What is needed...

[Jam3sK]

Hello guys and girls.

**EDIT**(Firstly I'm not sure if this is in the correct area so please admin move it if there is a better section for this thread)**EDIT**

After reading through this forum the same thing keeps coming to mind that they're isn't enough playing fields around the SW, I've tried finding a list of available fields around the SW (preferably Bristol and the surrounding areas) what i need to know is what is needed to make a speed ball field for walk on days?

i currently work at Hamburger Hill Paintballing which is woodland paintballing, but i know he has gotten the blow up protection structures and a lot of land free, what i really wanted to know is what would he have to do to make it a practical walkon field? type of grass (Short,Flat)?
how big of an area is needed?
Kind of protection is needed (black netting, barriers)
How many blown up bunkers are needed?
Parking?
Seating Areas?


And anything else that i am missing, It's just a idea at this stage as i haven't presented this to him but if we get enough interest i could probably persuade him to create a speed ball field or two just for walk on days.

 

[Bolter]

Nearly all the answers to your questions can be answered with "depends how many people are going"

Cause if you have just 3 people interested, then it doesnt have to be massive, but where do you stop? If one team of say 10 wants to play, then one field. But if 30 teams are interested then you may need 5-10 fields!

Need a better business plan, and more research needed.

One thing you didnt mention is insurance.

 

[Tom]

The requirements for netting etc are the same for any other kind of paintball - partition it from public access and safe zone access, with sufficient height to prevent over shooting the net and a controlled entrance

Either net off a specific speedball area, or put it inside the existing overall game area

For seating - what do you want to do with it? Just a speedball game area, and therefore you need a staging area.

Either:
Existing safe zone, taking into account that own gunners need more space then punters
A new staging area alongside the new netted speedball game area
Or if you put the speedball zone out in the existing game zones then potentially instead of netting the speedball field, net off a safe zone so people can go out to play, and have an area to de-mask etc

If you plan tournaments etc then consider what you need for players staging and any viewers

You need all the infrastructure and resources of any paintball site

Also consider why there don't appear to be sup-air speedball sites. Pretty much every paintball site has a speedball area, they have wooden barricades, barrels, etc. Look up some photos on the history of tournament paintball and you will recognise them
There are probably more sites then you are aware of that have inflatables, they just may not put them out. It means inflating them, laying them out, cleaning them, deflating , storing, repairing
If people are not using them enough then it may not be worth the hassle
Every season new field layouts come out with inflatables added or removed
Teams ideally want to practice on the layouts that they will be competing on, and a site is unlikely to keep up with the right layout requirements - different leagues may need different layouts

Another element is the people, it's one thing to practice on a field, it's different to do so with people at the standard or above the standard a team needs to compete at. It may be convenient for a team to have a site nearby, but they will still want to have an edge in their practice, and the right people to watch and critique them

Do you have people seeking inflatables at your walkons? Are they sufficient to fill a field, if your regular walkons are moaning that there are not inflatables are they really keen to regularly play short intense sup-air games one after the other ?

 

[southernP8nt]

If you're in Bristol then I'm assuming you know about the Sup-Air set up at Skirmish Cribbs Causeway:

https://www.facebook.com/CribbsProPaintball
https://bristolwalkon.wordpress.com/supair-ball/

Already well established and get a lot of people turning up to their regular training sessions.

That to me would be the obvious problem if you were trying to set up something of your own in the area, that you'll be directly competing with a site which is already used and well supported by pretty much all teams based in the area. Personally I can't see you being able to offer anything which would attract enough people away from the existing site to make it worth your while.

 

[Jam3sK]

Hello guys.

It wasn't really a business proposal, was more just of an Idea so i could see what is required and what is needed to get speed ball field set up.

@southernP8nt Ah.. i did not know about them? after reading through all the forums i didn't stumble across that site.

 

[Bolter]

Hello guys.

It wasn't really a business proposal, was more just of an Idea so i could see what is required and what is needed to get speed ball field set up.

@southernP8nt Ah.. i did not know about them? after reading through all the forums i didn't stumble across that site.

You wouldnt set all that up for free though would you. You are talking quite a lot of cash in just telegraph poles and netting, let alone a full Millennium field would cost £1000's, a constant air fill station (generators, compressors etc) staging area......

Its either a business or you are really rich! You can see why I assumed it was a business venture?

 

[onasilverbike]

If you talk to Russell he'll tell you he had a Sup'Air field on site at Hamburger Hill a few years ago, it was home to Shockwave.

I know other teams trained there subsequently, I expect that if he still has them the inflatable bunkers are in some disrepair, generally they don't fare well with age and storage, they tend to leak like the proverbial sieve, and there is probably good business sense why he does not operate it now! The returns for a Sup'Air site tend to be much lower compared to the investment in infrastructure against a woodland field. If the customers are happy on the woodland fields then why change a winning formula.