US low division tourneys?????

[JoseDominguez]

there's not enough new blood coming in BECAUSE there is virtualy no entry level tourney paintball in the UK........... how would you have managed last season without a generous player prepared to loan you top end kit when you couldn't afford to get yours going? (what a saint he was) ???
not all players have got that luxury. Loads of people would play without the initial startup expense........ I find it easy to get players. Problem is getting players with a grand to spare. I'm currently loaning three top end markers out, to get three reliable, enthusiastic players out there for the team.
I bet you could get seven mates who'd give it a go if they could rent kit and play a tourney....... I could, I bet most of us could. That's without punter teams etc....

 

[Graham-DV8]

Originally posted by JoseDominguez
there's not enough new blood coming in BECAUSE there is virtualy no entry level tourney paintball in the UK........... how would you have managed last season without a generous player prepared to loan you top end kit when you couldn't afford to get yours going? (what a saint he was) ???
not all players have got that luxury. Loads of people would play without the initial startup expense........ I find it easy to get players. Problem is getting players with a grand to spare. I'm currently loaning three top end markers out, to get three reliable, enthusiastic players out there for the team.
I bet you could get seven mates who'd give it a go if they could rent kit and play a tourney....... I could, I bet most of us could. That's without punter teams etc....

Yep and you know that I was always saying thanx and even asked if I could "rent it" .

I know you've got a good size group of players as I'm sure many other players could but as you've found out, at the end of the day not everyone has 1 grands to spare (or when they do they find they like there team mates cocker better ), but since you being the friendly and type of guy you are your always happy to help people out and so your team lifted off .

Having the tourny type that your talking about WOULD bring new players in yes, but to start with the size of the tourny wouldn't be woth while for the organisers (money at the end of the day), unless you had a already big sized starter baller tourny (eg KOTH) have a "Retal Devision" or something along those lines.....and then having some of the points you've listed

 

[Mario]

i think with respects to something like KOTH, its fair to say that yes higher end spec guns are used but do these players actually know how to use these guns? (no disrespect intended) having marshalled these teams i have seen how they use their guns and what sort of tactics they use. Brand new teams can come in and easily spank these teams off the field, codsall fire for example who played with site guns and in their normal clothes were spanking teams left right and centre.

I do agree however that more needs to be done for people coming into the sport at a very low level. But planet and the NPF are starting to bring in this sort of tourney to encourage people to come back and by running it on a league basis they make it simpler for joe schmoe to understand. Teams can only use site guns and other site equipment and through this they can start to learn more about the tourney scene.

 

[Mark790.06]

It may or may not work, I really don't know, but here in the states we have such a large recreational pool to begin with that we have ample players entering the tournament side of things*. It sounds as if you're saying that the tourney scene (or just UK paintball in general) would better off if your comparitively smaller pool of recreational players (as compared to the tourney to rec ratio here in the US), were exposed to tournament paintball without having to face opposing teams armed to the teeth.

* It's already been said that here in the US, you will see at least one team at a local rookie tournament competing with low-end markers against rookie teams using high-end markers. I've seen this dozens of times. Can't say I ever remember seeing any of these players a year or so later playing novice or amateur but I'm sure it's happened. It is my opinion that these are generally not the players that take it to the next level and replenish our tournament ranks. I believe it is the social interaction that takes place as tournament players and recreational players play at the same field on the same day. Rather than meeting these tournament players solely by way of a mugging during a heated tournament, our rec-players may hang out with their tourney-bretheran on any given Saturday or Sunday, ask them questions about their gear, and even play on their team during a recreational game. Most fields in the US that I'm aware of, don't have established walk-on days and rental days as I've heard the UK does, although I'm sure they all seperate the first time players.

 

[JoseDominguez]

What does a normal rec day cost in the states though? i.e. for full paying customers?

My main point isn't the one of being outgunned or even outclassed. When a new player takes to the field with a piranha, tippy, inferno borrowed from a freindly site/sponsor and then gets lashed of the field it's demoralizing........ they tend to assume (sometimes rightly so) that it's the difference in kit. They may not play again as they can't afford the step up to E-blades etc.... (there isn't really any middle ground) and they don't come back. What I'm really looking for is somewhere "normal" people take part.......... what I mean is, we are all paintballers, it's our sport....... I mountain bike..... but I'm a paintballer, I play football, but I'm not a footballer, I'm a paintballer...... it's a big chunk of my life and it does dictate how I use my cash and freetime.... I'm sure it's the same for most of you.
Now in the US, the rec scene is strong enough/cheap enough that someone can play regular paintball without it being a driving force in their life.......... in the UK if you play paintball as a sport/hobby then it's pretty much running your week..... am I right?
Maybe if we could organize a tourney, where kit was rented and start times weren't eight in the morning and where you didn't need a tech to get seven guns on the field then we'd be able to introduce lots of new players? then some of those players will go on to join us as hopeless paintball addicts.
Otherwise we continue to rely on finding really enthusiastic people with free weekends, no committments and lots of spare cash, and prefferably own transport and understanding spouses..... see what I mean? it's a tall order.

 

[Kizzie]

Originally posted by Tommy Gun-Nexus
From what I understand the rec-scene in the states is out of this world. With teams playing woodland of airball almost every week with tippy/spyper level guns. Not sure about entry level tournaments (tho it's likely), but there are enough reguler rec players to have some regular entry level competition.

I think the big difference between here and the states is that loads of rec-playas' it the US are content with playing walkons and rec days, with no want to step up a level and play tourneys. I know hardly anyone in the uk who is content with just playing rec.. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing tho

it's not that we don't want to play tourney's, it's a time sought of thing. here in the states we don't get nearly as much time off as you guys do. The norm is 2 weeks vacation from the job and a hand full of sick or personal days, thus not allowing us to travel to tourneys as much as we would like. Sometimes all we have are the weekends hence, rec/walkons. and yes this sucks arse. I don't think it's a money issue.