Team Blitz Pump Day 2010

Author: Eugene Kim

You may have seen our name floating around on the Internet and on team lists for some of the more highly anticipated PUMP events of 2010.

Blitz is a new pump team with many old faces. Many of us have been in and around the pump community for years now. We’ve all put in our time and have made many lasting friendships playing paintball the “old school” way. We can’t help but notice that recently (in the last 4-5 years) many more people have become interested in what we do. I’ve heard many different reasons for this phenomenon such as the sluggish economy, a general push away from semi tournament scene into options like scenario and pump, or just the notion that pump offers a way to improve your skill set in paintball.

No matter the reason, we know why we continue to play pump. We play because it is competitive, challenging and most importantly fun! The pump community is also a very close knit group of generally good natured people. Personally, several of the best things about playing pump are being around those people who you trust and respect.

As we get deeper into 2010 and as the pump tournament season starts in full swing, we hope that pump continues to get the recognition it deserves from the general paintball community as a legitimate, viable form of playing paintball. We, along with our generous sponsors, want to help spread the word and create a pump-friendly environment for players to try out pump for the first time or get a different aspect of pump play that they may not be accustomed to.

That brings us to the first annual Blitz Pump Day 2010! This event is scheduled for the summer of 2010 (tentatively June) at the famous Hollywood Sports Park (HSP), in Bellflower California. We are hoping to draw a diverse group of people to this event by offering a unique blend of tournament style pump play in a non-aggressive, non-stressful environment. Those of you who play tournaments regularly or organize for tournament level teams know the amount of stress and potential anxiety that goes into playing in a large, regional tournament such as OSC and NPPL. Our event is aimed at diffusing the pressure on players and teams so that we can all have a good time. On the flip side we have all been to other “pump days” in which any number of pumpers gather and just go out and play recball for the day. Although this is fun, it is so removed from tournament ball that it takes away from the competitive side of pump. Instead, Blitz will be coordinating with HSP to get the entire event on the Stadium Field so we can run timed, tournament style games on a tournament style airball field. We will be setting up a specific course on the field during the day for the Pump Competition in which people can display their skills in areas such as Accuracy and Run ‘n’ Gunning. Points will be awarded and the best of the best will get some great prizes at the end of the day! Most importantly, we hope to show players of all skill levels what pump is about and specifically that tournament level pump can be very fun and rewarding.

We want to stress, especially for beginners, that all players will be separated into appropriate teams based on experience to ensure fairness throughout the day. We know what it’s like to get pounded by players better and more experienced than us. We have all been “newbies” at some point in time. Our goal is to ensure everyone comes away from this event with a deeper appreciation for pump, not a dozen unnecessary welts and bruises. For more experienced players, be sure that you’ll get your share of competition. Team Blitz is always up for a good dose of healthy competition!

Thanks to our principle sponsor PaintballGateway.com, we will also be able to supply FULL pump setups to players who don’t own pumps but have always wanted to try! These setups will be in limited supply so anyone interested will have to pre-register for the event. Get to the field early, try out a state of the art pump marker and play for fun and bragging rights!

Off the field we are planning a Blitz Raffle where players can purchase raffle tickets for prizes ranging from marker parts, masks, soft goods, paint and more. A Blitz Yard Sale will be available for anyone looking for some great deals on “pre-owned” parts and gear. Finally, we hope to have our several of our sponsors such as Xternal.com (custom paintball jerseys) be available for questions and quotes for anyone interested in getting professionally geared up for pump!

Again, we are looking to offer the pump community and the general paintball community here in Southern California a safe, friendly environment to give organized pump a try. We at team Blitz will be there to answer any questions, give advice on the field and make sure that everyone has a good time.

If you are interested more information will be posted on our website www.TeamBlitzPaintball.webs.com and our Facebook page (TeamBlitzPaintball) in the following months. We will also have sign ups available on PBNation and at HSP and the PaintballGateway store. We look forward to seeing all you pumpers and soon-to-be pumpers out on the field in June!