Editing 2022 ICPL season

The '''2022 ICPL season''' was the fourth season of the [[International Classic Paintball League]]. Its United States programme comprised four tournaments: the Sunshine Classic, Golden State Classic, Old Bay Classic and Windy City Classic. Competition included professional and amateur ten-player divisions and open five-player competition.[1][2]

Kapp Factory won the professional ten-player championship, Hydra.Fit won amateur ten-player and florida annihilators won open five-player.[1]

== United States calendar ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Dates !! Venue or event site !! Location !! Classification
|-
| [[2022 ICPL Sunshine Classic]] || 28–30 January 2022 || 210 Pruett Road || Seffner, Florida || Open
|-
| [[2022 ICPL Golden State Classic]] || 8–10 April 2022 || Capital Edge Paintball Park || Sacramento, California || Open
|-
| [[2022 ICPL Old Bay Classic]] || 19–22 May 2022 || [[Outdoor Xtreme Chesapeake City]] || Chesapeake City, Maryland || Major
|-
| [[2022 ICPL Windy City Classic]] || 29 September–2 October 2022 || [[Badlandz Paintball Field|The Badlandz]] || Crete, Illinois || Major
|}

Dates and venues are recorded in the official event listings. The league’s season announcement identified Sunshine and Golden State as Opens and Old Bay and Windy City as Majors.[2][3][4][5][6]

== Golden State status ==

The Golden State Classic was an official ICPL Open tournament, rather than an unrelated event using similar terminology. It appeared in the league’s announced calendar, used ICPL registration and contributed points to the published season standings.[1][2][4]

Kapp Factory’s Golden State victory was one of its three counted results in the professional championship.[1]

== Formats and scheduling ==

The league introduced separate Open and Major event structures for 2022.[2]

* '''Open events:''' Professional and amateur ten-player teams shared preliminary competition, followed by separate professional and amateur finals. Ten-player competition was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with five-player competition on Friday.
* '''Major events:''' Professional and amateur ten-player teams competed separately. Ten-player preliminaries were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with finals on Sunday. Open five-player competition was scheduled for Thursday.

The US event registration records listed 12-minute ten-player games. Five-player games were listed as six minutes at Sunshine and Golden State and seven minutes at Old Bay and Windy City.[3][4][5][6]

== Professional roster restrictions ==

A vote by 23 professional team captains approved a change for 2022 limiting each professional team to three NXL professional-ranked players. Players aged over 44 were excluded from that professional-player count.[7]

The proposal passed by 14 votes to nine. It replaced a system that permitted more professional-ranked players provided their combined classification points did not exceed 62,000.[7]

A separate vote retained the existing mechanical-marker rate-of-fire rules. Contemporary ICPL reporting subsequently described the roster changes as an effort to limit the concentration of current NXL professionals.[7][8]

== Event results ==

=== Professional ten-player ===

Chicago Aftershock won the Sunshine Classic. Kapp Factory then won Golden State, Old Bay and Windy City.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Winner !! Runner-up !! Third
|-
| Sunshine Classic || Chicago Aftershock || Team Smoke || Kapp Factory
|-
| Golden State Classic || Kapp Factory || Ironmen || Chicago Aftershock
|-
| Old Bay Classic || Kapp Factory || Image || Los Angeles Infamous
|-
| Windy City Classic || Kapp Factory || Los Angeles Infamous || ac EMPIRE
|}

=== Amateur ten-player ===

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Winner !! Runner-up !! Third
|-
| Sunshine Classic || Saberwolves || Valhalla || TRIBE Savages
|-
| Golden State Classic || The Golden State Chess Club || West Coast Sharks || The Wolverines
|-
| Old Bay Classic || FRACTION || Hydra.Fit || Valhalla
|-
| Windy City Classic || Maple Leaf Chiefs || Hydra.Fit || THE FARM
|}

=== Open five-player ===

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Winner !! Runner-up !! Third
|-
| Sunshine Classic || ac POWERHOUSE || florida annihilators || AFTERSHOCK
|-
| Golden State Classic || AFTERSHOCK || Louisville Asylum 2 || Chicharrones
|-
| Old Bay Classic || ac POWERHOUSE || ac EVILpb.com || Ground Zero
|-
| Windy City Classic || florida annihilators || Mutiny || AFTERSHOCK
|}

Event placings are recorded in the official season standings.[1]

== Championship scoring ==

The announced championship system counted three results: the two Majors and one Open result. Teams attending multiple Opens could retain only one Open score. Windy City carried double points.[2]

The published standings described this as counting the top three scores, with no more than one regional result. Professional event points were calculated on a different scale from amateur ten-player and open five-player points.[1]

Although this article covers the United States programme, the published championship standings also incorporated eligible international Open results. The totals below reproduce the official standings rather than a separately calculated US-only championship.[1]

== Season champions ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Division !! Champion !! Points !! Runner-up !! Points !! Third !! Points
|-
| Professional ten-player || Kapp Factory || 1,200 || Los Angeles Infamous || 979 || All Americans || 976
|-
| Amateur ten-player || Hydra.Fit || 371 || Saberwolves || 361 || Valhalla || 351
|-
| Open five-player || florida annihilators || 381 || AFTERSHOCK || 366 || ac POWERHOUSE || 366
|}

The official standings placed AFTERSHOCK second and ac POWERHOUSE third despite their equal five-player totals.[1]

=== Professional championship ===

Kapp Factory counted 300 points from Golden State, 300 from Old Bay and 600 from Windy City. Its third-place Sunshine score was dropped, leaving a championship total of 1,200.[1]

=== Amateur championship ===

Hydra.Fit won the amateur championship without winning an individual event. Seventh place at Sunshine and second places at both Majors produced its 371-point total.[1]

=== Five-player championship ===

florida annihilators counted second place at Sunshine, sixth at Old Bay and victory at Windy City to finish with 381 points.[1]

== Progression to professional competition ==

Maple Leaf Chiefs won the amateur ten-player division at Windy City. The league’s January 2023 season preview subsequently identified the Chiefs as a new professional franchise for 2023.[1][9]

This professional entry was distinct from the 2022 amateur season championship, which was won by Hydra.Fit.[1]

== See also ==

* [[International Classic Paintball League]]
* [[2021 ICPL season]]
* [[2023 ICPL season]]
* [[2022 ICPL Sunshine Classic]]
* [[2022 ICPL Golden State Classic]]
* [[2022 ICPL Old Bay Classic]]
* [[2022 ICPL Windy City Classic]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/league/435/seasonRankings/2022 PBLeagues – International Classic Paintball League: 2022 season standings, event placings and scoring conditions.]
# [https://www.nxlclassicpaintball.com/post/the-icpl-brings-you-more-events-and-more-fun-in-2022 International Classic Paintball League – The ICPL Brings You More Events and More Fun in 2022, 21 October 2021, updated 31 March 2022.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7391/info PBLeagues – ICPL Sunshine Classic: 28–30 January 2022, venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7585/info PBLeagues – ICPL Golden State Classic: 8–10 April 2022, venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7639/info PBLeagues – ICPL Old Bay Classic: 19–22 May 2022, venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7726/info PBLeagues – ICPL Windy City Classic: 29 September–2 October 2022, venue and formats.]
# [https://paintballnerd.com/blogs/news/the-captains-of-the-pro-division-in-the-icpl-have-voted-and-the-rules-will-be-changing Paintball Nerd – ICPL 2022 Rule Change Sparks Controversy, 5 November 2021.]
# [https://www.nxlclassicpaintball.com/post/icpl-old-bay-classic-event-preview-maryland-hosts-pro-paintball-event International Classic Paintball League – ICPL Old Bay Classic Event Preview: Maryland Hosts Pro Paintball Event, 19 May 2022.]
# [https://www.nxlclassicpaintball.com/post/the-competitive-paintball-season-kicks-off-in-florida-at-the-23-icpl-sunshine-classic International Classic Paintball League – The Competitive Paintball Season Kicks Off in Florida at the ’23 ICPL Sunshine Classic!, Quinn Nadu, 31 January 2023.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments]]
[[Category:Paintball in the United States]]
[[Category:2022 in paintball]]