Orlando Open

April 21-24, 2005

March 20th through 24th, the Orlando Open marked the second leg of the PSP 2005 season. The event was located on the green manicured turf of Disney’s Wide World of Sports. The site, now home to two PSP events each year had been set up a week early and used for the National Collegiate Paintball Association’s annual Championship event.

Following the NCPA, the fields next saw action with the X-Ball games of PSP divisional X-Ball as well as the NXL professional games. The move to drop 10 man competition in 2005 put PSP events on a more compact time schedule than in past years. X-Ball games ran from Thursday through Sunday, and 5-man games from Friday through Sunday. While shortening the time competing teams would need to be on the road, one significant addition made its first appearance at Orlando – the Young Guns competition.

While it has not been uncommon to see Young Gun divisions at large stand alone events like the International Amateur Open, or the very successful regional Young Guns series in the Pan Am, the addition of the division in the PSP marks the first time there has been a national youth oriented tournament series. Limiting the competitors to the age of fifteen years and younger put many of these newer players on a more even footing with the teams they were facing.

Another new feature at the event was a printed program. In past years, World Cup has been the only event in the PSP series to include a glossy color printed program. More than simply being a guide to what fields are where, and a schedule of games, the Orlando Open program included advertising from a number of local restaurants who were offering discounts to anyone showing an Orlando Open ID card. Paintball Sports Promotions is working to increase this type of cross-promotional tie ins at future events.

The bulk of the first day divisional X-Ball games were for divisions one through three. The Open Division with its smaller grouping of 5 teams saw only one fist day game. Naughty Dogs, Inc. took down Ultimate 8 to 6. XSV was notably missing from the schedule, but they weren’t no-shows, they were busy on the fields working as refs.

While divisional X Ball played, the NXL played their pro games as well. The NXL scheduled in 6 games per day, to make up for games lost to rain-outs during the Los Angeles Open. The opening pairing was between San Diego Legacy and Chicago Aftershock. Shock took that game 11 to 5. Chicago fared even better against the Los Angeles Ironmen, defeating them 14 to 8. Boston Red Legion bested San Diego Legacy by a single point, 10 to 9. Detroit Strange topped New York Xtreme 10 to 9. Baltimore Strange took down the Philly Americans 12 to 8, and the Oakland Assassins beat Miami Effect 17 to 5.

Spectators and paintball enthusiasts were able to see more than just the paintball games. The tournament’s trade show included display trailers from major names in paintball including National Paintball Supply, PMI, Shocktech, DYE, CP, Worr Game Products and JT, Smart Parts, Empire, Tippmann, Proto and more. A number of smaller companies set up show tents, or took booth space inside a vendor display tent.

The second day of competition, Friday saw the divisional X-Ball games continuing and the start of the 5-man prelims, as well as more NXL games. In the NXL, Philly defeated Miami 10 to 9. New York fell to San Diego 7 to 13. Baltimore defeated Chicago 13 to 8. Boston beat Los Angeles, also with a score of 13 to 8. Oakland toppled Detroit 11 to 8, and Baltimore posted a 14 to 7 win over Miami.

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