Britain coach, Matt Schmidt, it is clear the event,“ Is fantastic, they always put on a great show, and we are here for the first time with the kids, a new team named FACTION and it is good experience for them. It is a young 10 man squad and we have 6 players below 16 years of age, two under 19, and myself and Pete Marsh, the old gits, helping to steer the ship”. It is worth noting that this new team were the only Amateur team to go undefeated on the Hyperball field all day.
Teams in attendance were split into two dedicated divisions with the Amateur Division comprising of 8 teams that played a straight round robin and the Pro Division comprising of 7 teams, playing a round robin prelims and then separate finals to determine placings. The ECPL has become a truly Euro competitive venture with Pro teams such as the EXPENDABLES from Portugal and the ALL STARS from Germany.
A female pro player rostered at the event was Michele Figert from WNXL team Belladonna. Known as‘ Shele’ said,“ It is my first event at the ECPL, the play is different because there are so many
Expendables, Lisbon
more players on the field. This makes it difficult because you must keep looking instead of locking down zones, the concentration is on another level, I love it.”
Organizer Nicky Truter explains his vision,“ The plan is to create an ECPL rewards ceremony Casino themed evening with dinner at the end of the season. In preparation for this, whenever it may be possible, our 2025 season trinkets are customized poker chips, that players can receive each event as ECPL values. Not only players, but referees, pit crew and media can collect the Casino chips to use. The idea is the more ECPL event you play, the more you earn.”
020 paintball. media magazine