2008 Woodie Awards
Paintball club eyes comeback
Nick O'Malley, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 12/2/08 Section: News
After their recent third-place finish in the National College Paintball Association (NCPA) tournament in Maryland, the University of Massachusetts Paintball Club is continuing to project itself - along with the game of paintball - as legitimate.
With 15 members on the current roster, the group is as strong as ever, placing in the top four at two NCPA events this year. However, this has not always been the case.
For many years, the Paintball Club was a Registered Student Organization (RSO), but the group said it suffered from a bad transition in leadership during the 2006-07 academic year, which led to the group's unraveling.
The Paintball Club lost its RSO status and all funding it once had, entering the 2008 fall semester with a $300 debt to the school. Since then, the team was forced to regroup.
"Our past president had too much going on at the time," said Paintball Club Vice President Eric Chi. "And the transition to the most recent president basically forced us to start again."
Starting from nothing was not easy for the club, members said. With no school support, the group had to operate as financially independent.
"We basically got no funding this year," Chi said. "Everything from hotels to the fees to the paintballs came out of pocket."
The performance in Maryland was a huge step for the players as they attempt to establish the program as one of the best in the region.
Facing off against teams like Boston University, Rutgers, and the University of Maryland, the UMass team advanced to the final round of the NEIC tournament. The team eventually placed third behind Navy and Northeastern.
The third-place finish was important in confirming the team's status compared to other teams nationwide. Members said it is particularly encouraging to the team that, as a group not financially supported by the University, it was able to face, and defeat, many teams that had much larger budgets.
"Many of the schools are in the same situation as us but there are a select few that get lots of money," Chi said. "Some schools pay for everything. I've heard that some schools get up to $30,000 from their schools."
With 15 members on the current roster, the group is as strong as ever, placing in the top four at two NCPA events this year. However, this has not always been the case.
For many years, the Paintball Club was a Registered Student Organization (RSO), but the group said it suffered from a bad transition in leadership during the 2006-07 academic year, which led to the group's unraveling.
The Paintball Club lost its RSO status and all funding it once had, entering the 2008 fall semester with a $300 debt to the school. Since then, the team was forced to regroup.
"Our past president had too much going on at the time," said Paintball Club Vice President Eric Chi. "And the transition to the most recent president basically forced us to start again."
Starting from nothing was not easy for the club, members said. With no school support, the group had to operate as financially independent.
"We basically got no funding this year," Chi said. "Everything from hotels to the fees to the paintballs came out of pocket."
The performance in Maryland was a huge step for the players as they attempt to establish the program as one of the best in the region.
Facing off against teams like Boston University, Rutgers, and the University of Maryland, the UMass team advanced to the final round of the NEIC tournament. The team eventually placed third behind Navy and Northeastern.
The third-place finish was important in confirming the team's status compared to other teams nationwide. Members said it is particularly encouraging to the team that, as a group not financially supported by the University, it was able to face, and defeat, many teams that had much larger budgets.
"Many of the schools are in the same situation as us but there are a select few that get lots of money," Chi said. "Some schools pay for everything. I've heard that some schools get up to $30,000 from their schools."
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