Melbourne Paintball League – Round 1 update

Overview

On the 11/9/16 Snipers Den launched the first round of the Melbourne Paintball League for the first time in Victoria.
The idea was to provide a launchpad for new players getting into the sport and to that end it was more successful than we could have hoped. We ended up with 5 pretty new players joining the day’s activities and a few more fairly new to the sport. On top of that we had 3 people successfully sit their catagory “p” safety course allowing them to begin the process of applying for their paintball licence. If anyone wants more information on how to get a paintball license in Victoria get in contact with Snipers Den Paintball Melbourne on 1800SNIPER.

The day began with drills run by Craig “Flash” McIver and the Hard2Overcome team from about 9.30. Hard2Overcome are a Victorian Paintball team that remain one of the more active teams in Melbourne paintball scene. In November the are off to the USA to compete against some of the best teams in the world. They regularly train at Snipers Den and are incredibly disciplined in the way they go about their training. They always start their training with a fitness component with a strong drills methodology as well.

We were really grateful to all the experienced players who helped the new players get into it all. We tried to create an environment that allowed players of all skill levels to be able to grow and train to their own ability. In the end however, the day became more about building up the newer players thanks to all the teams and players that were so generous with their time. We were extremely proud of all the players who contributed their time and equipment to allow the newer players to get a start in the sport.

After the drills we conducted the Safety course for those wanting to get their licence. The course including the multiple choice test takes a little over an hour including the actual test. We like to go through a few extra elements as well such as compressed air safety.

After the safety course there was time for a quick lunch. Only one person took advantage of the free BBQ facilities. We would like to encourage more paintball teams and players to make use of the BBQ for lunches to bring back the social side of paintball.

After lunch we kicked straight into the first round of the Melbourne Paintball League. We started by separating all the players into 2 teams. We have arranged 2 captains for the 2 teams but they were both unavailable for the first round. The 2 captains will be Oz from the Highrollaz paintball team and Joon from Hustle paintball team.

With the Captains unavailable it fell to the vice captains to look after the teams for the first round. Troy from Highrollaz and Sean from HK Reapers took control of the teams. The players present were split into the 2 teams. At stake was the ability to choose from the 2 team names we have chosen to start with. The 2 teams we are starting with are the Knights and Samaurai. We are going to get some jerseys made with the option of purchasing personalised ones coming down the track.

With the teams split, we got into the league games. We played 8 points in total and allowed coaching from the edge of the field for the newer players. This added a different element to the games and assisted in the rapid improvement of the skill level of the newer players in particular. In the end the games fell 5-3 to Troy’s favour and they chose to take the Samaurai mantle.

The games were refereed by Jill from refs inc with help from some of the other players who were willing to help out. This included Goldy and Flash who are both Ref’s inc referees. This is always very much appreciated and makes a big difference to the day.

The day finished with players getting a few games in playing in their normal teams. This is important as the Melbourne Paintball League is not designed to replace the regular team model. Instead we want to keep pushing forward with this alternative training model to compliment the teams that are in the scene already.

Thanks again to everyone for the support so far. It was a great turnout for the first round of the league. Remember that the next round is coming up this weekend on Sunday 2nd Oct. Kicking off at 9.30 and the opportunity to sit a safety course as well. Get in touch with Snipers Den if you want to get involved in paintball as a sport.