2010 Prize packages announced!
Please see registration page for divisions and details.
AZPPL is pleased to announce
January 15, 2010 – The Arizona Paintball Players League (AZPPL) is pleased to announce the creation of a network of affiliate regional tournament leagues that, along with the PSP, share the goal of introducing the "RaceTo" format to players throughout the country.
These affiliated leagues will work together to provide a consistent experience for players across leagues and divisions, as well as create a universal player ranking in conjunction with the APPA that fits both the regional and national levels. Over time, this system will provide a national ranking for teams at every level across the United States, allowing a player to compare his/her team to those playing in other leagues on the other side of the country. As this system grows, the ability to rank teams will extend to ranking individual players. For the first time, the sport will have a true national ranking for both categories, enabling players to measure themselves against competitors.
The affiliate leagues heading the 2010 Unified National and Regional RaceTo Format include:
Ryan Bosch, Arizona Paintball Players League (AZPPL), www.theazppl.com
Larry Motes, Carolina Field Owners Association (CFOA) Tournament Series, www.thecfoa.com
John Smith, Central Florida Paintball Series (CFPS), www.cfpsevents.com
Jeff Stein, New England Hurricanes
Lane Wright, Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP), www.pspevents.com
Carl & Karen Bortol and Greg Pauley, Vicious Series, www.pbnation.com
Mike Hinman, West Coast Paintball Players League (WCPPL), www.wcppl.com
By partnering with these leagues and implementing player rankings, the sport of paintball will be unified from top to bottom, coast to coast. This network will continue to pursue expansion across the country with the ultimate goal of creating a more unified sport.
Download Map
2010 Unified National and Regional Race To Format Schedule |
| January 23 - 24, 2010: CFPS Event #1 |
| February 20 - 21, 2010: AZPPL Event #1 |
| February 20 - 21, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #1 |
| February 27 - 28, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Queen City Masters |
| March 6 - 7, 2010: CFPS Event #2 |
| March 6 - 7, 2010: WCPPL Event #1 |
| March 19 - 21, 2010: PSP Phoenix Open |
| March 27 - 28, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Dirty South Open |
| April 10 - 11, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #2 |
| April 17 - 18, 2010: CFPS Event #3 |
| April 24 - 25, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Tarheel Open and AZPPL Event #2 |
| May 1 - 2, 2010: Vicious Series Event #1 |
| May 15 - 16, 2010: WCPPL Event #2 |
| May 22 - 23, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #3 |
| May 29 - 30, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 River JAM |
| May 29 - 30, 2010: CFPS Event #4 |
| June 5 - 6, 2010: Vicious Series Event #2 |
| June 24 - 27, 2010: PSP Chicago Open |
| June 26 - 27, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Carolina Classic |
| July 9 - 10, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #4 |
| July 17 - 18, 2010: CFPS Event #5 |
| July 17 - 18, 2010: WCPPL Event #3 |
| July 24 - 25, 2010: Vicious Series Event #3 |
| August 7 - 8, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Atomic FallOut |
| August 13 - 15, 2010: PSP Mid-Atlantic Open |
| September 11 - 12, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Dog Daze Challenge |
| September 11 - 12, 2010: CFPS Event #6 |
| September 11 - 12, 2010: WCPPL Event #4 |
| September 18 - 19, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #5 |
| September 18 - 19, 2010: Vicious Series Event #4 |
| October 2 - 4, 2010: AZPPL Event #3 |
| October 20 - 24, 2010: PSP World Cup |
| November 6 - 7, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-2 Homecoming |
| November 13 - 14, 2010: CFOA RaceTo-X Event #6 |
| November 13 - 14, 2010: WCPPL Event #5 |
| December 4 - 5, 2010: AZPPL Event #4 |
The heat is ON.
In the southwest, we have adapted to survive in an environment of extremes. With so much going on in the world today we continue the battle to build, sustain and prove that this league will succeed. Day in and day out paintball athletes sweat across Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada. Remaining dedicated to the sport in a continuing fight to press on and bring their team to the podium even as the world all around them falls further into dismay.
Today more than ever, every dollar, every asset and every ounce of free energy are being more scrutinized than ever before. Teams and sponsors alike are cutting their fat to run leaner, faster and better. The responsibility on the individual player rises; making the purpose of this league all the more important and relative in our new world of change. The AZPPL remains committed to the paintball athlete, to provide the best service for economic dollar value.
The AZPPL has become an official recognized partner of the Paintball Sports Promotions league as an official Xball tournament circuit, making it the first in Arizona’s history to have this type of national recognition.
In Event 2 the AZPPL unveiled an electronic scoreboard, offered aerial photography and continued improvement of operations and remained committed to bring the State of Arizona a real league.
Event 3 : Tucson Arizona : Disruptive Paintball Field.
Owner Ryan Lovato made a promise to bring tournament paintball back to Tucson Arizona when he acquired Paintball Headquarters and their Sudden Impact field a year ago. Since then he has arguably improved the field conditions ten fold, allowing for an environment that competitive paintball athletes can grow in as well as retrofitting the existing site to better accommodate a local and regional event. With the help of the AZPPL, the first tournament in Tucson since 2005 will take place on the 20th of September 2009.
The Lovato family is making every effort possible to help provide the best tournament environment and conditions for Event 3 including adding parking, adding new covered seating and regulation 5-man format field sizes.
The Paintball Athlete
Dear n00bs.
You see them everyday at your local field. Gearing up with some brand new gear they do not know how to use. A field layout they do not really understand. A dream of one day being on the cover of a magazine they just started reading. You look at them and grin for they do not know the hard and frustrating road ahead. The road a Paintball Athlete walks. As difficult or more than any other athlete, but with added complications just to keep it interesting: long distance travel, constant lack of money, paint problems, marker problems, that angry guy on the team problem and least favorite and most infuriating, ref problems over technicalities that seem to be changing on a monthly basis because some lawyer yahoo decided it was best. Then you ask yourself, why did I do it? Was it worth it? The time, money and sacrifice?
If you are a Paintball Athlete, then the answer is a quick yes. You understand the sacrifice needed to play this sport. The long hours of practice, planning and loads of money thrown into what seems a black hole because it’s probably why you’re here in the first place. To test who you really are and prove it to others.
At the end of the day we’ve all heard why it’s worth it. We’ve all heard the cliché agg saying people rep in their signatures or on the inside pages of random paintball monthly. But you, the Paintball Athlete truly understand that emotion, that raw feeling that leaves a longing desire for you to return to. No matter how wasteful it may seem – the urge to compete and prove your skills over another man to no matter what end.
As this sport matures, that distant date somewhere in the early 80s when some nerds somewhere starting shooting each other with forestry markers, the bar of what it takes to compete raises with it. Throughout the industry the pros will tell you that the major factors of success beyond natural talent and money or connections is athleticism.
A Paintball Athlete is not on WoW in their free time (at least not most of them… hopefully). Their at their gym pumping iron, running laps at a track in the early morning or late night between their day job; their putting in the overtime at work to pay for the rush ticket to Florida; their explaining to their friends and family why they have to miss the birthday party, wedding, reunion, anniversary; their practicing the boring drills, the snap shooting, the lame tedious repetitive actions that MAKE paintball athletes. Above all, a Paintball Athlete is an individual capable of dedication and sacrifice.
And that dedication and sacrifice starts here with your local league. It’s hard to jump into a national event; after you just bought that new gun you do not understand and play on a field that you understand less. The local league is here for you, prospective player. To help you make the conversion from n00b to Paintball Athlete. Find a local team and jump in, show your scene what you have, because we’re waiting to see it.
How the AZPPL helps the sport of paintball grow.
In Arizona’s past developing a paintball team or starting a paintball team has been very difficult. A study conducted by the Hellcats Paintball Organization over a period of 24 months found that the average new Arizona paintball team statistically has a 90% chance of failing, disbanding or dissolving within 6 months of its founding. Aside from obvious reasons such as finding/having money, time or talent; teams need a center to compete. Scrimmaging at local fields is great, but when it comes to taking it to the next level a team needs to get out and play cohesive tournament circuits (tournaments that have 3+ events in 1 annual-season).
In years prior to the AZPPL it was required that a team waits for a random local tournament to pop up. Which do occur, however, they are infrequent and usually cancel because of lack of support. These tournaments are also more for fun and less for competitive paintball. These local tournaments are usually hosted by an established team work well for people who want to experience the game but do little to really help serious teams push themselves. They are also harder to regulate as far as player/team classes or divisions go and usually end up sand-bagged to a point that no new team or division 4 team could ever win.
The only other option was to travel out of state to play in regional tournament systems like the XPSL or snag a local event when it comes by. These are very expensive ventures for a new team to take on without any real support or without the proper players to do so.
When a new team travels to California or places with higher paintball competitive to play an entry level event such as a Rookie XPSL or D4 5-man PSP the learning curve becomes incredibly steep. California, Florida and other paintball major paintball centers benefit from a large base of local competitive league circuits before they ever get to Regional Events. Therefore their teams and players seem to have an automatic edge that Arizona teams in the past have found difficult to compensate for.
The AZPPL provides a local, costs effective approach for new teams to get started, playing a season in a D4 environment with consistent events, format and teams to learn and compete against. A team that spends a season in the AZPPL grinding against other D4 teams will be well prepared to hit the D4 5-man in a larger regional or national circuit both with performance and finances the following season. Existing teams can use the D4 controlled league as a entry-level ground for their farm teams that sustain and help keep their mainstay D3+ teams alive. It is the perfect niche for a new paintball team to enter and since it is now available, the teams that continue to grow and start will have a better chance of lasting more than 6 months.
By having an on-going local tournament league year after year, more paintball teams can start, grow and prosper in the Southwest Region without risking too much money. This over time will lead to more paintball teams in Arizona and will greatly benefit all related industries which will help paintball become more mainstream and sustainable in our region.
