 | | Universal Classification System
With so many tournament leagues throughout the country, each having their own rules and rankings, it has become increasingly difficult for players to determine their appropriate ranking from one series to the next. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for teams to compete in various leagues during the season and to accurately promote teams into higher divisions. Beginning in 2009, the CFOA will be adopting the Universal Classification System. This system is designed to maintain team standings within each of the leagues, rewarding teams with ranking points that will apply to a national ranking. Teams will be rewarded with ranking points that will allow them to compare their ranking to other teams across various leagues, including the PSP rankings. This will allow the PSP World Cup to become the National Championship for all divisions, consolidating a teams regional ranking with their national ranking. |  | | How are players classified?
The player classification system is designed to provide players with clear direction for advancement from the beginner level to the Professional level, giving players fair competition at each level and an opportunity for advancement as the player's skill improves. Players are promoted once they have played two events at a higher classification or at the end of a season in which they have performed well within their division. The following is a simple explanation of a players skill at each level. New players start as Beginners (D6 in CFOA 3 Man). The Beginner level is intended for new paintball players who want to compete in a low-pressure and fun environment. - D5 is the gateway for a more serious tournament competition. All but occasional or extremely unsuccessful players should expect to stay in D5 for no more than a season.
- D4 is the "collection" division for Regional and Local events. Division 4 players may be players who primarily play tournaments for fun but are no longer inexperienced enough for D5, or may be newer, serious competitors players on their way to D3. Many local and regional teams who do not have ambitions for national competition may stay D4 forever, but players that consistently win D4 at the local and regional level should be moved up to D3. This division also marks the entry-level for the RaceTo-4 clock-based format. Players who continue to compete in D4 RaceTo-4 should be moved up to D3.
- D3 players are competitive regional-level players. While D4 players may be more casual in their organization and practice schedules, D3 players follow a structured practice schedule and will compete at the upper divisions of their regional league, and perhaps even be regular participants at national-level events.
- D2 players are the best players in any area of the country. They may be scattered among D3 RaceTo-2 teams or play a regional RaceTo-4 league but also form the backbone of national-level D2 teams.
- D1 and higher players are the serious national-level competitors – the top 300-400 players in North America.
| | | Adopting the APPA Event Scoring and Season Scoring Format
Since the beginning of the CFOA tournament series, teams have been awarded points based on their final standings at each event. While this system has worked well throughout the years, it fails to accurately reflect the level of competition a team will face based on event attendance. The integration of the APPA scoreboard will accurately reward teams based on their performance within the scope of the competition available.
The integration of the APPA Scoreboard will greatly improve the process by which teams are promoted throughout the divisions. Teams will be promoted on a more even scale than in previous years, rewarding more competitive teams. All promotions for the 2009 season have been made with consideration to the new scoring system. In order for that to happen, the 2008 season standings had to be converted over to the new scoring system. You can view the reworked divisional standings at the links below (make sure to scroll down beyond the old style scoreboard):
2008 D5 5 Man
2008 D4 5 Man
2008 D3 5 Man
2008 D3 X Ball | | | CFOA/APPA Player Promotions
Considering that players/teams are promoted based on their event scores, and considering the old seed point system that the CFOA employed, there were potentially a lot of teams that were going to be facing a promotion that the team(s) didn’t necessarily earn, due to inflated seed point scores thanks to the reduced event attendance in 2008. As an example:
2008 CFOA Homecoming, D3 5 Man.
This division had 16 teams participate in this event. The team that finished last in this event (D3) was awarded 85 seed points based on the old scoring system. The new scoring system had that seed point score as a 10. That’s a huge difference when promotions are at stake. For promotion purposes we will use a similar formula to the one we’ve used in the last few years. As a refresher: we took a team’s top 2 seed point scores (from the new scoreboard) and totaled them. Any player of any team whose total equaled or exceeded the promotion point, and the player was common on both of that team’s event rosters, would be promoted to the next classification, i.e: 2008 Division 4 Champions – Carolina Lockdown
1) Highest seed point score – 100 pts (Queen City Masters)
2) Second highest score – 100 pts (Peach State Challenge)
TOTAL - 200 pts
Division 4 Promotion Point – 160
Carolina Lockdown exceeds the promotion point; so therefore, all Carolina Lockdown players that appear on both the team’s Queen City Masters roster and the team’s Peach State Challenge roster will be promoted to D3 for 2009. These player promotions will be handled on an individual player basis and will be handled within the APPA system prior to the start of the 2009 season. Teams will be promoted based on the following promotion points (based on the new style scoreboard):
2008 D5 5 Man - Promoted at or above 140 seed points
2008 D4 5 Man - Promoted at or above 160 seed points
2008 D3 5 Man - NO promotions outside of CFOA D3 X Ball and PSP
2008 D3 X Ball - Promoted at or above 165 seed points | | | Event Entrance Fees for 2009
RaceTo-2 (5 Man)
D5: $325
D4: $375
D3: $425
D2: TBA RaceTo-4 (X Ball)
D4: $950
D3: $1300 RaceTo-5 (X Ball)
D2: $1300 5 Man Tactical: TBA | | | Bracketing Schedule
As an organization, the CFOA continually strives to improve competition between teams and create the best tournament series in the Southeast. As part of this effort, teams in the RaceTo-2 (5 Man) division will compete in brackets consisting of 5 teams. Each team will compete against other teams within their bracket. This will guarantee that teams will play in 8 to 12 games during the preliminaries. This will also reduce the amount of time spent waiting between games. | | | RaceTo Format
The RaceTo format was created from a need to create a common ground for all that compete in Paintball. Locally, regionally, nationally and now internationally, for the first time ever Paintball will be played by the same rules all across the world!
Each division will be structured as follows: D2: RaceTo-5 (X Ball)
Teams will play three prelim matches (will play 4 prelim matches if division attendance allows), one 15-minute period, 2-minute timeout between points, highest score or first team to 5 wins. D3 & D4: RaceTo-4 (X Ball)
Teams will play 4 prelim matches, one 10-minute period per match, 2-minute timeout between points, highest score or first team to 4 wins. RaceTo-2: all Divisions (5 Man)
Teams will play four prelim matches, up to three 5-minute points per match, 15- to 30-minute break between points, highest score or first team to 2 wins. Minimum 8 games guaranteed. | | | 2009 CFOA Rules of Roster Composition
The following divisions of play at all X Ball events will be subject to the following rules of roster composition in 2009:
D2: RaceTo-5 (X Ball)
Division 2 teams must roster a minimum of 7 players, but may roster a maximum of 17 total members, including staff, coaches, and up to 12 total players. Division 2 teams may roster any combination of D2 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster up to two Division One (D1) players. No higher than D1 ranked players allowed. D3 RaceTo-4 (X Ball)
Division 3 teams must roster a minimum of 7 players, but may roster a maximum of 17 total members, including staff, coaches, and up to 12 total players.
Division 3 teams may roster any combination of D3 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster up to two Division Two (D2) players. No D1 or higher ranked players allowed. D4 RaceTo-4 (X Ball)
Division 4 teams must roster a minimum of 7 players, but may roster a maximum of 17 total members, including staff, coaches, and up to 12 total players.
Division 4 teams may roster any combination of D4 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster up to two Division Three (D3) players. No D2 or higher ranked players allowed. The following divisions of play at all 5 Man events will be subject to the following rules of roster composition in 2009:
D3 RaceTo-2 (5 Man)
Division 3 teams must roster a minimum of 5 players, but may roster a maximum of 8 players, D3 teams may roster any combination of D3 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster one D2 player per team. D4 RaceTo-2 (5 Man)
Division 4 teams must roster a minimum of 5 players, but may roster a maximum of 8 players, D4 teams may roster any combination of D4 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster one D3 player per team. D5 RaceTo-2 (5 Man)
Division 5 teams must roster a minimum of 5 players, but may roster a maximum of 8 players, D5 teams may roster any combination of D5 or lesser ranked players, but may only roster one D4 player per team. | | | Rate Of Fire
Let's face the facts. We all love this sport and want to see it grow, not only for our benefit, but for new players as well. Over the past few years there has been a slow, yet steady decline in the number of new players entering competitive paintball. Many factors may be contributing to this decline, but our belief along with many others in the industry is that the overall expense of participating in tournaments is one of the major contributing factors. The largest expense every player will have to face is the cost of paintballs. In an effort to offset the overall expense for players, the CFOA will be reducing the rate of fire on markers to 10.5 BPS (Balls Per Second) for the 2009 season. When you consider all the practices along with tournaments that a team plays throughout the year, we believe this reduction in the BPS will help not only reduce the cost to each individual player, but it will also help players focus more on their skills rather than just shooting large volumes of paint. | | | Spectator Participation
Beginning with the 2009 season, the CFOA will begin allowing spectator participation at all events. This not only adds energy to the game, but a high level of excitement for spectators who can now be a part of the game. Professional sports are played for the spectators. Without them, our sport will never achieve the attention it deserves. | | | X Ball Penalties
The X Ball format provides the best opportunity for a team to excel in competitive paintball. In the new RaceTo format, where teams are fighting to score as quickly as possible, clock penalties can have a dramatic outcome on more than just one point, effectively eliminating any hopes of success for teams that are struggling. This year the CFOA will be switching from the use of the penalty box to 1 for 1 and 2 for 1 penalties. This will reduce the impact of penalties over the course of each match. This will allow teams the opportunity to recover from a penalty without impacting the entire outcome of the match. | | | 5 Man Tactical Division
The CFOA is introducing a new component to the Series with the addition of structured, competitive games in wooded fields to be held at select events throughout 2009. Interested teams should contact Larry Motes for more information. Event dates and details are forthcoming. | | | 5 Man Division 2
The opportunity to expand the 5 Man division to Division 2 teams is something the CFOA is interested in pursuing for the 2009 season. This division will only occur at select events if there is sufficient interest. Any interested teams should contact Larry Motes and express their interest in this division. | | | 2009 CFOA ID Cards
The 2009 CFOA ID cards are on sell now. CFOA ID cards will remain at the 2008 price of $30 until February 1st. On February 1st, CFOA ID prices go to $35 online or $45 at the event. I encourage as many of you as possible to take care of your ID online to avoid the LONNNGGG line at the event. The 2009 CFOA ID is required to participate in any 2009 CFOA events. | | | 2009 CFOA Rulebooks, 5 Man & X Ball
For the 2009 season, the CFOA will use the PSP rulebook. The PSP (Universal) rulebook will be made available for download on the CFOA website, as soon as it’s available. | | | Year End Prizes
The CFOA is proud to announce the re-instatement of year end prizes for the 2009 season. More details to come. More information to come.... As always, any questions, concerns or problems – you can contact me:
Email (is best)larry@thecfoa.com or
Phone - (336) 510-8451
Larry | |
