Random photos

History of the Singapore Ironmen

Calgar conducting warm up for paintball clinic

Red Dynasty in MPOC 2008

Kiko shooting at ???

Rich fooling around...hahaha

Div 4, Div 3, Div 2, Div 1, where do I belong?

I have been asked this question twice this week, so I thought perhaps I can blog about this, so that more people can say the same thing whenever they are posed with this question. I will introduce by saying that there are four divisions in the regional league. Having watched BPL soccer, it is not tough to relate this divisional status to many people. If your team is in Division 4, you will need to work your way up the ranks to reach Division 1 and then to the premiere league.

How different is paintball? To be honest, anyone can be as good as anyone in paintball. Meaning, you can just pick up paintball last weekend and start to formed a team and call yourself a division 1 team. Nobody is going to stop you from doing that... just get ready for the bruises. Teams will still play you and you will also get the biggest shock of your life.

There are paintball leagues in Malaysia that has a promotional format. Meaning if your team do well the entire season and clinch a few finishes on the podium, there could be a likelihood that you will be "promoted" to the higher division upon the request of the organizers. But this is not the case for all paintball tournaments. I have seen a Division 1 player playing for a Division 3 team and went on to win medals and nobody questioned about eligibility. I have seen a few (and I quote again, a few) Division 2 players playing for a Division 3 team and yes, nobody questioned anything. I have recently seen a ex-Division 1 player who guest for a new Division 4 team!!! So in summary, you can play in any division that you wish to. However, not all leagues are the same. My-NPL for example, do not allow players from higher division to play in the lower divisions.

As a guide, here it goes (based on the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit, MPOC):

Division 4 - Usually for newbies who just picked up paintball using housed mechanical markers. Organizers will provide markers for the tournament but you can also use your own. Personal marker accessories such as loader, barrel and tanks are allowed. M5 format (5 versus 5)

Division 3 - Participants will need to have their own personal marker and accessories. Games will be played as M5 format. Mode of fire will be semi automatic with rate of fire capped at 15 balls per sec.

Division 2 - Same format as Division 3 except for a change in the mode of fire, which is ramping mode capped at 15 balls per sec.

Division 1 - Same as Division 2 except for X ball format (some refer it as the M7 or P7 format) in a race to 3 game. Time duration is 10 mins. A 2 mins game interval for every game where players exit the field to top up gas, paintballs, wipe clean, etc. For this division, you will need a good coach and 3 crews who can assist to coach from the sidelines.

There are a few Singapore based teams who are playing in the Malaysia paintball scene and they are:

MPOC - Red Sevens Division 3

MPOC - Team Damnation Division 3

My-NPL - Karma Division 4

My-NPL - Seekers Division 4

In addition to the above teams, the following teams will be participating in this year's Paintball World Cup Asia 2009:

WCA - United Nations

WCA - Contract Killers Division 4

WCA - Red West Division 4

Insight to .50 caliber

We have heard of the .50 caliber marker. Let's take a closer look at the marker and its possible potential. The diameter of the barrel is definitely the eye catcher... the marker looks light, feels light and surely looked compact. The price tag is even more comforting... (this piece above is about SIN$490!!). The paintballs are smaller and fits a smaller box, which means mobility.

The design of the loader looks revolutionary but I have make worries about the material that goes into making one of these... It "feels" plastic unlike the usual gravity loader. Looks fragile and ready to break if not handled carefully.

As most stocked markers, you will need to get upgrades to make the marker looked more like the "real" thing. Similar to Tippmann A5s, X7s, the GI Milsims allow for such upgrades. Just look at how a "butt" can change the whole look and feel of the marker.

A magazine feed for bottom load or top load through the plastic loader.

There have been talks about a smaller caliber with a smaller splatzone... hmmm... looks normal to me. The fills are thicker than usual and the paintball breaks amazingly.

We did the drop test and it breaks upon impact... I am very impress.

*Thanks to Napshot for allowing us to abuse your marker! If you want to get one of these...you know where to get one.

A BIG step for paintball in Singapore...

A BIG step for paintball in Singapore!

SINGAPORE (18 October 2009) – Established in 2007, the Paintball Association (Singapore) PBAS which is a non-profit organization with aims of promoting and developing paintball as a mainstream sports has been a forerunner in supporting paintball initiatives in Singapore. Since its formation, the association has set its sight on creating paintball awareness to the public as its top priority. The PBAS has accomplished this by organizing school awareness outreach events in tertiary schools, setting up orientation courses for competitive players to participate in the sport without legal restrictions governed by local authorities and supporting the growth of competitive paintball in Singapore by co-organizing the Singapore Paintball Novice Series (SPNS). A PBAS website was launched early this year to further promote the sport by creating awareness for the game.

In November 2009, Singaporeans will see the most number of Singapore teams participating in an internationally recognized tournament. The Paintball World Cup Asia 2009 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a total of 120 teams from the regional countries. There will be at least 6 local teams who will be representing Singapore in this prestigious paintball event of the year.

With PBAS’ continuous efforts to promote and develop paintball in Singapore, we are pleased to announce another initiative driven and achieved by the association. The Singapore Police Force have granted flexibility under the licensing conditions where condition 12 of the Licensing Condition for Operating a Paintball Game Center: “The licensee shall ensure that there is a barrier dividing the play area so that opposing players will not come into physical contact with one another” will be removed. However, operators remain to have the rights to impose regulations in their fields to ensure that the safety of the participants is not compromised and that paintball games are to be supervised by referees who are familiar with safety rules. The Basic Tournament Orientation (BTO) has been introduced and conducted by PBAS since 2008 to allow the tournament paintball to be played without a center line. One of the objectives of BTO is aimed at educating tournament players about tournament safety and rules and with the change in local regulations, BTO shall be reviewed by PBAS. With the new progress achieved, PBAS will implement the change for all PBAS-sanctioned tournaments, events and activities with effect from 1st November 2009.

With this change, we hope to see more paintball initiatives by operators in Singapore and that this change will help us develop paintball into a mainstream sport in years to come. This is definitely a BIG step for paintball in Singapore!

Jane Koh
President
Paintball Association (Singapore)

SPNS Random

Photos taken by Tilt, tilt.com.sg. Please credit Tilt if you want to use these photos.

Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 Leg 3

After 2 days of field set up in West Coast Park, the Singapore Paintball Novice Series went smoothly with no major hiccups. Congratulations and thank you to the people who are behind this tournament, staff of the Red Dynasty Paintball team, the "Ironmen" (people who laid the field), the referees, the volunteers, the photographers, the sponsors and the players of course...

One of the staff told me that one player asked him: "The field seems to be dry, just wondering if you guys will be watering the field before the start of the game?" In my mind, I was thinking "Nah... we wouldnt be doing that". In fact, I was eager to find out who this person was... so I decided to note this down and reminded myself to write it in the blog. That's Singapore paintball...

Well, the good thing is... someone up there heard his request and came the morning shower just before the 8 am mark and immediately, we all knew paintball was going to be fun that day. 12 participating teams for the last SPNS leg in 2009, a reasonable number indeed considering that there were a handful of new players and some of the "older players" (I used older because there are no divisional games in Singapore) who came back from retirement. All games were evenly fought and there were no simple walkovers. In fact, we have seen the most number of draw games in this leg of the tournament in the entire SPNS history, it could have been anybody's game.

Credits to Team X Factor who played with only 4 players throughout the day. It was certainly tough to be outnumbered but the desire to win was evident. The team defended well and made a few good kills... We had Red Bull girls this round... and yeah, most male participants seemed a little happier during the tech breaks, must be the sugar acting up on them. On the sidelines, Mr. J (Junaidi, PALS Ultimate Referee) told me that some players are playing very well and looked very seasoned... that's only a good sign for Singapore paintball.

4 semi final teams from SPNS Leg 2 came out tops again, Dark Militia, Five-O, Red West and Contract Killers... talk about consistency. Again, it was anyone's game. Dark Militia who only started playing in SPNS this year went home with the Champion's title for Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 Leg 3. Having came so close on 2 occasions, Grant (Houdini) sealed the win with an overhead shot over the centre 50s bunker.

Top Gun was awarded to Sharkil from Contract Killers though we would usually prefer a new face. So you know what I mean... Series title went to Team Red West for 2009. Elle concluded the event with a piece of good news for Singapore paintball, it was announced that the center barrier, a requirement in paintball field operation has been removed by the Singapore Police Force. Abolishing a requirement that was set out 10 years ago and convincing the authorities that paintball can be played safely in Singapore. We look forward to a more exciting 2010... spread the love and as Kiko always say: "Keep the fire burning..."

Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009

The Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 has come a long way.

The birth of SPNS started off as a causal discussion with Elle and Tom about forming the first speedball tournament in Singapore and providing a platform for players to compete in paintball tournament throughout the year. Then come the naming of the tournament... we knew that we need to have the word "Singapore"...then paintball has to be in too. Calling it a novice league will help more newbies to participate in the tournament. And voila... (thanks for sben's facebook, that I spelled it incorrectly, to think that I took French once...so sad). ** For the records, public apology was offered not demanded.

*Shamelessly ripped from Tom's blog...

Tom went home and came up with the logo design. Can anyone guess who is the silhouette of the SPNS logo?

Good luck to all teams participating in the upcoming SPNS. This is the final leg of the season, so play hard. On behalf of the SPNS organizing committee, we would like to thank all who have contributed to the SPNS. We couldnt have done it without you... Stay tune for some changes next year.

Congratulations!

Photo ripped from Rina's facebook

Congratulations to Farid aka "Cyrus" for winning the Champion position in the Malaysia Superlite 2009 Amateur Division with Team Marauderz . The Malaysia Superlite 2009 is a paintball tourney organized by the Nemesis Paintball Club which adopts the X-Ball game format. Farid was previously featured as the unsung hero for Singapore paintball... well... its time to hear him sing!

On another note, Grant aka "Houdini" (from Team Damnation), Allen and Marcus "Nabelrock" (from PSG Warfreakz) claimed the 3rd placing in the Amateur Division with Team JB Syndicate.

Congratulations guys!

Ken Tsuda Paintball Clinic in Red Dynasty Paintball Park

Ken Tsuda from Oakland Blast was in town and made a surprise visit to Red Dynasty Paintball Park. Ken is the manager of Oakland Blast and father of professional player Kenny Tsuda. Oakland Blast is currently in the 2nd position of the USPL Pro Division and they will be playing in Vegas this weekend. Ken shared his experiences on players attitude and teamwork with our local players and went into the field to share about field walking. The light hearted session lasted about 3 hours with a few skirmishes among local players.

As I was driving Ken back to the hotel, he pointed out that he could identify a few players who are pretty good in the game...

Ken with the gang.

Field walking with Warlord and Mark.

"Now you see him".

Sharing session.

Ken explaining to Calgar on how to play the door.

Respect the people we love...

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man's self respect is a sin.

- Antoine de Saint Exupery

Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 Leg 3 - Team Preview Part 2

Karma Troopers - A "new" team in the local scene... Karma Troopers is actually not that new. With a regular presence in the MY-NPL, Karma Troopers are a force to reckon with. With podium finishes in overseas tournament, we will be expecting some very tough fight from this team. Led by team captain Isnaen, this is surely another team to look out for. A team with experience and wits, this team is not here to make up numbers! First step in supporting local tournament!

X Factor - A newly formed team with the SPNS, X Factor is led by Beryl who used to be part of the Singapore's first female team. With the introduction of Dean and Irwan (formerly from Five O), this team needs to put in their best performance in every game. Assisting Beryl with be the beloved Nicky (WOOT! WOOT! sorry, cant help it) who has tons of playing experience.

Berserkers - Sons of Odin - Another new team with the SPNS, Berserkers - Sons of Odin (in short Berserkers, very long name...) is led by Jit who is a reliable mid player who is able to control the game very well. Back by his teammates, Haz, Zach, Neil and Suwandi... this is the only team in SPNS who submitted a 5 men line up... talk about consistency on the field. Another new team with hidden powers!

A new era - How is it coming along?

There are news going around the paintball industry about a complete restructure of the sport. These news are common and they are usually released towards the end of the year when a new product is about to launch... usually get someone stepping out from the crowd stating a new industry for the new year... and we have all witnessed these before... when Sup'Air introduced inflatable bunkers, hyperball went into extinction, when autocockers were introduced, pump fans got very disturbed, when speed feeds were introduced, everyone when into speed feed system. We all know about a marker that "talks", it will be soon when this becomes a default feature for all markers.

Well, if you classify them into categories, you will realized that while some are minor changes, some simply change the whole industry forever. There was a time when everyone was playing 5 men games when someone came up with the idea of playing 7 men, then there is X ball and now a race to format by the PSP. Its always changing, changing and changing... but never once has anything come this close, the introduction of 0.5 caliber paintballs.

Last year, Kingman Training came up with the 0.43 caliber. It was radical, it was revolutionary... but it does seem to capture the hearts of the audience, as Singaporeans would call it, the next BOOMzz... 1 year later, Chasers and Erasers are still the "fun" thing but that's all it is.

Richmond Italia, inventor of the Xball came up with the idea of introducing the new 0.5 caliber paintball, he calls it "Paintball 2.0". Well... you have just seen 0.43, now you are introducing 0.5... maybe by tomorrow someone will introduce the 0.53 and so on and so on. But hey! If you say its "Paintball 2.0", show us!!!

This "new" invention is said to be cheaper, smaller, lesser impact, travels further... breaks better than 0.68 and yet has lesser fills in it. Unbelievable!!! A new technology it is... there are even talks about manufacturers producing 0.5 caliber markers, well... G.I Milsim showed us 2 models in the November issue of FACEFULL. We have heard of an Eclipse 0.5 caliber kit in the making. Procaps are part of this project... so is Smartparts, the big leagues such as PSP, Millenium, USPL (renamed NPPL)... so maybe, maybe this is a reality. It is true than there is "Paintball 2.0"!!!

So how is this going to affect everyone? With cheaper paint cost, it will be stupid for manufacturers/operators not to change their markers from 0.68 to 0.5. More storage space, cheaper shipping cost, more paint sales, etc. Paintballers will have lesser to carry... lighter paintballs, smaller markers, its cheaper so shooting more than usual, etc. But wait! With this change means new markers! Paintball markers are not cheap to begin with, so to get everyone (and we are talking about millions) to change from 0.68 to 0.5, I say another 2 - 3 years of transition? We'll see...

Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 Leg 3 - Team Preview Part 1

Sun Tzu Art of War: "Know your enemy and know yourself"...

With SPNS Leg 3 less than 3 weeks away, teams are starting to heat up the pace and picking up paintball markers again. Why are we not surprise that this leg of the SPNS is actually anybody's game? Is there such a thing as sheer luck in paintball? Well... you can play the best game and still not win the game. So perhaps there is such a thing as sheer luck in the game of paintball.

How different is this leg of the tournament as compared to previous legs? The most significant difference is the use of the Millenium bunkers, yeap... all 44 bunkers, similar to the Millenium games in Europe but more importantly, the same set up as the upcoming World Cup Asia (WCA) in November. So... teams who are going to the WCA, brace yourself and play the game well... this could be your best preparation before the world stage. This is good preparation...

The venue... the next big thing in SPNS 2009. Playing paintball in a park... not any other park but the Grand Lawn in West Coast Park is the best venue to date. Imagine this... its lunch time and stream of paintballers entering McDonalds in their colourful paintball jerseys and pants, headbands, masks, a big statement...a very big statement... RECOGNITION should be the right word.

Even if you are not playing... be there to show support for our local lads. Red Bull will be served...

In no order:

Contract Killers - 2 new inclusions, Nick and Keith from ex-Kamikaze. With the retirement of Dzul and the long lost Aaron, CK will see a new front line up. With Division 4 experiences in MPOC and NPL, Nick and Keith will be a valuable asset to the team who will be gunning for the top honours. Last SPNS leg MVP Sham (Rocketfingers) will also ensure that this team is certainly no pushover.

Nick

Red West - West or east? All eyes will be on this team who won Leg 1 and Leg 2 of the 2009 series. Leg 3? Long serving players, Ryan and Zach from the Singapore American School has returned home which means a total transformation for Red West. With 4 new inclusions (Yazid, Sophie, Julya and Chee Lang, I mean Yong...,and a totally new setup, Red West is under pressure to live up to the name of their predecessors. Returning to the paintball scene is Julya who was a former Red Fraction.

Chee Yong, SPNS Leg 1 MVP

Five O - Another team to look out for... Talk about masters of rules, no other team beats this team. With the inclusion of Casey and Jayex from 20th Legion, Mark from Kamikaze and Calgar a former Red Sevens, this is some what a tough lineup. Not forgetting Fuzz (yes, we gonna crush you and master of taunts) and Ivan from Red Sevens. We are talking about a team with combination experience of 8 years? Maybe 10...

Calgar and Ivan

More sneak preview after this weekend...

Action packed paintball storming into West Coast Park

Singapore Paintball Novice Series, usually coined by local paintballers as SPNS, is a three-leg paintball competition for local paintball teams. With a history of 2 years, the event has been mostly held at the sponsored venue, Red Dynasty Paintball Park. The last leg, that is, 2nd leg for this year, was held on 17 May 2009 at Pasir Ris Park which saw its first move outside of a paintball park. Catching the eyes of the eastern park-goers, the organisers of the event will once again be wrestling their muscles to bring this event into another part of Singapore.

The Final Leg of SPNS 2009 will be showcased in the western part of Singapore at West Coast Park. This event is another proud collaboration between Paintball Association (Singapore), Singapore Sports Council and National Parks with the main sponsor and organiser, Red Dynasty Paintball Park.

In this Final Leg, 10-15 teams will be closely competing for the final glory of being the Champion for this leg and for the year. The champion team for the last competition leg was won by Red West which was formed by a mixture of NS men and students. Through some player transfers from teams to teams and recruitment of new talents, the level of play is predicted to be quite even among most established teams in this final leg which means that every single point counts, and, every single win and elimination of the opponent counts.

Three of the local paintball teams, Contract Killers, Dark Militia and Red West, claimed the most points from the last leg of SPNS which indicated high consistency in team performance across all qualifying matches, are aiming to trounce the other teams. Contract Killers is led by Sharkill, proudly known as the Loudest Player on the Field, has an impressive line-up of the showy boys who are crazy over paintball and Guitar Hero. These guys go around showing their talents in paintball and Guitar Hero, breaking records in the game arcades around Singapore.

Captain of Five-O, a new team from SPNS Leg 2 which clinched an impressive 2nd spot in Leg 2, Muhd Fadzri, shared with the organisers on his team’s motto and sends his “regards” (message) to the rest of the teams while clenching his fists in the air and smirking away, “We will crush your dreams!”.

A new kid on the block for this final leg captained by an outstanding designer, Tai Jit Wei, has been training on and off the paintball field. Closely known to many as Jit, he has put together a group of “mysterious warriors” who strikes a chord in many as they have not displayed their entire team’s prowess against most other teams. Jit’s team, Berserkers Sons of Odin, would be the team to be wary of in this upcoming leg.

Seek and Destroy, and, Seek and Strike, are considerably new teams under a family of paintballers called The Seekers Family which performed well in the last leg. They would be looking at putting up a tough fight against all the rest of the teams with their regular trainings under the guidance of Kiko, a regionally known forward player whose team, Real Pinoy, will be representing Philippines in November’s World Cup Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Evil Avengers and Ares have recently recruited a few new players over the past few months strongly boosting the depth of their team. Evil Avengers, led by experienced players, Shazahar, David Leow, Ian Tang, Aaron, had recruited a new forward player, Lester Wing, who had impressed quite a few players with his lightning fast sprints and decisive movements on the field. Ares - a team of international school students that has their experienced line-up of back players featuring Chris Hampton and Greg Goana.

Black Aces and X-Factor are 2 teams who will be making their debut on 18 October.

All the points accumulated from the previous 2 legs this year and this final leg will determine who will be crowned the Overall Champion Team for 2009 for SPNS.

Awards that will be given out during the Final Leg of SPNS 2009 are Overall Champion Team for 2009, Champion Team for Leg 3 SPNS 2009, Young Gun Winner and Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The event is free access for all members of the public to the spectators’ gallery.

SPNS 2009 Leg 3 is held at West Coast Park on 18 October 2009 (8am-5pm).

For more information, visit http://www.weplaypaintball.com/SPNS.html or email the organisers at spns@weplaypaintball.com.

Words by Jane Koh
President of Paintball Association of Singapore