Editing Tom Cole (section)

=== Bad Company ===

Cole began playing paintball in 1986 and spent his competitive career with [[Bad Company (American paintball team)|Bad Company]], an American professional tournament team.[1]

He became the team's captain and was associated with its development during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Bad Company competed in major American tournaments, including the NPPL series and [[Paintball World Cup]].

The team was particularly associated with [[Kingman International]] and its [[Spyder]] paintball markers. During a period when many professional teams used substantially more expensive equipment, Bad Company demonstrated that competitive results could be achieved with relatively inexpensive blowback markers.

At the 2001 NPPL Chicago Open, Bad Company defeated established professional opponents including the Ironmen and Lockout during preliminary competition. Contemporary reporting noted that most of the team's players were using Spyder markers equipped with Centerflag electronic trigger systems.[5]

At the [[2001 NPPL World Cup]], Bad Company reached the professional ten-player final round and finished fourth.

During the awards ceremony, Cole highlighted the team's use of Kingman Spyder Xtra markers.[6]

In April 2002, Bad Company finished second in the professional division at the Beyond 2002 tournament in Miami, Florida, behind Strange.[7]

Cole remained the team's captain during the 2002 NPPL season. Contemporary professional rosters included players such as [[JC Whittington]], Jason Andre, Gary Arbaugh and Steve Pisek.[8]

He was still competing as Bad Company's captain at the inaugural NPPL Super 7 tournament in Huntington Beach in February 2003.[9]