How to start a paintball team
how to make a good paintball team
A person can find players by going to tournaments, open play events, at school or online at regional threads on popular forums(PBNation, PBReview).
Sort through who is trustworthy and capable! Do they;
1. Have and maintain their paintball equipment well.
2. Follow through on promises(i.e. practice dates, meeting times, event dates, doesn't show up late).
3. This person should have transportation either by themselves or from parents. Agreeing to pick someone up every time can become a problem over time. What if your running late or can't afford the extra time to pick them up.
4. Can afford to pay for themselves with out borrowing money. There is nothing worse than someone owing you or other team mates money. Lending money to a teammate is a quick way to break up a team.
5. Has an attitude that you would be proud to represent you and the team you've worked so hard to build.
If you haven't already done so, come up with a team name. I've previously written an article on help finding a cool team name. Vote on it as a team and agree to it, just remember it sticks with you and you will have to present it later to sponsors.
Examine your team players for individual skills to determine who will play important rolls or be captain. Don't just appoint the oldest person or the best player, choose who will be good at making phone calls to fields for registering or making contact with a potential sponsor. This person should have good organizational skills, communication skills and be committed to the team. A different person can be in charge of on field tactics or split up different jobs to each player.
A website is a great way to help a team get started. Post your schedule plans, add contact info, describe who you are. Don't spam the website with crap about needing sponsors, it sounds just plain dumb and will get you no where. www.freewebs.com is an awesome place to start a free team site. Build it slow with two or three pages and add pages to it over time. Content is the most difficult thing to come up with so have everyone on the team contribute.
Find a practice area, it could be a homemade type field or your local field. If it's a local field, talk to owner and come to an agreement on practice fees. Offer to have your team work there for a few hours one day a week if the field let's you practice there for free field fee and a paint discount or BYOP.
Locate a field with affordable tournaments. Don't focus on the value of the prizes at events as much as the cost of entry fees and paint prices. If your team can play tournaments at an affordable trophy dash event more often that a higher priced event with big prizes, then do it. Don't worry about going to big two day events.
Get a big team banner made with a logo and your website info, leave lot's of space to add sponsors later. Search around for a paintball store that offers team discounts and buy team jerseys together. Put your logo on it and have everyone choose a number for themselves. Get pictures as a team in action, as a group posing and individual pictures.
Start a team resume. Don't do it in one weekend, take time to build it with everyone contributing to it. Find examples of resumes and be original. Start submitting it to potential sponsors. We have a page dedicated to where you can apply - how to get paintball team sponsors and sponsorships.
(Redwood 01/17/07)
