 

[Robbo]

Pete

I appreciate what you are saying but to put this in perspective in the UK alone, in your opinion what sort of financial injection would the industry/ promoters/ UKPSF need? £100K? £Million or just tens of thousands? I appreciate this is just your opinion but I think you are better seated to answer this than Joe Public.

I think the average baller has no idea just what it will take to turn things round. This ain't Help For Heroes where everyone wants to be seen to be helping, but this is serious paintball needs sorting and in my opinion one organisation for Scenario, big game, Recball and Tourney would certainly benefit everyone.

I'll tell ya how much it would take, not a few hundred quid, not a few thousand, not even tens of thousands nor even hundred of thousands .... I'll tell ya exactly what it would take .. For our players to give a damn about our sport !

 

[DJForbes]

I'll tell ya how much it would take, not a few hundred quid, not a few thousand, not even tens of thousands nor even hundred of thousands .... I'll tell ya exactly what it would take .. For our players to give a damn about our sport !

i find this rather upsetting, obvisouly there is people out there who play ball for ****z and giggles.
personaly and i recon speeking for my team paintball is everything short of being made homeless and loosing the family. we travel from the north east of scotland to enter into tourneys. we travel 100+ miles weekly to train and promote the sport and am sure other teams out there do to.


on a side note to give a damn about something there has to be a reason to. love of the sport isnt always enough

 

[jitsuwarrior]

I know it's the same in the north east, the players are passionate, the problem seems to be to transfer the passion into something that will make all the promoters work together with the industry. Now that is something in the north we would love to see, we used to have a fantastic 3 man league on a Wednesday night. Collapsed when greed overtook from the organiser, before that he was pulling 14 teams a week!

I don't know how that problem will ever be beaten but until it does we are fighting a losing battle.