Teams needing players.

[Dark Warrior]

We are in the position that we has lost 2 players to the 1st team leaving the us with a squad of 7 and the 3 people who showed interest before christmas live too far away and are looking for a local team. Our normal hunting ground now has formed its own team so we have to look elsewhere.
Teams will always be looking for players, because people move on. If you are running a successful or promising team and 1 of your guys move up a level and 1 leaves the sport, should you fold the team or recruit more players.
I don't believe that i have seen a lot of teams recruiting considering the amount of teams out there, but i do think that we are getting to point where we have enough teams and just enough players

 

[JoseDominguez]

I also think the problem is there are a huge number of potential players who rec once, love it and believe the sport will be unattainable due to expense (if a rec day costs this much..... how can I afford a tourney????)........ we've an understanding sponsor, which makes it easy to hijack enthusiastic punters
Additionaly, I've bought up some spare markers which has allowed us to pick up potentials who maybe aren't in a position to buy new kit straight away. That's the way we need to go to get the sport moving. Right now the newbies need to have cash.so you get the ones with jobs who aren't free to practice
Either that or someone starts up a rental scheme at tourneys........ some mid level markers ready to go? Could be a money spinner?????? Last years models? shocker 2002's?
Obviously this wouldn't help Dark Warrior....as it only drums up novice players.
As for the mates thing..... came home to me on New Years Eve..... clubbing in Newcastle (most of us dressed in chimp suits ) when I realised most of the lads were the paintball team we formed in June........ not my long term freinds...... but the people I wanted to spend New Year with.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Originally posted by JoseDominguez

Obviously this wouldn't help Dark Warrior....as it only drums up novice players.

We are a novice team. Although many people think otherwise I have less than 10 months tourney experience and of the 7 members of Red Heat Novice the only player with more Sup air experience played his tourney ball in Mexico for a year. What I would like to do is not have to pull one of the Red Heat Am guys to fill for one of our squad who is on holiday, but have a player 8 and maybe 9 who can be rotated in

 

[Dominus-UK]

I think it's the getting into paintball that's the hardest bit, especially in the UK - It's as if all the information about it is buried where no-one can find it. About a year ago I tried to find more out about paintballs after I'd been to junior rental days loads of times and had wanted to find out more so I asked the martials, but they simply said you'd need to go to a walkon day. Also when I did find out a shop in the UK (Which was Planet Eclipse) I saw the prices and simply didn't look any further... What needs to be done is posters and info put up at sites and leaflets about the sport, how to start, where to buy and what types of paintball to play given out to people that have been to rentals a few times. Also there needs to be more starting off kits around for lower prices (The £100ish mark seems to be about right, the people who just want to missuse the equipment wont want to pay £100 and for those who are serious £100 for everything isn't too bad... And also paintballs and markers should only be allowed to be sold at proper paintball shops, none at army surplus shops etc.)

Overall there's a HUGE amount that could be done in all aspects, aspecially the media showing that paintball isn't just a war game in the woods... And also LOTS of young people (5-35) would like to see paintball games on TV, so perhaps what could be next is a paintball media company?

 

[Jon S]

Dominus, that's all very true (about the sport being hard to get into) but the problem I see is site owners. In another thread about site paint (pretty recent, should still be on the top page) it was brought up that site owners really only want people to come back 2 or 3 times a year. If you were running a business, you wouldn't really want to advertise the fact that the prices you charge for things like paint are significantly higher than at an online shop.

This of course depends entirely on the site and its owner and I wouldnt want to imply that everyone is a money-grabber and wants to keep the punters to themselves...but there is a conflict of interest between those for whom paintball is a sport, and those for whom it is a way of getting food on the table.

 

[Dominus-UK]

Well, that's partly my point - the UKPSF and others should put some more information and media to help get beginners into this sport. The only problem, which seems to me to be possibly a big one is that you'd start getting unsafe idiots playing too...

 

[Liz]

Originally posted by Dominus-UK
Well, that's partly my point - the UKPSF and others should put some more information and media to help get beginners into this sport. The only problem, which seems to me to be possibly a big one is that you'd start getting unsafe idiots playing too...

However much information the UKPSF puts out there, if some site owners won't pass it on to their rental customers (out of fear of "losing" these customers) then the rental players won't get to see it. You can't really blame the rental site owners either, as they make a bit of money out of rentals & virtually nothing out of walk-ons or teams training. This isn't always greed or making a fast buck out of the sport, there's plenty of site owners out there who are dedicated to paintball but HAVE to make something (and we aren't talking massive profits here), otherwise why should they spend all their weekends working long hours in all weather and make absolutely nothing from it - it's their only means of income in some cases!

Overall there's a HUGE amount that could be done in all aspects, aspecially the media showing that paintball isn't just a war game in the woods... And also LOTS of young people (5-35) would like to see paintball games on TV, so perhaps what could be next is a paintball media company?

Do you really not think that the powers that be in the sport haven't been trying to do this? Unfortunately, it would cost an awful lot of monewy to set up such a company with no guarantee of ever getting air time, as the channels won't show the sport until the image has changed, and we can't really change the image until there's more positive coverage - catch 22 strikes again!

Also there needs to be more starting off kits around for lower prices (The £100ish mark seems to be about right, the people who just want to missuse the equipment wont want to pay £100 and for those who are serious £100 for everything isn't too bad... And also paintballs and markers should only be allowed to be sold at proper paintball shops, none at army surplus shops etc.)

And where would you find a starter kit for around £100? Even a bottom-end marker costs that, then you have goggles starting at £30-£40 (which can't be stinted on for quality of course), then hoppers, gas bottles, trousers etc. Quite a few years back I looked at the minimum price for a starter kit and it came in at around £250 for the basics, and there's inflation since then to take into account. Selling lower than that would lose money for the suppliers, and that would be just bad economic sense to them.

 

[Dominus-UK]

I understand these are big things and that the profit from running a site come 99.9% from rental days. But what would help a lot is more images of the sup air/tournament side of things need to be shown to the people who only think paintball is a war game. And what was previously said was that if you try to explain to people what sup air is they think you got something wrong in you head...
"This type of paintball is played with inflatable bunkers, like the stuff bouncy castles are made out of."
"Riiiggghhhttt... Err I think I'll just take a little walk *cought* nutter *cought*..."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Why not try

This type of paintball is played by two teams of "x" players on a purpose built playing arena

 

[JoseDominguez]

Just go to a rec day, grab the names of a few hopefuls and call them up in the week............ explain that they seemed pretty good and that you are heavilly sponsored team and can offer them a try out at you next tounament practice. ........... if you get cheap paint, then you are heavilly sponsored..... it's as simple as that. Too many people whine on about a great many things in paintball........ from coverage in mags (mags are a business it's up to the ed) modding on here (it's PGI's house, not a free newsboard) and the cost of playing (it's a business). I'm greatfull for the sponsorship we recieve and it's helped me get a great many players into the game (look out in Nottingham next week... ten players six of them total tourney newbies). It's easy to spot the players who will go further in the game at a rec day...... obviously you need an understanding sponsor..... as every tourney player you grab is a return customer hijacked. Go to a rec day and play....... wear your own mask and battlepack..... players will ask "why's yours different?" ice-broken, explain that you play tournament......... "what's that?" whip out PGI, show them PBUK explain a bit...... (after half an hour you'll have undone the damage inflicted by X-fire) then grab E-mail addressess....... (much better than the phone etc.....) you can save up a batch of contacts and mass mail them...... (easy if you have some of your team playing for a couple of consecutive weekends).
Give it a try. Rec-ballers have allready shown an interest in the sport..... you are half way there.