World Paintball Federation

World Paintball Federation (WPF) was a United States paintball tournament organisation active during the early 2000s. Led by tournament promoter Jim Lively, it organised the WPF/ZAP Tour, operated the World Ace and Nov Ace amateur championship circuits, and developed training programmes for tournament referees.[1][2]

The organisation worked with ZAP Paintball to produce regional tournaments and the 2001 Skyball competition at Toronto's SkyDome. In February 2002, the WPF business was acquired by Wolf Hill Paintball of Tennessee, which subsequently continued organising tournaments under the WPF name.[3][4]

The World Paintball Federation name had previously been used in the early 1990s for a tournament statistics initiative associated with Steve Davidson. The organisational relationship between that initiative and the later WPF tournament circuit has not been established.[5]

History

Earlier use of the WPF name (1990–1992)

During the early 1990s, paintball historian and tournament organiser Steve Davidson developed a system for collecting results and maintaining statistics from competitive paintball tournaments.

The initiative originated as the National Paintball Statistics and Ranking System (NPSRS) and subsequently used the World Paintball Federation name.

Davidson published quarterly reports recording tournament results, team performances, match scores and penalties.

One surviving report, covering the second and third quarters of 1991, contains approximately 290 pages of records for more than 100 teams.

The tournaments documented included the American AirGun Games, Bay City Open, Line SI Masters, Pennsylvania Cup and Windy City Open.[5]

In a retrospective interview published by Paintball History in 2014, Davidson recalled that the project struggled to obtain financial support.

The standardisation effort subsequently contributed to discussions leading to the establishment of the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) in 1992.[5][6]

The available sources do not establish whether this earlier initiative was legally or organisationally connected to the World Paintball Federation operated by Jim Lively during the 2000s.

WPF tournament operations (2000)

By January 2000, the World Paintball Federation was operating as a tournament organisation associated with Lively Productions in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jim Lively served as president, with Sam Caldwell involved in promotions and Chip Herbert serving as director of operations.[1][2]

On 21 January 2000, the WPF announced a membership programme designed to provide tournament records, competition rankings, rules updates and information to registered players.

Membership included an identification card, newsletter and access to benefits offered by equipment manufacturers.

The organisation also promoted the World Ace championship, intended to recognise leading amateur teams competing across affiliated tournaments.[1]

WPF/ZAP Tour

During 2000, the WPF developed a regional competition programme sponsored by ZAP Paintball.

Known as the WPF/ZAP Tour, the circuit incorporated five-player tournaments, affiliated regional competitions and championship events.

The 2000 programme included the Southern California Super Challenge at SC Village in May.

The competition attracted 32 teams, with the Dragoons winning the amateur division, Spider's Web winning the rookie/novice division and Titanium Playdoe winning the Young Guns competition.[2]

In June, the WPF organised the National Paintball Supply 10th Anniversary Five Man Challenge at Top Gun Paintball in New Jersey.

Gridlock won the amateur competition, while Next Level won the novice/rookie division.[7]

The circuit awarded points towards the World Ace and Nov Ace titles.

The World Ace championship recognised the leading amateur team, while the Nov Ace championship was intended for rookie and novice competitors.

The 2000 championship programme was scheduled to culminate at the WPF/ZAP International Masters in New Orleans, Louisiana.[2]

Skyball 2001

For the 2001 season, ZAP Paintball contracted the World Paintball Federation to promote and produce Skyball, an international indoor tournament held at the SkyDome in Toronto, Canada.

The WPF introduced a revised competitive structure incorporating amateur, novice and rookie classifications.

Its proposed changes included standardised game scheduling, additional officiating arrangements and a minimum of eight games per team.

The competition used five netted Sup'Air Ball fields, with trained referees assigned to each field.[3]

The event took place on 9–10 March 2001 and attracted 193 five-player teams.

The division winners were:

Amateur: Rapid Fire Red, New Jersey.
Novice: Jesters, New Hampshire.
Rookie: Chaos Blue, Michigan.

Bill Bryant served as the WPF's ultimate referee, overseeing a staff of more than 80 Canadian and American referees.

The event offered cash and equipment prizes valued at more than US$100,000.[8]

Skyball formed part of the announced 2001 WPF/ZAP Tour, which comprised a proposed 13-event North American competition programme.[3]

Other 2001 tournaments

The WPF also supported regional tournaments through affiliated promoters and paintball facilities.

On 18 February 2001, the National Indoor Paintball Championships took place at the East Tennessee Agricultural Exposition Center in Harriman, Tennessee.

The tournament was organised by Splat 1 Adventures and sponsored by the WPF and ZAP Paintball.

Fifty teams participated, with Thunder Struck of Illinois winning the open five-player competition.[9]

On 22 September 2001, the WPF held the Great Lakes Five Man Challenge at Futureball Paintball near Detroit, Michigan.

Farside won the amateur division, Colorado Headhunters won the novice division and Split won the rookie division.[10]

These competitions contributed towards the WPF's annual Ace championship standings.

Referee training

On 14 May 2001, the WPF announced a partnership with Raven Paintball to establish the WPF Referee Corps.

The programme was intended to recruit, train and certify paintball referees through classroom instruction, examinations and supervised field experience.

It incorporated progressive training levels and official training centres operated by participating paintball facilities.

Raven USA was responsible for producing associated referee uniforms and protective equipment.

The programme was intended for tournament, recreational and scenario paintball officiating.[11]

Bill Bryant was associated with the development and instruction of the WPF Referee Corps.[10]

Ownership changes (2002)

The WPF announced the suspension of its 2002 Ace tournament circuit, citing reductions in financial support from sponsors.

In its announcement, the organisation stated that it would cancel scheduled tournaments rather than reduce prize packages or the number of referees assigned to competitions.[12]

On 7 February 2002, WPF Management Inc. announced that Wolf Hill Paintball LLC, based in Gallatin, Tennessee, had purchased the World Paintball Federation.

The announcement stated that assets and contracts would transfer to the new owners.

Jim Lively and Sam Caldwell were expected to remain during the transition.

Gerald Alvis, owner of Wolf Hill Paintball, announced plans to continue the WPF's amateur championship structure and expand the programme to include five-player and 10-player competition.

The proposed 2002 calendar included tournaments in Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Colorado, Illinois and Michigan.[4]

Continued competition (2003)

The WPF continued organising tournaments under Wolf Hill Paintball ownership during 2003.

In May 2003, the organisation reported on the Music City Open at Red River Paintball in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The competition used Hyperball and inflatable-bunker fields and offered more than US$15,000 in prizes.

PUSH won the open division, ahead of Sub Zero and STL Friction, while End Game won the rookie division.[13]

The report identified Gerald Alvis as chief executive of the WPF and Wolf Hill Paintball as its parent company.

It also documented the organisation's switch to Diablo tournament paintballs and revised black-and-white referee uniforms.[13]

The available records do not establish the date when the WPF ceased organising tournaments.

Competition format

The WPF primarily organised five-player paintball tournaments, with competition divided according to player experience.

Its classification system generally included:

Rookie: Teams in their first season of tournament competition.
Novice: Teams in their second season.
Amateur: More experienced teams that had not competed professionally.

The 2001 Skyball format guaranteed participating teams a minimum of eight preliminary games.[3]

WPF tournaments commonly used artificial-bunker fields, including Hyperball and Sup'Air Ball layouts.

Its championship system awarded points for performances at regional and affiliated events, allowing teams to compete for season-long recognition.

Selected tournament results

Year	Tournament	Division	Winner
2000	Southern California Super Challenge	Amateur	Dragoons
2000	Southern California Super Challenge	Rookie/Novice	Spider's Web
2000	National Paintball Supply Five Man Challenge	Amateur	Gridlock
2000	National Paintball Supply Five Man Challenge	Novice/Rookie	Next Level
2001	National Indoor Paintball Championships	Open five-player	Thunder Struck
2001	Skyball	Amateur	Rapid Fire Red
2001	Skyball	Novice	Jesters
2001	Skyball	Rookie	Chaos Blue
2001	Great Lakes Five Man Challenge	Amateur	Farside
2003	Music City Open	Open	PUSH
2003	Music City Open	Rookie	End Game

The results are documented in contemporary WPF announcements and tournament reports.[2][7][8][9][10][13]

References

External links