Too many teams?

[Raffles]

This one has been bugging me for a while now...so, now it's time to bug you lot with it.

Do we have too many teams in the UK? Is it time to consolidate, take the best players and create an academy for the not-so-good (like me)?

It seems everybody wants to start their own team these days. They, inevitably, soon disappear. I am as guilty as the next man - so I am talking from experience here.

This points to another question - is it time to stop being so 'clique' and start having open trials and academies. This will give the 'newbie' something solid to aim and train for. This, in turn, would produce better players (not just individual players - but team players).

I know The Firm did just this sort of thing at the NQ - and a few did make it to the first squad. I don't know if this is going on elsewhere in the country - which means that most newbies don't know either.

Anyway, your thoughts...

 

[Mactoshdog]

to have an academy, you need a national governing body to run it.
while i definatly support the idear of having acedemy teams and squads, i dont see the harm in there being loads of teams too.
more teams means more competition, and eventually better competition.
the more noobie teams there are, the more pro/semi pro teams there will eventually be.

 

[spangley_special]

More teams need to be willing to hold open and advertised try outs.

But also more players need to be willing to give them a shot.

 

[Raffles]

More teams need to be willing to hold open and advertised try outs.

But also more players need to be willing to give them a shot.

That's exactly my sentiment. I don't see the point of having 20 not-so-good teams competing against each other all the time - as they'll never improve much - just plateau.

I bet there's loads of young Robbo's (statutory mention ) out there just waiting to be discovered. But, as they never do, they tend to lose interest and go do something that gives them something more back.

This would actually make life easier for the sponsors as well. Instead of trawling through loads of 'can I have free stuff' letters - they could concentrate on the teams that they already sponsor - and nurture new talent for them.

Personally, I'd love to see 20 or so great UK teams competing on the world stage - rather than hundreds trundling along at their weekend hobby.

 

[SJS]

Personally, I'd love to see 20 or so great UK teams competing on the world stage - rather than hundreds trundling along at their weekend hobby.

Exactly this.

 

[Gassy]

But what about those people/teams who see paintball as their weekend Hobby and love it.

I see what you are saying, concentrating the talent means more competition at the top in the UK which may lead to more international success.

 

[Dskize]

No there isn't too many teams ,there should be as many as we can make, the big picture is a solid league structure that then weeds out all the weekend hobbyists and puts the premier division team/players at an internationally competitive level...

Get the structure right and the players will naturally rise to their level.

 

[Raffles]

I have no problem with the weekend-warriors. We've all been there. I am talking more about the lack of opportunities for young talent to shine through.

D - how do the young players get in to a 'premier division' team though? Most are 'stuck' in the teams they started out with as these premier teams never seem to give that all important break.

Maybe it's time to have 'scouts' - checking things like the Masters etc. for the talent?

 

[Rat]

Personally I would love to se emore teams and more "equal" ops teams (im not saying teams arn't equal ops, but there are a couple that tend to prefer a "normal" player to a disabled one for ecample)

would love to see a bigger scene in the uk starting with PB being a regular sport played at schools (even if it is extra curriculum) so we could end up with a layout nationally similar to football. i.e

school vs school in a school national league/county league

uni vs uni etc

town versus town as per am divisions

county teams and division

all leading up to a solid and creme de la creme team GB.

but thats a dream.

more teams can be a good thing as inadvertedly it means more players. however more "solid" teams would be great

 

[Raffles]

The trouble with 'more teams' is that we are taking the paintball player base and spreading it very thin (almost transparent).