Rec league for young players?

[jbob-SLC]

I have a 9 year old son who has been asking me for the past year to let him join a paintball rec league, are there any leagues like this locally? when Adrenaland was around, I know Chris was tossing around the idea to have a young guns type league, where the kids could learn how to play in a team atmosphere and play against other teams.

Id really like to get him involved, its something that he is really interested in and I hate to squash his interest.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[cody21"peets"]

the UXPL has a D6 begginer division for players who haven't had any tournament experience. i would really rocommend it, it's a great league!

[pbmom]

We (Addicts) have also tossed the idea around for quite some time, any input would be welcomed. How would you like to see it structured? How often? Etc....

If you would prefer to discuss it off line, pm me, and we can either talk via phone or set up a meeting.

Thanks!

Lisa

[da1unvee]

I know HPA Club was kicking around an idea for the kids on base who has some interest in ballin'.

I think it was like young pballers Under $200 league.

(Under $200 markers retail)

Also considering only C02...due to cost and controlling the experience factor...but wasn't finalize.

Possible prizes were Smart Parts Ions (pending registration cost decision and possible deal with local shop) or markers available at the BX; or a case of paint, or gift certificate to the base exchange (due to small inventory of the new paintball products) and/or a gift certificate to one of the local shop.

Registration: between $30 - $45 per player undecided

BYOP

3-man (probably scenario-SPPL based; speedball possibly...pending availability of location-including the base)

Ages 9 - 12

8 teams cap

Refs would be HPA Club members...time donated or other military ballers volunteers; (win-win for the military folks-- for those military 801paintball members; you know what I mean)

Plus any additional equipment required (chrono, gun teching, etc) would be coming from experience ballers in the HPA.

Rules considered SPPL style or even NPPL modified for the event.

I think that was all I have on my notes...anyway check with the guys at the HPA Club.

I think the bottom line was to provide a positive experience for young new ballers and not attempting to make any profit. Just to let them have some fun and understand the principles of good sportsmanship and competition in our sport.

Out.

[SuicideAce]

I have been kicking this type of idea around for awhile now. I think that this would be a great thing to have happen, it would be like a little league of paintball and give kids the chance to compete in organized games against kids their own age and similar skill sets. I know the UXPL has the D6 division but for this kind of thing I dont think that is the greatest idea. The UXPL doesnt have age restrictions in the D6 league so you would get a team of 9-10 year olds facing a much older and more experienced team and the chances are the younger team is going to be intimidated to the point where they are not having fun.

What I think would be great is if a local field *cough*Addicts *cough* would be willing to set something like this up. Other "major" sports have little leagues for players so why not our sport.

Here is what I have imagined for a "Little League of Paintball":

1) First off teams should be picked like they do in the other little leagues. I have coached little league football for a couple of years and the way that it is ran there is kids come out, run through a couple of drills and then the coaches go and pick the kids that they want to have on their team, it is essentially a mini-draft. Doing it this way will make it easy for kids to get on a team, build new friendships with teammates and prevent "stacking" of teams.

2) Coaching is key. I think that for something like this to work coaching is a must. These kids are going to be pretty new to the sport and to tournament paintball. Having experienced coaches to run them through drills and showing them how to play and have a good time is going to build their confidence, make them better ballers, and make them love to sport that much more.

3) Practice just like other little leagues. Most other little leagues practice a couple of nights a week, I know this isnt feasable with paintball, because it is an expensive sport. I do think however that once a week practices should be mandatory for all teams involved in the league. You cant get better without practice. These kids are going to be green and need all the practice they can get.

That is just the basic outline. I am obviously not going to type it all here because it would take me a week to get it all out. I would love to see something like this take shape and I would even be willing to volunteer my time to get it started and help with running whatever I could. I think this really could have a positive impact on the paintball community as a whole, not just the little leaguers that are involved in playing.

If Addicts or anybody really wants to pursue this further let me know, I will provide whatever volunteer help I can. I have a truck so I could haul out bunkers and pull a trailer, I can ref, I would coach, I'll even be the water boy if thats what I needed to do to help out.

[jbob-SLC]

sorry, have been AWOL for a while, but suicide ace pretty well summed up everything I had in mind for a little league for paintball, and better than I could have myself.

As long as reg fees were within reason (sub 100.00) it would work for me personally, that reg fee should cover field fees and possibly air with the only cost out of pocket being paint (mabey a discount for registered players?)

I also agree that markers would need to be capped, I see nothing wrong with starting these kids with blowbacks, it conserves paint and is easier for players starting out (parents) to afford.

Im very interested in this idea and would sign up my son the minute registration opened.

[Allen Turner]

The UXPL Tried this in 2005 and we only had 3 teams and they only came to one event and decided it was too expensive.

The idea is fine, the reality is there are not enough teams to do it on a large scale like the UXPL. I think it might be feasible for a field such as Addicts to do something like this but its just a guess on my part.

I know Adrenaland tried it and had mixed results in 2004.

[D a y]

I don't know if a league for kids would work, but I have seen something like this, was living in Cedar City for a few months, and the field there did what they called Peewee paintball, it was for kids 10 and under, they came every Saturday morning, and the field turned the guns down to 200 and tought them the fundamentals of paintball, it was a pretty good thing because the kids could learn how to play without being intimidated, and they learned proper safety. I think this would be a good thing for a field here to try because I know of many kids that want to play more than anything, but they cant because they are too young. I think this would have a good turn out if someone tried it and it would promote safe paintball.