PaintballX3 Magazine PaintballX3 Euro, March 2012 Issue | Page 56
We continue our �Rule of #1�s� this month
with the 2011 Division 2 Champion,
Izmir Collision. At the first event of 2011
this team came out of nowhere to take
on some of the best Division 2 teams to
win the first leg. This was just a start
of great things to come for this team
hailing from Turkey. X3 Euro caught
up with team captain Volkan Bagci and
talked about who Izmir is and where
they are headed. PBX3E: Izmir Collision is a brand
new team to the Millennium
Series. How did you get started? Volkan Bagci- Izmir Angelpark Paintball
Club, as the official name is in Turkey
has a paintball background since 2006.
It began at first only as a team in
the Turkish league (TPL). The only people still involved from back then are the owner Kerem Barkul and Eray hQDOG� In 2009 Kerem wanted to learn and build
his team to become the best team in
the league. So he came in contact with
Volkan Bagci and Stian Berntsen from
Oslo Menace. Since Volkan is from a
Turkish heritage, it was a natural choice
to look to him for guidance. Stian and
Volkan played with the team for two full
seasons and they won their first title in
the TPL together. In 2011 the team won
4 of 5 possible first places in Turkey.
The evolution of the team has been
phenomenal. The journey from trying to
get to the finals back in Turkey in 2009,
to winning everything there is to win in
Turkey in 2011, and getting overall first