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The following article appears on page 62 in the February 1998 issue of Action Pursuit Games:
Enter: The Gladiators
Amanda "Belladonna" Clement, Jason "Odd Job" Foey, Melissa "Lash" Tran. These are becoming something of a household name in parts of the Pacific Northwest. They're part of the Paintball Gladiators, who take to the television airwaves regularly on their own monthly television show.
Aired on four different community cable television stations in the general area of Portland, Oregon, the program is called "Paintball Gladiators". Each show is videotaped on location at the Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose, Oregon, just outside of Portland. Every episode features the Gladiators facing off against a rival paintball team. They've competed against the Vikings, the Marauders, the Buccaneers, and the Spartans.
Bob "Sarge" Shano, show producer, said, "Paintball Gladiators is mostly a show for young people, especially those kids who have never seen or heard of paintball before. The Gladiators are the stars of the show, the good guys. They wear snappy uniforms, have catchy nicknames, and carry state-of-the-art paintball guns. In a manner of speaking, they are a made-for-TV paintball team."
The Gladiators are managed and sponsored by Shano, a veteran field operator, and Dan Bonebrake, captain of the NPPL pro team Phantom Force and owner of Planet Paintball in Portland. Additional sponsors are Players Edge, Mindblown Graphics, and Forest Grove Enterprises. The team's home field is Enchanted Acres.
Who are the Gladiators? Most are fairly young players. Except for the captain (Jason "Cajun" Dunlap) and co-captain (Rex "Maverick" Miner), all the Gladiators are in their teens. Each team member was handpicked, not only for natural playing ability but also for celebrity-like charm and buoyant personality.
Jason "Odd Job" Foey is the youngest and smallest team player. A sophomore and varsity wrestler in high school, he has a buzz cut akin to that of his James Bond movie namesake. Odd Job is often the bunker defender.
Before she joined the team, 16-year old Amanda "Belladonna" Clement had absolutely no desire to play paintball. Her father and brother persuaded her to try the game, and the rest of the story is apparent. Amanda was just 12 years old when she played the game for the first time. The second female on the team, Melissa "Lash" Tran, is a comparative newcomer to the sport but well on her way to becoming a top-notch player with her natural abilities.
High school students on the Gladiators include Eric "Diablo" Felina, team adjutant and an honor roll student with prior team experience, Cody "Bamm Bamm" Nelson, who works part time at a feed supply store to pay for his paintball fun, and 18-year old Don "Hawkeye" Mock.
Nathaniel "Ironside" Brophy has a strong passion for the game, having prior team experience before becoming a Gladiator. Jay "Shaft" Elzie brings strong indoor and outdoor experience to the team. Rounding out the roster is Keith "Bulldog" Harrington, one of the newest Gladiators.
Captain Dunlap, at 25, is the oldest and most experienced player on the team. He formerly played for Phantom Force. Co-captain Miner is a materials analyst with Intel Corporation.
On the show, the games are played in an arena. These arenaball (arena paintball) games last 30 minutes each. The teams have to score as many points as they can by advancing an orange cone across the opposing team's goal line. The team that scores the most points, wins.
The game begins with the cone at mid-field and the players lined up behind their team's goal posts. The goal posts are set at opposite ends of the playing field.
Officials are the Game Master, Judges, and Referees. The Judges are positioned close to the goal lines. Referees work from the sidelines, close to the action. Each official carries an airhorn, which is used to stop the game. The game can be stopped for several reasons, including after a team scores, or if a penalty call is made. Penalties are either fouls or violations; a player can be disqualified for a foul.
The Paintball Gladiators show is designed to attract new players to the sport, and to educate the general public about the game of paintball and help bring paintball more into the mainstream. In addition to the television show, the team had been the subject of various newspaper articles.
The Gladiators also have served
several times as advisors for the local high school paintball clubs and
church youth groups. Further projects include more interviews, and public
appearances at county fairs and on sports shows. For more information,
contact Bob "Sarge" Shano, P.O. Box 1065, Scappoose, Oregon 97056; phone
(503) 543-3880.
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 |
The Gladiators on the Wild West
film lot of Hot Shot Studios,
a Portland-based video movie production company owned and operated by Mr. Tom Mannen. |
The following newspaper article appears on page 6 in the February 12, 1997 edition of The Spotlight:
Paintball Games on CCTV
During February, channel 9, the local access
television station will be airing a show called "Paintball Gladiators."
The program features a team of local paintball players against rival teams,
and is taped at a local paintball park west of Scappoose run by Bob Shano.
Call CCTV at 397-5886 for air times.
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The following newspaper article appears on page 1 in the March 12, 1997 edition of The New Rainier Review:
Ready, aim, splat!
Members of the Gladiators paintball team
are among the teams being featured on a new program called "Paintball Gladiators,"
which began recently on KLTV. The program was videotaped entirely
on location at the Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose. Each
episode will show the Gladiators in action against a rival paintball team.
The teams will compete against each other in a game known as "arena paintball."
A new episode will be televised each month. Call the KLTV studio
office in Longview at (360) 636-3310 for program information. Be
watching The New Rainier Review for a more complete feature on this rapidly
growing popular sport. Most of the players on the team are still
in their teens.
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 |
The Gladiators seen here with
Dale Price (center, front)
Price is team captain of the Paraplegic Turtles, 1997 World Cup Champions |
The following newspaper article appears on page 2B in the March 1997 edition of the Forest Grove News-Times
Paintball fever strikes two Forest Grove teens
A new sport, which involves teams of people hunting and shooting other people, is becoming increasingly popular in Washington County. The sport is called paintball, and involves "eliminating" players from a rival team by shooting them with a bolus of "paint" which bursts upon impact and marks the person.
The "paint" is a mixture of food coloring and mineral oil, according to Bob Shano, owner of Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose.
The impact "stings," according to some of the sport's participants. Locally, two Forest Grove High School students -- Jami Mecham and Amanda Clement -- are members of the Gladiators paintball team.
The sport also has entered the offerings of the Tualatin Valley Community Access cable television network, with shows of competitive action taped on location at the Enchanted Acres park. The show airs on channels 9 and 33.
But lots of friendly competition is carried on in noncommercial locations, such as rural fields or abandoned buildings.
"We have our own little field down at our house," said Mecham, "and my dad has a couple of other different areas where we can go around here."
The game of paintball is similar to the kids' game of "tag, you're it." Although in paintball, the fun comes from a logical plan rather than just chance.
"When you're little, you're just running around and just playing (tag)," said Clement. "But with paintball you have to have a strategy. This is fun because it's different."
"There's more adrenaline flowing," said Mecham, "when you're pursuing or when you've got somebody on you or when you've got somebody right in your sights and they don't even know you're there."
In fact, there is no one person who's "it." Everyone is eligible to be shot and be eliminated from their team and the game.
"Everybody is on everybody," Mecham said.
Each game is played with two teams of five players each, Clement said. Each team wears similar clothing to be easily identified.
The two Forest Grove girls say their families' love of this sport is contagious.
"Our brothers got our dads into this," said Mecham, "and our dads got us into it. I've got quite a few friends at school who also are into paintball."
Just to add a little variety, there are several games that can be played on different fields or in different environments. Examples of that variety of games includes capture the flag, elimination, arena paintball and aliens vs. humans.
But this is not a new sport, according to Shano.
"Paintball has been around for 11 or 12 years," he said. "It's being played all around the world. I mean, it's being played everywhere: Russia, Germany, Taiwan, you name it."
"In this area, there are several playing fields and paintball stores. There's several indoor fields: downtown Portland, Vancouver and Tigard. And it's been on some of those (network) TV magazines," Shano said. "It's growing and it has gotten pretty high-tech. You'd be surprised at what some of these guys pack around with them: looks like something out of Star Wars."
In the TV cablecasts, teams will compete
in what is called arena paintball. The current episode is between the Gladiators
and the Marauders. Shano said a new episode would be televised each month.
For show times, consult the TVCA listings or call (503) 629-8534
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The Gladiators with team sponsor
Dan Bonebrake (center - front).
Bonebrake operates Diablo Direct West in Salem, Oregon, and is one of the main promoters of the Pan/Am Tournament Series, the most extensive tournament series in the world. |
The following newspaper article appears on page 1 in the March 26, 1997 issue of The New Rainier Review
Paintball: Adrenalin, Teamwork and friendship in fatigues
It's a typical pre-spring Saturday morning: cold, wet, grey. Figures in camouflage fatigues tramp across the forest clearing. They pat themselves and blow into cupped hands to keep warm.
Ammo belts are strapped on, guns are given a final once-over. Hands are gloved, face masks and goggles slipped into place.
The figures leave the clearing and take their places in the woods, hiding behind rocks and tress. The signal is given and battle begins.
Pop, pop, pop -- hundreds of times over. It's like listening to a popcorn machine from another room, or a videotaped war over the tiny speaker of a television set.
More interesting, though, is the sound of stray ammo flying by: whuzz - plap; whuzz - plap.
These weekend warriors are playing paintball, a game that's been around for a dozen years, but is just now catching fire across the country. Players use air-powerd guns to ping each other with .68 inch gelatin capsules filled with a non-toxic, biodegradable mixture of vegetable oil, food color and liquid soap. (That's right, not a drop of paint in a paintball.)
This battle is taking place at Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose, 160 wooded acres of redoubts and trenches and trees and dirt roads where paintball enthusiasts can have a blast under the loving but firm guidance of owner Bob Shano.
His park -- opened 10 years ago under the name "Hit and Run," which you still see on the road signs -- draws players from Longview, Rainier, Portland and all points in between.
A 10 year paintball veteran, Shano has created a crack team of paintball players called the Gladiators, and he's featuring them in a monthly program on KLTV (channel 11) called "Paintball Gladiators." Each episode features the Gladiators in competition against other area teams in a paintball game called Arena Paintball.
"I'm trying to grow this sport," he says. Partly, he candidly admits, because it's his business. But also because he believes in the sport.
As the Northwest's foremost paintball evangelist, his biggest challenge is getting unbelievers to see past the fatigues and the guns and the shooting.
"I can't compare the experience to anything else. It's something magical. It brings people together. It does everything except what people think it does."
It's all about fun. But what many people think it does is train Rambo wannabes for careers in the militia or some white supremacist outfit, he says, having been accused of such aspirations himself.
In fact, he says, paintball breaks down race and gender barriers. Behind those goggles, everyone's the same, and people work together as a team.
And his hand-picked Gladiator team could be a tiny multi-cultural club, with members from various ethnic backgrounds, and two females to boot.
"They make great ambassadors for the sport," says Shano. They embody paintball's highest ideals of good sportsmanship, honesty, teamwork and clean living. Shano has six rules that, if broken, means banishment from the team, and he recruited his team members because he knew they would never break them.
Team captain Ray "Bulldog" (every member has a nickname) Kessinger of St. Helens explains the game's appeal: "It's a different kind of adrenalin rush. You have to think. You're the hunter and the hunted."
The tournament games are generally fast and intense. Teams may have four or 40 members. Early on, the paintballs fly. "They throw a lot of paint. They saturate the air with paintballs," says Shano.
As team members "die" (get hit with a paintball which bursts open) the shooting becomes more sporadic and the tension grows as more rides on the survivors.
When the air is solid paintballs, surviving is mostly a matter of luck. Then strategy kicks in as the action moves from tree to tree.
Then each person's particular skills and strengths become important. One person might work well on the left side of the field, another on the right. Jason "Odd Job" Foey is the youngest Gladiator, 14, and the smallest. A solidly built wrestler with a buzz cut like his James Bond movie namesake, he's often assigned to sniper work in a pit in one particular battlefield.
Amanda Clement from Forest Grove is one of the two female Gladiators. Two years ago she had no desire to get into the sport, but was lured by her dad, Jeff, who operates a paintball supply store as a sideline.
Jeff, Amanda and her brothers lead a band of paintballers in their area in games staged in several fields around their home.
Amanda says her male teammates treat her like one or the guys, but she sometimes finds males from other teams are excessively polite.
One time a pair of fellows scored a hit on her, but didn't realize it, and kept blasting her. When they saw their mistake, they about apologized her to death. "Sometimes it seems people are afraid to shoot you," because you're a girl, she says.
Female paintballers are still rare, says Shano, comprising only about 10 to 15 percent of the players who visit his field. But the numbers are growing as paintball becomes more popular.
Diving into paintball can be a bit spendy: \\$200 to $300 for a basic air-powered gun with a tank to hold 100-200 rounds: then more money for options like fatigues, knee pads, gloves and geegaws for your gun; and more for necessities such as ammunition, goggles (high end goggles have battery-powered anti-fog fans) and face masks.
If you don't want to go that deep, you can just rent the basic stuff at whatever field or arena you happen to visit.
Jeff Clement has been to most of the fields in the Portland metro area and says Enchanted Acres is the safest and best run.
Saturday is the day for walk-on play for paintballers of all skill levels. Shano won't let you pop off a shot until you sit through a 45-minute rules and safety orientation, then sign a multi-page document of rules and regulations and waivers.
Orange-vested referees patrol the playing field, making sure "dead" players are led safely off the field, enforcing safety rules (if you lift your goggles to wipe off some fog you're sent packing), and keeping folks honest.
Fair play is a cardinal rule of paintball, says referee Mike Zehendef from Portland. You can't wipe off paint and pretend you're not hit, or argue with a ref. "If you're a jerk no one else is going to want to hang out with you. A reputation is gold in this game."
The Gladiators and the weekend warriors -- including a 40 member club from Scappoose High School -- play a variety of games: the competitive Arena game, like the pro teams play in the big money tournaments; and recreational games such as capture the flag, football and aliens.
Aliens begins with a team of three aliens seeking to convert a team of 20 humans. When a human gets splattered, an alien is born. If the aliens survive, they eventually outnumber the humans.
Does it hurt? Some foolish players (never at Enchanted Acres) have mishandled their guns or removed their safety gear and shot themselves in the eye. But with full gear, it's a matter of perspective. "I'd be lying if I said no and I'd be exaggerating if I said yes," says referee Alan Erspamer. Sometimes it stings.
For showtime information on "Paintball
Gladiators," call KLTV at (360) 636-3310. For directions to Enchanted
Acres, call Shano at (503) 543-3880.
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The following newspaper article appears in the December 24, 1997 issue of The Spotlight:
Student places second in contest
Eric B. Felina, a senior at Scappoose High School, recently placed second in the state level of the 51st annual Voice of Democracy competition.
Voice of Democracy, which is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Ladies Auxiliary, is a nationwide essay competition open to high school students.
In his essay, Felina spoke about how glad he was to live in America, where people have the freedom to say what they think and the government listens to what they have to say. After winning the District 2 competition, he went on to the state competition in Newport.
For his second place finish, Felina was
awarded \\$500.
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During the annual county fair
in Saint Helens, Oregon, the Gladiators
operated a paintball shooting gallery and donated all proceeds to a local charity. |
The following article appears on page 87 in the May 1998 issue of Action Pursuit Games:
Gladiators Rock On!
The Gladiators, a paintball sports program on public access cable television in Portland, Oregon, features a group of young players (the Gladiators). They are sponsored by Dan Bonebrake of Planet Paintball. The show is videotaped at Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose, Oregon, in a town called "Gladiatorville".
In the Gladiators vs. Marauders match-up, a hotly-contested match-up, the first half of the game saw Gladiators Lash, Maverick, and Odd Job take buildings on one side of the town, while Ironside and Bulldog headed across town to other buildings. The Marauders spread out all over their end of town; one lay on his belly in the pit near their right boundary tape. The Gladiators took 'em all out. Maverick picked up the cone and carried it across the Marauder goal line for the point. 1-0, Gladiators.
The game continued anew, with Belladonna sub'd in for Odd Job. Greg Herinckx, captain of the Marauders, was busted for "blind shooting" and penalized by disqualification for the rest of the play. The Marauders got up four to two. One Marauder, Corey Jones, made a grab for the cone but fumbled and dropped it, drawing a penalty and stopping the game. Jones was disqualified. During the stop-game, Marauders Adams and Branson talked (that's against the rules during a cease fire) and were disqualified as well. When the game went to one-on-one, Lash against Marauder, time ran out. 1-0, Gladiators.
The second half saw a Marauder dash for the cone. He tripped and fumbled the cone. Penalty, game stopped, player disqualified. Ironside of the Gladiators was disqualified for talking during that cease fire. The game raged hot and heavy. With under two minutes left, a Marauder desperately tried to score but was shot by Maverick. Time ran out. Final: 1-0, Gladiators' victory.
In the Gladiators vs. Buccaneers game, a fast start left the teams at three on three. A Buccaneer, Jason Dunlap, inched forward. He popped up and opened fire on Hawkeye of the Gladiators, missing. Hawkeye reeled back and returned fire. Dunlap retreated to the pit. Elsewhere in the town, a Buccaneer voluntarily left the field because he had gun problems. It came down to Dunlap, in the pit, against the remaining Gladiators. Dunlap "went home" and Maverick picked up the cone to score. 1-0, Gladiators.
There being time left in the first half, the Gladiators sub'd in Diablo, Bamm Bamm, and Belladonna. The Gladiators picked off their opponents. Bulldog grabbed the cone and headed for the Buccaneers goal line. He crossed the line but a judge found an inobvious splat on the back of his glove. He left the game and the score did not count. With 30 seconds left, Bamm Bamm pulled the cone and raced in for the score. 2-0, Gladiators.
In the second half, the Gladiators dominated until the score was 4-0. Near games' end, though, the Buccaneers did manage one score. Final: 4-1, Gladiators.
The following newspaper article appears on page 10 in the July 22, 1998 issue of The Chronicle:
Paintball will help build home
The Gladiators, a group of young paintball players who star on the public access television show "Paintball Gladiators", will stage an exhibition game to benefit burn victim Brian Sakultarawattn, who lost his eyesight, both arms, his right foot and his left leg in a fire more than two years ago.
The exhibition game, which promises to be one of the most action packed paintball events of the season, will be held on Thursday, August 6, at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in St. Helens.
Advanced tickets to the game are on sale at the St. Helens and Scappoose branches of the St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union and cost \\$10 each.
Money raised from ticket sales will go towards building a house for Brian that will provide for his special needs. The 2,400 square foot home, which has not yet been built, will require larger than normal doorways and hallways and special floor texturing which, in spite of his blindness, will enable Brian to find his way around the house.
The project is headed by a steering committee composed of representatives from the St. Helens Fire Department, Boise Cascade Corporation, Sunset Park Community Church and the St Helens Community Bible Church. The committee's cash goal is \\$100,000.
The committee expects most labor and materials will be donated.
Anyone wishing to make a cash contribution,
or a donation of materials or services, should contact committee representative
Brian Burright of the St. Helens Rural Fire District at 397-2295
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The following newspaper article appears on page 10 in the August 5, 1998 issue of The Chronicle:
Brain's House will get boost from paintball, Gladiators
Robyn Young, the 1998 Port-O-Fun Queen, will serve as grand marshal for Thursday's paintball exhibition at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.
Tickets to the game are on sale at the St. Helens and Scappoose branches of the St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union and cost \\$10 each.
Children under 12 will be admitted free.
Money raised from ticket sales go towards building a house for burn victim Brian Sakultarawattn who, prior to his accident, played paintball with his youth group from church
The games begin at 6 p.m.
Stars of the show will be the Gladiators, a group of young paintball players who star on the pubic access television show "Paintball Gladiators".
The exhibition promises to be one of the most action packed paintball events of the season, organizer Bob Shano said.
Sakultarawattn, lost his eyesight, both arms, his right foot and his left leg in a fire more than two years ago.
Brian's House, which has not been built,
will measure some 2,000 square feet and will require larger than normal
doorways and hallways and special floor texturing which, in spite of his
blindness, will allow Sakultarawattn to find his way around the house.
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The following article appears on page 12 in the November 1998 issue of Action Pursuit Games:
Paintball Gladiators Bag an Award
Paintball Gladiators, the public access television show, recently received an award of excellence in the sporting events category at the Best of the Northwest Video Festival's 1998 awards ceremony which, in the realm of community television, is considered to be the equivalent of the film industry's Academy Awards ceremony. Each year, the Alliance for Community Media presents the ceremony to honor outstanding community television programs from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. This year's awards ceremony was held inside the historic Admiral Theater in Bremerton, Washington and was carried live on channel 12 of the TCI cable television system.
Paintball Gladiators is a paintball sports program produced by field operator Bob "Sarge" Shano for public access cable television. The popular program is videotaped entirely on location at Enchanted Acres Paintball Park in Scappoose, Oregon, and showcases a group of young paintball players known as the Gladiators.
For more details about the program,
you can check out their website at www.paintballgladiators.com or write
to: Paintball Gladiators, P.O. Box 1065, Scappoose, OR 97056.
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The following article appears on page 59 in the August 1999 issue of Action Pursuit Games:
Gladiators LIVE!
The Gladiators are the stars of the public access television show called "Paintball Gladiators", aired in the Portland, Oregon area. The Gladiators performed before a live audience in an exhibition game to benefit a young man, Brian Sakultarawattn. Brian nearly burned to death in a fire while working on a Chritsmas tree farm near his home in St. Helens, Oregon. Brian survived, but lost his eyesight, both arms, his right foot, and his left leg. The funds from the benefit went to help build a special house for Brian. The benefit game was held at the Columbia Country Fairgrounds in Brian's home town. Here's what the exhibition game was like, from the perspective of Gladiator "Diablo".
We all knew that eventually the day would come when we would play before a live audience. We had been preparing and practicing for this moment for a long time. Even so, we were all extremely nervous. I didn't start to calm down until after the coin toss, just before the match began. I had to in order to fully concentrate my attention on the game. My teammates were counting on me to lead them, so I had to stay focused.
Prior to the coin toss, I had decided that, if we won the toss, I would have my team start from the west end of the field, with our backs to towards the evening sun. The playing field was small and designed to keep the action going, so I knew we would have our work cut out for us, which was why I wanted every edge I could get. As it turned out, however, we lost the coin toss and our opponents picked the side I was hoping to start from.
As we took the field, I glanced up at the audience. They were seated about 30 feet away, on the other side of a barrier which would protect them from the paintballs that would soon fill the air. I wondered if they would enjoy watching the game.
Once the match got underway, I was so intent on playing the game, I never had a chance to observe the crowd's reactions. Later, during the half-time intermission, my mother, who was seated in the audience, told me that everyone was enjoying the show. She said people were cheering and really getting caught up in the action. I was relieved to hear what my mother had to say.
Dan Bonebrake, a major sponsor of our team, was also in the audience. He came over at the half-time break to tell us just how much fun he was having watching us in action and that he was really impressed by the way we played together as a team. That was reassuring. We are very fortunate to have Dan for a sponsor and it was good to know he was pleased with our performance.
By the time the second half of the match got underway, I was much more relaxed because I knew everyone was enjoying the show (and also because we were winning). The score at that point was 3 to 0. The only concern I had at that moment was wondering what our opponents would do next. I knew that they were very determined to try and even the score.
As I expected, our opponents came back with a vengeance and , early on in the second half, they succeeded in scoring a point. After that, however, we took back the initiative and chalked up some points of our own. In the final moments of the game, they rushed us in a last ditch effort to score again. Much to their credit, they went down in a blaze of glory. When it was all over, we had won the game. The final score was 5 to 1.
The Gladiators are ready to do this again for the next worthy cause. And so are our opponents. That's right. Despite the fact that they lost , our opponents had a great time and can't wait to do it again.
For me, paintball has always been
fun to play. And believe me when I tell you it's especially fun playing
in front of a crowd. Try it sometime and you'll see what I'm talking
about.
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The following article appears on page 42 in the September 2000 issue of APG magazine
Diablo Sponsors The Gladiators
By: Bob "Sarge" Shano
The Gladiators, from the Portland, Oregon area, star in the popular public access television show "Paintball Gladiators". Recently, Diablo Direct West selected the Gladiators to be a sponsored team. This makes the Gladiators the first ever non-tournament paintball team to become factory sponsored.
As head coach and producer of the series, I am happy to see that the years of persistence and hard work are finally beginning to produce positive results. Dan Bonebrake, regional manager for Diablo Direct West, has long supported the concept of paintball on television and the clean, sportsmanlike play that the Gladiators exhibit. Among the benefits of Diablo sponsorship are the Gladiators customized uniforms. Diablo Direct West is a major supplier of paintballs, markers, and accessories throughout the Western US.
The Gladiators have played paintball, shown on public access television, since 1996. When they had been on the air less than a year, the team received an Award of Excellence from the Alliance for Community Media. The award was another "first"; paintball's first award-winning public access television program.
On the show, the Gladiators compete
against other paintball teams in a game called "arena paintball", a version
of speedball. The Gladiators are the very first "made-for-TV" paintball
team. To find out more about the Gladiators, you are welcome to visit
www.gladiators.8m.com
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Danner Boots Sponsors Gladiators
The next time the Gladiators step into the paintball arena, they'll be walking tall in their new Radical 45 GTX boot's, courtesy of their new sponsor, Danner Boots. Danner has agreed to supply each member of the team with a pair of Radical 45's, part of their popular outdoor cross trainer series.
The Gladiators, young stars of the popular public access television series "Paintball Gladiators", are very excited that Danner has decided to sponsor their team. Head coach Bob "Sarge" Shano is especially pleased. "I think it's great," he said. "I've been involved in the paintball industry for over 14 years and in all that time I've never heard of any paintball team being sponsored by a major non-paintball corporation. There have been a few non-paintball corporations to sponsor some of the bigger paintball events, but as far as I know this is the first time any of them has sponsored just the team itself."
Danner Boots, located in Portland, Oregon, designs, manufactures and markets a complete line of innovative, functional performance footwear. With a commitment to craftsmanship, Danner continues to build on the company's 67-year heritage of making premium-quality hiking, hunting, occupational, uniform and rugged casual footwear for men and women. Danner is a wholly owned subsidiary of LaCross Footwear, Inc.
Danner joins the Gladiators' growing
list of major sponsors, which includes Diablo Direct West, the northwest's
exclusive distributor of Diablo paintballs and accessories. For more
information about Danner, or to receive a free catalog, call 1-800-345-0430
or visit their website at www.danner.com.
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The following article appears on page 72 in the May 2001 issue of Paintball Magazine:
Feeding The Habit
Paintball. To some it's a pleasant diversion from the pressure and stress of everyday life. To others it's just a hobby. And for most, it's an addiction. But for youngsters my age, it's just downright expensive! So what's a young paintballer to do when he or she can no longer afford to play? Quit, you say? Forget that! I don't know about the rest of you, but I couldn't quit even if I wanted to. I've been playing paintball since I was 12 years old, and I love it! I'm hooked in a big way.
Hey, I'll admit it. I'm a paint-slinging fanatic. A paintball junkie. A splat-aholic. If you cut me, I'll bleed paint. But I'm not the only one suffering from paintball fever. And as far as I know, there is no cure. So, what can we do to feed the habit when the money runs out? The answer, my fellow paintball addicts, is obvious. Get a job!
For young job seekers looking for part-time work, there are the usual employment opportunities available, such as paperboy, bellhop, burger flipper, bagboy, pump jockey, babysitter, busboy, etc. Maybe they're not the most glamorous jobs in the world, but at least they put a little money in your pocket. You might even find work mowing lawns, raking leaves, or chopping firewood.
If you happen to be one of the lucky few that live close to a paintball field, why not apply for a part-time job as a referee? That's what I did to feed my habit. I've been refereeing walk-on games since I was 13 years old. Over the years, I've learned a lot about the art of refereeing. Yeah, that's right. I said the "art" of refereeing, because that's exactly what reffing is. It's an art, one which can take years to master and perfect. I must point out that it is possible to save oneself a lot of time and grief learning the job if one has a good teacher. I had one of the best in the business, Bob "Sarge" Shano. He taught me everything I know about reffing. Now I'm ready to pass along the things I learned.
ATTITUDE A good referee has a positive attitude towards his or her job. A good ref is enthusiastic, customer-oriented, and goes out of his or her way to help the players.
A good referee stays alert, especially for safety violations by players and spectators alike. He'll never sit down or light up a cigarette while he's on the job. He keeps himself busy, even if it just means picking up trash and helping to keep the field clean.
A good referee is not a bully. In other words, he never throws his weight around or lets his authority go to his head. He or she is able to take charge and stay in control, yet is never rude or impolite. He strives to be courteous and diplomatic towards players and spectators alike.
A good referee is firm, yet fair and impartial and never plays favorites. He bases his decisions on rules and facts, not on personal feelings or some private vendetta. He makes everyone, including his friends, chronograph their markers, wear their goggles, and use barrel plugs. He makes no exceptions.
A good referee ensures the games progress in a timely, orderly manner so everyone is having fun, especially the new players. He will not tolerate so-called "newbie bashing" or other unsportsmanlike practices.
A good referee cares about the future of paintball and uses his or her influence as a referee to promote its growth.
A good referee is a true professional.
GEAR Here are some of the supplies, equipment, and other items you'll need as a referee:
You'll need a wristwatch, preferably one with a countdown timer or stopwatch capabilities. You'll also need to make sure your watch is synchronized with the field operator's watch.
On hot days, consider carrying a canteen or water bottle out on to the field with you - if not for your own benefit, then to help quench the thirst of some downhearted newbie who looks like he's about to keel over and die of dehydration. You'll really be appreciated for it.
Another item you'll need, which is usually supplied by the field operator, is a whistle or an air horn to start or stop the game. Just don't forget that a whistle, and especially an air horn, can be very loud, so before using one make sure it is pointed away from the ears of any players or spectators in your immediate area.
You will need other items supplied by the field operator such as armbands and flags. Remember not to leave them behind when you move your group to the next playing field or flag station. And for those times when you do forget, it helps to carry extra flags.
With the exception, perhaps, of an indoor field or a small outdoor field, all organized fields use some form of radio communication. Radios allow you to stay on top of the action, find out what field you go to next, and on the rare occasion that someone twist an ankle or has some other injury, a radio call summons help. It's a good idea to carry spare batteries for your radio.
Use your radio for official transmissions only. Speak clearly and say only what needs to be said. Avoid small talk and idle chitchat. Transmissions regarding the status of the game should be confidential, so move away from players or talk quietly and keep the volume down so players cannot accidentally hear the information.
Other things you'll want to consider carrying are shop towels for wiping hits, lens cleaning spray, a squeegee, first aid supplies for minor cuts and bruises, surveyor's tape for marking field hazards, and a spare goggle system in case the strap breaks on one of the rentals.
REFEREE UNIFORMS If you're going to be a referee, you have to dress for the part. You want to wear bright colors so that you stand out from the players and no one mistakes you for a target. At the very least, wear a fluorescent orange hat and vest. Be forewarned, however, that in spite of your best efforts to be conspicuous, you can still expect to get shot by mistake. That's because there always seems to be someone in the group with the propensity to shoot at anything that moves. When this happens, try not to go off on the player. Just give him fair warning not to let it happen again or else you'll eject him from the game.
FIRST AID All referees should know basic first aid. Where poisonous snakes inhabit the region in which the playing field is located, you need to know how to recognize them, and a thing or two about treating snake bite victims. You should know all the plants that can cause irritation, such as poison oak, poison ivy, and stinging nettle, and know what to do for frostbite and sunstroke. You can contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross for a schedule of classes on CPR and basic first aid training.
Always keep one eye open for new field hazards such as broken glass, a new patch of poison oak, a bees’ nest, etc. Mark the hazard with surveyor’s tape, warn the players, and report it to the field operator so it can be fixed or marked out of play.
WORK When you accept employment as a referee, be prepared to work your tail off. Being a referee is not an easy job. At times it can be a very rewarding and educational experience, but at other times it can be very stressful. On the day before you are to work, try to get a good night's sleep. Be at the field a good amount of time before the players arrive.
If you're new to the field, familiarize yourself with the general layout and with the way the staging area is set up. Know where the first aid kit and fire extinguishers are located, and where the emergency telephone is located. The field operator should have clear instructions to the field available and you need to know where they are so you can direct emergency vehicles or a medevac helicopter to the field in case of an emergency.
You should be able to direct the players to all the amenities, including where they rent or buy gear, get air and paint, and buy snacks, and where the restrooms or portapotties are located. If there's a public telephone or pay phone available for the customer's use, know where it is. Not knowing these things can make you look very foolish in the eyes of the player.
Until the players get there, do what you can to help the field operator prepare for their arrival. Sweep out the pro shop. Empty the trash. Check the rest rooms for toilet paper. In short, make yourself useful. When the players finally do arrive at the field, you can help direct them to the parking area and the player registration desk.
KNOW THE RULES When the field operator gives the player orientation, you should be present. You need to know what the penalties are for breaking the rules, and it's during the orientation that the field operator will lay down the law and warn the players what to expect. He will talk about goggles, barrel plugs, chronograph limits, and any other concerns about player safety. You, as a referee, must share these concerns.
Remember, the primary purpose of the player orientation is to educate the players, particularly newbies. Helping them to learn the basics will reduce the risk of an injury, minimize confusion, and result in fewer misunderstandings.
As a referee you're still bound to have some problems, but trust me. You won't have half the problems if you simply take action early on to discourage them. And the best place to do that is back in the staging area, before you get the players out on the field.
After the orientation, and it’s time to play, you may be given a group to organize. Divide the group so that there are an equal number of experienced players on each side. You must also balance the firepower and experience on each team. After a couple of games, if one side keeps spanking the other and it's quite obvious that the teams aren't balanced, make some changes. Safety first, always!
HEADCOUNT Get a head count of the group, because immediately after each game you'll need to see if anybody's missing. If someone is missing, do not start the next game until you find the person. He or she might be lost, injured, or dehydrated.
I remember Sarge telling me about a story he read in Action Pursuit Games magazine some time ago, about a player in Montana who had gone out one summer afternoon with a group of friends to play paintball. It was a blistering 91-degrees that day. When his friends decided to pack it in for the day, Kelly was nowhere in sight. Although nobody ever saw him leave, they assumed he had gone home early. The following week, another group had gone out to play and found Kelly's body on the field. It was days before any of Kelly's friends even knew he was dead. Maybe now you can understand why you need to get a headcount after every game.
GOGGLES Before you escort the players to the playing field, take a real close look at their goggles. Check for cracks or other defects in the lens. Make sure the players are wearing their goggles properly and that they fit snugly. If any are wearing hats and there are bushes, low hanging tree limbs or other objects on the field on which a hat could get snagged, have those players put their goggles on first. This ensures their goggle straps are under their hats and it's less likely that their goggles will be pulled off along with the hat in the event if it does get snagged on something. Emphasize goggle safety throughout the day.
ORGANIZATION Remind the players not to take their keys, wallets, watches, checkbooks, or other valuables onto the field where they might lose them. Keep the players in a group as you lead them to their flag station. With several refs per group, have some refs follow behind the last of the players so no one gets lost.
Before the game starts, point out the boundaries on the field you are about to play, and any special rules or hazards for that field. Remind the players about goggle safety and barrel plugs. Give them a few minutes to formulate a plan before you start the game, but not too long.
INFO PLEASE New players need time to learn how to load and shoot their rental markers. A referee often is assigned to give them a basic class in marker use and safety. Teach them the basics. This includes the use of a squeegee to clean paintball goo out of the barrel, to keep the marker shooting straight. Remind them not to pick paint up off the ground since it is likely to be old, swollen, and will probably break in the barrel. Teach them to keep their paintballs dry and clean and inside the factory bag, with the bag closed.
While you're on the subject of squeegees, let everyone know that a squeegee is not to be used as a substitute for a barrel plug. Tell them where they can get assistance from the field airsmith if they are having a problem with a marker, and that they should not attempt to fix it themselves. And finally, point out the "DANGER" label on the marker's compressed gas or CO2 cylinder. Let them know that the cylinders are under pressure and that they should not drop them, leave them in direct sunlight or next to a heat source, or tamper with them in any way.
REF CALLS Don’t give away players’ positions. Learn to move your eyes, not your head, to scan both sides of the area. When a player is in an ambush or sniper spot, or trying to sneak up on an opponent, avoid staring at the individual so as not to give him away.
Know the paintcheck rules at your field. If you can conduct the paint check without having to stop the action, then that's what you should do. If you must stop the game or call the player neutral to do a paint check, do it quickly.
BETWEEN GAMES Turn the games around quickly. They are paying to play, and burning their daylight is not appreciated by paying customers. See to it that as many games are played as possible. Do this without being pushy or bossy.
Remind players to clean off splats from the previous game. Tell them to check that their goggles are on securely. Make sure their shoelaces haven't come undone. With newer players particularly, have them check their barrels and hoppers for broken paint before reloading. While all of this is going on, look to see if there are any players who appear as though they're not having fun and ask what's troubling them. These are the field’s customers. Try to help them have a good time.
Pay attention to how players handle their markers. Keep a sharp eye out for bad habits, such as players looking down the barrel, standing around with a finger on the trigger, or waving the marker around and pointing it at players. Caution the players and let them know that paintball markers must be treated with respect. Most simply don't know any better, so educate them. Do not scold or yell at them. You are not a drill sergeant.
Make sure the players wear their goggles and use their barrel plugs where required. You are the field operator's first line of defense when it comes to preventing injuries.
ATTENTION When it is time to talk to the group, ask everyone to give you their undivided attention. Be polite about it. Be sure everyone is listening. If the players start talking to each other while you are speaking, stop talking and wait. Someone will tell his buddies to quiet down so that the referee can finish and they can get back to playing again.
GETTING SHOT Every referee runs the risk of being shot. It's an occupational hazard. With practice and experience, you'll learn how to move about the field while avoiding the majority of stray shots. You'll simply acquire a knack for anticipating the action and for staying out of the line of fire. To reduce the risk of being shot, wear bright or light colored clothing.
Especially when entering or exiting a building, shout, "Referee! Don't shoot!"
No matter what you do, you're going to get shot. It goes to show you were doing your job by staying on top of the action and jumping right in to make the calls. Make sure you are wearing all the protection you need, including, guys, wearing a cup. Otherwise, you're going to be more concerned about being shot than you are about reffing the game. A referee who is too concerned about being shot isn't much use to anyone.
SPECTATORS During a game, only the players and the referees should be allowed on the playing field. Spectators must watch from the side lines, and must keep their goggles on at all times. If they venture too close to the action, politely ask them to step back. If they won’t comply, you can call another ref on the radio to help you get them to move, or stop the game until they leave. For difficult spectators, call the field manager or owner for assistance..
CHRONOGRAPHING It may be part of your job to chrono the markers in your group. Chrono them before the first game, and ideally before every game, but at least at regular intervals during the day. The maximum international speed limit is 300 feet-per-second (fps) but many fields set a lower speed limit. You need to know how to chrono different markers, ways that players try to cheat the chrono, and how to adjust the velocity on the field rental markers.
TEMPERS Rest assured there will be many instances when your skill as a referee will be put to the test, especially in dealing with the occasional heated argument. When an argument breaks out, you must act quickly to diffuse the situation before it has a chance to escalate. You cannot loose your temper. Stay calm. Listen to the players. Settle them down. Separate them. Do this as quickly as possible. Call for assistance if necessary.
Remember that players are high on adrenaline and that you did not necessarily see all that happened. Be considerate and listen to both points of view, even the one you don’t agree with. Resolve the matter quickly and fairly. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of knowing the rules of the game. You must know the rules better than anyone else. Knowing the rules will make you a competent and decisive referee.
Exercise a little common sense in your application of the rules.
Despite your best efforts or how well you know the rules, at some point or another you will slip up and make a bad call. It happens to the best of referees. When it does, the chances are the players aren't going to let you forget that you fouled up. Don't take it personally. Just put it behind you and get on with your job. As Sarge says, "Everybody makes mistakes. Even the players. Why else do you think they keep getting shot and eliminated? It's because they make mistakes too."
Let’s face it, nobody’s perfect.
KNOWLEDGE The players will expect you to be an expert. You should learn all you can about the sport, the equipment, the players, and all the little details associated with the industry. The more you know, the more others will respect and appreciate you. When a referee has the respect and appreciation of the players, his or her job actually becomes a little easier.
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An abridged version of this article was published in the May 2003 issue of Action Pursuit Games Magazine:
How To Field Shop
Interestingly enough, the Gladiators get a lot of fan mail from people who ask us all sorts of interesting questions, like “Which one of us has the biggest Cocker?”, or “How often do our balls bounce?”. (Like I said, we get people asking us all sorts of interesting questions.) Anyway, apart from the questions we receive, we also get e-mail from folks who just want our advice. We've even had people ask us what we thought they should do to get more players to come out to their paintball field, which just isn't the sort of question we would expect anyone to ask us, but because so many people do, a bunch of us decided to get together and do some brainstorming on the subject. In this article, I'll talk about some of the things we came up with. Before I do, however, you need to realize that the Gladiators are not experts on the subject of paintball fields because none of us has ever tried to start a field of our own, but we are paintball players and we know what we look for when we're shopping around for a place to play. One thing we look at when shopping around for a field is whether or not we can expect to get our money's worth. We like paintball fields with plenty of cool stuff, like forts and bunkers. We're not talking about a stupid bunch of pallets nailed together, which might be some field operator's idea of a fort. Or a dumb pile of branches some field operators would call a bunker. Those things are bogus. We're talking about really cool looking stuff, like bunkers made out of sand bags. Forts that really look like forts, with walls tall enough to stand behind so we're not forced to take cover on our bellies or our knees. And we wouldn't want the stuff falling down around our ears, so we would expect these things to be built sturdy.
Another thing we would be concerned about is whether or not the field is being operated safely. Is there a chronograph and do the referees know how to use it properly? Do they know how to keep dishonest players from cheating the chronograph? Do they monitor the velocity of the players' paintball guns throughout the day so that the guns don't have a chance to go "hot" as a result of a rise in the temperature?
Another thing we would be very concerned about when it came to safety is whether or not it was actually safe enough for us to take our goggles off in the staging area or the parking lot without having to worry about someone shooting our eye out. Is the no shooting rule strictly enforced? Are real barrel plugs used, not just squeegees? Are the referees checking to make sure the barrel plugs fit snugly and won't dislodge from the barrel should some careless individual accidentally discharge a gun in the staging area? Are players cautioned to keep their fingers off the trigger and to be careful where they point their guns when they are in the staging area? Speaking of the staging area, is it netted or otherwise protected from adjacent shooting areas and playing fields? If netting is used, is it the right kind? Is the netting in good repair? Safety wise, these are some of the things that would concern us.
We would also be concerned about the kind of players the field operator was catering to and whether or not he was playing favorites. In other words, is he making sure everyone plays by the rules, or are the players out of control and allowed to run amok. Does the field operator make everyone, to include his friends, chronograph their gun and use a barrel plug? And are his referees fair and impartial? Do they try to be helpful, or are they just rude and bossy?
We would also want to know that drinking was not allowed out at the field and that the rule was being strictly enforced. In our opinion, paintball and alcohol just don't mix. We're talking from personal observation here. We have seen drinking allowed at other fields and saw what happened when it got out of hand. We'll never go to another field or tournament where alcohol is allowed. It just gets crazy and we don't want any part of it.
At one point in our discussion, someone brought up the subject of rental equipment. We don't have to worry about this because we all have our own gear, but we think that those who need to rent equipment would want to know what sort of shape the field guns and rental goggles were in. After all, what good would it do anyone to rent a paintball gun that doesn't shoot straight or hardly ever works? And what good would it do anyone to wear a pair of goggles if the lens is all scratched up and they can barely see? If we had to rent equipment, we would want it to be in good shape.
Another thing we talked about was just how much it mattered to all of us that the field was set up and laid out properly. We think that a paintball field should be user friendly, so when it comes to the lay out, we look for fields that offer customer convenience. A field should be set up so that there is ample parking space in the immediate vicinity of the player registration area. We have visited fields where we had to park about a quarter mile from the check in area. We have to wonder, "What are some field operators thinking?”. It's not that we're lazy, but rather than waste half a day hiking back and forth to our cars, we want to get the most out of our time playing. After all, that's our main reason for being at the field. To play! Not to get a work out. We feel the same way about the actual playing field as well. Rugged terrain is for ATV's and mountain goats. It's not for us. We have been to fields that more closely mimicked an obstacle course than a playground. Again, the operative word here is play, not work. We're just not that big on peaks and valleys. Hey, we expect to sweat a little and get our fair share of exercise, but we're not there for the boot camp experience. Save that stuff for the Army commando and Navy Seal Teams. Besides, it's hard enough trying to keep your goggles from fogging up without huffing and puffing every step of the way up the side of a mountain.
When deciding to play at a field, we would also want to know whether or not it had a snack bar or a pro shop. The pro shop would have to be operated by an experienced and knowledgeable air smith, not just some dude standing behind the counter whose only claim to fame is that he knows how to work the cash register. We would also want to know whether or not there was a toilet out at the field and how sanitary it was, especially if the girls on our team were thinking about playing there. (We expect nothing but the best for our girls.)
There are other things we would look at, but these are some of the main items we would consider before trying out a field and deciding whether or not we would want to play there again. Chances are if we had a good time at the field, we're going to tell our friends and invite them along the next time we go there to play. We think satisfied customers and word of mouth are the best ways to grow any business.
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An abridged version of this article was published in the May 2003 issue of Action Pursuit Games Magazine:
How To Play The Sponsorship Game
Team sponsorship. Now there's a subject that frequently comes up in the fan mail we receive. Are you looking for ways to sponsor your team? Maybe I can help get you started in the right direction.
To begin with, you have to realize that sponsorship is all about give and take. I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours". Well, that's sort of how sponsorship works. In other words, the owner of a company or small business may be willing to sponsor your team as long as there's a little something in it for him. That "little something" to the owner of a paintball business must lead to increased sales and profits. Just like any other business owner, he's out to make money, so if you want him to sponsor your team, you'll have to be the ones to help him do it. A field operator may offer to sponsor your team with lower greens fees, whereas the owner of a paintball store may agree to sponsor your team with discounted merchandise. In return, the field operator will expect you to call his field your home and the owner of the paintball store will expect you to do all your shopping at his establishment. They might even insist that you include the name of their business on your team banner and uniform. You may also be obligated to donate some time helping out at the field or around the store. Most of all, your sponsors will want you to keep bringing them new customers. In short, if you want a sponsorship you'll have to work for it. Don't expect anyone to just hand it to you. Even after you earn it, you'll have to work to keep it. Contrary to popular belief, sponsorship has its price.
Okay. Let's assume you're willing to work your tails off in order to get a sponsorship. Even so, you're still having a very difficult time finding someone to sponsor your team. It might be because your team is new and nobody's heard of you. In that case, you have to find ways to put your team on the map and get your name out on the street. Team recognition and visibility are what sponsors look for, therefore you must become a high profile team. This takes ingenuity. You might try wearing something unique so that you don't look like the thousands of other players dressed in ordinary woodland camouflage. Design an outfit unlike any other, one that will make your team stand out in a crowd. Once you've decided on what to wear, get your team name stenciled on the back in big letters. For maximum benefit, it's best to have a short team name. Wear your uniform with pride. Don't be afraid to be seen wearing your uniform in public. You might feel foolish at first, but you'll get over that feeling soon enough when you realize your plan to promote your team name is working and things are finally starting to pay off. You want to take every opportunity you get to wear your uniform in public, but you need to leave your paintball guns at home. If you insist on taking your guns with you, keep them in a bag so you don't cause a scene.
Another way to get exposure for your team is through the local newspapers. You can submit a press release which includes a brief history about your team and some background information about its members. Whatever you write, be absolutely sure to make it interesting. If it's not worth reading, it certainly won't be worth publishing.
One more way to get your team mentioned in the paper is to do something to help out the people living in your communty. Hold a charity or fund-raising event. Just be sure to invite your local newspaper reporter. When he arrives, put on your best smiles. He'll want to take pictures of everyone on the team.
Clip and save all articles about your team. Show them to prospective sponsors. Let them see that you know how to use the press. A shrewd businessman, one with a little savvy, is bound to see this as a major plus. After all, if you were able to use the press to elevate your team, it simply stands to reason that you'll be able to do the same for a sponsor.
In your quest for sponsorship, you'll find that local support isn't all that hard to come by. On the other hand, factory sponsorship is a whole different ball game. What is it? Factory sponsorship is what every paintball team dreams of. It is the highest level of team sponsorship available. It includes free guns, free paint, travel expenses, paid entry fees, and just about everything else you could possibly think of to play championship paintball. For most teams, factory sponsorship is a long way down the road. Very few teams ever attain this super status. Most fall apart or give up before they even get close. That's because, before they can even be considered for this level of support, a team must first prove itself worthy. What this usually means is that they're going to have to compete against the best teams in the industry and consistently beat them. At the very least, they have to be able to give the big guns a run for their money. And here's where you need to be very careful not to bite off more than you can chew. If your team isn't ready to tangle with the best, you're all going to get spanked hard. Tournament paintball at the championship level is something you have to work your way up to. It's a slow process which can take a lot of time and a lot of money. Usually your own. It also takes a lot of practice, patience, and perseverence. Anybody who thinks differently is out of touch with reality. Either that or they've been smoking dope. I don't mean to discourage anyone, but these are the cold hard facts. It's also a fact, however, that most championship teams started out just like yours, with little or no help from the industry. They made it to the top by practicing and working hard. Your team can do the same, but you must be totally committed and willing to work hard to reach your goal. If you're not, your team will never make it to the majors.
Once you have found sponsors for your team, you have to keep them happy, so mind your P's and Q's. A company that sponsors a team wants its products associated with players that are winners in every sense of the word, even in defeat. When a sponsored team loses, they must be good sports about it and accept their fate with dignity. On or off the field, the members of a sponsored team must behave like professionals. To their sponsor, they are merely an extension of the company's marketing assests. In effect, the team is a walking billboard and the message it conveys must be one that promotes and sells the sponsor's products, therefore, as representatives of their sponsor, the team must uphold a positive image at all times. Your sponsor will want other players to idolize your team and buy the same equipment that you have. Should a team fail to live up to its sponsor's expectations, the sponsor will pull the team's sponosorship.
As I mentioned earlier, you will be representing your sponsor and his products. Essentially, that makes you a part of his advertising campaign. In the advertising world, it sometimes seems as if competitors can get away with saying just about anything they want about each other. This is not entirely true. There's this thing called "defamation of character". If you start saying things about other manufacturers that can be interpreted as slanderous, you and your sponsor could get slapped with a lawsuit and wind up in court. So, in a word, don't slam the competition. Not only is this sort of behavior in poor taste, it can also lead to serious legal problems.
In closing, I regret to say that, in this industry, when you get down to brass tacks and the real nitty-gritty, you will find that the door of opportunity only swings one way. And if you're not careful as you're stepping throught it, that door is likely to hit you in the keister and knock you flat on your face. You just need to have what it takes to pick yourself back up and keep going. It's all in the game.
Practice Makes Perfect
Not long ago, Sarge invited me and the other Gladiators over to his house one afternoon for an old-fashioned backyard barbeque. Although he had invited the whole team, only a few of us actually showed up. There was just me, Bulldog, Hawkeye, Maverick, and Ironside.
Afterwards, we went inside the house to see what was on TV. As I pulled up a chair, Sarge picked up the remote control and turned on the television. Then he picked up the TV Guide and started looking through it. While we waited for Sarge to find something good to watch on TV, we just sat around watching what was already on. It looked like we were watching some sort of a documentary because there was this guy talking about military tradition and stuff. He stood next to some Marine guard that looked like he was frozen stiff. The guy kept talking and that Marine just kept staring straight ahead.
"Hey, check out that Marine," Maverick implored. "The dude is unreal."
"Yeah, he looks weird," Ironside said.
"He must be in a coma or somethin’," Hawkeye quipped. "He’s just standing there like a zombie."
"A zombie," I said with a laugh. "That’s funny."
“Funny you say,” Sarge snapped as he looked up from the TV Guide. “You wouldn’t think it was so funny when he grabbed you by the throat and started slicing your ears off with his bayonet. And I don’t think you’re gonna feel much like laughing as he slowly cuts out your heart and makes you watch while he eats it for breakfast.”
I leaned closer to Bulldog, who was seated in the chair next to me, and quietly asked, “Is he serious?”
“Have you ever known him not to be serious?” Bulldog whispered back.
“Okay,” I concurred. “I guess you have a point there.” He actually did have a point. Rare are the moments when you’ll catch Sarge in anything less than a solemn mood.
I leaned back in my chair and sat quietly watching the TV. As I was watching, I got the feeling that someone was staring at me. It was Maverick. He was just staring at me from across the room. Then he started to chuckle.
“Okay, Maverick. What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I was just thinking,” he said.
“About what?”
“About how silly you’d look without any ears.”
“Very funny,” I growled.
Then Ironside said, “Those bayonets must be plenty sharp to be able to slice off someone’s ears."
“That Marine’s bayonet is as sharp as a razor,” Sarge assured him. “So sharp, in fact, that I’m sure he could split hairs with it.” Then after a moment of reflection, Sarge said, “You know, all of this talk about bayonets reminds me of the first time I watched a Marine drill team perform the manual of arms."
“The manual of… huh?”
“The manual of arms. That’s what it’s called. That’s where they do all of these different moves and all kinds of fancy stuff with their rifles. And they do it with fixed bayonets.”
“You mean sometimes they use broken bayonets?” some foolish individual dared to ask.
“No, you zagnut,” Sarge barked. “With ‘fixed’ bayonets. In other words, their bayonets were fixed to the barrels of their M-1 rifles.” He must have noticed the blank looks on our faces. “You know, fixed,” he went on to explain. “Fixed, as in attached.”
“Oh, okay,” I finally said. “I get it now. You mean ‘affixed’.”
Sarge just looked at me and shook his head. “Anyway,” he continued, “I watched that Marine drill team do its thing. They were a sight to see. They were tossing their rifles way up in the air and twirling them around like batons. And all the while their bayonets were on the barrels.”
“Sounds very dangerous,” Hawkeye commented.
“That’s the whole idea, but for a Marine drill team it’s just child’s play. It’s only after they put on the blindfolds that things start to get a little tricky for them.”
“They wear blindfolds too?” I gasped. “Man, I’ll bet that takes a lot of practice.”
Just then, I felt a sudden pain in my side as Bulldog jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow and whispered, “Shut up, man, or you’re gonna get him started again.”
“Good heavens,” I thought. “He’s absolutely right. I just said the “P” word.” I was frantic. I had to change the subject quick.
“Practice! Practice!”
Oh, oh. Too late. Sarge was already ranting. Soon, he would start foaming at the mouth.
“What do you guys know about practice? Come on! Tell me! What do you guys really know?”
“Way to go, genius,” Bulldog, whispering, grumbled in my ear. “See what you started?”
There was no denying it. I screwed up big time. And as I continued to regret the consequences of my actions, Sarge just kept right on ranting and raving.
“Well? What do you guys know about practice? You want me to tell you? Okay, I’ll tell you what you know. You guys know squat about practice!” he bellowed. “That’s what you guys know! Diddlysquat! Zilch! Zero! Nada!”
As I expected, Sarge had begun to foam at the mouth.
“I ask you guys to come to practice just a couple of times a month. That’s all. Only twice a month. Trying to get you guys together for a practice is like pulling teeth. Even when you do show up, all you guys ever do is bitch and bellyache. How do you jokers ever expect to make it to the top if you’re not willing to do what it takes to get there? It takes practice to make it big. And lots of it! How do you think Tiger Woods got where he is today? Practice, man! Lots and lots of practice! Am I getting through to you guys yet? Is any of this sinking in?” Sarge paused a moment for a response. I thought of saying something, but then wisely decided against it. I had already stuck my foot in my mouth once today. I wasn’t about to chance it again.
Sarge continued.
“Remember when you first started out? Compare the way you used to play to the way you play now. You’ve come a long way, haven’t you? The way you got there was by playing more often. You learned how to play better by playing more often. That’s all practice is. Practice is about playing more often. If you want to play better as a team, you guys need to play more often as a team. In other words, you need to practice more often as a team. Practice makes perfect.”
Pow! That’s when it hit me. Sarge was right. I’ve been playing so long now, I had almost forgotten what a lousy player I used to be. I couldn’t even reload my hopper without spilling half of my paintballs on the ground. But the more I played, the better I got at the game.
Okay. Maybe Sarge finally had me convinced, but what about the others? At times, all of them have a tendency to be real skeptics. I had to know what everyone else was thinking. I decided, when the time was right, that I would ask.
“Is there anything worth watching on TV?” someone sheepishly inquired, undoubtedly hoping to defuse the situation that sparked Sarge’s tirade.
“Not that I can see,” Sarge replied.
It had been a desperate gamble, but it seemed to pay off. Sarge, looking a bit disgusted, abandoned his harangue and resumed perusing the TV Guide listings for something to watch on TV.
“Let’s just watch a movie instead,” someone else suggested.
“Sure. Why not?” Sarge said as he set aside the TV Guide and popped a cassette into the VCR. Then we all sat back and ate popcorn as we watched the wide-screen version of “Gladiator”.
After the movie, it was time to say goodnight. It was getting late and nightfall was rapidly approaching, so after bidding Sarge a fond farewell, we hopped on our dirt bikes and started peddling our way home.
During the ride home, my thoughts kept drifting back to what Sarge had said earlier, and by this time my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I just had to know if anyone else was convinced that we should start practicing more often. I knew I would probably regret doing so, but after getting up the nerve, I finally asked, “Do you think Sarge is right?”
“Right about what?”
“Do you think we need to practice more often?”
“Are you serious?” Bulldog asked with obvious dismay. “I hate practice. Don’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” I confessed. “But how else are we supposed to get any better?”
“We just need to start playing in tournaments,” Bulldog concluded.
“But, Sarge says we’re not ready.”
“Oh, yeah,” Bulldog growled. “What does he know?”
As I had feared, I was beginning to regret ever having brought up the subject.
“Well? Come on,” Bulldog demanded. “Tell me what makes him an expert? Tell me what makes him such a know it all?”
“Yeah,” Hawkeye interjected. “What makes him think he knows what it takes to build a winning team? If you ask me, all it really takes is good tactics and strategy.”
“Wrong,” Maverick protested. “What it really takes to win is solid teamwork. Only someone who’s ever been on a tournament team would know that. Sarge wouldn’t know because he’s never been on a tournament team. He’s never been on any kind of a team.”
“That’s because only skillful players, like me, get to play on a team,” Ironside boasted. “I’m telling you. All it really takes to win is a team that’s made up of nothing else but the best players in the world. Personally, I don’t think Sarge is that good a player.”
“He couldn’t possibly be that good,” Maverick concluded. “If he was, he would be a famous pro player who’s had his picture on the cover of APG. I’ve never seen his picture on the cover. Have you?”
“Only real players get their picture on the cover of APG,” Bulldog said. “Chris Lasoya. Billy Ceranski. Rocky Cagnoni. Those guys get their pictures on the cover because they’re real players who really know how to play.”
Maybe they were right. Sarge isn’t all that great a player. I’ve even heard him say so himself. I guess he does all right for an old guy, but I can still take him out. I’ve done it often enough. However, for every time I’ve taken him out, Sarge has probably taken me out twice. None-the-less, I’ve still managed to take him out. We all have. But that’s discounting the fact that Sarge uses an old pump gun with a tiny little stick feed and we all use semi-automatics with motorized hoppers. That’s also discounting the fact that Sarge spends all that time reloading his stick feed one ball at a time, whereas it only takes us a few seconds to pour a couple of hundred more rounds into our agitators. I guess those things give us a little bit of an edge over Sarge.
But what about the other things my teammates said about Sarge? I’ve never seen his picture on the cover of APG. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen his picture on the cover of any paintball magazine. Only the best of players have that distinction. Players like Bob Long, Dave Youngblood, and Dan Bonebrake. Yet, oddly enough, all those guys know exactly who Sarge is. Why is that? That’s weird.
Well, never mind that. There’s still the matter concerning the fact that Sarge has never been on a team. My teammates were quick to point out that particular fact. Maybe just a little too quick. After all, Sarge has been in the Army a long, long time. Isn’t being in the Army like being on a team? And a really big team too.
What a quandary. I just didn’t know what to think anymore. All sorts of questions kept swirling around in my head. Is Sarge an expert or isn’t he? Does he know what he’s talking about or doesn’t he? Do we really need to practice more often like he said we should? Or is good teamwork all it really takes to win? Maybe tactics are the key to victory? Or maybe individual playing skill matters most? Perhaps I should get a second opinion. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea. Why not get a second opinion? But whose opinion should I ask? I know. I’ll ask the experts that I know for sure are the experts. And ultimately, that’s exactly what I ended up doing.
That night, shortly after supper, I sat down and composed a letter that I emailed to various well-known paintball players. I guess it was more like a survey than a letter. Anyway, it contained a couple of questions. The first question read, “How would you rank teamwork, tactics, individual playing skill, and regular team practices in order of importance, and why?”
Here’s what the players I contacted had to say in response to my first question:
“Wow, these are all very important on their own. Tough decision.
“Individual playing skill is 1st. Teamwork is 2nd. Tactics is 3rd. And I rank regular team practices as 4th in order of importance.
“I chose individual playing skill as most important because I feel that if a player is inherently good, he or she can fit into a team of other good players relatively easily. Trying to bring any one individual’s skill up to the level of the rest has no place on a serious team. It’s a waste of the team’s time. A player should tryout only when they are of the appropriate skill level of the team they are trying to get on.
“My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices are kind of linked together for several reasons. Teamwork is very important in the sense that you must really know your teammates and how they will react in vital plays. This will allow the team to perform plays requiring more than one individual successfully. That is why I scored it as 2nd most important. However, the knowledge of the plays (tactics) themselves is a basic requirement and most certainly a building block of teamwork. Additionally, the best way to get to know your teammates is to have regular team practices. I really feel that the last three are a package deal.” – Marc Gottfried of Total Grief
Okay. What I concluded from Mr. Gottfried’s response is that regular team practices are at least as important as teamwork and tactics. I found that very interesting.
"1st is teamwork, 2nd is individual playing skill, 3rd is regular team practices, (which kind of goes with teamwork also), and 4th is tactics. You forgot ‘conditioning’. That ranks in the top 5!” – Rocky Knuth of Naughty Dogs
Although Mr. Knuth ranked regular team practices only as the 3rd most important element, he subsequently alludes to his contention that practice develops teamwork, which he ranked 1st in order of importance. I found that very interesting also.
"I rate teamwork #1, tactics #2, regular team practices #3, and individual playing skill #4.” – Ed Poorman of Avalanche
Well, in Mr. Poorman’s opinion anyway, regular team practices at least rank ahead of individual playing skill. I thought it odd, however, that one expert would rank individual playing skill as the least important, while another ranked it as the most important.
"Number one is individual playing skill. You need the best players you can get on the team. These players are players that can play anywhere and do what needs to be done from start to finish.
"Number two is team practice. It’s very important for everyone to show up to scheduled practices. This way everyone can work together on his or her communication skills and teamwork.
"Number three is teamwork. Everyone needs to be able to communicate, know what to do, and when to do it.
"Number four is tactics. This is very important to start a game, but rarely does everything go as planned after the game starts.” – Todd Hugo of the All Americans
Having ranked regular team practices as number two in order of importance, it’s very obvious how Mr. Hugo feels about the subject. I think it’s safe to assume that Mr. Hugo places great emphasis on the need for regular team practices.
"I would rate regular team practices as number one in order of importance, especially for the International Iron maidens. We don't have the luxury of getting together for a practice. I think we’ve had one practice in the history of the team and we spent a whole day on form and basics. I have always said that if the Gold squad could practice just once a month, we could end up in the winners circle consistently.
"Individual playing skill is next. All the strategies and preparations in the world won't matter if you’ve got a player out there who just can't run with the big dogs. I always tell the girls to work on something between tournaments. I give them ‘homework’, so to speak. And I tailor their homework based on what I feel that player needs to work on. It could be one on one, two on one, pop shooting drills, or whatever. And I ask them what I have to do for my homework.
"Number three is teamwork. Every team needs communication. Who drives the bus, who plays point, who is the free man, and knowing each other’s limitations. The team as a whole needs to know how each other member plays in order to be comfortable on the field with their teammates. It just makes the game so much easier when you can read each other.
"I rate tactics as number four. Okay. You’ve got form, accuracy, you know your teammates, and you play well together. Now, you figure out how to beat the other team. I am assuming that by ‘tactics’, you are referring to field strategies, which are different for every field.” – Tracy Roberts of the Iron Maidens
Now, here we have a player who is essentially telling us that her team could be a consistent winner if she and her teammates could just get together and practice once in a while. Ms. Roberts leaves us no doubts that the need for regular team practice is first on her list. She knows, from first-hand experience, what it feels like to be on a team that hardly ever gets together to practice and how the lack of practice degrades team performance. This made me stop and wonder if the Gladiators would have ever made it to the winner’s circle if none of us had ever practiced together as a team. Oh, well. It’s something to think about anyway.
As I explained earlier, the letter I wrote contained two questions. The second question read as follows, “Picture this. Two ten man teams. We'll call them "Team A" and "Team B". These two teams are about to play against each other for the very first time. On Team A, to a man, everyone is a world-class paintball player, but none of them have ever practiced or played together as a team. Team B consists of a group of players who have been practicing and playing together as a team for several years. Although they are all good players, one on one, in individual play, none of them would stand a chance against their Team A counterparts. The players on both teams are all using and carrying equal amounts of the exact same brand of paintballs. They are all using the exact same type of paintball gun with identical power sources. In other words, neither has a firepower edge or advantage. The game will be played on a brand new field. Nobody on either team has had an opportunity to walk the field. There won't be any time for that now because the game will begin in less than ten seconds. In your opinion, which of these two teams would you say has a better chance of winning the game? And why?”
Here’s how the experts responded to that question:
"I would put my money on Team A. If none of the players on Team B ‘would stand a chance’ against their Team A counterparts, they are solely relying on their team skills. While those skills are important, many facets of tournament paintball require individual skill. Examples would be snap-shooting, bunkering cleanly and effectively, and sweet-spotting. If the players on A are world class and B are just good, then I feel that Team A has the advantage.” – Marc Gottfried of Total Grief
Judging from his response, I would say that Mr. Gottfried seems pretty confident about Team A’s chances.
"Team B, because they play together and will use teamwork to win. The one tricky part of the question is neither team walked the field. That would play to the advantage of Team A, being as they have more individual talent. But I think in the end Team B's teamwork would come out ahead.” – Rocky Knuth of Naughty Dogs
Mr. Knuth, contrary to Mr. Gottfried’s opinion, seems to think that Team B would win out in the end.
"This kind of thing happened to me in Portugal a couple of years ago. I was named the captain of the USA team for the nations cup and had to pick players from several different US teams that were in attendance. All of the players I picked up were outstanding players. I had Matty Marshal and Rich Telford from the LA Ironmen, Lasoya and Richardson from (at that time) Avalanche, plus myself. I also had Nicky Cuba and Will Rock from Ground Zero and a few others, but I honestly can't remember who. We didn't win the event because we had never played together before. The only team that beat us was the Swedish team who were entirely made up from Joy Division. Now, I believe that my players were all superior to their Swedish counterparts, but the Swedes were a team and thus beat us in both the semi's and finals. It still would take really good players to beat a team made up of all-stars, but Joy Division proved to me that it could be done.” – Ed Poorman of Avalanche
Drawing from personal experience, Mr. Poorman contends Team B has a better chance at victory.
"Team A would have a better chance of winning. They are normally great sweet-spotters on the break, so they will probably be up bodies to start. They know when to move and when to bunker their opponents. Also, they have great instincts for the way the game is to be played out.
"Team B probably has a great plan to start. But like most games, that changes after the game starts. They loose people on the break or they don't make it to their secondary positions. Now they’re on the defensive.” – Todd Hugo of the All Americans
Mr. Hugo makes it very clear that he is confident of a Team A victory.
"I assume by ‘world class’ you mean pro player status. Okay then, in my opinion Team A would have a better chance of winning. But I have seen a similar situation where the B team (non-pro class players) had won the game. If we are talking about professional class players, I feel that they would have the experience needed to overcome a lot of the problems that they would have, i.e. not ever having played together as a team before. Their individual skills and knowledge of the game will eliminate most of their problems, kind of like a computer program that automatically kicks in and takes over. The player goes on autopilot. I have been awed by pro players, just wishing I had the same instincts and experience. Every time I watch a pro game, I learn something new.
"Team B still has a good chance of winning. Practice is invaluable! The players on Team B know each other’s habits on and, I bet, off the field as well. If they really get into the game and make no mistakes, they would have a real good chance. Also, intimidation plays a huge roll. If Team B remains confident, they have an even better chance of winning. I have seen it all too often, where a team loses the game even before walking onto the field just because of the mental games that the other team plays on them. Someone might make a subtle comment about Team A’s players skills or reputation and the game is practically over before it starts.” – Tracy Roberts of the Iron Maidens
Although Ms. Roberts seems to think that Team A would win, she also seems to think that, provided they play their cards right, Team B could also win the game. She makes this contention based on the fact that Team B has had the advantage of having been able to practice together.
So, there you have it. Five very good answers from five highly experienced team players. After reading what they each had to say, I’m sure that you, just like me, will also draw your own conclusions. And what I concluded is that it all boils down to personal opinion. Depending upon whom you ask, some players are going to agree with Sarge and say that regular team practices top the list. Others will agree with my teammates and say that individual playing skill is more important, or that teamwork is more important, or that tactics and strategy are more important. One thing’s for certain though, the players I surveyed all seemed to agree that regular team practices rate high in importance. And after hearing it from players like them, I guess that’s good enough for me.
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