Reflections on NAX

     As always, I’ll begin my rambling by offering my gratitude to the CXBL and BuyPBL crew who always do an amazing job preparing for and running the Canadian events. If it weren’t for all of you, many players would be lacking in the opportunities necessary to grow and develop in the world of speedball. While xball remains a mystery to the majority of society, for the many players and spectators, this game is life and thus you fine people provide the needed nourishment for their paint-war hungry souls. 

          Thanks also to the Commando Paintball owners and staff who welcomed us all to their fine facility. It is easy to see that you put your best into maintaining the fields and keeping the grounds tidy and that certainly makes an event more enjoyable for all. 

          You may have noticed that I didn’t write any predictions for NAX. This was for good reason. After event 3 I felt that there had been so many upsets and surprises that this championship could truly belong to anyone. That being said, with the exception of the MXL division, the majority of the competitors in the finals came as no surprise to me. 

Elite Division

Most exciting game to watch – Let’s not play around, the final match between Tremblant Cowboys and Vancouver Thunder was easily the most exciting match. 

 Vancouver's Nate Schroeder and Tremblant's Bryan McKenna

Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

          I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t believe that it would be these two teams fighting for the title this year. Both teams are filled to the brim with professional talent: Tremblant with their line-up of Houston Heat players (PSP) and Vancouver built mainly of self-made Vancouver Vendetta players (NPPL). One could only expect some fancy paint-battles with these two powerhouses on the field. 

 Cowboys' Nick Slowiak and Thunder's Mason Hwu

Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

          I’m going to go out on a limb here and be completely honest. I wanted Vancouver to win this match. These guys play some of the smoothest paintball that I have ever seen. They typically play very strategic, basic paintball. When I say basic, I am referring to their well-planned reliance on the fundamentals of xball. This team hits their bunkers off the breakout, fills key bunkers immediately when a player is compromised, and typically makes educated bumps at the appropriate times. At past events, they have been known to play on smarts not on emotion. And, they have done all of this while being short on players and with very little pit and sideline support. 

          With all that said, Tremblant is also a very strong, smart team who know when it pays to be aggressive. When these players decide to move, they MOVE! Whether it is Chad George in the snake, John Woodley at the X, or Bryan McKenna or Chad Bouchez moving down the Dorito side of the field, they move with intention and they don’t stop until they have achieved what they set out to do. On top of their essential skills on the field, this team has an incredible support and coaching staff who help them to be as successful as possible. 

 Thunder

Photo Credit: BuyPBL

 Cowboys

Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

          As one might expect, the first half of this match was built of some slow points as these two well-matched teams worked to figure out one another’s tendencies.  Vancouver came out on top with a score of 4-1 as the teams switched ends and headed into the second half. Although Vancouver made many bold plays throughout the second half, with Mason Hwu flying down the centre of the field to the X nearly every point, they also suffered a handful of minor penalties which proved costly. Cowboys’ aggressive moves allowed them to bring in a whopping 7 points throughout the second half of the match. Thunder fought back with all they had, seeking to get in a couple of quick points but got into more penalty trouble as time ran down on the clock. Between the two teams, there were 3 points scored in the last minute of the match with two of them going to Vancouver. This left Cowboys with an 8-7 win over team Thunder.

Most surprising game – Undecided

I have replayed all of the matches in my head a thousand times and I still can’t decide which one was the most surprising. I truly expected Medonte and Raiders to be more successful and once again Drummondville showed strength that seemed to be lacking in the beginning of the 2012 season. Also, while I expected Vancouver Thunder to enjoy a victory over Windsor Lockdown, I was surprised by the significant point spread in that match. 

 Medonte's Brandon Arnold, Tom Guest, and Grayden Guy

Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

Raider's Ed Evans

Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

Lockdown's Billy Bernacchia 

Photo Credit: The Catshack Reports

Drummondville's Sacha Dupont-Hebert

        I truly believe that the NAX championships this year were host to the best paintball teams in CXBL history. The weekend proved a feast for my paintball-loving eyes. I also enjoy the spectator involvement that becomes common place at NAX each year. When you feel the shared emotion and excitement with your fellow spectators on the sidelines, the frequent overshooting and occasional temper tantrums on the field become so much more entertaining.

        My congratulations to all NAX competitors! You can’t all win rings but if I had gold stars, there would be one for each of you!

       

Signing off,

The Paintball Wife

Post-season Interview #7 - Mirabel Impact

      This interviewee was first introduced to paintball through a friend’s birthday party at Commando Paintball in Ottawa. It wasn’t long before he bought his own gear and started playing woodsball. At that point, Alistair Macdonell met the owner’s children who had a CX4 franchise called Orleans Fishtiks and began to practice with the team. When they purchased an RXL franchise in 2009, Alistair had the chance to help fill the roster by joining the team.  He moved through the divisions rather quickly as Fishstiks merged with the Montreal based MXL team called Cowboy Kids for the 2010 season. 

        Cowboy Kids had a great season, tying for first place but losing out on medals based on plus/minus. Luckily for Macdonell, his team was able to swap their MXL franchise with Mirabel Impact who had lost much of their core group and were seeking to have a season to rebuild in at the MXL level. After a hard fought season in the CXBL, Alistair and his teammates finished the season just short of making NAX. Financial woes forced the team to disband following the 2011 season leaving Macdonell seeking a new team. 

        Having been in contact with Shawn Monk, the coach of Mirabel Impact, Alistair was graciously offered a spot on the 2012 Impact squad. Mirabel had redeemed themselves winning the 2011 MXL season earning once again a CXBL position. Together with his Impact teammates, while not earning a chance at NAX, Macdonell proved that he deserved a CXBL spot by finishing the 2012 season ahead of Toronto Rockstar and Scarborough Hustle. 

        Prior to this season, Alistair had always been a snake player. When the team came together for the 2012 season, he was moved over to the Dorito side of the field which he describes as a, “hard learning curve having not much experience on that side of the field.” That being said, he learned to like enjoy his new position. Macdonell plans to continue the Xball grind and has plans to seek out a CXBL team to join should Mirabel choose not to come back. He also hopes to play a few PSP events in the 2013 season. Like many of you, he has a passion for the sport that keeps him coming back for more!

 Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless

• What is your general impression of the 2012 Elite standings? Were there any major surprises or did the season finish as expected?

“I was very pleasantly surprised with how Daytona finished in the standings.  I had them pegged to finish 1 spot above/below us but they played with a lot of heart and deserved everything they got.”

• What do you feel was your team’s greatest strength this season?

“I give our coaching staff a lot of props. More often than not the team that gets relegated is the team that is the most disorganized in the pit. Our coach Shawn Monk did a great job of keeping everyone’s egos in check and keeping us ready for the next point.  I think it made the difference in the games we won this year.”

• Impact was one of few teams this season who did not have “help” from PSP or NPPL professional or division 1 competitors. What was it like to play against those athletes with only your local players? Do you feel that playing with and against such players will elevate the skills of Canadian paintball players such as yourself?

“I always enjoy playing against Pros. It’s a great learning experience.  I do however think the league could benefit from limiting the number of Pros per team for future years as It will let teams with less funding compete on a more level playing field.”

• What are you able to take away from the 2012 season that will allow you to develop as a player and as a team throughout the off-season?

“This was the first year I've ever played almost exclusively the Dorito side of the field, so just adding that into my repertoire will be huge when moving forward. As a team this year has been a huge learning experience for a bunch of our players, many of whom now have a full season of CXBL under their belts which will make a big difference next year.”

• This was Impact’s first season (with this roster anyway) as CXBL competitors, having won the Eastern MXL division in the 2011 season. While you won’t be competing at NAX this year, you finished the season ahead of Toronto Rockstar and Scarborough Hustle. Are you pleased with how your team played this season? What are your goals for the 2013 season? 

“At the beginning of this season I think we all expected to make NAX as I would think any team coming into the CXBL would.  Unfortunately, we lost a few key players before the first event due to personal reasons and I think those losses really hurt us.  Nevertheless we had some guys really step it up to fill those gaps in our roster and I think going into next season Impact will be a force to be reckoned with.”

• What was your highlight of the season?

“I’m going to go with our game against Hustle at border battle. It was the first time my parents had ever seen me play and up until then as far as they were concerned paintball was just something that made me quit hockey (big no-no in my house). I think that actually being there at the event and breathing in the atmosphere that the border battle brings really helped them understand what it’s all about.”

• Some had Impact pegged as one of the teams to face potential relegation in the 2012 season. Your team successfully managed wins over Toronto Rockstar and Scarborough Hustle meaning that your CXBL Elite position was safe. Did you and your teammates feel a lot of pressure to prove that you deserved a spot in the CXBL Elite or were you confident from the beginning?  

“I don't think relegation ever crossed anyone’s mind on our team.  We knew we would be the underdogs for the majority of our matches, but that lack of expectation was a big weight lifted off our shoulders.  Sometimes not having that pressure to win every point can really relax your game and make good things happen on the field.”

• Which individual on your own team do you most respect as a player and why?

“I am going to say Marc-Andre Caron. He's possibly the most skilled player I've ever played with. Once he learns to speak English I predict he will be unstoppable!”

• If you had to choose a team most likely to win NAX, who would you choose and why?

“I have to say I think Tremblant will take it this year, but since it’s no fun to just pick the favourite, I’m going to say Cambridge will do much better at NAX than the season standings reflected.  They dropped the ball hard at the last event but I think they'll pull it together for the finals.”

• Is there anything else you would like to add?

“I would like to thank all the guys on my team, our coach Shawn Monk, and our main sponsor Hugo Bigras and the Impact pro shop for making this season possible.  Also shout out to all my brothers on Scrub Life for taking home first in Eastern MXL event 3!”


Alistair, Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions! You are a Canadian inspiration, having moved through the ranks so rapidly and I think you have many seasons of solid xball remaining in your paintball career if you continue to allow your love for the sport to direct you. You have my best wishes for the 2013 season – no matter whom you play for! 

Signing off,
The Paintball Wife

Post-season Interview #6 - Drummondville Daytona

This interviewee has been playing paintball since he was 12 years old. He began his paintball journey playing for fun at a local field called T2 Paintball. Sonny Guenette was at the field so often that he was hired to work on weekends throughout his high school years. Guenette met many nice people at the field and together with his friends decided to put together a team for the last tournament of the Golden Triangle. With that not working out very well, Sonny and Brian Tavares (former CXBL spokesperson) decided to train hard during the winter and gather a better team for the future.  They did exactly that, calling their new team Fury and winning first place overall in the same league the following year.

         

       In the meantime, Guenette got a job working at BuyPBL  and slowly started to get to know the world of paintball. As the Golden Triangle tournaments came to an end, CXBL was just beginning. Sonny was taken under the wing of the former Skorpion family, where he became a member of their pit crew for the first year of CXBL and practiced with them, developing new skills. Guenette then joined Skorpions for their second season in the CXBL. After that, Sonny made a roster change and joined Cowboys, whom he played with for 3 years. With the Cowboys team, he and his teammates had a lot of success. When the creator of Cowboys and many players decided to quit, Guenette made another move to play for Kamikaze. While Sonny was planning on taking this season off to focus on school, Tom from Daytona sought him out and asked him to join the Drummondville squad. 

While Sonny used to play solely the back bunkers, he now likes to make big bumps moving from the back to the front of the field. He is even hoping to get some Gs from the snake side of the field even though he hates that position. Guenette likes to get a good reading of the field before making key bumps. This means that he prefers starting at the back to running out off the break. Throughout his many years being involved in Xball, Sonny has been to NAX many times and also played in the states for World Cup and USPA. He says, “For some reason, I always played for the top team but never got the chance to have the grand prize in my hands!” This year, Guenette has yet another shot at NAX and he says, “I think it could be possible even though we have got a young team and are the underdogs!”

Photo Credit: Charity Matheson

While English is not his first language, Sonny did a fantastic job answering my questions! Thanks for working through the language difference with me, Sonny!

•  What is your general impression of the 2012 Elite standings? Were there any major surprises or did the season finish as expected?

 “The top 4 are exactly what I predicted. There is just one little difference. I thought we would have been fourth. I wasn’t sure about Cowboys - how the 2 teams would gel together and it seems they did good. I’m glad for them because they are my former teammates. I’m kinda surprised that Medonte made it to the final... I would have thought Recon would have had their spot but I guess without Thomas Taylor it was a different team.”

• What do you feel was your team’s greatest strength this season?

 “Our biggest strength was the fact that so many players on this team have never had the chance to go to NAX and they wanted it so bad that they worked their asses off on and off the field to have a chance to compete against the best. As an older CXBL player, I was thrilled to see the effort that was deployed from everybody and I can only admire them :)! Our gelling time since we are from a lot of different backgrounds was short and that also gave us an edge on some older team who might have underestimated us.”

• What are you able to take away from the 2012 season that will allow you to develop as a player and as a team throughout the off-season?

“Much responsibility was given to me and now I know my limits of what I can accomplish. Now I can focus more on some things and some I can let go. This team needed leadership and this is what I will be looking to give as the team gets better and better.”

“As a team we had a quick and aggressive style.... since the division is now national we had to get ourselves slower and patient witch wasn’t easy to do. A lot of practice and going back to basic paintball was needed. Also the communication grew so quickly that it would only lead us to the final.”

• What was your highlight of the season?

 “The 2 important wins of the last event against Thunder and Cambridge were our major highlight and it proved to ourselves that being dedicated to something that you love makes you so much better.”

• Which individual on your own team do you most respect as a player and why?

“I would say Tom the owner /captain/player of the team... why?  Because he can act as any one of the 3 mentioned, before or even during the game. I trust him A lot with his decisions and his connection to the team is so appreciated. I also respect him for taking me out of  “retirement" and giving me the chance to grow as a better player in his organization. A man who can trust without asking for anything in return is a worthy man!”

• If you had to choose a team other than your own as most likely to win NAX, who would you choose and why?

 “Probably Cowboys because the guys from Montreal really want to win it bad since they had their cup stolen last year by Lockdown... and also because the heat guys are pumped up after a big win at MAO.”

•  Daytona surprised a lot of CXBL players and fans at Elite event 3 with wins over Vancouver Thunder and Cambridge Raiders. How did you prepare for these matches prior to the event? What kind of game plan did you have?

“We had a lot of time to speak to each other and we came back to basic paintball. A lot of our players have never played other styles of paintball other than Xball. We had a couple of practices on semi auto with the minding of playing 7 man, slow paintball, and knowing when to make important bumps. The more experienced players took the lead in those practices and calmed down our more excited players. To be honest we practiced our game plan to counter Cambridge but it looks like it worked out great against Thunder also. A clean game was needed to conquer against both teams. That’s why we had to stay out of the box. Cambridge played as a slow team as well against us. They tried to be like us and I guess it worked out pretty well.”

• The Elite teams coming from the Eastern Conference tend to move down the field quicker and more aggressively than the many Central teams. How do you feel that this affected the outcome of your matches this season?

“Like I said, we had many practices to slow us down to be able to compete against slower teams but if needed we will bring those crazy fast moves and see how it plays out at NAX. We aren’t afraid to try all sorts of crazy stuff. We also have a coach now that will be able to calm us down in the pit. We sometimes get too much adrenaline that the pit also becomes a mosh pit of energy.”

•  It looks as though your team will face Medonte Ntwo Factor first at NAX. You managed a win over Medonte at Border Battle but their team has come out strong, winning every match since then. What do you feel that you and your teammates need to do to secure a win against this team?

“If they became better, well I think they need to look at us and learn from us. We grew so much this season without having a free win over Rockstar. They will be crushed down on their first match. That might give them a chance to come back stronger for the rest of NAX. They are on a momentum and we are looking forward to blowing up that moment. This young team is going to play with their emotion and we will play with our head and heart giving all that we’ve got. This will be an exciting match to see.  A lot of blood and tears will be left on the battle ground. They could come back from their last game against us on the second half but now we aren’t only a first half team. We have got our stuff together and if they think they will be able to make a comeback, well sorry, this isn’t going to happen, I can promise you that.”

•  Is there anything else that you would like to add?

“Thank for taking time to promote the sport!”

Sonny, Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I wish you and your Daytona teammates a good run at NAX!

Signing off,

The Paintball Wife