The Unsung Heroes - A tribute to the Singapore Paintball Series Referees

Formed in 2010, the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) Referees have been the strong pillar of rules and regulations in Singapore. Unknown to others, since the formation of the SPS Referees, several referees from the SPS Referees have been travelling around the Asia region to officiate in regional paintball tournaments with the primary purpose of enhancing their skills of officiating and also to further gain invaluable refereeing experiences from referees across the globe.

In search of the reasons behind their passion to marshal and to upkeep the law and order in paintball games remains a mystery to others. One of the toughest and grueling job in any sports where decisions and judgements are made in split seconds, we pay a tribute to these guardian angels who continue to keep the game fair and just for many paintball events around the region. Considering the 100 of paintball games that they have to go through in a single day and the unbearable physical pain that they have to endure at the end of the tournament, today, we single out a few of our most experienced local SPS referees and let our heroes sing the fat lady's song!

Muhammad Azhar is the appointed Head Referee of the Singapore Paintball Series and the organizer of the Singapore Paintball Series Referees. Azhar's interest in paintball started in the woods where he is an avid participant of scenario woodsball game. His first refereeing stint was in Kedah when he officiated in the Kedah Sultan Cup in 2010. Since then, Azhar has officiated in several paintball tournament such as the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit, the Singapore Paintball Series and more significantly, the World Cup Asia 2010 and the India Open Invitational held in Bangalore in 2011. "Acid" as he is named in the paintball community, Azhar continue to better himself as a paintball referee by organizing the recent SPS Referee Level 1 Certification as a course instructor.

Idi Bakhtiar B Md D'zokere started his paintball interest as a player participating in the Red Dynasty Rookie Challenge. His team, Hitmen Inc took part in the tournament and had a decent outing but never did Idi knew that he has a higher calling in the sport of paintball. It wasn't long that his team was disbanded due to commitment issues but that did not stop Idi from getting involved in the game. He took on the challenge to attend the first Singapore AsiaRef Certification and was officiating in the Singapore Paintball Series 2010. His enthusiasm in refereeing spur him on to better his refereeing knowledge as he took on the journey to officiate in the World Cup Asia 2010. Working as a prison officer for 10 years, Idi has vast knowledge in the area of leadership and discipline which he put to good use in refereeing. He recently returned to Singapore after officiating in the PALS Philippines United Paintballers Philippine International Championship 2011.

Shahirah Alqadri was part of the now defunct team Extreme Estrogen, Singapore's first female team. Since her acquaintance with paintball, Shahirah has always been a devotee for paintball and she still is... Shahirah is the classic example of a paintball player who wants to better herself in the game. While in love with the sport, she also took time off to officiate in paintball tournaments with the belief that a good paintball player should also understand the rules within the game. She is currently part of Team SKIN which participates in the Division 3 category of the Malaysia National Paintball League. She draws the line clearly for her roles as a player and a referee as Shahirah officiates in the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit and participate in the former. Yeah... don't judge her by her petite physical frame... Be warned!

All photos belong to rightful owner.

TEAM ZOO - 2nd position in PALS Philippines Division 2

PALS Philippines the 2nd United Paintballers Philippines International Championship 2011 was held in the city of Clark in Philippines. Local based teams ZOO and Red Sevens along with 19 other teams participated in this annual event organized by the United Paintballers. Joined by teams from countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Iran, Japan, Brunei, Guam and host country Philippines, ZOO clinched the 2nd position in the Division 2 category making it another podium finish for local based teams in the month of July. Red Sevens which participated in the same Division only managed a 4th position. Teams returned to the Clark Field for the 2nd year which hosted other sporting events in Clark such as baseball, frisbee and soccer. Located in a military airbase, teams were hosted in villas able to accommodate the entire team or maybe two. London Pub, an English theme bar was the most frequent eating place by most overseas team and serve as a meeting point for teams to interact off the field.

In Division 1 Finals game, STK from Western Australia met Team Datis from Iran. Both teams took on the field with several controversies throughout the game. Eventually, it was the team from Australia which secured the Champion title with Datis not fielding a team for the final set with less than 5 seconds on the clock. Team Xtioneers-XFox from Malaysia and Persian Legends took the 3rd and 4th placing respectively.

In Division 2, Xtioneers II from Malaysia who had to defend their Champion's title faced ZOO from Singapore in the Finals. ZOO with their lanes locking game was unable to withhold the fast pacing game of the Xtioneers II with the latter winning the Champion spot for the 2nd year. Republix CMX from Malaysia and Red Sevens from Singapore took the 3rd and 4th placing respectively.

In Division 3, it was CMX Hamoon a junior team from the CMX family who walked away with the Champion title. It was also a pleasure to see the participation of Invaders from Brunei coming out to compete given their restriction with firearms in Brunei.

Contract Killers - Singapore wins MY-NPL Round 3 Division 3 Champion!

Photo shamelessly ripped from rightful owner

Singapore based team Contract Killers took the Division 3 Champion title in the recent Malaysia National Paintball League (MY-NPL) Round 3. The Contract Killers which was formed in 2008 is one of the oldest team in Singapore and has witnessed the development of paintball as a sport in Singapore. The team was formed in a paintball get-together event, "The Magic Gatherings" organized by Red Dynasty Paintball Park in August 2008. The 3 year old team made their first international experience by participating in the World Cup Asia 2009 and came away with a podium finish in the Division 4 category. In Singapore, the Contract Killers remains to be a significant force by winning several podium in the Singapore Paintball Novice Series (SPNS) now known as the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS). Sponsored by Skirmish Paintball Asia, Captain O-Ring and Ansgear in 2011, the Contract Killers will be participating in remaining series of the My-NPL and the SPS 2011 Leg 2.

Congratulations to the Contract Killers!

PALS Thailand - Bangkok 28 - 29 May 2011

3 Singapore based teams participated in the PALS Thailand event held in Bangkok from 28 - 29 May 2011. A "mini" World Cup Asia as described by many, PALS Thailand has always been a special event in the PALS calendar. As "Amazing" as it can be, Thailand is a city good for "shoppingholics", good food, good hospitality and best of all a good exchange rate where everything is cheap, cheap, cheap...

Participating in their first PALS event, Team A.C.E.S and a few players from Ballistics venture into the land of smiles with a little more to smile about as they battled through the Division 3 category against several household D3 teams from Malaysia such as Rock and Rolla, KSK Flash, CMX Hamoon and the ever strong UPP team from the Philippines. It was Team Saensuk from Thailand who eventually walked away with the biggest prize from the D3 category. An experience not to be missed, A.C.E.S had a slow start in the tournament but was quick to round up the remaining 2 games. Though pleased with their first PALS experience, deep inside every player's heart, they knew that they can do better to qualify into the next round.

Division 2 saw the likes of Red Sevens and ZOO with a taste of a United Nation tournament with teams coming from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Russia and France. Red Sevens which took the D2 Champion title in the last PALS Thailand event was to defend their title again and again recruited the help of Keshi Iwata from Team KU, Japan who was part of the winning team last year. The Red Sevens qualified as the first qualifier by topping the qualifying round only to bow out to Lakehill Cat from Thailand which qualified as the 8th overall team in the Quarter Finals. ZOO had the assistance of Nick Lim from McDev Ronin, Matt Boynes from Tension, Perth and a few others from the Shootin In Rage, Johor. ZOO missed the qualifying mark as the 9th overall placed team in Division 2. In Division 1, Team Infernal from Thailand continues to trample the Asia paintball scene by winning 2nd placed team, Datis from Iran who clinched the Asia World Cup Champion in 2010.

Red Sevens Paintball Clinic

Date: 5 June 2011 (Sunday)

Venue: Red Dynasty Paintball Park

Red Sevens, Singapore's first competitive paintball team will be conducting a basic paintball course on 5 June 2011 at Red Dynasty Paintball Park.

If you are new to the game and would like to know more about playing competitive paintball, this course is just for you.

Red Sevens was formed in 2006 with the intention of promoting competitive paintball in Singapore. Since formation, the team has travelled to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India and Taiwan for regional paintball tournaments. The team was placed 2nd overall position in the Division 2 Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) in 2010 and awarded the best international team by the MPOC in the same year.

In 2008, Red Sevens was invited to the Asia Invitational NPPL Open Division in Desaru as the only Singapore team. In 2009, Red Sevens was invited to Kao Hsiung, Taiwan for the World Games 2009 Division 1 Exhibition Game. Red Sevens also won the Division 2 Pattaya International Paintball Championship held in Thailand in 2010.

In 2011, the Red Sevens participates in the Division 2 tournament of the MPOC 2011 and PALS 2011.

Read more about the team from website, www.redsevenspaintball.com

The Basic Paintball Course will focus on competitive paintball with emphasis on paintball safety and proper marker (paintball gun) handling.

Basic Paintball Course participants will be undergoing the following techniques:

- Paintball Safety

- Paintball Rules and Regulations

- Field Communication

- Marker Handling

- Shooting Posture

- Game skirmish with Red Sevens (if time permits)

Venue: Red Dynasty Paintball Park

Date: 5 June 2011 (Sunday)

Time: 10 am - 2 pm

Cost: $60.00 per pax

All participants will be given 2 pods of paintballs (about 300 paintballs) for shooting practices/skirmishes + Red Sevens stickers. Payment for the course to be made in cash at Paintballers World located in One Commonwealth Building, 1 Commonwealth Lane, #03-03.

Limited to only 20 participants only. So hurry and sign up!

To register for this course, please email info@redsevenspaintball.com or info@weplaypaintball.com with the following particulars and subject title: RED SEVENS BASIC PAINTBALL COURSE

1) Name

2) Age

3) Email

4) Paintball experience

Singapore Paintball Series Referee Level 1 Certification

The Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) will be organizing a SPS Referee Level 1 Certification for individuals who are interested to officiate paintball tournaments in Singapore. This certification course will be conducted by the SPS Referee Committee headed by Mr. Azhar who is the SPS Head Referee since 2010.

The SPS Referee Level 1 Certification will be a pre-requisite certification for AsiaRef Level 1 Certification which will be held in September 2011.

Date: 18 & 19 June 2011
Time: 18 June 2011 (from 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm) & 19 June 2011 (from 9.00 am - 2.00 pm)
Venue: 18 June 2011 (TBC) & 19 June 2011 (Red Dynasty Paintball Park, Yishun)
Cost of certification: $107.00 per participant (GST inclusive)

Limited to 20 participants only.

Course Structure - Theory and Practical lessons + Theory Test

This certification course is open to all. Participants of this course will be registered with the SPS and expected to referee in SPS events.

If you are interested to participate in this level 1 certification course, please indicate your interest by sending an email to info@singaporepaintballseries.comwith the following information:

Name:
Email:
Contact number:

Payment for certification course can be made in:

Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) Headquarters, One Commonwealth Building, 1 Commonwealth Lane, #03-03, Singapore 149544.

Mode of payment: Cash terms only

All participants will need to make full payment prior to the certification course.

All proceeds from the certification course will go to the development and the promotion of paintball refereeing in Singapore.

What will each participant be awarded with?

- SPS Referee Level 1 Certificate

- SPS Referee Identification Card

- Discount on SPS Referee "Limited Edition" T Shirt

What are the benefits of becoming a SPS Referee?

- Be part of a well established paintball tournament organization and be involved in shaping the sport in Singapore.

- Great part time/hobby to be involved in the Singapore paintball community.

- Represent SPS in officiating local and international paintball tournaments.

- Get paid for services when officiating games.

Zachary Hagy joins coaching team of Singapore Paintball Series

Zach giving his maiden speech in Singapore Polytechnic

Zachary Hagy commonly known as "Muffin" to the local paintball scene joins the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) as a coaching staff. Zachary who is from Florida, USA started playing competitive paintball since 2007 and has participated in National events such as the NPPL and the PSP. Zach represented University of Missouri and St Louis HuSTle Division 2 team before the team was promoted to Division 1 in PSP 2011. Zach plays in the snake position and was part of the Red Sevens (Singapore) when he was studying in the Singapore American School (SAS) a few years ago. During his tenure with the SPS, Zachary will oversee the coaching of Singapore Polytechnic paintball team and to assist the SPS to develop paintball at school level. Zachary will also be involved in the planning of a coaching syllabus for beginners.

Zach in the PSP

Red Sevens (Singapore) clinched MPOC Leg 3 Division 2 - 1st Runner Up

Jose and his Empire gloves...

A total of 11 players from the Red Sevens travelled to Kedah, Malaysia on 7 - 8 May 2011 to participate in the Kedah Sultan Cup 2011. Forming a team each in Division 2 and Division 3, the Singapore team was joined by another local paintball team, Team Ragdoll which partake in the Division 4 category. The grilling heat of Kedah took the stress out of everyone participating in this leg of the MPOC, at one time the temperature was reported to be 38 Degree Celsius, good enough to turn any paintballer into a marshmallow. Division 2 tournament saw the participation of 11 teams and the "triangle" love affair which I used to describe the intensity of the Division 2 games surfaced again. The "triangle" love affair refers to the closely fought games between teams where everyone took a point out of their opponent and ended up on a level fighting ground after numerous rounds of evenly fought matches.

Zach and Ivan (right)

This leg of the tournament saw the inclusion of 2 former Reds, Zach and Ivan who both returned from US and Canada respectively to spend their summer holidays in Singapore. Indeed there was much needed speed and aggression that was added to the forwards. In the end, it was Killer Bees who took the Champion spot in the Division 2. Red Sevens Divison 2 team managed to secure the 1st Runner Up position and managed to add some points into their bag thus opening the race for the Overall Series Champion.

Red Sevens during Prize Presentation

In Division 3, Red Sevens II had to bow out to an early exit in the Quarter Finals after some technical errors which could be avoided. The team had a slow start losing a couple of early games but came back with a 6 games winning streak to qualify for Day 2. Jose Cerda a former player from the Outlaws was included into the team as a guest player and stood his ground to give the added power at the back and filling the front in his usual snake position. Ragdolls did well in Division 4 and gathered game experiences into every round of the tournament. They were joined by Ikanman, our old friend from Downunder and Dave Choy aka Pagan, the half Singaporean Hawaiian.

Photos from www.residentevilchef.com

Singapore Paintball Series supports Nanyang Polytechnic Paintball

Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) is taking the lead to promote paintball as a sport to students of Nanyang Polytechnic. Approached by students of Nanyang Polytechnic for evergreen promotion and development of paintball in Singapore, the SPS has since assisted Nanyang Polytechnic with training sessions, tryouts and introduction to paintball sports. Since establishment, the SPS has assisted schools to set up paintball interest group for their students. Benefiting from this initiative is Singapore Polytechnic, which has formed at least up to 3 paintball teams amongst their student population. In collaboration with Red Dynasty Paintball Park, the SPS is also seeking student rates for players from Nanyang Polytechnic making paintball for affordable for students.

The SPS is committed to promoting and developing paintball to the masses and have hopes to see students taking up paintball as a mainstream sport. With SPS coaching initiatives, schools will soon be assigned with SPS paintball coaches who will take up coaching assignments in schools who are keen to introduce paintball to their students.

Singapore Paintball Series goes to Singapore Polytechnic

As part of SPS's objectives to promote paintball to the masses, SPS will be in Singapore Polytechnic from 27 - 28 April 2011 for the Singapore Polytechnic CCA Showcase 2011! This is the 3rd year that SPS has supported Singapore Polytechnic's drive to set up a paintball interest group in the school. With Singapore Polytechnic's paintball teams leading the way for paintball in the tertiary paintball scene, the SPS is proud to be part of this establishment!

All efforts made by the SPS in promoting paintball to schools are 100% complimentary! We have since been on roadshows in schools such as National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Management, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic. For more information about setting up a paintball interest group in your school, please email info@singaporepaintballseries.com

Rumours and Gossip! #4

1) We could see a team merger between SPS Open Division Team Ballistics and SPS Novice Division A.C.E.S for the PALS Bangkok event in May! Most of them are SPLAT X players, we were told...

2) We see the "retirement" of Vince who was featured in Dark Militia and ZOO. We know we wouldn't be seeing the last of him. And if Newcastle Football Club (his favourite soccer team gets a league promotion), we will see him returning to paintball. If you are looking to get some paintball gears, you can definitely contact him.

3) Resources told us that Team Contract Killers will be gunning for My-NPL Leg 3, more news later.

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1 - Jurong Central Park

The Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) 2011 Leg 1 was held in Jurong Central Park on 16 & 17 April 2011. This tournament leg saw a total of 29 participating teams shooting for the Champion's title. With up to 4 playing Divisions, paintballers swarmed to Jurong as the first paintball event to be organized on the Western part of Singapore. Organizers settled into the Circle Lawn (name of the field) a few days before the event with hopes of bringing a carnival theme tournament to the participants and they did not disappoint. For the first time, the SPS committee has decided to set up a food stall to cater to the ever hungry paintballers, isotonic drinks were distributed throughout the event to subdue thirst, booths selling paintball accessories were not to be missed. As part of SPS’s objectives of showcasing paintball to the masses, the organizers brought back the inflatable shooting gallery for members of the public to have a go at the game, for free of course! Newly included into the program was a tryout game for staff of the Singapore Sports Council; however this tryout initiative was stopped by the heavy downpour at noon. With the Novice Division teams playing 4 qualifying games in the morning, it was the Open Division teams who displayed high intensity shooting capped at rate of 12 balls per second, semi-automatic mode.

With a database of more than 500 paintball players in Singapore and a rich history in the organization of paintball events in Singapore, the SPS identify opportunities of collaboration with industry partners in creating awareness for the sport and product branding during the tournament. With an intensive sponsorship program and capable sponsorship team, the SPS 2011 is proud to partner our industry sponsors in product sponsorship and brand awareness. For the first time in SPS history, the SPS had achieved the support of FORCE 21 Equipment Pte Ltd as our title sponsor for the Open and Novice Division. FORCE 21 Equipment Pte Ltd a leading regional supplier of security, defence and rescue gear has also extended their support for the league for the entire series in 2011. CEO of FORCE 21, Daniel Cheah quoted “FORCE 21 is proud to sponsor the Singapore Paintball Series 2011, as we watch this dynamic sport catching the hearts of Singaporeans, and growing its membership steadily. We believe the passion and enthusiasm both the organizers and players share for this sport will create a strong bond and hence drive the standards of the game to international level.” Together with partnership of FORCE 21, the SPS sponsorship team also managed to garner the support of other industry sponsors and they are: 100 PLUS, Voxsports, Park Royal Hotel (Kitchener), AntConcept, Tilt, Citibank, D’Dreamz International, Sweet Delights, RAMPED Magazine, Pro Paintball Resources, Bottle Tree Park, Red Dynasty Paintball Park and Paintballers World.

Participants came back on day 2 for more intensifying action on the field which many refer to as the “mud spa” after the soaking rain a day earlier. However, this did not deter the local ballers as they battled even stronger as the competition takes its toll. D’Dreamz International took the main spotlight when they put up a lunch time performance by showing their grooves on the field with kids gymnastics dance to hip hop pop dancing. Lester Wing a member of the Red Sevens who participated in the tournament but was shown the early exit received the loudest cheer as he donned his paintball gear and moved gracefully on the field. “The team of paintballers consisting of Jose Cerda (Professional dance instructor), Carl Sahetapy (Professional golfer) and Lester Wing (Graphic Designer) had prepared for the dance piece for the past few weeks as part of their dance class routine. When we were approached by Carl and Jose who mooted the idea of performing a dance in front of the crowd, we knew that this will surely be the highlight of the day” exclaimed Ben Seow who is the Tournament Promoter of the SPS.

As the day draw closer to an end, it was Team ZOO who clinched the FORCE 21 Open Division SPS 2011 Leg 1 Champion title by edging out Team SKIN in a best of 3 games format. With this win, Team ZOO has successfully defended their Champion title having won last year’s SPS 2010 series. In the Novice Division, team Rampage Onslaught who was the 4^th position winner in the World Cup Asia 2010 held in Malaysia took the Champion title and similarly to Team ZOO, Rampage Onslaught defended their title too. Their final game with team Heartbreakers showed that they were a notch above most teams in the league. SJI Fluffy Rabbits which represented SHELL Petroleum and Team Generation Kill from Singapore Polytechnic took home the Corporate Division title and Tertiary Division title respectively.

As a growing paintball league in Asia, the SPS Committee recognizes the need to invite overseas participants to participate in the SPS so as to create opportunities for skill exchanges and interaction. For SPS 2011 Leg 1, the SPS allow each team to register up to 2 foreign players. This initiative was not permitted in the earlier paintball tournaments such as the Singapore Paintball Novice Series in 2008/2009 and SPS 2010 as the SPS wishes to establish a good foundation and fundamental of skill for the local players before opening the tournament to foreign teams. “The 2^nd Leg of SPS which will be held on 8 & 9 October 2011 will see the participation of International paintball teams from the regional countries. The SPS will partner the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) to further improve the local paintball scene with a taste of international flair. Participants can expect to see other collaborative projects with reputable stakeholders such as the AsiaRefs, Asia Pacific Paintball Federation (ABBPF) and Singapore Tourism Board. The planning for Leg 2 is already underway and we promise to make our next tournament the biggest paintball event ever held in Singapore!” added Jane Koh, SPS Tournament Director and former President of the Paintball Association (Singapore).

The SPS Committee would also like to thank all participating teams, sponsors, spectators, AsiaRefs, SPS Referees and vendors for making this event a success for paintball in Singapore!

For more information about the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS), please visit www.singaporepaintballseries.com or visit the SPS Headquarters at One Commonwealth Building, 1 Commonwealth Lane, #03-03, Singapore 149544

Paintball International India Open 2011

PALS Founder, Paul Lam

The Paintball International India Open 2011 was held on 26 – 27 March 2011 in the city of Bangalore, India. Organized by the National Paintball League (NPL), this is the first international paintball event held in India with 4 playing divisions: Open, Novice, Corporate and College. The NPL founder who orchestrated the event, Mr. Kiran Soans is also the leading man behind one of India’s most promising team, the NPL All-Stars. The NPL All-Stars which was officially formed in 2009 is no stranger to the Asia paintball scene. Participating in their first World Cup Asia 2009, the NPL All-Stars became the first India team to represent the country of India in their first Division 4 appearance. In 2010, the team participated in the Division 3 category and brought along with them the Bangalore All-Star, another team from India. Since their first Asia appearance, paintball in India has developed in their own unique way. The Paintball International India Open 2011 is an affiliated event under the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) which has promoting partners in countries across Asia such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, China, India and Indonesia.

Team Xtioneers All-Star

2 players from Red Sevens (Singapore) Ben Seow and Jane Koh had a chance to partner Malaysia team, Team Xtioneers All-Stars to compete in this historical tournament. The team went on to win the Champion’s title by edging out the NPL All-Star in an exciting 9 game series with a scoreline of 6 – 3 and was crowned the “Maharaja of paintball” in this inaugural paintball event. More importantly, with the presence of Team Xtioneers in this event, created an opportunity for everyone to mingle and to learn from one another about the sport of paintball. Camaraderie was fostered and friendship was established during the event. PALS founder, Mr. Paul Lam was there to give his support for the event as he quoted during the opening speech: “With the constant development and support given by the India paintball community to the NPL, India will one day become an Asia powerhouse”.

The man who made paintball possible in India, Kiran Soans

Ben Seow who is a founding member of the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS), an affiliated league of PALS found similarities between the Singapore paintball scene with that of India. “For any paintball event to grow and to develop in any country, there must be a strong supporting base of players from the community. The most difficult part about developing paintball in any country is not the organization of events but the development of the complete player” exclaimed Ben. A “complete player” in this case refers to the changing of a player’s mindset from playing recreationally to participation of events competitively. During the course of change, there must be opportunities for skill development and feedback for improvement. Today, with more than 35 registered teams in the SPS, India can emulate Singapore’s progress where there was only 1 competitive paintball team in 2007. However, as firearm laws differ in both countries, it will be no time when India does the catch up to Singapore. The future for paintball is bright in India!

SPS Committee with Kiran Soans in India!

Rumours and Gossip! #3

1) SPS Leg 1 Open Division participants will be in for a big surprise with SPS securing a title sponsor.

2) The SPS committee is currently considering to allow "side line coaching" for the Open Division. This change will allow the participation of spectators and public members to be involved in the game of paintball.

3) As part of the developmental grow for paintball, SPS is currently working with a group of students from Nanyang Polytechnic to start a paintball interest group!

4) It is confirmed that PALS China will be held in the month of September 2010.

5) Dye Precision Asia might be in town for SPS!

6) There will be a big (and we mean seriously big) scenario paintball event in May.

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Release

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Statement Release

Dear paintball comrades,

The initiative of creating a vibrant and robust paintball scene for the Singapore paintball community started when the Singapore Paintball Novice Series (SPNS) was first established in March 2008. A humble 3-on-3 paintball event participated by 7 teams using Tippmann A5 set the history for Singapore paintball. Together with the support of Red Dynasty Paintball Park, there were 3 legs of SPNS competition in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Working with the local authorities, the SPNS took a bold step to organize its first 5 men paintball tournament in the heartlands of Pasir Ris and West Coast in 2009, making SPNS the first paintball tournament to be organized out of a licenced premise. By 2010, the SPNS committee decided to forgo the “Novice” word in the original SPNS and revamped the series with a new branding the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS).

Together with 29 participating paintball teams spreading across 4 playing divisions and more than 25 industry sponsors, the newly revamped SPS 2011 took the local paintball scene to a whole new level. Supported by the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) and Asia Refs, SPS 2010 showcased an Open Division category where participants engaged in the sport using electronic markers similar to international paintball competitions.

This year, the SPS continues to make big steps in the promotion of paintball in Singapore. Moving against the price inflation that is ongoing in Singapore and a worldwide price increase in the production of paintballs, the SPS has made a firm decision to further reduce the prices for paintballs in 2011. Working towards the economy of scale and the local support through participation, the SPS continues to contribute to our industry in hoping that one day; the sport of paintball can become mainstream.

SPS has also secured our event location early for this year and has identified Jurong Central Park (Leg 1) and East Coast Park (Leg 2) as the ideal location for SPS 2011. Jurong Central Park as one of Singapore’s newest park accompanied with the conveniences of retail shopping and public transport is an ideal location for the SPS. This is also the first time that the competition is organized in the most Western part of Singapore. East Coast Park which is Singapore’s most popular national park stands amongst the rest as one of the best locations for any sporting events to date.

Newly introduced to SPS 2011 is the Most Improved Team Award which recognizes the most improved team in both the Open and Novice Division. Teams will be identified as the "Most Improved" as we compared their team's performance with their previous event result. In addition, the SPS will be rewarding all 4th placing teams across all divisions with a token of appreciation for their persistent fight through the Semi Finals and the 3rd/4th placing game.

As the SPS continues to improve on its organization and infrastructure, we recognized the need to raise the playing standards of the SPS as more local teams represent Singapore to compete in overseas paintball tournaments. Since establishment, the SPS has always been a “close door” paintball event where only participants who are working or residing in Singapore are allowed to participate in the SPS. This formula has always remain crucial and significant in our formation years as we built the foundation for our series with levelled playing standards amongst all participants. Moving into SPS 2011 Leg 1, the SPS would like to take another step to allow each team to register up to 2 foreign players in their lineup. We believe that with this small change, the SPS will raise our competition bar as we work towards a full fledge international tournament in years to come and to foster a good relationship with players from other countries.

On behalf of the SPS committee, I wish you all the best in the participation of the SPS and may the camaraderie of paintball continue to nurture on and off the playing field. The SPS can only be as successful as the support that is given by our local paintball community.

Thank you.

Ben Seow

Founder of the Singapore Paintball Series
Co-Tournament Director

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1 will be held on 16 & 17 April 2011 at Jurong Central Park. For more information, please visit www.singaporepaintballseries.com

Rumours and Gossip! #2

1) We have seen Protos in Singapore but we have heard of lesser of other brands... We might see the unveiling of 2 brand new markers in the upcoming Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1! Smell them coming to Singapore...

2) A prolific team from Singapore is looking actively for a snake player to join their ranks... any idea which team this is? Sources told me that big promises and sponsorship available for grabs! Screening is a MUST I was told.

3) Its confirmed, SPS Head Referee, Mr. Azhar will join the other referees in AsiaRefs to represent the refereeing body in PALS India! Mr. Azhar took on an important role in the SPS with hopes of naturing paintball refereeing. We wish him all the best!

4) With the next MPOC Leg 3 in Kedah, some are asking if there is a kind soul good enough to organize bus trip for Singapore based teams similar to 2010! In my opinion, 10 hours of bus ride is no joke! Take flight, its $120 now on Air Asia and save you blisters on the ass! Book your tickets now!

5) 14 April 2010 is an important for Contract Killers (Singapore)... want to know why? Ask them... it is the birth of a new era for Singapore based teams!

Rumours and Gossip!

Wikipedia says and I quote "gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of other. It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing of facts and views but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted."

From this week onwards, every week until the end of the year, I will bring you the best of paintball rumours in Singapore and Malaysia so that this keeps the paintball industry going with hopes that one day, good rumours will turn into reality and bad rumours diminish as we speak... Also if you have a piece of worthy news for everyone, just let me know and I will be glad to share it with everyone! Some of my reliable sources come from as far as a 5 hours flight from Singapore and a 4 hours drive up the Northern territory. Of course, when it comes to local gossip, my local pool of journalists will bring you the most juicy news that paintball has to offer and here it goes:

1) After the successful SPS 2010, the organizers are trying very very hard to source for a good location to play paintball in Singapore. Resources are telling me that they are looking for a plot of land in the West where it is near to MRT! More details next week!

2) Having already changed the date for China Cup to 29 April - 1 May, we understand that there might be another change... We are suspecting PALS China to take place in Sept until further notice. More information about China Cup in www.chinapaintballcup.com

3) PBAS Interim Committee has issued a statement (can be found in www.weplaypaintball.com/forum) informing about the change of the old PBAS constitution and their meeting with the Singapore Sports Council. We hope that with the meetings and changes, we can soon realized our dreams of marker possession and to be able to compete in higher platforms.

4) ReaPers a group of students from RP have submitted a proposal to their Office Of Student Development to "Legalize" paintball in school. We will soon see the formation of another paintball school team in Singapore! The SPS is backing them whatever ways necessary.

5) One prominent Singapore based player is bound to return back to his hometown next half of the year. We will soon miss this person who has contributed a lot to the Singapore paintball community.

Well, that's all for the week. More juicy news next week!

MPOC Leg 2 Post Event Report

Singapore sent its largest paintball contingent to the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) 2011 Leg 2 held in Malacca, Malaysia from 5 - 6 March 2011. A total of 10 paintball teams from Singapore participated in this event amongst other 53 teams from Malaysia and Thailand with participants from as far as Australia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand and Iran. Located in the city of Malacca, the Dataran Pahlawan is one of the best location in Malaysia to play paintball. A lot of credits go to the state government for allowing the sport of paintball to create awareness in the city of Malacca. Singapore teams participated in 3 divisions of the tournament with majority of the teams participating in the Division 4 category. Seasoned teams such as the Red Sevens and ZOO participated in the Division 2 category which is played in a Race-to-2 format where the first team to reach 2 point wins the game set. With supporting players from ShootIn Rage (SIR) a Johor based team, ZOO debuted their first Division 2 competition with impressive wins against many "old timer" teams such as Trinity from Trengganu, Urban X from Kuala Lumpur and local paintball team Red Sevens and finished the qualifying round as the 2nd placed team. ZOO ended their route in the Quarter Finals losing to eventual 4th position team, Urban X. Red Sevens which qualified as the 4th position in the qualifying round beat the Simpsons to enter the Semi Finals then losing out to eventual winner, Republic CMX to settle for the 3rd position.

In Division 3, Red Sevens II another team from the Red Sevens family produced a formidable run into the 2nd round as the 3rd placing teams against other 21 teams. In addition to the team was Ilya Shamal from Contract Killers (another local based team) who was invited to guest for Red Sevens II in bid to win the Champion title where the team was placed 2nd position during MPOC Leg 1. Red Sevens II qualified for the Quarter Finals but was knocked out of the tournament by FTM Skeletoonz and Labuan Fighters. ZOO Militia which was formed by a group of ex-guest players from ZOO gathered together and gave their opponents a very tough fight. They were overall ranked position 10th in MPOC Leg 2.

6 Singapore teams represented the Lion City in Division 4 and all holding their heads up high throughout the entire tournament. The Outlaws, one of Singapore's most prolific team demonstrated their aggressiveness and teamwork on the field and became the highest overall ranked Division 4 team from Singapore by qualifying for the top 8 round. Ragdolls which are missing several pioneer faces and Raving Lunatics which has a total transformation to the previous lineup followed closely behind with an equally impressive high standing in the top 16 round. MPOC debutant Dare Devils with only 5 players had a fine run in the tournament until fatigue set in. Newly formed team iScreamWar which achieved a 2nd position in the recent Red Dynasty Rookie Challenge 2011 made their debut in the tournament as they continue their quest in the tournament scene. Black Ops which was formerly known as Team Karma registered their first taste of the MPOC and we strongly believe that we will see more of them.

All Singapore teams went away with something to be proud of and we will be sure to see more of Singapore teams in the next leg of the MPOC which will be held in the Northern state of Malaysia, Kedah.

*If you like what you saw and what you have experienced in Malaysia, all these do not happen overnight as the speedball scene in Malaysia started in 2004. With a strong local community supporting the local scene and a strong backing from the governing authorities, paintball in Malaysia can only prosper. Can we do the same for Singapore?

The one and only team...

Infernal (Thailand)

Team KU (Japan)

Team Datis (Iran)

Global Gutz (Philippines)

Well... some might say that this is all bullshit and some might disagree with what I am about to write but heck you, you, you and you. You may disagree with my writing and give me that weird look at the field but still I am going to write it whether you like it or not. Not happy with what I have written then go look at yourself in the mirror, that might cause you to commit suicide.

Recently, this thought came to my mind. If you are ask to write down a list of teams and you can only list one team from every country, which team will you choose as the Singapore team? I am pretty certain for Russia we will list the Russian Legion, for the French, it will be the Tons Tons, the English will write the London Nexus, Joy Division will be for the Swedish, Hungary and you will be Budapest Bullets, Germans will have Frankfurt Syndicate, Copenhagen Ducks for the Danish... these are all very well known teams. With the return of Oliver Lang in San Diego Dynasty... we will soon be able to identify a US team. Edmonton Impact has taken the lead for Canada... In Asia, which is where Singapore is... and talking about paintball teams in Asia, we do have a list of pretty significant teams too, for example in Japan, we have Team KU, Iranians will take pride in the accolades of Datis, Infernal will take the number 1 spot for the Thais and in the country of thousand island, Global Gutz is taking the lead amongst the rest. Team Shocker was at its best for Taiwan until it was disbanded. Closer to home... it is tougher for us to identify "the team" for Malaysia, while I would like to put my money on Nemesis Legion for winning most of the tournaments that they have participated in, there are a few other teams which we cannot miss and they are Demonz Red, Raskals, XFox, Macdev Ronin, Delta-Rovers... I would love to see all these teams playing in a common league and fight out for the Champion's title. In Singapore, I am hoping for Red Sevens to be the voice for Singapore paintball since it is the most well travelled team in Singapore and the only team in Singapore to ever win a Champion medal in a PALS event! But surely, it is up for everyone to debate and sized up the team. In 2010, Red Sevens became the first paintball team in Singapore to play in all legs of a PALS series and winning most podium medals in as many paintball tournaments. While some like to brand the team as sandbaggers... it is with no doubt that this sandbagging team has carried the name of Singapore paintball to the rest of the other Asia countries including Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. The future of Singapore paintball is not in the hands of this team as the team continue to age and with time running out for most of these old and fatigue chaps and lady, it is time for the rest to take over this baton. The new horizon awaits for the next Singapore team to shine and carry the torch as the one and only team in the Singapore chapter.

Disclaimer: The writer of this blog is a highly sophisticated idiot who spouts nonsensical jumble of words about Asia paintball. Photos in this blog are shamelessly ripped from the internet and belongs to the rightful owner. Red Sevens is a 5 year old Division 2 team which is bound for Division 1 promotion in 2012 based on the number of playing years.

Singapore Sports Council if you are reading, please help Singapore paintball to be as good as our regional boys and girls!

Team Raskals (Malaysia)

Team X-Fox (Malaysia)

Macdev Ronin (Malaysia)

Nemesis Legion (Malaysia)

Demonz Red (Malaysia)

Red Sevens (Singapore)

Photos from www.residentevilchef.com