Southern Ten-Man Classic regards to financial contributions( although those are always nice) but more social media coverage, vendor presence and team support. It’ s really a win / win for anyone involved in the paintball industry. I mean, who doesn’ t want more people to play paintball?
RUSSELL: The industry side of paintball exists solely to service the players of our sport. I feel strongly that if players want this format, and we present it in a professional manner, it is only logical that the industry will follow the players.
The Classic Format is unique in that it takes the most enjoyable components of past formats and presents them in a way that appeals to current and past players. Offering dimensions of the game that appeal to the widest range of genres, generations and skill levels of players. That is what makes the Classic format new and exciting- and I feel that this specific quality is what is driving the grassroots level support we are seeing from the player community.
P. M: Is there enough industry support now to help a new league get started and to thrive?
TIM: That’ s a tough one. Honestly, for me, I decided to host the Iron City Classic to show the industry that it can reach out to different demographics and expand the tournament base. Thankfully several highly influential members of the industry came to the 2017 ICC event and had a really good time and got the opportunity to see the growth potential first hand. We have been working with and speaking with several manufacturers to help get their support for the Classic format. Not necessarily in
P. M: Do you think this style of competitive paintball can have staying power? Will the younger generations of players participate so the game doesn’ t age-out?
TIM: It worked once before, so it should work again, right? That seems like a reasonable theory. Haha. Our game was built decades ago in the woods, on crazy mounds fields, hyper ball fields, and in the dirt and grass across the world. The stadiums, parks and high-end venues that are currently used for National tournaments are REALLY nice. I truly appreciate them. But that’ s not really what brought most current players into the game of paintball. It’ s that essence of hide and go seek coupled with capture the flag. And that’ s really what Classic Paintball is all about. Younger players can easily associate with that because that’ s what they’ re doing for birthday parties or group outings currently. Maybe the younger players only play the Classic format once before fully converting to Xball or maybe they play Classic for several years, but either way, I see Classic paintball filling in that gap between“ recreational” players and“ Xball” players. That void is what the game has been missing lately.
0110 paintball. media magazine