54
10
TonTon Flingueurs:
Laurent Hamet and
Jean Louis Vie founded
the TonTon Flingeuers
in 1991 making this the longest running paintball team in history with the
same owner/founder. Although the
team name has been changed to Team
TonTon and Toulouse TonTons over the
years, the team’s structure, ownership
and foundation has remained the same
for 23 years. In France and mainland
Europe the TonTons, as they are commonly known, won dozens of events
in their early years, although largely
against lesser competition than they
would face later. When they did come
to the U.S. off-and-on in the ‘90s they
had mixed results. Their best showing
was 4th place in the 1999 Dallas Open
June 2014
February 2014
ten-man Pro bracket. The TonTons
probably have done their best work in
recent years. In 2013 they won two
Millennium Series CPL (Pro) events and
the season title, as well as placing 7th,
8th and 9th in the PSP Pro RaceTo Format. And they did win a Millennium Series title back in 2006 as well, but they
did it without winning a single event.
But that’s the TonTons’ way--longevity,
consistency and patience.
Other TonTons notes of interest: We
debated placing XSV here in this 10th
spot instead of the TonTons. But we
ultimately decided that the TonTons,
while never as dominating as XSV at
any point in their history, had longevity
and a solid 20 year record of winning
and placing on their side.