I started to gain a curiosity about Paintball Tournaments not too long after I found out how much I enjoy paintballing.

I was getting a little bored of doing the same thing over and over and wanted to bring myself (and friends) into a competition against other players who also enjoy the game of paintball.

Little did I know that there are also rewards for being the winners of the tournaments (and also sometimes second and third place).

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to look at what is needed for the tournaments and how to find them.

Afterall, without being able to take part in them there is no reason to ooh and awe over what “could” be the benefit!

The first goal here is going to be to get all of the Paintball Gear you will need to enter the tournament.

Some places will allow you to rent parts you do not have, but it is highly recommended that you own it; the more used to your gear you are, the better you will be able to compete. Especially in a tournament this is a very important thing to consider.          

The second thing you need to do is decide what type of tournament you wish to look for. Some may argue that it is fine to just pick a game type, number of players, and accept it, but from my experience the more interested in the game I am, the better I will do.

For example, if I am really wanting a game of “Capture the Flag” (CTF) but the only available game I can find at the time is “King of the Hill,” I would rather wait until a CTF game opens up.           

Now that you have chosen the type of game you wish to play, it is time to start looking for the actual Paintball Tournaments. Some things to consider before you even look are the following:

• Paintball Rules – If you do not like certain rules (for example, if you like using Paintball Grenades), it may not be the best choice for you. Look for one that allows the things you want and does not allow things you do not like.



• Field Types – This is another important thing because it all depends on if you like indoor or Outdoor Paintball. If you can not handle being out in the heat for long periods of time, and it is a hot day and an outdoor field, for example, you will only be causing yourself problems.



• Location, Location, Location – If you do not want to spend more time driving to where you play than you do actually playing, this is very important. Generally you can find paintball tournaments near where you live, however this is not the case for everyone. When this happens, it may be required to drive a further distance. As the game continues to grow bigger and bigger it will expand across more areas and in the future you may have closer tournaments.

So now you are prepared for your search for Paintball Tournaments near you. Now it is time for the actual searching! These are the best sources for finding the local tournaments:

• Google! - This is the most comprehensive because just about every place that has tournaments or is known about by anyone will be listed here. To search try very generic things such as “Paintball Tournaments in Dallas” (if you were to live in Dallas – swap it out for your nearest city, and if you do not find any hits try a larger one near you). This will usually bring up many different local choices for you, and then you can research each one to see if they would be a good fit.



• Visit Local Paintball Shops – Although not always true, paintball shops will usually have information on some different (and usually local) Paintball Tournaments.



• As a last resort, use your favorite search engine to search for tournaments in your state. Although they probably will not be local to you, they may still be a good match depending on how important taking part in the tournaments will be for you.

So at this point you have chosen your field and you know more about your choices. Now it is time to look at the following:

• Can you join solo or do you need to join with a team? Some tournaments will require predetermined teams and others will not.



• What is the cost to join? If you are in a team, does this cost include everyone? What all is included with the cost (such as free CO2 refills)?



• What are the rewards (if any)? Are they based on the team splitting them or are they per-person? And how many places win the rewards (such as just first, first and second, etc.)?

By the time you have finished with all of this you are ready to go to your paintball tournament! Hopefully this has helped you with deciding on your field of choice by using informed decisions instead of just choosing a random one. Thank you for reading, and good luck in your tournament(s)!

From Paintball Tournaments back to Paintball Tips

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