1997 NPPL World Cup: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:55, 31 October 2026

The 1997 NPPL World Cup was a National Professional Paintball League paintball tournament held at Paintball World in Kissimmee, Florida, from 21 to 26 October 1997. Produced by Jerry Braun, the event included professional and amateur five-man and ten-man competition, with professional and amateur teams meeting in the preliminary rounds.[1]

Jax Warriors won the professional five-man competition, while Image won the professional ten-man title. Fighters and Lockout won the respective amateur competitions.[2][3]

Organisation and schedule

The tournament brought together teams from the United States and overseas. Braun, who was also editor of Paintball Sports International, produced the event.[1]

Five-man preliminary results covered 21–22 October, followed by the semi-finals and finals on 23 October. WARPIG published completed ten-man preliminary results on 25 October; the ten-man semi-finals and finals took place on 26 October.[1][2][3]

Playing fields

Most fields occupied the sandy, palmetto-covered woodland at Paintball World, behind the Old Town attraction in Kissimmee. Natural vegetation was supplemented by coloured wooden bunkers.[4]

The tournament also featured a Hyperball field, which was reserved for ten-man competition and remained under construction during the five-man preliminary rounds. WARPIG reported that it was intended to move to Cousin's Paintball on Long Island after the tournament.[4]

An inflatable field identified in the contemporary report as Superball used cylindrical and conical bunkers. WARPIG recorded paintballs rebounding from the inflatable obstacles and eliminating players. Its coverage also highlighted the field's portability and suitability for spectators.[4]

Five-man competition

The five-man semi-finals and finals took place on 23 October. Jax Warriors won the professional final with 106 points, ahead of All Americans 1, Rage and All Americans 2.[2]

Professional and amateur results

The following are final-round totals.[2]

Position	Professional team	Points	Amateur team	Points
1	Jax Warriors	106	Fighters	137
2	All Americans 1	85	Farside	82
3	Rage	72	Shockwave CA	78
4	All Americans 2	64	Canadian Express	30

Novice competition

WARPIG reported that no teams initially entered a novice division. An additional competition was formed through a random selection of teams finishing in the bottom three places of the amateur semi-final groups, giving selected teams another opportunity to compete for trophies.[2]

Position	Team
1	Bizzaro
2	Chameleons
3	Bad Karma White
4	Nemesis Jr.

WARPIG initially reversed the third- and fourth-place finishers, subsequently correcting its report following confirmation from the Paintball Sports International scoring staff.[2]

Ten-man competition

The ten-man semi-finals and finals took place on 26 October. Two professional teams advanced from each of two semi-final groups, while the winner of each of four amateur groups progressed to the amateur final.[3]

Image won the professional final with 300 points. Aftershock finished second with 215, followed by Ironmen with 130 and All Americans 2 with 31. Lockout won the amateur final with 218 points, ahead of OBR, Marine Team and Nemesis.[3]

WARPIG credited Bob's Ironmen, Ground Zero and GBD with refereeing the ten-man competition.[3]

Final results

The following are final-round totals.[3]

Position	Professional team	Points	Amateur team	Points
1	Image	300	Lockout	218
2	Aftershock	215	OBR	193
3	Ironmen	130	Marine Team	133
4	All Americans 2	31	Nemesis	40

Equipment and contemporary coverage

WARPIG provided written reports, photographs, score updates and five instalments of PigTV coverage. The programmes combined tournament action with interviews, equipment demonstrations and the closing ceremonies.[1]

Products covered included the Brass Eagle Rainmaker, Pneu Ventures Cyber 9000, Smart Parts Shocker Sport 4x4 and Viewloader Revolution loader. Other interviews featured manufacturers and suppliers including DYE, JT, WDP, KAPP and Palmer's Pursuit Shop.[1]

References

World Cup 1997. WARPIG, October 1997. Contemporary event overview, schedule and PigTV coverage.
5 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores. WARPIG, 23 October 1997. Includes corrected novice placings.
10 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores. WARPIG, 26 October 1997.
World Cup Fields. WARPIG, October 1997.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''The 1997 Paintball World Cup''', also known as the '''1997 NPPL World Cup''', was a tournament [[paintball]] event held from 21 to 26 October 1997 at Paintball World in Kissimmee, Florida, United States. Promoted by [[Jerry Braun]] and conducted as part of the [[National Professional Paintball League]] season, it featured five-player and ten-player competitions for professional and amateur teams.[1][2]
+The '''1997 NPPL World Cup''' was a [[National Professional Paintball League]] paintball tournament held at Paintball World in Kissimmee, Florida, from 21 to 26 October 1997. Produced by [[Jerry Braun]], the event included professional and amateur five-man and ten-man competition, with professional and amateur teams meeting in the preliminary rounds.[1]
-[[Jacksonville Warriors]] won the professional five-player competition, while the Fighters won the amateur division. [[Team Image]] won the professional ten-player competition and Lockout won the amateur division.[1][3][4]
+[[Jacksonville Warriors|Jax Warriors]] won the professional five-man competition, while [[Team Image|Image]] won the professional ten-man title. Fighters and [[Lockout]] won the respective amateur competitions.[2][3]
-The tournament included the World Cup debut of [[Sup'AirBall]], an inflatable-bunker format developed in France. Sup'AirBall appeared alongside woodland and [[Hyperball]] fields, reflecting the increasing use of spectator-oriented artificial playing fields in tournament paintball during the late 1990s.[1][5][6]
+== Organisation and schedule ==
-== Tournament ==
+The tournament brought together teams from the United States and overseas. Braun, who was also editor of ''Paintball Sports International'', produced the event.[1]
-Competition began on Tuesday, 21 October, with the five-player preliminary rounds. The five-player finals were held on Thursday, 23 October. Ten-player preliminary competition began on Friday, with the finals concluding the event on Sunday, 26 October.[1]
+Five-man preliminary results covered 21–22 October, followed by the semi-finals and finals on 23 October. WARPIG published completed ten-man preliminary results on 25 October; the ten-man semi-finals and finals took place on 26 October.[1][2][3]
-The tournament was organised by Jerry Braun at Paintball World, a multi-field paintball facility in Kissimmee. Both the five-player and ten-player competitions were divided into professional and amateur classifications.[1][2]
 == Playing fields ==
-The World Cup used a mixture of traditional woodland or jungle fields and artificial tournament fields.[1][5] These included:
+Most fields occupied the sandy, palmetto-covered woodland at Paintball World, behind the Old Town attraction in Kissimmee. Natural vegetation was supplemented by coloured wooden bunkers.[4]
-* woodland and jungle-style fields;
-* Hyperball fields constructed using corrugated plastic piping; and
-* a Sup'AirBall field using inflatable bunkers.
-Hyperball had made its American World Cup debut at the 1996 event. Sup'AirBall was added in 1997, providing a more open playing area that improved visibility for spectators. Contemporary coverage also noted that the flexible inflatable bunkers could cause paintballs to rebound rather than break.[1]
-== Competition format ==
-=== Five-player competition ===
-The five-player preliminary round consisted of ten divisions containing nine or ten teams each. Each division generally included one or two professional teams, with the remaining places filled by amateur teams. The highest-scoring professional and amateur teams from each preliminary division advanced.[1]
+The tournament also featured a Hyperball field, which was reserved for ten-man competition and remained under construction during the five-man preliminary rounds. WARPIG reported that it was intended to move to Cousin's Paintball on Long Island after the tournament.[4]
-A separate novice competition had not originally been scheduled. During the event, Braun adopted a proposal attributed to J. J. Brookshire of [[Brass Eagle]], under which the three lowest-scoring teams from each preliminary division were placed into novice semi-finals. The resulting novice classification therefore operated as a consolation competition drawn from the five-player preliminary field.[1]
+An inflatable field identified in the contemporary report as '''Superball''' used cylindrical and conical bunkers. WARPIG recorded paintballs rebounding from the inflatable obstacles and eliminating players. Its coverage also highlighted the field's portability and suitability for spectators.[4]
-=== Ten-player competition ===
+== Five-man competition ==
-The ten-player competition was divided into professional and amateur classifications. Preliminary games began on 24 October, followed by the finals on 26 October.[1][2]
+The five-man semi-finals and finals took place on 23 October. Jax Warriors won the professional final with 106 points, ahead of All Americans 1, Rage and All Americans 2.[2]
-== Results ==
+=== Professional and amateur results ===
-=== Five-player results ===
+The following are final-round totals.[2]
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! Position
-! Professional
+! Professional team
-! Amateur
+! Points
-! Novice
+! Amateur team
+! Points
 |-
 | 1
-| [[Jacksonville Warriors]]
+| [[Jacksonville Warriors|Jax Warriors]]
+| 106
 | Fighters
-| Bizzaro
+| 137
 |-
 | 2
 | [[All Americans|All Americans 1]]
-| Farside
+| 85
-| Chameleons
+| [[Farside]]
+| 82
 |-
 | 3
-| Rage
+| [[Rage]]
+| 72
 | Shockwave CA
-| Bad Karma White
+| 78
 |-
 | 4
 | [[All Americans|All Americans 2]]
+| 64
 | Canadian Express
-| Nemesis Jr.
+| 30
 |}
-Jacksonville Warriors finished the professional final with 106 points, ahead of All Americans 1 on 85. The Fighters won the amateur final with 137 points.[3]
+=== Novice competition ===
-=== Ten-player results ===
+WARPIG reported that no teams initially entered a novice division. An additional competition was formed through a random selection of teams finishing in the bottom three places of the amateur semi-final groups, giving selected teams another opportunity to compete for trophies.[2]
+{| class="wikitable"
+! Position !! Team
+|-
+| 1 || Bizzaro
+|-
+| 2 || Chameleons
+|-
+| 3 || Bad Karma White
+|-
+| 4 || Nemesis Jr.
+|}
+WARPIG initially reversed the third- and fourth-place finishers, subsequently correcting its report following confirmation from the ''Paintball Sports International'' scoring staff.[2]
+== Ten-man competition ==
+The ten-man semi-finals and finals took place on 26 October. Two professional teams advanced from each of two semi-final groups, while the winner of each of four amateur groups progressed to the amateur final.[3]
+Image won the professional final with 300 points. Aftershock finished second with 215, followed by Ironmen with 130 and All Americans 2 with 31. Lockout won the amateur final with 218 points, ahead of OBR, Marine Team and Nemesis.[3]
+WARPIG credited Bob's Ironmen, Ground Zero and GBD with refereeing the ten-man competition.[3]
+=== Final results ===
+The following are final-round totals.[3]
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! Position
-! Professional
+! Professional team
-! Score
+! Points
-! Amateur
+! Amateur team
-! Score
+! Points
 |-
 | 1
-| [[Team Image]]
+| [[Team Image|Image]]
 | 300
-| Lockout
+| [[Lockout]]
 | 218
 |-
@@ Line 84: / Line 103: @@
 | [[Chicago Aftershock|Aftershock]]
 | 215
-| [[Black Reign|Ohio Black Reign]]
+| OBR
 | 193
 |-
 | 3
-| [[Ironmen (paintball team)|Ironmen]]
+| Ironmen
 | 130
-| [[Marine Team One|Marine Team 1]]
+| Marine Team
 | 133
 |-
@@ Line 100: / Line 119: @@
 |}
-The scores shown are the cumulative totals from the respective final rounds.[4]
+== Equipment and contemporary coverage ==
-== Equipment exhibition ==
-The World Cup also included a paintball industry exhibition. Products reported or demonstrated at the event included the [[Smart Parts Shocker|Shocker Sport 4x4]], the PneuVentures Cyber 9000, the [[Brass Eagle Rainmaker]] and the [[ViewLoader Revolution]].[1]
-The Cyber 9000 was described as an electronically controlled marker with an LCD display, selectable semi-automatic, fully automatic and burst modes, and functions recording shot count, elapsed time and the velocity of individual shots.[1]
-== Media coverage ==
-Contemporary reporting appeared in ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', including Bill Mills's illustrated tournament report, “Where the Best Meet to Compete: The 1997 World Cup”.[1]
+[[WARPIG]] provided written reports, photographs, score updates and five instalments of [[PigTV]] coverage. The programmes combined tournament action with interviews, equipment demonstrations and the closing ceremonies.[1]
-Online coverage was provided by [[WARPIG]], including reports, scores, field descriptions, photographs and [[PigTV]] video segments covering tournament play and equipment displayed at the event.[2][3][4][5]
+Products covered included the Brass Eagle Rainmaker, Pneu Ventures Cyber 9000, Smart Parts Shocker Sport 4x4 and Viewloader Revolution loader. Other interviews featured manufacturers and suppliers including DYE, JT, WDP, KAPP and Palmer's Pursuit Shop.[1]
 == See also ==
+* [[National Professional Paintball League]]
 * [[Paintball World Cup]]
-* [[National Professional Paintball League]]
+* [[1996 NPPL World Cup]]
-* [[1997 in paintball]]
-* [[Sup'AirBall]]
-* [[Hyperball]]
 == References ==
-# Bill Mills, “Where the Best Meet to Compete: The 1997 World Cup”, ''Action Pursuit Games'', Vol. 12, No. 3, March 1998, pp. 71–75.
+# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/index.shtml World Cup 1997]. ''WARPIG'', October 1997. Contemporary event overview, schedule and PigTV coverage.
-# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/index.shtml WARPIG – 1997 National Professional Paintball League World Cup coverage]
+# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/finals5man.shtml 5 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores]. ''WARPIG'', 23 October 1997. Includes corrected novice placings.
-# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/finals5man.shtml WARPIG – 1997 World Cup five-player finals]
+# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/finals10man.shtml 10 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores]. ''WARPIG'', 26 October 1997.
-# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/finals10man.shtml WARPIG – 1997 World Cup ten-player finals]
+# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/fields.shtml World Cup Fields]. ''WARPIG'', October 1997.
-# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/wc97/fields.shtml WARPIG – 1997 World Cup playing fields]
-# [https://www.supairball.com/history.html Sup'AirBall – History]
-[[Category:Paintball tournaments]]
+[[Category:National Professional Paintball League events]]
+[[Category:Paintball tournaments in the United States]]
 [[Category:Paintball tournament results]]
-[[Category:National Professional Paintball League events]]
+[[Category:Paintball in Florida]]
+[[Category:1990s in American paintball]]
 [[Category:1997 in paintball]]
-[[Category:Paintball in Florida]]

Admin (talk | contribs)