Do we really need tourneys?

[GT]

[trevorjk]

as for your last comment on free tournies with just a trophy theres actually quite a few around here theres a place call www.bfgpaintball.com that had 2 already this year and were a huge success and they are already planning more becuase of the amounts of kids it brings out and not to mention the number of parents and friends that drop by just to watch...


as for your other comments, what ever is going to get the sale why not do it... so if sponsering and spending millions on a paintball team will increase sales 10% overall why not do it cuase it is in fact a greater net gain but thats just my opinion

but theres some of us out here who do a little research in our products before buying and dont impulse buy becuase we saw some team win becuase they were useing so and so's gun

[yaddatrance]

First, I'm a recreational player, not a tourney player,
but I have competed regionally in them on a couple of
sponsored teams.

I found that playing in a "real" (not grassroot) tourney
for real prizes pits you against some really stiff
competition... far more intense than ones where the winners
get a pair of gloves. Competing against these "serious"
players helped my game far more than the 8 years of
woodsball/recball play I had prior to going into my first
one.

Anytime you have desirable prizes, you're going to run
into the problem players, regardless of sport. If you
take the professional tourney circuit out, then you'll
have the same players cheating and sandbagging the
grassroots games. If you remove the prizes, then the
level of competition, while stiff, may not be as
insane as some of the teams I've seen. I certainly
wouldn't do a superman dive onto astroturf with a
$2000 marker unless there was a damn good reason to
(Then I again, I wouldn't consider the top prizes in
the pro class NPPL worth a dive anyways)

The only problems I've really had were with how the
games are ref'd/judged. I think the way they currently
do it actually promotes cheating. It relies too
strongly on the honor system. Maybe a panel of judges
with video feeds.

[845]

If you look at other professional sports they all have they're bad eggs and cheating (look at steroids in the MLB and fights in NBA games).

People play tourny ball for the competition and the fun of traveling and meeting people and for playing ball for something other than a pat on the back. I love the atmosphere at big tournaments like the IAO and PSP.


There are grass roots tourneys out there. The competition in them is pretty pathetic most of the time though.

[Quickling]

grass roots tournies are all that goes on around me. $30 entry and trophy prizes. And to top it off my all pump team has enough people to field 2 3-man teams and we split one case for two tournies. SO that makes it cost like 12 bucks. Great refs, great players... its better than rec!

[Curly]

Originally posted by yaddatrance
I certainly
wouldn't do a superman dive onto astroturf with a
$2000 marker unless there was a damn good reason to
(Then I again, I wouldn't consider the top prizes in
the pro class NPPL worth a dive anyways)

Well considering the fact that I superman on grass and dirt with my 2000 dollar marker all the time, I think that astroturf will be a nice change. I cant wait for Huntington beach.

Anyone who has not played in a large national event shouldnt knock them. The experience is amazing and I find them to be quite a rush.

[Torbo]

plenty dude. At my field, there have been 3 in the past 2 months.

Paintball is just like any other sport. Lots of kids play pick up basketball, for example. However, many are still motivated to join school team, or rec leagues, etc. Same for paintball. Sure rec is fun, but tourneys is where its at....that being competition, real teams, and playing for something more. Upping the stakes keeps it fun. If youve never played a tourney, or a big tourney, its a completely different experiance. Its part of paintball. Giving tourneys up means giving up paintball for me and many many others.

[RenagadeOfFunk]

I dont think there are "low level" tournies that often since

1. The cost of paintball is high...(they have to make $ duh...)
2. Do "we" play enough to have a team (i do but...)
3. Paintball doesn't have ONE solid type of play (rec/speed/X-Ball/Capture the flag/ect.) unlike the "Major" sports (basketball/baseball/football)
4. Paintball in general is expensive, thus not many fields of play/what do YOU THINK are good tourny fields? (if more fields rise up from those empty lots then the players will be spread out/prices will lower/this can be seen as what i call "the gastaion issue"...in Chicago its not hard to find 2-3 gas staions on one corner competing for competition/who can lower their prices the most) Supply and demand people...
5. Paintball is "dangerous" so people in cities (Chicago for me) dont know too much/dont know about paintball...so the need for a low level tounry is basically unneeded
...more to come once i finish my homework...
6. Piantball MAY seem popular but its not since most people dont have the $/or the guts/or even a decent field around...
7. Teens have homework(just wanted to add that)

Low-level tournies will most likely start to really kick off once more poeple are involved and solid rules/playing styles are set.

The question is: do really really need low-level tournies?

[magsRus]

yes we need them



..keep it simple

[Cryer]

I must admit- I prefer tournies 10 to 1 over average recplay. Reason being: decent competition.
Recplay, you got a bunch of newb running around with tippy cannons.
Tournies, you got a bunch of guys that are your same skill level. You can play hard and konw that they are playing just as hard.

That being said, I hate most of the tournies I've been to or seen. The bad sprotsmanship, the flaring tempers, cheating, fowlmouthing, arguing with refs, etc... I saw a guy get tanked over the head because he bunkered someone with a bad attitude.

Its for this reason mainly that I have chose in the past not to attend regular tournies. There's simply too much crap to put up with.

(Texball, on the other hand... I had soo much fun there... I would have been fine with walking away from that tournie with nothing but bruizes. win or loose.)

[tony3]

Well, www.ccpaintball.com has tournies with no prizes, just trophies that have been extremely successful. Its nice not playing for prizes like some tournies I have played, because you play local rookie teams, not national novice teams that are looking for a quick few bucks. P.S. I'm playing the tourney sunday at ccp My teams going for our 3rd 1st place win

[coolcatpete]

I play tournies because there is more compitition, which makes it more fun and more of an adreniline rush, I dont know about you but I like to have fun> Fun=Money
Pete

[Glickman]

you do understand that there are numerous players including pros (ie. Rocky Knuth) that only play paintball because of its competitive nature/opportunity. i remember seeing a interview with rocky, and he said he hated pball at first, but when he found out theres competition, he got into it. Few years later, hes captain of the Dogs... go figure..

[lamby]

As far as tourney guys only making up 1% of the scene, I find that hard to believe..

I dont know about the numbers, but I am sure that private party once a year (or lifetime) players make the majority of players in a year. Followed by woods ballers, followed by tourney (speed ballers) then scenereo guys.

I will tell you right now that tourney teams spend ALOT more time and money at the field that your "average" rec ballers. We parctice once a week, normally going through 6-8 cases of paint. We play 1-2 tourneys a month another $150 to $600 for registrations and another 6-15 cases of paint. I find it hard pressed to find 5 woods ballers going through that kind of money or time.

If tourneys die, a majority of the best ballers will leave the sport. You will not see it on TV any more and it will go back to the "para-military" game it was. Then it will be easy for the government to abolish it.

I like rec once in a while, but I still play on a speed ball field to practice snap shooting.

Playing in the woods was fun a few years back, but I cant do it anymore. It would take away from my tourney ability as they are two TOTALLY different games. You can do one well, noth both.

[GT]

Originally posted by lamby
If tourneys die, a majority of the best ballers will leave the sport. You will not see it on TV any more and it will go back to the "para-military" game it was. Then it will be easy for the government to abolish it.