Admin: Created Travis Lemanski biography covering Detroit Fusion, Image, Avalanche, Miami Effect, founding and coaching Infamous, NPPL and PSP championships, PRO DNA businesses, classic tournaments and Hall of Icons induction.

2026-10-21T06:40:39Z

Created Travis Lemanski biography covering Detroit Fusion, Image, Avalanche, Miami Effect, founding and coaching Infamous, NPPL and PSP championships, PRO DNA businesses, classic tournaments and Hall of Icons induction.

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'''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 (paintball team)|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 (paintball team)|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 ==

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 (paintball team)|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.''

== See also ==

* [[Detroit Fusion]]
* [[Image (paintball team)|Image]]
* [[Avalanche]]
* [[Miami Effect]]
* [[Infamous (paintball team)|Infamous]]
* [[Chris LaSoya]]
* [[National Xball League]]
* [[International Classic Paintball League]]
* [[Iconic Paintball Hall of Icons]]

== References ==

# [https://paintballnerd.com/blogs/interviews/travis Paintball Nerd, "Paintball Nerd's Interview with Travis Lemanski", 25 August 2023. Interview documenting his early playing career, teams and equipment businesses.]
# [https://shop.dyepaintball.com/blogs/news/infamous-chooses-dye-i5 DYE Paintball, "Infamous Chooses DYE i5", 4 March 2017. Official announcement identifying Lemanski as a coach and founding member of Infamous.]
# [https://www.iconicpaintball.com/class-of-2023-inaugural-class Iconic Paintball, "Class of 2023, Inaugural Class". Official Hall of Icons induction biography.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2001/proroster.shtml WARPIG, "NPPL 2001 Professional Rosters". Contemporary Avalanche roster listing Travis Lemenski.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2002/proroster.shtml WARPIG, "NPPL 2002 Professional Rosters". Contemporary Avalanche roster using the spelling Travis Lemanski.]
# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/milleniumseries/2001/joy_masters/index.shtml WARPIG, "Millennium Series Joy Masters 2001". Contemporary tournament coverage.]
# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/mayhem_masters/2001/index.shtml WARPIG, "Mayhem Masters 2001". Contemporary reporting on Lemanski's injury and Avalanche's Millennium Series championship.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/milleniumseries/2002/campaign/index.shtml WARPIG, "Millennium Series Campaign Cup 2002". Contemporary reporting on Lemanski and Avalanche.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/mardigras/2003/nxl_rosters.shtml WARPIG, "NXL Rosters from the Mardi Gras Open", 20–23 February 2003. Original Miami Effect roster.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/news/070904nxlrules.shtml WARPIG, Bill Mills, "NXL: Same Triggers, New Leagues", 9 July 2004. Contemporary reporting on the formation of Infamous and an interview with Lemanski.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2004/tampa/index.shtml WARPIG, "NPPL Super 7 Tampa 2004". Contemporary reporting on Infamous's first professional tournament victory.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2004/denver/index.shtml WARPIG, "NPPL Super 7 Denver 2004". Contemporary reporting confirming Infamous's professional championship.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2013/03/01/team-infamous-2013-psp-preseason-guide/ Social Paintball, Lawrence Abernathy, "Los Angeles Infamous: 2013 PSP Preseason Guide", 1 March 2013. Review of Lemanski's leadership and the team's 2012 championships.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/league/1/seasonRankings/2012 PBLeagues, "2012 Season Rankings: PSP Events". Official results identifying Infamous as 2012 Chicago Open champions and third overall in the professional season.]
# [https://paintball.media/2015-psp-dallas-open/ Paintball Media, John Amodea, "2015 PSP Dallas Open", 9 April 2015. Contemporary report documenting Infamous's 2014 and 2015 Dallas championships.]
# [https://infamouspaintball.com/blogs/events-news/infamous-signs-with-valken Infamous Paintball, "Infamous Signs with Valken", 12 January 2017. Official announcement identifying Lemanski as team owner and coach.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/power-rankings-nxl-world-cup National Xball League, "Power Rankings: 2021 NXL World Cup". Official commentary identifying Lemanski as Infamous's coach.]
# [https://infamouspaintball.com/blogs/events-news/welcome-back-trevor-resar Infamous Paintball, "Welcome Back, Trevor Resar!", 25 November 2024. Official team announcement.]
# [https://metacast.app/podcast/play-the-game/wOfMqY7V Play The Game Podcast, "Episode 291: Travis Lemanski", 11 March 2025. Interview identifying Lemanski as Infamous owner, coach and PRO DNA proprietor.]
# [https://infamouspaintball.com/ Infamous Paintball, official company website. Product listings and owner identification.]
# [https://infamouspaintball.com/blogs/events-news/the-first-icpl-10-man-mechanical-event Infamous Paintball, "The First ICPL 10 Man Mechanical Event", 20 June 2019. Contemporary team report documenting Lemanski's participation and the team's second-place finish.]
# [https://www.nxlclassicpaintball.com/post/the-icpl-pro-dna-open-kicks-off-in-tennessee-this-weekend-full-event-preview NXL Classic Paintball, "The ICPL Pro DNA Open Kicks Off in Tennessee This Weekend", 30 March 2023. Official event preview.]
# [https://prodnaopen.com/pages/about-us PRO DNA Open, "About Us". Official tournament information identifying Travis Lemanski and Ira Smith as promoters.]
# [https://www.iconicpaintball.com/history/the-50-greatest-paintball-players-of-all-time Iconic Paintball, "The 50 Greatest Paintball Players of All-Time", 2021. Retrospective assessment of Lemanski's professional playing career.]

== External links ==

* [https://infamouspaintball.com/ Infamous Paintball official website]
* [https://paintballnerd.com/blogs/interviews/travis Travis Lemanski interview, Paintball Nerd, 2023]
* [https://www.iconicpaintball.com/class-of-2023-inaugural-class Iconic Paintball Hall of Icons]
* [https://prodnaopen.com/ PRO DNA Open]

[[Category:Paintball players]]
[[Category:American paintball players]]
[[Category:Professional paintball players]]
[[Category:Paintball coaches]]
[[Category:Paintball entrepreneurs]]

Travis Lemanski - Revision history

Admin: Created Travis Lemanski biography covering Detroit Fusion, Image, Avalanche, Miami Effect, founding and coaching Infamous, NPPL and PSP championships, PRO DNA businesses, classic tournaments and Hall of Icons induction.