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You know, I don't know how many of
you out there consider yourselves serious tournament
'ballers, but it should come as no surprise that that's
about all the Paintball-half of my brain thinks about,
day-in and day-out. It's been that way for, errr,
about 14 years or so I guess...ever since I played
in my first tournament, with my first team. But naturally,
I didn't start my Paintball career as a tournament
'baller. I played locally, had lots of fun, and then
only after my feet were already wet in our sport did
I find myself throwing together a team to enter that
first tournament. Seems like eons ago to me, but it
was fun, and I remember it like it was yesterday.
As many of you now know, my long-time
team Saberwolves finally folded in the wake of last
year's Chicago NPPL. I say "finally" because,
by the beginning of last year's season, its downfall
was inevitable. It was a bitter pill for me to swallow,
being a founding member of a team with which I had
won so many events, had so many successes, and taken
home so many great memories. But as time progressed
with that team, I found myself realizing that games
with them had lost the single most important quality
I had ever longed for in Paintball - enjoyment. The
feeling I had on that day that I played my first tournament,
the feeling that I had just taking the field with
those guys, just hanging with them between games,
just playing for the biggest reward we could grasp:
fun.
That's how my first day on the tournament
scene felt, and on that day I became a die-hard tournament
'baller. Not after, as my experiences grew and my
talent as a paintballer increased exponentially, and
not before, as I anticipated what it might be like
to win. During the game, when it was fun, was what
I longed for. And inside I was broken, last year,
not when I realized that it was a feeling I had finally
lost, but when I realized it was a feeling I could
not regain as a Saberwolf. The team was dying. One
of my father's favorite sayings is that sometimes
it's time to just "take two steps back and punt."
So that's what I did - I started over. I started over
to build a team with the Chemistry I had felt on that
first day of tournament 'ball, and that is integral
to the success of any team in Paintball.
Now, I know that
was a long intro, but I felt like sharing it with
you so that you could see where I was coming from
in writing this month's article. What I'm going
to do this month, and for the following two, is
outline the process of building a team from scratch,
building on its strengths and shaving away its
weaknesses to reach peak potential, and how to
avoid the all-too-common pitfalls that lead to
teams' demise. I assure you I have the experience
to discuss it with you here, because I've been
through the entire cycle...from that first day
on the tournament field to my last day as a Saberwolf,
to my most recent days with the new Adrenalin
teams that I have helped to build. I've seen this
relate to more teams than I care to mention, and
I've gotten so good at analyzing the personalities
of existing teams that I can just about predict,
down to a "T", when a certain team is
going to split or who's going to jump ship first...and
why.
Building your own personal dream
team - it's a tough topic, and when you haven't been
there it can be hard to know how to handle it. Hopefully,
with this series, I'll be able to help you through
it by sharing with you some of my own successes and
mistakes, and letting you learn from my experiences.
So let's get started with this month's discussion:
"From Scratch to Scrubs...going from 'no team'
to 'team'."
Pop quiz, hotshot:
define "homeostasis." Give up? Okay,
homeostasis can be described as the means by which
an organism maintains a stable internal environment
in order to survive. Sounds easy enough, don't
it? Well, give that some thought. Take your body,
for example...how many things do you have going
on all at once? Lots. Now, how many of those things
operate independently of anything else in your
body? None. So what happens when a single system
decides to go on the fritz? Plainly put, it affects
the organism as a whole...because you depend on
each of your systems to interact and function
correctly in order for your entire system to flourish
as a whole. That's a complicated business you're
talking about there, no matter how simple the
concept may seem.
A Paintball team is an organism all
in itself, which means it's either thriving (surviving)
or it's dying. We throw the term "Paintball team"
around fairly loosely in this business, but I'm convinced
that there are only a select few units out there who
have really been successful at making it work in its
truest form. The first step to building a successful
team, in my mind, is understanding that the Paintball
team is not nearly as simple a concept as we may think,
but it is, in fact, an organism of sorts that, if
it's not put together correctly and if it's not maintained
correctly afterwards, will not survive.
 Once
that's soaked into your skull, the search and assembly
begins. You're going to need a plan, because in my
experience it's nearly impossible to color in a space
unless you at least have a good vision of what that
space needs to look like. Likewise, if you haven't
decided what it is you want from your team, how can
you expect to put it together? Where do you want to
compete? How serious do you want to be? How often
do you want to practice? There are a million possible
variables; outline the ones that are important to
you and draw the boundaries that your squad will need
to fill.
Naturally, you're
going to need players - the metaphorical organs
and systems of your living team. The two big questions
that I'm always hearing about recruitment revolve
around two things: advertising and choosing.
First things first: where do you
get started? Well, this is easy so I'll be blunt...LOCAL!
This is a no-brainer; you will be better off if you
can, as much as possible, keep a roster that is as
geographically close to one another as possible. There
are several reasons for this, which I'll discuss in
more detail next month, but for now just take my word
for it.
Secondly, how should you advertise?
Well there are two big ways I can think of regarding
this. The first is to use the internet; it is saturated
with Paintball sites and message boards that players
can use to post classified ads looking for other players
with which to form a team. There are many, many Paintball
sites dedicated primarily to regional action - don't
forget to utilize these on your way to the more glamorous
boards such as P8ntballer.com, WARPIG and such.
The other way to advertise is actively.
When you go out to fields and stores, talk to people
and let them know what you're trying to do. Look around
at what you see; are there players that interest you?
Are there players with loads of talent potential who
have never played on the tourney level before but
who might be interested? Are there younger players
with that competitive fire in their eyes, or other
players who fit the bill you're looking to fill? Basically,
give it some thought and get the word out any way
you can...and then set up a first practice so you
can start the next stage of the affair: choosing your
teammates.
There are many factors integral to
the success of a team, not the least of which would
be the relative groundings of the various players.
I would say there are two things to screen/look for
in Potentials that I will list in order of importance
from LEAST important to MOST: Ability (actual), Ability
(potential), and Attitude.
Actual
ability is, plainly speaking, a player's "game-rating"
at any given moment, ie, how good or bad a player
is right now. In terms of the long-term success
of a team, actual ability is the least important
characteristic of any given player. The reason
for this is that it's the most transient characteristic,
period. It's the one that's going to change, and
if you do your homework correctly and the player
has the right stuff, it's going to change for
the better.
This is probably one of the biggest
mistakes made by captains who are setting up their
teams and gauging who to keep, who to boot, and who
they want or don't want on their unit. It's the mistake
of gauging players by their actual ability, rather
than by their potential, their talent, or their attitude.
It's an easy mistake to make because the latter factors
require forethought and some insight that's not always
easy to come by, whereas actual ability is quick and
simple to judge; "Wow, he's good!" or "Dude,
he sucks!" But believe me, it's shallow, and
if you make the mistake of focusing only on this,
you'll be sorry in the long run...as many a team simply
saturated with talent has found out the hard way.
In terms of game,
potential ability is the thing to focus on. This
is something I realized four or five years ago
when, during a rec-ball day that consisted primarily
of tournament players... A 12-year-old girl who
happened to be playing for the very first time
came scurrying into my bunker and asked me what
she should do. I was in the middle of a rather
heated firefight with a guy in a bunker up ahead
of me, so I somewhat jokingly said to her, "Just
run up there to that bunker, look over the top
of it, point your gun at the guy in it, and pull
the trigger until you see a ball break."
Now, I fully expected her to say something like
"Yeah, right" and we'd share a good
laugh as she politely declined...but, much to
my surprise, she said (without skipping a beat)
"OK!"
After I got over the initial shock
of her answer, I thought, "What the hell?"
and gave her some cover fire as I sent her on her
task. She ran full speed up to that bunker, looked
right over the top of it, aimed her gun at the player
inside it, and he came walking off the field with
a great big yellow hit in the middle of his goggles
(which I suspect was covering the shocked look in
his eyes). She was a tiger. That was the single greatest
impression that any player has ever made on me in
the history of my personal Paintball experience...and
I remember thinking to myself that if I were looking
to put together a team right then, she'd be the first
player I'd try to recruit.
Why? Well that's easy, because if
you have a player with the potential to be great,
that player can be taught to realize his or her potential...whereas
a mediocre player who's already reached his/her potential
will hold you back in the long run no matter how good
they might appear spur-of-the-moment. Fear is the
#1 thing to look for; look for those players who exhibit
an absolute absence of fear, for it is the #1 enemy,
the principle hindrance to players reaching their
peaks. Once you've got your fearless ones, look for
the ones in that bunch who are always thinking...the
ones who are always playing chess in their heads,
always trying to figure out what to do, what the solution
to any given problem on the field might be. Look for
the players who realize their mistakes, who aren't
interested in cutting corners, and who want to realize
their potential. These are the keys, and hopefully
you're beginning to see it.
Lastly,
we've got attitude, unarguably the MOST IMPORTANT
characteristic to the team player. Players with
good attitudes thrive off of each other and can
turn a team into a simply joyous thing to be part
of. A single player with a bad attitude, however,
can be like a serious ailment, and two or more
players with bad attitudes on a team can be like
a cancer (and often are).
You may still be wondering why I
focused on the enjoyment I felt on my first day as
a tournament 'baller, up above. Well the reason is
simple, because no matter how serious you take this
game and no matter what level you play it on, be it
the NPPL, MSPA, PanAm or just some local throw-down
series, the bottom line for each of us is fun. If
you're not having fun, both as individuals and as
a team, it'll no longer be worth it for you and everything
will suffer as a result. And a couple of players with
bad attitudes on a team can be like vacuum cleaners
for the fun-factor, sucking it completely out of the
air until, before you know it, you've got an entire
team of players dreading getting together.
I've seen it happen all over the
place...and it's likely you have too. At any given
Paintball tournament, the majority of the time you
spend with your teammates will not be on the field,
it'll be off the field, at the hotel, under your tent,
at the restaurant, in the dead box, etc. You need
to be able to get along with 'em, and I dare say that
across the world your best teams are made up by those
players who are friends first, and teammates second.
All teams will experience bad times,
disappointments, or trying circumstances. These are
the catalysts for the cancers caused by bad attitudes,
whereas teams whose players develop a close-knit group
of positive support can more often than not be better
for their negative experiences. They can learn from
them, they can help each other learn from them, they
can (key word) improve. The opposite is team death.
On the Saberwolves, there arose an
element that needed to constantly complain, place
blame, point fingers, and make excuses. It was difficult
for the entire team because of the differences in
attitude. You can't have a lizard who's left arm wants
to go left and who's right arm wants to go right,
you've got to have an entire unit with a common goal
in mind and who's willing to work together to bring
it about, no matter what. And that entire unit needs
to be happy about it. You've got to have a team with
the same core mindset, the same core attitude, and
the ability to get along with one another in putting
it together. I've said it before and I'll say it again...attitude
is everything.
Once
you've got your plan out into the open, and your
players lined up for the picking, the last thing
to do is solidify your team's roster. Now I want
to remind you of the beginning of this article:
Define "homeostasis."
The team you're trying to build will
be a living entity, and we have discussed the parts
you'll use to build it, but it'll be up to you how
it's put together. The players will need to have a
common goal, a common belief, and a common work ethic
at the very least. If you've drawn an outline in advance,
you'll have an easier time coloring it in, believe
me. First of all, start with the entire pool of players
up for consideration, and make it known what you will
expect from your team in terms of commitment: time,
expenses, financial expenses, etc.
Eliminate from consideration those
players who won't be able to meet those commitments.
This will leave you with a smaller pool of players,
and you move on from there. Next, eliminate from consideration
those players who don't have the attitude that will
help the team remain stable. Once again, this will
leave you with a new, smaller group of players to
consider. From them, eliminate those players who,
despite having the attitude you're looking for, you
don't feel have the potential ability that you want
in your team's members. Finally, you'll be left with
players whose only practical differences will be in
actual ability. Now, finally, you'll be able to choose
based upon who you feel plays the best at this moment.
Simple, eh?
Well, if only it was so simple, but
like many things, building and maintaining a team
is something you'll get better at with experience.
A good thing to keep in mind is that, as you make
decisions, keep the team's welfare as a whole in mind.
This makes it much easier to keep things in perspective,
because there's nothing personal involved, just business.
And once you've got your team nailed to a roster,
it's off to the races to develop yourselves.
- What are its goals?
- What commitments will be expected
of the players?
- Start local and branch outward
from there
- Use the Internet
- Use yourself
- Use a process of elimination
for each player
- Can the player meet the necessary
commitments?
- Does the player have the right
attitude?
- Does the player have the necessary
potential?
- How good is the player right
now?
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It's
the science of things. You need to have an understanding
of your team if you're going to work together like
a well-oiled machine. Justin "Skirt-Lifter"
Owen shows us all how to get along...
Scratch
patchwork
