editorial
From the Prez
issue 59
10/2013
Welcome
Something to Build On
Each year for more than two decades the World Cup has been one
of those few events that brings hope
for the coming season. It’s the
event where more new products are
introduced to players than any other. It’s the place where tournament
paintball teams of all skill levels
travel from all parts of the world to
compete, socialize and vacation with
their peers. And it’s one of the few
opportunities for fans of the game
of paintball to meet the top teams,
players and companies in the game.
But even with all that said, this
year’s event seemed to have even
more. More teams, more vendors,
more new products, more innovation, more surprises and more optimism for what is coming in our
future. In terms of team numbers
this was the largest PSP World Cup
in more than a decade, with 2,721
players from 35 countries and 400plus teams. The number of spectators and fans appeared to be at a
ten-year high as well.
For me the best reason for optimism
was the impressive number of new
products, new campaigns and new
technologies. These are the telltale signs of an industry and game
that is coming out of its six year
slumber. Companies like KEE, Dye,
Valken, Planet Eclipse, Empire and
Tippmann don’t spend the money
and effort to innovate, design, and
create at this level unless they are
seeing signs that point to a brighter near future. And mid-level and
10
smaller companies don’t tie up th
late season resources with new
products like goggles, barrel kits,
apparel, marker accessories, etc.,
unless they believe there are goo
things coming for next year.
It was great to see an underdog
team like X-Factor win the pro div
sion of the World Cup. It was grea
to see fans waiting in line to get
autographs. It was great to see a
event with 400-plus teams. But th
most encouraging take-away from
the 2013 PSP World Cup for me w
the obvious show of confidence fr
the industry’s most influential com
panies and people.
This year’s PSP World Cup is some
thing to build on. And we haven’t
had that in a long time.
Thanks for reading!
John Amodea
Editor/President
PaintballX3, LLC
paintbal