Editing 2022 WNXL season

The '''2022 WNXL season''' was the inaugural competitive season of the [[Women's National Xball League]]. The United States championship comprised three tournaments held alongside [[National Xball League]] events in Florida and Pennsylvania.[1]

[[The Heroines]] won the inaugural season championship with 393 points, ahead of [[Destiny]] on 384 and [[Dallas Vibe]] on 373. Dallas Vibe won the opening tournament, while The Heroines won the Mid-Atlantic Major and World Cup.[1]

== Background ==

The WNXL was introduced through an exhibition at the [[2021 NXL World Cup]], ahead of its first competitive season in 2022. The exhibition featured the specially assembled Fire and Ice teams.[2]

== Calendar ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Round !! Dates !! Event !! Venue
|-
| 1 || 11–13 March 2022 || [[2022 WNXL Sunshine State Major]] || NXL World Cup site, 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida
|-
| 2 || 17–19 June 2022 || [[2022 WNXL Mid-Atlantic Major]] || 547 Royersford Road, Royersford, Pennsylvania
|-
| 3 || 10–13 November 2022 || [[2022 WNXL World Cup]] || NXL World Cup site, 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida
|}

Dates are those listed for the parent NXL tournaments in the official event records.[3][4][5]

== Teams ==

Six teams competed at all three rounds:[1]

* Cheetahs
* Dallas Vibe
* Destiny
* Femmes Fatale
* Sacramento Diamonds
* The Heroines

The World Cup field expanded to eight teams with the addition of Shieldmaidens from Spain and Suricatos from Colombia.[1][8]

== Competition format ==

The professional women's division used Xball. The official registration records specified 15-minute matches with a six-point mercy rule at the Sunshine State and Mid-Atlantic Majors. World Cup retained the 15-minute match length but listed a five-point mercy rule.[3][4][5]

The season standings combined points from all three rounds. World Cup awarded twice the winner's points available at either earlier tournament: 200 points for first place, compared with 100.[1]

== Event results ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Winner !! Final score !! Runner-up
|-
| Sunshine State Major || Dallas Vibe || 5–3 || Destiny
|-
| Mid-Atlantic Major || The Heroines || 5–2 || Destiny
|-
| World Cup || The Heroines || 2–1 || Destiny
|}

Sources: official Sunshine State scores and contemporary NXL reports.[6][7][8]

=== Sunshine State Major ===

Dallas Vibe won the inaugural tournament after completing the preliminary round undefeated. They defeated Femmes Fatale 5–4 in the semi-final and Destiny 5–3 in the final.[6]

Destiny reached the final by defeating The Heroines 5–4 in the other semi-final.[6]

=== Mid-Atlantic Major ===

The Heroines won all six of their matches at Royersford. In the final, Destiny scored first before The Heroines established a 5–1 lead and completed a 5–2 victory.[7]

The result left The Heroines and Dallas Vibe level on 193 season points, with Destiny one point behind on 192.[1][7]

=== World Cup ===

Shieldmaidens and Suricatos joined the six returning teams for the season finale. The Heroines and Destiny reached the final, which also decided the season championship.[8]

The Heroines established a 2–0 lead. Destiny reduced the deficit to 2–1, but The Heroines preserved their advantage to win both the World Cup and the inaugural season title.[8]

Destiny finished runner-up at every tournament.[1][8]

== Final season standings ==

Numbers in parentheses indicate finishing positions. A dash indicates that the team did not enter that round.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
! Position !! Team !! Sunshine State !! Mid-Atlantic !! World Cup !! Total
|-
| 1 || The Heroines || 93 (3rd) || 100 (1st) || 200 (1st) || 393
|-
| 2 || Destiny || 96 (2nd) || 96 (2nd) || 192 (2nd) || 384
|-
| 3 || Dallas Vibe || 100 (1st) || 93 (3rd) || 180 (4th) || 373
|-
| 4 || Femmes Fatale || 90 (4th) || 90 (4th) || 186 (3rd) || 366
|-
| 5 || Sacramento Diamonds || 86 (5th) || 84 (6th) || 172 (5th) || 342
|-
| 6 || Cheetahs || 84 (6th) || 86 (5th) || 164 (7th) || 334
|-
| 7 || Shieldmaidens || — || — || 168 (6th) || 168
|-
| 8 || Suricatos || — || — || 160 (8th) || 160
|}

Source: official WNXL season rankings.[1]

== See also ==

* [[Women's National Xball League]]
* [[2021 WNXL exhibition at NXL World Cup]]
* [[2022 NXL season]]
* [[2023 WNXL season]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/league/316/seasonRankings/2022 PBLeagues – National Xball League 2022 season rankings: Female – WNXL X-Ball.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/fire-vs-ice-the-debut-of-a-female-professional-paintball-league-the-wnxl National Xball League – Fire vs. Ice: The Debut of a Female Professional Paintball League, the WNXL!, Quinn Nadu, 18 November 2021, updated 19 November 2021.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7537/info PBLeagues – Sunshine State Major 2022: dates, venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7647/info PBLeagues – Mid-Atlantic Major 2022: dates, Royersford venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7751/info PBLeagues – World Cup 2022: dates, venue and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7537/scores PBLeagues – NXL Sunshine State Major 2022: professional WNXL match results.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/wnxl-mid-atlantic-major-recap-heroines-shine National Xball League – WNXL Mid-Atlantic Major Recap, Heroines Shine, 25 June 2022.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/the-nxl-world-cup-event-recap-dynasty-wins-season-title-races-decided National Xball League and Iconic Paintball – The NXL World Cup Event Recap, Dynasty Wins! Season Title Races Decided, Quinn Nadu, 25 November 2022.]

[[Category:Women's paintball]]
[[Category:Paintball in the United States]]
[[Category:2022 in paintball]]