“ I think that this year 2023 is going to be a really good year for paintball , just overall ,” Tankersly said . “ Talking to field and store owners before the event , I got a really good sense that they ’ re excited for this year .” Later in the day , there was a nice Maple Leaf Meeting . That is to say , a gathering of Canadians which included some tasty , homemade adult beverages . As always , it is great to chat with fellow Canadian field and store owners , like Christopher , Todd and Joe , Greg , Marg and the Wasaga Beach crew . Personally , I represent western Canada . There were some really good seminars , which were educational , including one with Shawn Walker of ‘ Money Paintball ’, ‘ Money says Yes ’, a group providing financing for paintball operations , and The Paintball Park Company .
“ This was a smaller Extravaganza , but this one brought more potency and more opportunity for people to get more information ,” Walker said . “ My business caters to new paintball fields . I had half a dozen brand new paintball fields that are here and wanting to start , so to me that is gold .”
Walker primarily runs two web sites , paintballnetting . com and moneypaintball . com , and is constantly updating his SEO to improve visibility , making these sites easier for new paintball fields or paintball parks to find . And it is working for him .
“ We get three or four new leads a day through the websites or calls that come in ,” Walker said . “ There was a down period during and after Covid , but people seem to be wanting to do it again , which I think is awesome .”
The event organizers always a offer a grand door prize which they leverage to get operators to stay to the end , as you have to be present to win , and they did pull a number of “ winners ” that were not present . I didn ’ t win it . But the down time did offer an opportunity to speak further with Tankersley who gave a similar insight to Walker ’ s .
“ I like to help field owners and store owners so they can learn to bypass some of the mistakes that I made in the past 30 plus years ,” Tank said . And the community does rally to help new owners in any way possible , promoting a positive energy that continues to drive the industry forward .
“ It ’ s great to see Thomas Ghee , and some old school field owners , and many who brought paintball to where it is today ,” he continued . “ When I leave here I ’ m always tired and once I get home and relax for a couple of days , I start to think about other things that I saw or did at the show and talk to people , and like you it re-energizes me exited for the future of the sport .”
0128 paintball . media magazine