my stop watch , we held them for 9:18 and pulled off two kills . Patrina “ Sparklie Chick ” Lester got one of them with a great deal of pride .
In the end , The All Americans would defeat The UK Predators by the slimmest of margins , and they stacked up first and second place respectively . And that sleeper team , The APE Guerillas , made the podium for a third place trophy .
As for the Valkyries , we felt victorious for having played at all . As a team playing our inaugural event , composed mostly of players who have never played a tournament - let alone a 10-Man format - to compete against teams of this caliber was bold , and rather than retreating from the challenge , we grew in the face of it . And we left the experience ready for more .
Off the field , the camaraderie was amazing . There was positive energy in the air . The time between each game gave everyone an opportunity to rearm and re-air , discuss what went right and went wrong amongst their teammates , and then hang out for a bit . Players were milling amongst each other , laughing and supporting each other , and genuinely enjoying themselves . Shenanigans were had , but not just innerteam shenanigans . It seemed everyone from the Dilly Donut truck to event organizers got pulled into the fun . It was genuinely a family atmosphere . these people and on these fields where the World Cup began 32 years ago .
Before the finals began on Rabbit Run , I had a chance to walk the back fields and talk with some of the people who started their journey in paintball at PSI . They spoke with sentimentality about this place , telling heroic tales and fish stories of wild incidents that only a paintballer can appreciate or understand . I came to understand , these were hallowed grounds I was walking upon .
I realized that the people I was shaking hands with and shooting paint at were the men and women who forged the way . They cleared the path . They didn ’ t just climb the ladder ; they built the ladder and the platform on which it landed . They completely made it up as they went along , following their hearts and taking personal and financial risks that most of us would never even conceive of . And because they did , we have the sport that we have today . They literally took a backwoods pastime and built a global industry out of it .
The experience was humbling , to be sure . And on the same token , it was like coming home to a place I never knew I was missing . Mechanical Woodsball is truly the great equalizer . Any age , any gender , any size , any walk of life , this is a place where - with enough heart and skill- you can be victorious .
For many of the players there , this event is like a family reunion . The history among them is truly remarkable , spanning back to the very roots of the game .
In retrospect , I feel a sense of honor for having had the privilege to play against www . paintball . media
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