Ok, as requested by the Lord of Nexus, here are my words of wisdom,
You all are talking about the same issue over and over again. Why does UK paintball not progress? Why do we not receive the media coverage we so desperately need? Why are not more people playing tourney ball?
Have you been to a paintball site lately? Seen how certain people act? This wanna-be gangster ****? Doing drugs all day long? We always try to encourage young players to come along and try to play. One came down with his parents to see what tourney ball is all about. After spending a few hours down there with they did not want their son to be exposed to that kind of environment. Tbh, can you blame them?
Do you really think any serious media company would want to promote that and put their name to it?
Paintball is very hard to televise anyway as unless you are a player it looks very boring. You may know what is going on and can imagine the next move. The average punter can’t. When you watch football, why do you get all hyped up when you see a certain player make a move? Because you know what should happen next and that increases the tension and makes it fun to watch.
To get any decent TV coverage you need to always bare in mind the following factors for any producer:
1. Cost
2. Audience
3. Buyers
4. Return
No one will invest money into European Paintball until we are actually working together and the PLAYER IMAGE becomes something you can and want to promote.
Look at teams in Germany. They do have a huge amount of media exposure. Be it on television, radio or newspaper. Why? Their approach is professional and they take time to promote the sport. What team in the UK (besides the like of Nexus, LT, Dale from Campaign Jags etc) does do PR work? No one! And even they are mainly focusing on the existing market of promoting paintball equipment to players.
You all talk the talk, but none of you walk the walk! Is funny to see how happily people complain about the state of UK paintball but are not willing to put any effort into it. Does your local newspaper know that in your town/city has got a paintball team? What team has got a decent website where people can ask questions and make inquiries?
Or even much simpler, who of you has got the time to talk to a punter and show him the ropes? NO ONE! We just took on a young player who has been intimidated by you so called tourney ballers. Going to a site like DF7 and not having a chance to get any information, help or the chance to make the first step to play Paintball.
”I play tourney ball. That means I cannot possibly talk to you! I am god’s gift to paintball!”
Someone said quite rightly we need decent SupAir centres in the UK to open tourney ball up to a wider spectrum of players. Totally agree! Dave with his DF7 is making the first step by setting up a nice tourney and training site.
An electronic marker is not the answer to the problem and is not essential to attracting more people to the sport. They are a nice addition at a later stage if someone decides to play.
Why do you think 90% of punter will not come back to play paintball again? You can work that one out quite easily. As long as people see paintball as a “get rich” scheme nothing is going to change.
People in the UK spend too much time “hating” the next team or envy what another person has achieved. If he/she did manage to do that, why shouldn’t you be able to?
Many UK teams have problems finding committed players. Doesn’t matter what level you play at. So you never have got a real strong team on the field or a team that lasts longer than a few seasons. You try to find a loyal player that will stay with the team long enough to build a strong UK team. The only guys who have done that and get the results are the Kelly’s (well done guys in Marseille). The grass is always greener elsewhere. Just take the time and listen to players who have made a move and now are not happy where they are. You may be a wicked player, but have you ever thought why you were able to play well? Maybe it is because of the guys that are playing with you on the field.
When you got to Dartford you see the same people there every weekend and train. Funny enough they all belong to the top teams in the UK.
You are going to say, but it costs so much to train every weekend. Not more as when you go out on the piss and get hammered. You don’t have to train with ramping and shoot copious amounts of paint.
Germany has got a much larger population than England we all know that. Yes, we do have more strict rules about paintball in the country, i.e. the firearms law. The German Economy is very fragile and not strong at all. Just look at the unemployment figures!
Certain places are against “GOTCHA” as it does “promote” killing people and the whole war games nonsense. But they are promoting tourney ball and people know there is a difference between “RecBall” and tourney ball. Important are the fields and facilities that are on offer in Germany. Look at the new X-5 series that has been set up.
If you look at the set up in Germany you actually have proper leagues called DPL.
There is not ONE UK series that is a national league. Makes me laugh to hear people call the PA the national league. What is national about that? How many team are able to play it? How many teams that would like to play a national league system are able to travel all the way to the PA? Who got the money to get a hotel, pay for petrol, entry and paintballs?
Just look how many series announced their UK CHAMPIONS last year!
We need a structured league system in the UK in the form of UKPL North, UKPL South, etc. The only person I know that is expanding his league is Syd (Chris Pelling)
Get a players union and or decent Federation with a board of players and organizers. Elected by players. Each county represented by a player for their level of play Pro, Am, Novice, Rookie.
Start to register players in each county to create a national database of players. Write ONE RULE BOOK that applies to all events.
We got teams in this country that think when you blame someone else for their down fall it makes it all better. What I never understood is that people over here seem not be able to settle their issues. I hate person X will talk bad about him behind his back but I do not have the guts to approach him and settle it. There is nothing in this world that is so bad that you cannot talk about. Maybe it is time to grow up!
I could go on for hours as there is that much to do.
