Photo By Gary Baum
The National XBall League returned to
Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey for
the third stop on their 2018 professional
paintball event schedule June 21-24. While
the summer had already turned hot for a
large swath of the country, the weather in
Atlantic City chose to be peculiar for the
event, with cool mornings, early and mid-day
fog and intermittent misty rain throughout
the event. This was welcome, however, as
it gave teams, players, referees and staff a
respite from summer heat and the event and
its grass playing surface remained mostly dry,
a sharp contrast to the deep, sticky, sloppy
mud of May’s Texas NXL event, still fresh in
the minds of those who had attended. With
plenty of pro and divisional paintball to play
on an interesting layout, decent weather and
a solid vendor turnout, the NXL 2018 Atlantic
City Open would challenge top players to
find a way to win.
The Bader Field host facility for the 2018
Atlantic City NXL offered a somewhat
rough grass playing surface and plenty of
grass and paved parking. Convenient to
the Expressway and a short drive to hotels
and the historic Atlantic City boardwalk and
casinos, the view from the host park is always
a beautiful one, with casinos towering in
the background and boats speeding by on
the water. Unfortunately, Atlantic City isn’t
exactly sparkling as the economic down-turn
hasn’t abated in the area and nearby states
have opened their own competition. This, in
addition to the cost of staying nearby and
the distance many players had to drive to
major airports like Philadelphia’s, had many
players hoping for a change of venue for
future seasons. While most in-attendance
didn’t seem to have issues with the venue
itself, many stated they would love to see
the league consider other options for future
seasons.
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