[raiderpaintball09]

Where did they all go? We need to change this and start getting some serious high level divisional teams back in New England.. whos in ???

[AdReNaLiN jUnKeE]

for whatever reason the higher teams seemed to have dropped off. i think it was a mix of declining competition and the people on those teams growing up and having real life priorities. we have 187 still and a couple other teams/groups that can play on the higher levels, but there arnt those organizing leaders out there anymore it seems. connecticut is totally without a higher division/national team after having them since about 2002. but that definitely comes down to my original point of people growing up. the nepl/nexl and foxball do a great job of helping people up the ranks and providing the best competition around, but you can only get to a certain point til you level out with all your other competition.

the only way i see this area advancing past the d3/mid tier d2 team levels like we have now, is if a group steps up and makes that hard push. 187 did it, and then benefited from a time where we had alot of higher divisional teams to practice as well. what needs to come around is a group whose super hungry and has the drive to go and practice every weekend, and get beat up by the few teams that may be better then them in the area. theres plenty of teams around who have the opportunity to do something bigger then what they are doing, but they refuse to step up and play with the big boys in a sense. i can think of 4 off the top of my head but will obviously not put them on blast. it can still be done, its just a matter of getting the right group of people together. success breeds competition, everyone wants a piece of the pie. if we get 1 or 2 teams who start advancing up quickly and sticking with their crew, not picking off the players from other teams *which is hilarious to think that would ever happen* then we can see other teams forced to step up their game to keep up.

[Q man]

Originally Posted by AdReNaLiN jUnKeE

for whatever reason the higher teams seemed to have dropped off. i think it was a mix of declining competition and the people on those teams growing up and having real life priorities. we have 187 still and a couple other teams/groups that can play on the higher levels, but there arnt those organizing leaders out there anymore it seems. connecticut is totally without a higher division/national team after having them since about 2002. but that definitely comes down to my original point of people growing up. the nepl/nexl and foxball do a great job of helping people up the ranks and providing the best competition around, but you can only get to a certain point til you level out with all your other competition.

the only way i see this area advancing past the d3/mid tier d2 team levels like we have now, is if a group steps up and makes that hard push. 187 did it, and then benefited from a time where we had alot of higher divisional teams to practice as well. what needs to come around is a group whose super hungry and has the drive to go and practice every weekend, and get beat up by the few teams that may be better then them in the area. theres plenty of teams around who have the opportunity to do something bigger then what they are doing, but they refuse to step up and play with the big boys in a sense. i can think of 4 off the top of my head but will obviously not put them on blast. it can still be done, its just a matter of getting the right group of people together. success breeds competition, everyone wants a piece of the pie. if we get 1 or 2 teams who start advancing up quickly and sticking with their crew, not picking off the players from other teams *which is hilarious to think that would ever happen* then we can see other teams forced to step up their game to keep up.

We have the player base in New England, you would think we would have a few d1/d2 teams around.

[sumorai]

$$$

[AdReNaLiN jUnKeE]

Originally Posted by Q man

We have the player base in New England, you would think we would have a few d1/d2 teams around.

thats basically my point...

Originally Posted by sumorai

$$$

this also. lol

[The_Fresh]

avalanche is here... multiple divisions too..

[AdReNaLiN jUnKeE]

were talking a real league here......lol

[raiderpaintball09]

Many teams had the potential its a shame they fell apart or disapeared.. You see teams rising up in other states like wolfpack, Venom made a huge come back in 2012, Topgun union and jesters... we need that large group that just builds and builds with teams in every division.. that would be fun to see and I think alot of teams were close but just couldn't hold on long enough. It would be really great to build a strong foundation of a team like jesters or vipers and have multiple teams competing under one name. I dont know maybe one day........

[arod11]

now im no expert but couldnt some random guy just cherry pick all the best players in the area kinda like what heat did? random thought is all this is i personally would love to see the same level of game here as in cali

[LostNTheWoods]

Tim Its Kyle N Step Into My Office Get At Me Lets Talk

[raiderpaintball09]

Originally Posted by arod11

now im no expert but couldnt some random guy just cherry pick all the best players in the area kinda like what heat did? random thought is all this is i personally would love to see the same level of game here as in cali

the owner of heat has the money that talks to these players .. free entry to events, free gear, and promising talent that put them on top in there first year. Unfortunatly I dont think there are owners like that around here willing to pay like the heat owner does.

[EMSGuy24]

It's a matter of economics. Look at the cost to travel to all psp events. Right now you need to go to Texas, Chicago, Maryland and Florida. From New England two you need to fly to being TX and FL. Then you can do the drive to Chi town, it's long but do able. MD is was a cake drive...

Sponsors are not funding lower level teams, even pro teams are not funded at the level they where..

So now the cost goes to the player... Event weekend to TX and FL you are talking rough estimate 1200 a guy, that's after everything is paid... MD and Chi Town can do for about 800... That's a rough I mean very rough estimate of $4000 for just events.

Now you figure practice costs and any gear costs and you can be close to 5000 to 6000 by the end of the season...

Now please don't hold me to these figures I don't have my numbers in front of me, because I hope to start a national program so I have been doing math on this and looking at costs...

[arod11]

Originally Posted by raiderpaintball09

the owner of heat has the money that talks to these players .. free entry to events, free gear, and promising talent that put them on top in there first year. Unfortunatly I dont think there are owners like that around here willing to pay like the heat owner does.

But why cant we get that type of thing here its deffinatly over in cali and heat has it what can new england do to be put in the same level as them to attract those type of sponsors

[EMSGuy24]

I don't think that the big money is in Paintball here in New England. I think you see it in other sports IE: Football and Ice Hockey... Part of the problem also is our weather. Lets face it come winter we are limited to locations and cost also go up...

[arod11]

Originally Posted by EMSGuy24

I don't think that the big money is in Paintball here in New England. I think you see it in other sports IE: Football and Ice Hockey... Part of the problem also is our weather. Lets face it come winter we are limited to locations and cost also go up...

Then what can we do to attract "big money" if other parts of the country can get these deals why cant we as well. See like it was already stated you max out here as a divisional player im asking what can be done to change that

[EMSGuy24]

Why do the players need to be handed a blank check? What happened to hard work to get where you want to go. This is what's wrong with paintball players. They feel they should be given everything... If teams want to advance they should work for it. That's what 187 did they did the work as a team and rose through the ranks...

[Tabris17]

People want money for nothing at the end of the day. I've heard so many people complain about their 'sponsorships' and what it's lacking as opposed to what they're getting. A lot of the sponsorships come from the business owners pocket, he's not going to under cut himself constantly for everybody and loose money.
Even when sponsorships do come along and you have to do minor things people still complain. I witnessed it first hand and I still feel it was silly because there was a chance for national exposure via the companies website for the field and team. That's neither here nor there at this point but more so the fact that if you give something you get something. It may not be what you dream of but something is better then nothing sometimes.
Grind it out, work through it, pull something better if you can down the road. People want instant gratification and they seem to want the world right out of the gate. It's done in little steps, not giant bounding leaps unless you're something extremely special, which is rare.
When people don't get their way they pout and they drop off the team and go look for another one. And the cycle continues until somebody blackballs themselves because they're can't commit to the team. Or they simply can't work with the team, because they think they're the bees knees. Front players don't get the kills every game without a strong mid field and back field. If you can't be a team and work with the guy that's either right behind you or in front of you because your ego is too big, then you need to step away and think about yourself and the game for a bit.

[arod11]

How does that translate into building the skill and exposure to the players here i mean id be proud to have a few more pro teams come out of new england since most are coming from out west or down south

[Tabris17]

You can have all the individual skill you want. But if you can't merge that skill into a cohesive team that understands what hard work is and not getting everything for free right away, then you just have a bunch of people hot dogging it on the field to make themselves look good. Not the team.
It's about the team at the end of the day. If you can't drill that into peoples skulls you're going to have a mass of hissy fits and in fighting.

[Charlie13]

This is a great topic and I am happy that it is being discussed. There are so many reasons that go into why we have the situation we have now (lack of higher divisional teams). I would have to say the biggest reason is that it's not easy. Many people quit when things get to hard. To be successful at anything you have to want it bad enough. To put it simply a vast majority of paintball players do not want it bad enough. You have to sacrifice to get to that upper divisional play. Paintball is a grind, if you can't deal with that it will be tough. Money and sponsorship opportunities are there for the guys who put the work in and are passionate about paintball. Help out at your local fields and talk to the field owners. You won't get a free ride, but more than likely you will get some kind of support, and that's a start.

[IBleed Arbor]

Anyone that could financially support an upper divisional team would just be losing money in the end, why would they do it?