First Major
Tournament Preparations:....
have several key things that the whole team should do and have to better
prepare themselves for every situation thrown at them at the tournament.
.. ..
Now I am assuming you already paid your entry fee before the
cutoff date, setup your hotel reservations (confirmed them a few times), bought
your airplane tickets, rental car, etc.
I’m talking to you about the things as a player what you need to be
prepared for this huge tournament.
.. ..
Two weeks before the tournament I suggest having a mock type
tournament (big scrimmage) or maybe even a local tournament in the same format
that you plan on playing. There you will
work out any bugs with your team and be prepared for the tournament. Now the weekend before the tournament I
suggest taking that weekend off from playing but go to the field if you need to
make sure your equipment is up and running and fixed properly. Then go home, clean all of your stuff out if
need be. Now the week of the tournament
I suggest not doing anything stupid like jumping out of a golf cart, rough
housing, lifting weights, or anything like that.
.. ..
Now we are in the week that the tournament starts. I would check the event website the whole
week before the tournament to make sure nothing important changes. Sometimes they post the schedule which may
change and sometimes they even post the field layouts. Now if you are really organized, I suggest
filling out all of the insurance waivers online and paying your membership fees
before the tourney.
.. ..
You are edging closer to the paintball tournament now and leave
soon. I suggest you unpack your gear bag
completely, and try to throw out any stray paintballs, trash, etc. Now I’d make a list of items I’d really need
like Marker, Tank, Mask, ..Jersey.., Pants,
squeegee, toolkit, cleats, etc. I’d mark
off each item as you put it in your gear bag to be completely packed up so it
does not get damaged on the trip to your event.
Remember if you are flying, you will have to de-gas your marker and even
take the regulator off your tank. Now
that you have packed your paintball bag with everything you need paintball
related, I suggest packing another small bag with your other stuff that will
not be needed at the field like toothbrush, socks, underwear. It may sound stupid but I suggest you packing
things up at least a day before you leave, because you always remember the next
day something you forgot.
.. ..
The morning of departure, you need to already know when
everyone is leaving, make sure you call everyone at some point that morning to
make sure they are up and running because it’s almost a guarantee that someone
will oversleep. When you get to the
Airport and you are checking in your luggage, I suggest getting there plenty
early so you can stand their while they inspect your bags, which they will do
on the side. Then you will have to go
thru all the screening process with your carry on (no tools in the carry
on).
.. ..
Now you hopefully made it to your event site, first thing
you do, is make sure everyone is there or on their way and pick up your team
packet or confirm your schedule or whatever you have to do. Go walk the fields efficiently as a team
(nobody wanders off). Now that you have
walked the fields and have the game plans on paper and in your heads, go to the
hotel and clean up/check-in. Next, go
out and eat a good meal as a team and then everyone go to bed early. I suggest getting there about 2 hours before
your first scheduled paintball game, because it usually ends up taking about that much
time to get everything up and running.
Now it’s all up to you, go out there and play just like in practice and
you will do fine. Remember your first
event you aren’t supposed to win the whole tournament but at least have fun and
learn from it.
.. ..
I hope this helps some people out that are traveling to
their first major tournament and good luck.
.. ..
~Andy Jordan
Captain Richmond Riot
http://www.richmondriot.com
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