Epic Fields Paintball
Epic Fields Paintball was a paintball playing and training facility located in Burmarrad, within the locality of St Paul's Bay, Malta. The venue was associated with HBI Malta and was used for tournament-oriented paintball training during the early 2020s.
Epic Fields is documented as the home field of Southclan Malta in 2024 and was associated with the development of organised speedball activity on the island. [1]
History
Development
Epic Fields was established as a paintball playing and training location in Burmarrad, Malta.
The facility was associated with HBI Malta, whose players were developing a local training ground during 2022.
On 17 September 2022, Team HBI Paintball published a Facebook announcement referring to the team's first NXL European tournament experience and plans to open its home field in Malta. [2]
Contemporary posts by Chris Cioffi also documented construction and development activity at the HBI training ground, including perimeter netting and preparation of the playing surface.
The exact date when the venue first began accepting players has not been independently established.
Association with HBI Malta
Epic Fields was closely associated with HBI Malta, a Maltese paintball team competing internationally during the early 2020s.
HBI Malta participated in the 2022 NXL European Championships in Dreux, France, competing in Division 3 X-Ball. The team's official PBLeagues history also records participation in the 2023 and 2024 European Championships. [3]
The HBI Extreme Sports Club was separately registered as a Maltese voluntary organisation under registration number VO/2222 by the end of 2023. [4]
In December 2024, the Association of Maltese Arms Collectors & Shooters confirmed that HBI Extreme Sports Club and Malta Tactical Airsoft Club had amalgamated to form Malta HBI Extreme Sports Club. [5]
These organisational developments form part of the background to Epic Fields, although the field itself should not be treated as a separate registered sporting association.
Training activity
Epic Fields was used for tournament-oriented paintball practice by members of Malta's organised paintball community.
Historical photographs show a netted playing area with inflatable paintball bunkers and ground covering. The facility provided an environment for practising techniques used in competitive speedball.
A public post by Chris Cioffi dated 27 January 2024 documented snapshooting training at Epic Fields.
The training ground was also associated with Southclan Malta. Its official PBLeagues team profile identifies "Epic fields Paintball" in San Pawl il-Baħar as the team's home field. [1]
Southclan subsequently competed in the amateur division at the 2024 NXL European Championships, finishing 25th of 28 teams. [1]
The available evidence does not establish that Epic Fields operated a permanent regulation-size NXL playing field or hosted internationally sanctioned tournaments.
Commercial activity
Epic Fields also maintained a public Facebook presence advertising recreational and competitive paintball activities.
A surviving business-directory listing identifies the venue as Epic Fields Paintball at Triq il-Burmarrad, San Pawl il-Baħar, and links to its Facebook page. [6]
The listing establishes that the venue was publicly marketed under the Epic Fields name, although it does not independently establish the complete range of commercial services available or the dates on which public bookings were accepted.
End of team use
On 8 September 2024, Chris Cioffi published a post associated with Epic Fields stating that it was the team's final day at its field and referring to hopes for a new training location in 2025. [7]
The announcement establishes the end of the team's documented use of the venue.
It does not independently establish the permanent closure of Epic Fields, the termination of its commercial activities or the final disposal of its playing equipment.
Business directories continued retaining the Epic Fields listing after this date. Such listings are not, by themselves, evidence of continued operation.
Facilities
The documented training area included protective netting, a prepared playing surface and inflatable paintball bunkers.
The presence of inflatable obstacles distinguished the facility from earlier Maltese recreational fields that primarily used fixed barriers and natural cover.
Photographic records from 2024 document the use of equipment associated with competitive speedball training.
However, the available sources do not establish the exact dimensions of the playing area, the number of simultaneous playing fields or whether it maintained a permanent regulation-size tournament layout.
Historical significance
Epic Fields represents an important stage in the development of organised tournament paintball in Malta.
Its significance lies primarily in its association with HBI Malta and Southclan, and in providing a local training environment for players involved in international competition.
Earlier Maltese paintball competitions, including the Malta Official Paintball League documented in 2011, were organised without verified evidence of inflatable-bunker tournament fields.
Epic Fields is therefore part of the later development of tournament-oriented playing facilities on the island.
Its history also illustrates the challenges of developing and maintaining dedicated training infrastructure for Malta's relatively small competitive paintball community.
See also
- Paintball in Malta
- HBI Malta
- Southclan Malta
- Malta Paintball
- Extreme Paintball (Ta' Qali)
- Malta Official Paintball League
References
- Southclan Malta, official team profile and competition history. PBLeagues.
- Team HBI Paintball, announcement concerning the team's home field. Facebook, 17 September 2022.
- HBI Malta, official team profile and competition history. PBLeagues.
- Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, organisation directory, HBI extreme sport club, VO/2222.
- Association of Maltese Arms Collectors & Shooters, 2025 Online Membership Renewals Are Now Open, 3 December 2024.
- Epic Fields Paintball, business listing. LocalGymsAndFitness.
- Malta Paintball community, historical field discussion and posts, including Chris Cioffi's 8 September 2024 statement.