Travis Lemanski

Travis Lemanski is an American former professional paintball player, team owner, coach and equipment entrepreneur. He is best known as a founding member of Infamous, the professional tournament team established in 2004 by former players of Miami Effect. He subsequently became the team's owner and head coach.[1][2]

Lemanski's professional playing career included Detroit Fusion, Revolution, Image, Avalanche and Miami Effect. He is also the founder of paintball equipment and apparel businesses associated with the Infamous and PRO DNA brands.[1]

He was included in the inaugural Iconic Paintball Hall of Icons class in 2023.[3]

Playing career

Early career

According to a 2023 interview with Paintball Nerd, Lemanski began playing paintball in 1984 and entered professional competition in 1992 with Detroit Fusion.

He subsequently played for Revolution and Image before joining Avalanche.[1]

His early career spanned the transition from woodland tournament competition to the professional ten-player and airball formats of the late 1990s.

Avalanche

By 2001, Lemanski was competing professionally with Avalanche, a team associated with Ed Poorman and Warped Sportz.

The team's published 2001 National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) roster listed him alongside Chris LaSoya, Rocky Cagnoni, Steve Rabackoff, Todd Martinez and Jon Richardson.

His surname appeared as "Lemenski" in the 2001 roster, while the 2002 roster used the spelling Lemanski.[4][5]

Lemanski also competed internationally with Avalanche.

At the 2001 Millennium Series Joy Masters in Sweden, contemporary WARPIG coverage documented his involvement in a match against Enemy.[6]

Later in the season, Avalanche won the Millennium Series championship, although Lemanski was unable to compete at the final Mayhem Masters event after sustaining broken ribs.[7]

In 2002, he continued competing for Avalanche in both American and European tournaments.

At the Millennium Series Campaign Cup in England, he discussed Avalanche's tactical approach to a match against Russian Legion with WARPIG's tournament reporter.[8]

Miami Effect

In 2003, Lemanski joined Miami Effect, a professional franchise competing in the inaugural National Xball League (NXL).

The official roster for the 2003 Mardi Gras Open in New Orleans listed him as player number 19.

His teammates included Chris LaSoya, Brian Fow, Jon Richardson, Rusty Glaze, Mark Knop and Davey Williamson. Steve Rabackoff was listed as coach.[9]

Miami Effect continued competing during the early 2004 season.

Following the PSP Orlando Open, several of the team's players left the NXL franchise to compete independently under the Infamous name.

The decision was associated with restrictions on NXL players competing in rival professional leagues.

In an interview published by WARPIG in July 2004, Lemanski explained that the players wanted greater freedom to compete at major tournaments and represent their sponsors.[10]

Formation of Infamous

Infamous entered the NPPL Super 7 competition in 2004.

At its first professional seven-player tournament, the NPPL Tampa Open, Infamous defeated San Diego Dynasty in consecutive final-round games to win the championship.[11]

The team followed this victory with another professional championship at the NPPL Denver Open in July 2004, defeating XSV in the final.[12]

Lemanski became one of the organisation's principal leaders, maintaining his association with Infamous through its subsequent participation in the NPPL, Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP) and NXL.

Infamous ownership and coaching

Lemanski subsequently became the owner and head coach of Infamous.

Following the 2011 season, he reorganised the team and sought to establish a new competitive direction.

During 2012, Infamous won the NPPL Chicago Open and PSP Chicago Open professional championships.

The team finished third overall in the 2012 PSP professional X-Ball season.[13][14]

Infamous subsequently won the PSP Dallas Open in both 2014 and 2015.

At the 2015 tournament, held in Forney, Texas, the team defeated Houston Heat 5–4 in the professional final.[15]

By 2017, Lemanski was publicly identified as both team owner and coach.

In January of that year, Infamous announced a sponsorship agreement with Valken Sports, with Lemanski representing the team in the official announcement.[16]

He continued leading Infamous in subsequent NXL seasons.

The team finished second overall in the 2016 NXL professional standings, while the league identified Lemanski as Infamous's coach during the 2021 season.[16][17]

He has also been responsible for recruiting players and developing the team's roster.

In November 2024, Infamous announced the return of Trevor Resar for the 2025 season, with Lemanski commenting on the player's previous contributions and the team's plans.[18]

A March 2025 interview with the Play The Game podcast continued to identify Lemanski as the retired professional player, owner and head coach of Infamous.[19]

Paintball equipment businesses

Lemanski has developed paintball equipment and apparel businesses alongside his playing and coaching career.

These include Infamous Paintball, PRO DNA and FNDN.

The companies have marketed playing clothing, protective equipment, accessories and other products for competitive paintball.

In his 2023 Paintball Nerd interview, Lemanski discussed the development of the businesses and their relationship to the Infamous professional team.[1]

The Infamous Paintball website identifies Lemanski as its owner and markets equipment under the PRO DNA brand.[20]

Classic paintball and tournament promotion

Lemanski has also participated in the revival of traditional ten-player tournament paintball.

In June 2019, he competed with an Infamous roster at the inaugural International Classic Paintball League (ICPL) Windy City Classic, held at Badlandz Paintball Field in Illinois.

The team included current and former Infamous players, among them Chris LaSoya and AJ Trillet.

Infamous finished second at the event.[21]

Lemanski subsequently became involved in promoting classic-format tournaments.

In 2023, he helped organise the PRO DNA Open at The Farm Sports in Shelbyville, Tennessee, as an ICPL-affiliated tournament.

The event featured ten-player competition across hyperball, woodland and mound fields.

Official event information identified Lemanski and Ira Smith as the tournament's promoters.[22][23]

Recognition

Lemanski has been recognised for his professional playing career, coaching and contributions to paintball equipment businesses.

Iconic Paintball's 2021 retrospective highlighted his back-line playing style, particularly his shooting from the starting station and his ability to control opposing teams through accurate long-range shooting.[24]

He was included in the inaugural Iconic Paintball Hall of Icons class, officially designated 2023.

His individual induction profile is labelled as a 2022 inductee, although the organisation's official archive identifies 2023 as the inaugural induction year.[3]

Selected career milestones

Year	Milestone	Team or organisation
1992	Began professional tournament competition, according to a 2023 interview	Detroit Fusion
2001	Documented NPPL professional roster member	Avalanche
2003	Competed in the inaugural professional NXL season	Miami Effect
2004	Helped establish Infamous	Infamous
2004	NPPL Tampa Open professional champions	Infamous
2004	NPPL Denver Open professional champions	Infamous
2012	NPPL and PSP Chicago Open professional champions	Infamous
2014	PSP Dallas Open professional champions	Infamous
2015	PSP Dallas Open professional champions	Infamous
2023	Inaugural Hall of Icons induction	Individual

Later team championships are included as milestones in Lemanski's leadership of Infamous, rather than assertions that he personally played in every championship match.

References

External links