Time for UK ballers to Act?

[Twiglet]

Originally posted by littlebiscuit
kickin the c**p out of eachother after every game

hmm, some of them already do...

Perhaps if we could kick out tiddlywinks of the olympics we'd stand a chance?? Good ideas though, it doesn't have to part of the olympics. I personally think that if anyone thinks it ever will be, they are kidding themselves, but if it could be associated with such a big event then that will be a huge step to getting it recognised.

Perhaps talking to some of the biggest peeps in the industry and getting their affiliation would be a good step; there are a few years to do it!

 

[+TysoN+]

who is goign to be the one to star things rolling ??

 

[Demonic69]

Why are all you slackers waiting for the 2012 olympics? There's one in 3 years, get started then

 

[Lucky]

Olympics eh?
So which set of rules? Which format? How many players?
Ramping?

Be realistic guys, we cannot organise ourselves at the moment to play under the wing of "ONE" organised international organisation, let alone start talking about presenting our sport to the olympic federation and putting ourselves in the public spotlight.
I'm also into mountainbiking (and no i don't wear lycra), but while this thread was well intended and i'd love to see it happen, if you saw the amount of work that the Mountainbike fraternity had to put in to get the cross country side of the sport into the olympics, you'd think again.
The olympic comittee also flattley refused to acknowledge even the existance of down hill mountainbiking, despite the fact that they run a true "world series" which attracts an average crowd attendance of 8000 spectators at "each" event. (they even managed 15000 in northern scotland last year, so will we see 15000 at campaign in the midlands).
But the point of refusal was the fact that a bunch of long haired, baggy short wearing, body armoured mountain bikers, throwing themselves of a cliff at 50mph, did not represent a good olympic image of a sport..............................so you think we stand a chance

 

[johnmassive]

diablo.....

Originally posted by Syd (NSPL)
OK, first of all, I did not suggest that we should aim for getting paintball as an Olympic sport

 

[Lucky]

Let's set our goals high and aim to have paintball at least demonstrated at the 2012 Olympics. That gives us six years to formulate our plans, lobby, argue our case, improve the infrastructure of our sport and even march on downing street if we have to.

Even getting the Olympic bodys, Local govenments, Ken livingston, Local police authorities, etc etc etc, to allow 150 guntotting paintball players within 50 miles of any olympic event would be a monumental feat of achievement by anyone in this terrorism ruined day and age.

So ok John maybe i misread this thread as i speed read it but my opinion still stands, olympic sport, demonstration at the olympics, x-games, whatever you want to do with paintball, until we as players can "ALL" agree to abide by one set of rules and play for one recognised organisation, paintball will be going no-where and will always be viewed as a bunch of yuppee's running round the woods on an ego trip !

If i had a pound for everyone that i've spoken too about paintball and they replied "oooh yes, i did that on a corperate days once"

 

[lindsey]

think the first thing, if we want to be a sport. is a governing body.without this we have no chance of recognition.
one set of rules that we all use. one body to inforce them.

 

[Syd (NSPL)]

Its good that you are listing the issues involved, because those are the things that any task group would have to address. You're right that at the moment we can't decide what technology to use or rule set to play by, etc. And that is why this opportunity is so important.

Whilst an Olympic Exhibition Match would be the aim, achieving that goal is not the be all and end all. The journey along the way and all the things we would have to achieve to get anywhere near making the goal a success would be the real benefits.

Let's remember that it is six years away and a lot can be achieved in six years. The point is, I believe this is a good thing to aim for, an ideal goal to drive a task group of players, organisers and industry members. The fact that London is hosting the games gives us UK 'ballers the chance to lead the way and get all of these problems sorted out once and for all.

The opportunity to at least try is there. I will be doing all I can to get this idea moving and anyone who wants to help is welcome to come along for the ride. At the end of the day, without a little bit of vision and motivation to do something about the current state of our game, it will take us forever to get our hobby sorted so that it resembles anything like a true sport.

If using London's fantastic success of winning the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games helps us to achieve at least some of the developments needed, then it has to be a good thing.

 

[Dazdread]

Surely it is not just getting the UK ballers to recognise a single governing body, but to get the other countries involved to have their own bodies and establish an international one to boot.

Easier done in the newer countries to paintball such as Portugal, Malaysia and Azerbijan.

Format is not such an issue as the FA has 5, 6, 7 and 11 a-side games mens and womens. The governing body will have to decide which format showcases paintball the best and establish a World cup based on that format so I guess the NPPL will be the power behind that one.

The rule book will be the main issue... the PA rules are simpler and easier to implement and that only really leaves the questions of Sosta or 1 4 1's and ramping or no ramping.

From an Olympian view point I would say no ramping as the trigger action is a skill if you are not cheating... maybe the teams should all use the same markers or they should be pre submitted to be invigilated to make sure only standard boards are fitted.

 

[Syd (NSPL)]

Some good points Darren - thank you for the contribution.

Several countries would have to be involved in order to get the Olympics to even think about an Exhibition Match and an international body would also be a must. As the games are on our soil, it is up to us to lead the way - this opportunity to push things forward has been presented to us.

To sum up the ideas already made/suggested...

1) The underpinning drive for development of paintball as a sport could be the aim to have paintball as an Exhibition Sport in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

2) Achieving this goal would be nice, but is not as important as the benefits of developing paintball towards this goal. The real benefits would be in the steps we take along the way.

3) A task group of national and international event organisers, player representatives and industry members would need to be created in order to push these ideas forward. The task group members would need to be committed to the process and be able to meet at least twice yearly to action plan and report on progress. The task group would not be a power in itself, nor would it organise any events. The group would be more like a guiding body to unite existing infrastructure and organisers in a common cause.

4) At least three countries would have to be identified as being realisticly able to achieve amateur sport status for paintball. Idependant Governing Bodies would need to exist in these countries and an International IGB would need to oversee them. An International IGB may be a natural off-shoot development of the Task Group, but would be set-up as a seperate body.

5) Domestic tournament organisers in the identified countries would need to be comitted to the process and prepared to adopt standardised rules and such things as testing for performance enhancing drugs.

6) The player base would need to be committed to the process and support events, developments, and standards set out by the IGBs and associated parties.

7) During the process, getting paintball as a regular fixture in the X-Games would be a major milestone.

8) The campaign would need to be as high profile as possible in order to raise awareness with the general public. In addition, event organisers would need to consider how their events are geared up for spectators and actively encourage members of the public to come and spectate.

I think that covers it so far. Seeing the objectives laid out like that, it is a hell of a lot of work. The major barrier I can see is trying to set aside the usual paintball politics in order to bring together the right people to make these things happen.

Interesting stuff. If nothing else, this thread kind of identifies how far away from having a solid sporting infrastructure we actually are. Any feedback guys?