THE ORIGINAL National Xball League (NXL),
featuring all pro-on-pro paintball games debuted on
February 20, 2003 in New Orleans. The league’s original
lineup of pro teams included the Philly Americans,
Chicago Aftershock, LA Ironmen and most of the rest
of the pro teams from the U.S. But after only six short
years the NXL designation was dropped, the league’s
partnerships changed and the Pro RaceTo format was
created. And now, more than 12 years after the NXL
debuted, the league (and its new owners) has reinvented
itself and is virtually the only pro/am series running events
in the U.S. in 2015, at least at this point in the season.
For the NXL’s rebirth teams and players from around
the world traveled to North Ridgeville, Ohio, a suburb
of Cleveland, to battle in one of the seven divisions.
The host site for this inaugural event was Victory Park,
which by all accounts was a great venue. Close to the
airport, downtown Cleveland, hotels and restaurants,
and drivable from many major U.S. cities, Victory Park
was ideal logistically. And from a paintball perspective
there were plenty of flat green grass surfaces for the
seven playing fields, tons of close-by parking and a dry
gravel road for the vendor row. Vendors at the NXL Great
Lakes Open included Empire Paintball, GI Sportz, Valken,
Ninja Paintball, Planet Eclipse, Anthrax, HK Army, Virtue
Paintball, Dye Paintball and a handful of others.
The NXL Great Lakes Open featured timed games (as
opposed to the RaceTo format) which led to a great
variety of game play strategies. Some fast-paced, high
energy games ended 8-1 while others were a slower
more methodical 2-1 type of game. All of the games on
the main field were shown via the webcast at:
www.Paintball.Media
HOW WE GOT HERE
If you stepped away from tournament paintball for a few
months you are probably wondering what happened to
the PSP (Paintball Sports Promotions) and where did the
NXL come from. Without going into great detail I’ll just
say the PSP’s last event was held in Dallas and it didn’t
exactly go well. Games were played in some of the worst
conditions imaginable and at the same time rumors were
flying around that a new league was forming and that this
new league was negotiating to buy the PSP. After months
of talking the two sides could not reach an agreement.
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paintball magazine