Local players and teams from across Queensland will go head-to-head on the field when a state-based tournament is held at Rum City Paintball in May.
The RAW All Stars Paintball event will take place on 6 and 7 May with local teams invited to register now to battle it out against squads from Townsville, Brisbane and Cairns.
Winners will go on to participate in the finals in Townsville in July.
Those who take part in two state-based rounds also gain automatic qualification to attend the Australian Nationals taking place in Melbourne in November this year.
The organisation’s goal is to expand the understanding of competitive paintball in Queensland while providing existing players the opportunity to play in new destinations.
It aims to give more remote paintball fields the chance to host professional tournaments while giving new players the chance to experience them.
Owner of Rum City Paintball Jason Piper says it was the second time hosting an NXL event in Bundaberg and it gave local teams a great chance to compete in a global competition.
“Locally paintball is building and as the word spreads it’s becoming more popular,” he said.
“Anyone who is interested in paintball, looking for a new sport to try or has wanted to know about speedball should definitely come and have a look, it will be like nothing they have seen before.
“Recreational paintball and competitive paintball are worlds apart and the adrenalin rush is on the next level.”
Paintball competition promotes group sport
Australian Paintball Association committee member and RAW promoter Michael Worthing said while these tournaments attracted highly experienced players, they were more relaxed and all about building the sport.
“We’re trying to get people interested in playing so we look after new players within the tournament,” he said.
“We don’t let them get overshot by people who play all the time, so we even the field in several ways.
“All teams have the same amount of paint which makes it more even and normally the refs help out during the game to help new players feel more comfortable.”
Michael said they were hoping to have at least two local teams compete against five teams from outside the Bundaberg Region.
He said 80 people were expected to attend overall, with the organisation looking forward to making up for last year’s event which was cancelled due to flooding.
“The event is free for spectators, and we’ve set up an area for them just behind the nets,” he said.
“That way they’re close to the action and some can even decide to play on the day”.
Through events like this, the Australian Paintball Association is aiming to have paintball officially registered as a sport.
“One of the requirements is to host national competitions and that’s part of the reason we started this,” Michael said.
“If it’s classified as a sport like it is in other parts of the world it means there’ll be access to funding and then it can grow even more”.
RAW M800 NXL Paintball Tournament
- When: Saturday 6 to Sunday 7 May
- Where: Rum City Paintball, Rosedale Road
- Teams can register online here.
- This event is free for spectators to attend.
More sport news: Jarrod Wessel’s debut race calling in Abu Dhabi
