Book Now On PBReview.com

The book is now listed on PBReview.com and can be found HERE.

PBReview is a player-rated system, so after you’ve had a chance to read the book, why not head on over and give it a rating.

It may take them up to a week to get the image of the book up there - and although it doesn’t show it, the “Manufacturer” is Liaison Press and the distributor for paintball is Kee Action Sports

A Bit of Paintball’s History

Below is an excerpt from PB2X magazine (now defunct - it’s editor, John Amodea,  now produces Paintball X3 Magazine which is both a web and print publication) that is reproduced on the Paintball Sports Trade Association web site PSTA.  It details a little bit about my involvement with tournament paintball.

From 80 MOMENTS THAT SHAPED PAINTBALL

39. November, 1992
Tournament players unite: The NPPL is Born

After nearly a decade of competition that began shortly after the creation of the game of paintball itself, the sport had evolved to a point resembling competitive paintball in the modern day, with “professional” paintball teams battling for tournament titles across the United States. Professional and amateur teams travelled the country playing in events that started with the National Survival Game Nationals, PBGA North American Tournament and Air Pistol Open and evolved into the Great Western Series, the Last Blast, the Splat-1 Indoor Paintball Championships and the Lively Productions Masters, Music City Open and more. As tournament paintball evolved, events moved from fifteen-man down to ten-man, where teams including Scream, the Lords of Discipline, the Black Diamonds, the Florida Annihilators, the All Americans, Aftershock, Constant Pursuit, the Bushwackers and, of course, the Ironmen, competed for cash, titles and bragging rights. Along the way to a form of paintball that would be recognized today, it became clear to the teams and players at the highest levels of the game that things needed to change in order to help the sport evolve from its predominantly recreational past into a true, professional sport.

As tournament promoters continued to raise entry fees and better represent their supporters, the manufacturers and distributors who were making money in paintball, it was the players who began to suffer. Tournament entrance fees rose, as did the costs of paintballs at what were predominantly “event paint only” tournaments, while the quality of officiating and reffing began to decline. Teams expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of prize money being paid back to the teams that populated and financed these events, but most complaints fell on deaf ears, until finally the players acted. Steve Davidson, longtime player and head of the World Paintball Federation, called a meeting to be held in November, 1992 in Chicago, at which representatives of the top teams, companies, leagues and the media could voice concerns, raise points of conflict and, hopefully, initiate changes that would lead competitive paintball into a new era.

When the meeting finally occured, representatives included members of Aftershock, the All Americans (including Adam and Billy Gardner), Fred Schultz of Constant Pursuit, Tom Cole of Bad Company, the Bushwackers, Bo Peep, Todd Inman of Green Machine and the International Paintball Players Association (IPPA), Friendly Fire, Master Blasters, New England Express, the SOB’s, Swarm, Thunderstorm, the Wild Geese, the Black Diamonds and the Terminators. PMI, Vents Goggles, Russ Maynard and the Great Western Series, the Paintball Sports Series, Jerry Braun, Paintball News and Paintball Sports Magazine were also in attendance. Issues including entrance fees and prize money, promotions, referees, prizes and scheduling were immediately put on the table and broken down into committees to be discussed, and before long issues were being solved and tournaments were being planned for the 1993 season. Entrance fees were set and carved in stone, cost of paintballs was capped at three and four cents per paintball, and the competitive game was changed when it was agreed that virtually all penalties for in-game rules infractions would be handed down during play, on the field, in the form of one-for-one, two-for-one and three-for-one eliminations. For the duration of the 1993 season committees were set and Steve Davidson was installed as the first representative of what would be known as the National Professional Paintball League.

Committees Included:
Promotions and Marketing
Fred Schultz, Constant Pursuit
Al Podufaly, NE Express
Ron Kilbourne, Bushwackers
Bill Gardner, All Americans

Referees
Adam Gardner, All Americans
Doug Haskins, Wild Geese
Chip Kuhrt, MUFFS

Rules
Bob Long, Ironmen
Kevin Donaldson, Master Blasters/Bo Peep
Al Podufaly, Expressed
Skip Swift, Thunderstorm

Cost and Prizes
Adam Gardner, All Americans
Rennick Miller, Aftershock
Fred Schultz, Constant Pursuit

The National Professional Paintball League agreed to host six, five and ten-man “pro-am” tournaments in 1993, that offered at least twenty thousand dollars in prize money, six weeks apart. Two professional teams would referee each event, with teams mixed on all fields, and these referees would be responsible for selecting and balancing the wooded playing fields. Events for the 1993 season would include San Diego, Dallas, Boston, New York and Reno, with entrance fees capped at 1500 dollars for field paint only events, and 1850 dollars at “bring your own paint” events. Prizes and trophies were mandated, and for the first time in paintball’s history, the sport had its own true professional league, governed by the players, for the players. Many of those who attended are still involved in paintball, with some now leading the industry and the sport into the new millennium at the head of teams, companies and, of course, tournaments.