UK University Tournament 2004???

[Steve Hancock]

Originally posted by Rich S
even if we had 24 unis registered with paintball teams, BUSA will not register us as a uni sport. for many reasons:
1~ the sports council do not recognise us

I had heard from my uni's athletic union that this would not automatically exclude us, because that there are non-sports-council-recognised sports in BUSA

Is sport england the sports council? It says something on there website to that effect i think. If so, below are sports recognised by BUSA, but not on their list.

Claypigeon Shooting
Climbing
Diving
Modern Biathlon
Snooker
Tennis
Water Polo
Windsurfing

Originally posted by Rich S
2~ there needs to be a inter uni event run for a minimum of 3 years in a row

I was unaware they had to be consecutive, but i wasn't expecting it to be overnight recognition.

Originally posted by Rich S
3~ support from the national (and preferably international) govening body

I would hope the UKPSF or the UKPA would be prepared to, at least in priciple, support something that benifits paintball. And as Hatts has supported student paintball in the past, hopefully the PA might feel that this would benifit paintball, Hence -

Originally posted by Steve Hancock Hatts - RE option 2. Can i give you a call about this some time.

Originally posted by Rich S
4~provide necessary support for intitutions that do not have the funds to run a team, aswell as safety reports, insurance etc

I'm sorry, I'm not clear on what you're trying to say here. Who are you saying is providing these things?

Originally posted by Rich S all this comes from my insider at BUSA (a ex pompy student))

As soon as there are any possible inter uni events, it would be great if you could liase with him about what we can do to go about getting a BUSA Recognised tournament.

Originally posted by Rich S we may be better that US college teams

As is everything about our Universities

Originally posted by Rich S the UK has a long way to go

Agreed, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.


Jose cheers for the offer Could make for a good weekend.

 

[ShelleyHicky]

Originally posted by Rich S the UK has a long way to go

Yeh we maybe 10 years or less? behind the US but we need to start somewhere.

So calling to all Big Cheeses out there with connections, help these poor uni clubs become something and promote paintball as a sport in the UK - it needs to be done.

So far definate Uni teams include:

Portsmouth
York
Birmingham
Durham
Southampton

Any more? - post em up!

 

[ShelleyHicky]

Ooops!

Forgot:

Newcatle
Liverpool Hope
Salford
Aberdeen
Bournemouth?

Who've I missed?

 

[Hotpoint]

Originally posted by Rich S
we may be better that US college teams (spies who went to america have said that portsmouth would beat most US collage teams)

If you are referring to me in there I've got to say I'd make a really bad spy because when I was watching the Student X-Ball in Orlando in 2002 I was wearing a less than stealthy "University of Portsmouth" Team Top

And you wouldn't believe the number of times I had to explain it was Portsmouth in Hampshire in England NOT Portsmouth in New Hampshire in New England (despite the accent)

Oh yeah I did have a word with Richmond at the time about calling it the "Student World Cup" despite the notable lack of non-US Teams

 

[Rich S]

Originally posted by Steve Hancock


I'm sorry, I'm not clear on what you're trying to say here. Who are you saying is providing these things?

it has to be prooved that these can be provided by outside groups. there has to be insurance available for all teams. there has to be external funding - busa rugby gets money from the RFU to provide certain services (such as refs, safety advisors, etc), they do have some money from uni with affiliation costs (ie most of the money is recycled back to the uni) with a little on top - would the ukpsf do the same?

 

[Hatts]

Originally posted by Steve Hancock
I would hope the UKPSF or the UKPA would be prepared to, at least in priciple, support something that benifits paintball. And as Hatts has supported student paintball in the past, hopefully the PA might feel that this would benifit paintball, Hence -

Steve, call Gillie & we'll talk...

Oh by the way...it's not the UKPA it's just "The Paintball Association" or the "PA"...have to make that distinction after some things that were said at the UKPSF conference this week.

Which also reminds me...to all you players out there...if you're not a member of the UKPSF why not?

cheers

 

[Bash]

Cardiff Uni

I think part of the problem (certainly in my case) is that

1) Not enough students play regularly or can afford tournaments and equipment.

2) The student paintball association is not yet well known among the large majority of students that do play.

Also up here in Cardiff uni, I have not yet met a single other player. Therefore as you would expect, there is no club and to set one up would cost far too much to be practical. I have considered setting up a club but it's not like other sports where the facilities are readily available and/ or cheap (in comparison to paintball) to aquire.

 

[Hatts]

No it's not cheap and it's never going to be. When we ran the Inter-Uni in 2002 we were able to do it only because we were hosting "Storming the Castle" Series 2K2 final the next day.

Uni teams were charged £50 entry to cover air, CO2, admin & basic costs and contribute something to the set up, all the referees were volunteers from teams like the Killer Clowns & Inferno and we hired out starter "packs" of equipment to student teams who needed it at £5 a head...each pack including a mask, site gun complete with bottle & a hopper.

Format was 5 man limited paint to keep costs down still further and we encouraged teams to approach local sites to see if they would "sponsor" them by letting them borrow site equipment if they needed it. After all, BUSA won't care care what equipment the teams are using as long as they're out there doing it.

Realistically you aren't ever going to get it cheaper than this...unless someone steps up to the plate to pay for it all.

Apparently some of the PA registered teams are looking at Uni Cheer-leading societies in their home town to help promte their image (or maybe just to letch at - not sure which exactly) but that could certainly help reinforce paintball within university culture by creating another & different link.

 

[Steve Hancock]

Starting and establishing a uni paintball can be hard. It took birmingham 3 years before we started entering tourneys.

IMO clubs need to start out in Recball and keep running Rec events as they are an accessable way of getting people interested. Once a core of interested individuals has developed they can look at getting a tournament sqaud going. But without a large pool of recballers from which to keep recruiting new tourney players the squad would be unlikely to last, so i feel it is important to keep running entry level activities while constantly encouraging new people to gradually step up a level.

A sqaud of is also a good source of committe members which is important for the club to keep running.

If an interuni event was held with a number of teams from uni's that didn't have clubs, i would be very keen to give a presentation on starting funding and running a club at there uni.

An annual inter-uni event would also be a good oportunity for clubs to make the next step up.

One way we make links within the uni is to organise inter dept/sports team/hall of residence/society recball tournaments. We normally hold them after the exams in the summer. Not only is it a fgood way to increase the clubs profile but it can be a source of income.

Hatts - I'll give you and gillie a call at some point, once i've sorted out all my coursework deadlines.

It's not all beer and paintball at uni.

 

[John C]

Originally posted by Steve Hancock
It's not all beer and paintball at uni.

Are you quite sure about that?

As for running rec events etc I have learned from experience that it is not practical to juggle being a 24/7 tourney baller with organising paintball events, you cant focus on both so one will suffer.



For those who don't know I organised the Salford Uni squad last year(cue the accusations of ringers, sandbaggers etc).

The situation at Salford Uni this year is looking worse than last year.

We had to borrow two players last year and this year we have lost another tourney baller from Salford.

That just leaves me and possibly one other player who can go.

If anyone is or knows any ballers at Manc Uni, Manc MET or UMIST could you get get in touch , we might be able to get a combined Manchester team to rival (whoop) the other big city Universities. Im not holding out much hope though.


Hope to see you all soon.