Don't be too alarmed if you hear a group of men marching to the field,Where are we from? Madtown! Where are we from? Madtown! Who are we? Badgers!\ While they may appear a bit intimidating at first, as they march colorfully plastered in paint, the group members are only reciting their pre-game cheer to show their excitement for being recently named the No. 1 paintball team in the nation.
Despite the exhausting seven-hour drive and extreme weather conditions, the UW-Madison paintball team returned from the University of Michigan/Michigan State Winter Open with more than just a first place trophy. Following their Feb. 11 win at the National College Paintball Association Tournament, the Badgers were ranked first in the nation.
The badger paintball team knew it was headed in the right direction with strong team performances early in the season. Following a second place finish at the Saint Mary's Open and a first place finish at the Iowa State Open last fall, the Badgers gained the confidence they needed to secure their No. 1 ranking at the Winter Open.
""We play in the NCPA, which means that we compete against schools such as Saint Mary's, Michigan State, U of I, Ohio University, Iowa State, Purdue and several other Midwest schools. But we always have to bring our top game, regardless of who we're playing,"" said UW-Madison sophomore and teammate Chad Bucholtz.
Although individual performance is a focus of athletes in any collegiate or club sport, the team focus has enhanced the overall performance and success of the badger paintball team. While only eight team members will be traveling to Dallas to play in the NCPA College Paintball National Championship, all members of the team worked together to plan for the event and sell T-shirts to raise money for the trip.
Who knew?
In the spring semester of 2003, former UW-Madison graduate student Jim Liu and current UW-Madison senior Matthew Clausen combined efforts, hoping to begin the first collegiate paintball team at UW-Madison. After noticing other students had an interest in the game, Liu and Clausen started an official club with the Student Organization Office and began to recruit students. Clausen assumed presidency of the organization before handing it over to sophomore Michael Powell for the 2004-'05 school year. Currently, Powell remains the captain of the Paintball Team and is proud to represent the No. 1 paintball team in the nation.
""I'm amazed at how well this team works together. Expanding from only five active members to around 20 made me think that we would have organizational problems, but everyone has been working together both on and off the field to make this all possible,"" Powell said.
Funding Problems
Currently, the team is only receiving a standard $200 ASM operations grant and still remains unfunded by UW-Madison. Although the team is more than capable of competing in Class A athletics, the paintball team must remain in Class AA because of inadequate funding.
The primary difference between the two divisions is that Class AA is a 5-on-5 format, where the teams play a round robin amongst the other teams, followed by the top teams going to the finals at each tournament. Class A also follows a 5-on-5 format, however, the teams play each other for 32 minutes and receive points by either hanging a flag on their opponents starting station or eliminating all of their opponents.
""Many other schools receive thousands of dollars in funding and we receive nothing, yet we're still No. 1 in the nation,"" said UW-Madison freshman Michael Zydowicz.
""As a team, it is an important goal for us to receive funding in order to get things rolling and possibly spark more interest for paintball within the university,"" said UW-Madison freshman Dave Anderson.
While the lack of funding has proven to be a major problem for the paintball team, the boys have managed to turn their unfortunate situation into a comical memory. Due to University policy, the team is not allowed to use University transportation, such as fleet vans, to get to and from tournaments and practices. This inconvenience, however, has forced the team to pursue other, less ideal, modes of transportation.
""We have to use any car that is available to travel to tournaments. The problem is that a few of our teammates are currently driving some of the crappiest cars on the face of the earth. It's always funny to figure out who will travel in what cars and if we'll even make it to the tournament. One car feels like it is going to fall apart if you drive too fast and another has a sliding door held closed by bungee cords,"" said UW-Madison freshman Harley Hutchins.
Practice makes perfect
Until recently, the team practiced at a nearby practice facility called Dedicated Paintball. This facility served as a sponsor for the team and provided them with free entry, free air refills and reduced prices on paint. However, due to financial difficulties, Dedicated Paintball had to shut down.
This has forced the team to travel to Mukwonago, Germantown and Milwaukee, where other indoor fields are available for use. While this inconvenience has put quite a burden on the team because of the traveling and expenses, the team has kept its spirits high and hopes to find other facilities for future practice sites.
""Currently, one of our players is attempting to work out a sponsorship deal with Stalker Paintball in Wisconsin Dells. If that works out, we will have a place to practice, along with good prices,"" said UW-Madison freshman Dan Davenport.
While it may be hard to imagine what practice would be like for a paintball team, practices basically consist of drills, scrimmages and techniques. The team attempts to get together every other weekend to work on drills and to scrimmage each other or other local teams. In order to prepare for the national competition on April 7, the team is trying to increase its practice schedule and incorporate endurance training and cardio workouts.
Not just a man's game
While it is obvious that paintball is primarily male-dominated, it is certainly a co-ed club sport. The current UW-Madison paintball team is lacking in women, but encourages any female who is interested in joining to do so.
""One of the great aspects of paintball is that anyone can play. At the tournament level, winning increasingly requires a very aggressive attitude and physical training—balance, reactions, endurance, sprinting and more. Here, we run into many of the same problems that traditional sports have in finding women to participate in such traditionally masculine physical activities. I really wish there were more women on the team and we really encourage both genders to get involved if they are interested,"" Clausen said.
Although the team is made up entirely of males this year, the men do respect the competitiveness of other female opponents.
""University of Illinois has a girl on their team and she is pretty damn good! At the Midwest Intercollegiate Open, she hit me in the goggles with one shot. While this is really the most shameful way of getting eliminated, I really had respect for her skill,"" Hutchins said.
If you would like to learn more about the badger paintball team, contact Captain Michael Powell at mdpowell1@wisc.edu or visit the Badger Paintball website at www.badgerpaintball.net.
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