Here’s a truth bomb for you; to get better, you need to be honest and you have to recognize what it will take to make improvements.  In other words, be honest with yourself, be honest with your teammates, be honest with your coach and then put in the work.  In being honest, by operating in an environment of accountability and where truth and fact are the main drivers for improvement, you have created the ultimate atmosphere for growth.  But you have to follow that up with action!  You have to put in the work but not just any work.  You have to be willing to work harder and harder each time you practice.  You have to want it more than the other guy.

“You said you wanted the truth. Now what are you willing to do with it?” – Zen

Sometimes the truth is obvious but then there are those times it is a tough pill to swallow.  As a player, as a coach, the first step to improvement is recognizing the weakness in order to defeat it.  That isn’t always easy.  Egos and pride can get in the way.  There are those who flourish in this type of environment and then there are those who wilt like Kentucky bluegrass in southern Alabama.  You have to be willing to have these conversations.

I have played and coached for, with, and against all manner of player and coach.  There are two personalities that jump to the forefront and who I thought ideal for this edition of Gun FU.  I know this because I have played for them, with them, and against them.  Our relationship goes back to 2008 where we were all three part of the Red NRG program.

Kevin Fillers and Adam Smith have been around.  They rose through the ranks and earned their spots on several prominent rosters in the mid-2000s.  Knowing that their work ethic is similar to mine as well as their dauntless approach to drilling, I decided to ask them about their successes, their attitudes, and their drive.

But first, a little context.  Kevin and Adam’s paintball careers began back in Maryville, TN at a place called Foothills Paintball in the late 90’s.  This is where Kevin and Adam met and joined their first team together.  Kevin explains, “As our friends started to lose interest during high school, Adam and I decided that it was our dream to go pro and we made a pact to stick together as teammates for the entire journey.”

They learned how to win under the tutelage of Shawn Terry in 2001.  Shawn was the captain of the Saints at the time.  The Saints were comprised of mostly former motocross racers.

“They understood a lot about preparation and infrastructure so that was the first time we had access to a private practice field and really started basing our practices on drills rather than scrimmages. The team broke up in mid-2003 (real life caught up with the older guys) and Adam and I went to Precision in 2004 (a team out of the Chattanooga area they had known for years).”

During that Precision season, they met Todd Adamson of Aftershock.  Through Todd, Kevin and  Adam got a tryout for the ’05 Ironmen.

“We made it through the tryouts and got brought out for a few more practices leading up to the 05 LA Open, but we didn’t make the final roster. Todd and Billy (Ceranski) were planning on playing 7 man with Bad Company, but the Ironmen weren’t having it. So Todd invited us down to a Bad Company practice at his field leading up to the HB 05’ event and Tom Cole signed us. We played 7 man with BC and guested with random X-ball teams throughout ‘05”

They loved playing with BC but they wanted to play X-Ball.  So they ended up leaving Bad Company and joined Team Ultimate for the 2006 season.  Both Kevin and Adam, along with their good friend and former protege Zack Wake, left Ultimate after the Chicago event in 06.  All three ended up on the Naughty Dogs professional team.  In 2008, Kevin and Adam left the Naughty Dogs and returned to BC.  Zack Wake would stay with the Dogs for a few more events before leaving for San Diego Aftermath.

And here’s where our paths would meet (we actually met on the playing field in 04 when they were with Precision and again on the practice field in 2006 when they were with Ultimate but this is really where we met and started our friendship).  They played with Red NRG’s D1 team and coached the other Red NRG divisional team (I was on that roster).  And here is another Kevin Bacon moment…

“After balancing our coaching time between CEP and Red NRG in 2008, we received what would turn out to be a ‘too good to be true’ offer to switch to coaching Red NRG full-time and build a Birmingham Alabama based pro team. After the funding fell through on that team Craig Williams from CEP made us an offer to coach all of the CEP squads and play on the D1 team in 2009. We had a very successful year as a program in 2009.”

Kevin would hang up the cleats and move to coaching while Adam would continue to play.  They both went to San Diego Aftermath in 2010.  This would be the first time since 99’ they weren’t on the field together. They dabbled about a little after that (including a stint playing with Birmingham Prime and coaching PC Katana).  They now play in the mechanical movement that is gaining, or rather regaining, popularity.

I have worked hard at Zen to create formula’s for continuous improvement.  I have based these formulas off talks and practices with several different pro players and coaches over the years but mostly off my own experiences.  Kevin and Adam did the same:

“It wasn’t unusual for the two of us to spend an entire Saturday with a scuba tank and 1 case of paint just grinding it out on an uneven patch of grass by Adam’s house. That’s where we developed so many of our ‘low-paint’ drills. We’d run the length of the field doing 1-ball running and shooting drills until we couldn’t pick our legs up. We’d practice reloading and shooting 10 balls at a time, then refill the pod out of our hopper paint and do it again. Sliding drills, snake crawling drills, anything that we considered a critical movement in paintball.”

This sort of drilling really prepared them for X-Ball.  X-ball required more athleticism, more emphasis on fundamental skills, just more of everything really.  Their approach appeared, for the most part, specifically geared for that new type of skill set.  They had a notebook full of drills, some of which are in my notebook.  It was this mindset that helped them prepare others since they had lived it.

So if you ask them what they think a young player needs today, they are quick to respond.

“There are three big things a player has to have in order to advance quickly in paintball. Those three things are athleticism, mental toughness, and resources.” Adam says.  Kevin just smiles and shakes his head in agreement.

As a coach, you have to be able to recognize the strengths and shortcomings of your players.  That equation isn’t easy. But there are certain factors you can find in players that make it easier.  I asked Kevin and Adam what they thought are the skill sets a successful paintball coach should possess.

“An acquaintance merely enjoys your company, a fair-weather companion flatters when all is well, a true friend has your best interests at heart and the pluck to tell you what you need to hear.”

Kevin leads off, “I think a successful paintball coach needs 2 traits beyond anything else. One, an in depth understanding of the game and two, the ability to articulate the information to wide range of personalities. Paintball is such a strange game in the fact that there aren’t clear measurables for what makes a ‘great’ paintball player like there are in traditional sports. If you are a football coach, the best running back is probably the fastest, the best lineman is probably the strongest. In paintball, it’s a blend between paintball IQ and athleticism.” Adam quickly adds, “Sometimes a slower guy that is a great communicator and survivor is a better fit situationally than putting the 5 fastest guys on the field. I think being able to figure out how to push the right buttons on each player to get the most out of them was a big part of our success as coaches. Some players need to hear ‘Get me that kill on the break or plan on riding the bench for the rest of the event’ while others need to hear ‘Shake that point off, you’re my guy and I want you on the field.’

“I know some of the people we coached are probably thinking, I don’t recall ever getting the gentle version from Kevin & Adam in practice, and in a lot of ways, that is true.” Kevin says with a grin. “No one got the carrot at practice; we preferred the stick. And that was by design. With the mental toughness required to be competitive at high level paintball, we always wanted practices to be a pressure cooker. I’d much rather have someone melt down at practice so we could create a teaching point than make practice all rainbows and butterflies then have our weaknesses come to the surface at a tournament.  It was always our intention to push people to that edge because the great players shift into 6th gear and the weak players blame the coach and quit. And if anyone doesn’t believe that, let me know when someone new starts winning pro because last time I checked, it’s primarily the same ice in the veins, take no prisoner, ruthless play that has been on top since the mid-2000s.”

I’m inclined to agree with that last assessment.  I am often quoted as saying “I will take the team that shot 100 cases at practice over the team that shot 20” or “The other team is grinding still, why are you thinking about leaving this field?”  It requires time, determination, and a bank account.  But besides that, what else do they think are skill sets most players these days are overlooking?

“Communication is a bit of a cliché response, but it couldn’t be more true,” says Adam.

“Going a step further though, I think it is being a complete student of the game. It still blows my mind to watch pro players make decisions with seemingly no regard to the score, body count, and time remaining in the match. If you are in an X-ball match, and you don’t look at the clock and score before every point you play, you are a moron. Just taking that moment to understand all of the related variables, you can cut your decision making down to a fraction of choices,” adds Kevin.

Authors note**Now THAT I can get behind since that is part of my equation in the pit as well.  Glad these guys are bringing their A game to this talk…

But that is only a finite part of the calculation.  And they know this so I asked what they thought  an individual player’s biggest hurdle in competitive paintball was.  They cut to the quick on this one.

“For youngsters, it has to be resources. Lets be real, paintball is an expensive sport like racing, and if you don’t have the financial support to be out there most weekends, it will be very difficult to climb the ranks young. Same reason why most NASCAR drivers come from money. It’s a lot easier to get your 10,000 hours if you can start early and someone else is footing the bill.  Despite the economic hurdles that will always create an uneven playing field in luxury sports, there has never been an easier path to advancing through the divisional ranks than today. When we were coming up, there weren’t BKi, Youtube channels, and GoSports streams of the events (or Zen bloggers for that matter). We had to piece it all together in a time when the sport was rapidly evolving. Now, since paintball strategy and format has somewhat plateaued, any player has access to relatively the same amount of knowledge. It’s just up to the player to put in the sweat equity and hold themselves personally accountable for improving their game.”

Recently, I had asked Kevin and Adam to come say “hi” at a recent CEP off weekend practice.  I thought it would be a good idea to just bang on a non-layout weekend in a fun environment, do some team building, eat some good food and remember why we do what we do.  The Kevin and Adam part of the cocktail was to make sure they were grounded in reality!  And it didn’t disappoint.  I asked them to say a few words to the current iteration of CEP and they did great.  So, for this Gun Fu article I thought I would ask them what they believe is the one thing most divisional teams are missing today.  There was no hesitation in the answer from Kevin.

“Personal accountability – we hate to be the guys piling on this generation about being ‘soft millennials’, but we just don’t see the same level of intensity and accountability when we’re around lower divisional teams. We don’t think it is possible to advance in this sport without being able to accept harsh criticism. So my advice to any up-and-comers is the next time you receive criticism in practice, don’t make an excuse or try to explain away what happened just say ‘That’s on me’ and don’t make the same mistake again. Own your mistake, learn from it, and evolve as a player.”

This!  This times 1000!

Okay – I went into a quick lighting round but if you have ever been around Kevin and Adam for any amount of time, drinking a beer and shooting the stuff – that can turn into an all-day affair.  So here we go!

Tell us more about the Mechanical league you guys are competing in now? How did all that come about?

Kevin – “Oh man, we love some mechanical paintball. We definitely prefer mounds over hyperball and woods, but I’ve found the format as a whole to be extremely refreshing. When Tim Montressor re-packaged this classic format in 2017 with the Iron City Classic, we didn’t have any idea it would create this amount of momentum, but I decided to play it with Bad Company just as an excuse to get a break from the 2v2 training and visit with my old teammates. Needless to say, I could have done without tearing my hamstring in the finals, but I still really enjoyed the weekend as a whole. We’ve played all 3 ICC’s with Bad Company and we competed in the inaugural ICPL with the Saints (a reboot of Shawn Terry’s old early 2000s squad).”

“We are curious to see how this goes over the next few years though because this classic movement is like watching the evolution of paintball happen again at 10x the speed. At the 2017 ICC, every team was a throw together team and everyone was playing with either electros at 5.5 or antique auto-cockers. By 2018, you were already seeing the teams traveling to practice on the field, playing with their own private-label modern mechanical guns, and by 2019 I don’t think you can deny that it is considerably harder to field a competitive throw together squad. What I hope is that the level of play doesn’t increase to a point where it starts to scare away the weekend warriors.”

As players who played prior to and during the advent of X-ball and now playing mechanical, what is something that has remained consistent?

Adam – “For me personally, it’s the love of just putting it on someone. I don’t care if it is on the NXL center court or at a local scenario game, I just don’t think I can ever get tired of unloading on someone and watching them have a meltdown.  The bigger the meltdown, the better!”

What is something you think paintball helps teach?  In other words, what’s something a player/individual can learn from the sport?

Kevin – “One of my biggest takeaways from paintball was just learning team dynamics. Little things like understanding what the good vibe feels like when you have the right team built and conversely understanding what toxic attitudes look like and how they can be cancerous to a team. When I got into business consulting was when I really realized how much my paintball coaching was going to apply to “adult life”. It’s funny that the same *^$%y attitudes that got people cut from teams are the same attitudes that get people fired. It makes me think of those memes you see ‘un-coachable kids become unemployable adults.’ 100% true.”

What were your thoughts on the whole Damian Ryan/NXL feud?  He is returning to the NXL and the Ironmen for Chicago.

“Man that’s a tough one. As a player, I consider Damian to be one of the most talented and dynamic people to ever play up the middle in the Xball era so I hated to see him step away from the field, but I think he made one hell of a miscalculation with how he voiced his displeasure with the current state of the industry. There are only a few ‘power players’ left in the industry and throwing a digital middle finger up to their joint venture (the NXL) pretty much ended how I thought it would.

Believe me, as two people who committed a lot of years to this sport, we would have loved nothing more than to have seen it end up as an X-Games sport with the financing power to make a lot of people full-time athletes, but that just wasn’t the hand we were dealt. Between some bad financial choices by the big companies pre-2008, a global recession, the end of paintball gun innovation years, the creation of airsoft, and a hard to watch sport for the casual spectator, the industry was destined for a significant setback after that many years of exponential growth. Personally, I would have preferred this happening a few years later (not at the peak of my playing career), but it was coming none the less.

I’m sure a lot of people will consider me a ‘homer’ since I played with Bad Company, but I think Tom Cole is doing a lot of things right for the current state of the industry. Would I like to see $50,000 first prizes for pro again? 100% yes. Tournaments held on Huntington Beach, 1000% yes, but that was just a different era and unfortunately, I don’t think we will see those days again. For people that don’t know Tom, they need to understand that you will not find someone who has invested more years into the growth and improvement of paintball. I think that’s what rubbed me the wrong way about the internet kids going after Tom/NXL. People want to complain about cities and venues, the NXL is in Vegas and back in Kissimmee. People want to complain about prizes, the NXL offered $50,000 for a 2-man event and hardly anyone had the balls to play it.

My suggestion for anyone who wants to create change in the industry is to start a dialogue not a flame thread. Compile a list of questions and lobby Matty to do another interview with Tom. Tom has never been afraid to stand at the podium and face the hard questions and I’m sure he’d be willing to do it again.”

What was the best piece of advice you received related to paintball and who gave it to you?

“It’s funny because probably the most influential words of wisdom that stuck with me were given to a teammate after he got bunkered at the Memphis Indoor in 2001 or 2002. Someone from OBR or Farside had just dropped the hammer on him and gave him a few extra right in the back of the head. He of course was pissed off and wanted to fight the guy when he was told ‘You know why I shot you so many times?, so you’d be thinking about wanting to fight me rather than spinning on me and arguing to stay in the game’. My friend shut up and walked off the field. I never forgot that and called it a good policy.”

What is your favorite drill(s)?  Why?

“Run-Dive-Slides: Start on the baseline of a field, run 3 steps, dive like you are diving into the snake, crawl about 10 ft, jump up as fast as you can, repeat for the length of the field. At the end, you stand up. You never lay on the field.

Without a doubt the worst drill to end practice on and that’s how we ended every practice. It did 2 things. 1 – it was a message to all of our teammates that we don’t consider practice over until the tank is on empty 2 – it was a reminder to ourselves that we want it more.”

And there you have it people.  Take it from guys who have been there and made it happen.  Have the right attitude, have the right drive, put in the work, and make it happen.

Thanks to Kevin and Adam… who knows, maybe I’ll get out there with the Ole Auto-Whopper and play some mechanical with them…

Be water my friends

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

– Mark Twain.

Wading into something like the unknown can be daunting, scary… most are hesitant.  Some are warriors and welcome the challenge.  There is no right or wrong approach, as long as you begin.

I’m a firm believer in heart.  I love watching those players who get on the grind, get smashed, get up and do it again, get smashed… and do it again and again.  They don’t lose, they learn! That takes heart and if the player has the right amount of it, you’ll never beat them.  You may win… but you won’t beat them.  Heart is unbreakable.

I am drawn to people of that nature and this Gun Fu article is certainly one of those people.

His real name is Jerardo…

“I go by Jerry but my mom started calling me that so it stuck and was easier for people to pronounce.”

Jerry Caro is entering his 5th season of professional paintball.  He started his pro paintball career with the Los Angeles Ironmen, jumped over to PC Katana last year, and is currently rostered with Los Angeles Infamous.”  And he just turned 25 years old.

“My Birthday was a few weeks ago on March 17^th, not a bad day for a birthday since it falls on St. Patrick’s Day. “

Said with an Irish grin no doubt.

“I first got into playing paintball with one of my childhood best friends Eli. We did everything together from Pokémon cards to riding bikes just to name a few. But what sparked the idea of paintball was BB guns. We got tired of just shooting cans, so we both thought it would be awesome to be able to shoot at each other with Paintball guns instead! That was just the beginning… not knowing what would happen next. We went to the nearest Walmart and each bought a Spyder Imagine, went back to his house where he had acres of land to run around on, and shoot at each other; it was perfect.”

He became instantly hooked.  Jerry and his friend Eli would then go on to look up the closest paintball field. The very next weekend they ended up at USPN (United States Paintball Nation) in Hollister, CA (About 50 miles south of San Jose).

“There was a team called Inflict that was there getting ready for a tournament they called the World Cup we knew nothing about…” he says with a laugh.  That’s where he met future Royalty/Ironmen teammates Al Fernandez (currently on the Ironmen), Danny Ibarra, Toke Hamil, and Jason Vitalich.

“They were all guys I looked up to and wanted to play like.  They all were kind enough to teach me how to play the game.”

Jerry is a lot like many of us.  His love of the game is obvious and he happily explains it.

“I love so many things about paintball; one being that it’s constantly challenging. It drives me to become a better person/player/friend/teammate.  Paintball gives me life; it’s an escape for me. Nothing beats the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, and the lessons I’ve learned from this sport I’m so passionate about.”

Hey but it isn’t all fun and games.

“Sometimes politics get in the way and can cause it to lose some of the fun at times but I try to ignore that whenever that kind of stuff happens.”

But it wasn’t always about paintball.  No, our hero was quite the football player for a time, even playing in college!

“I’ve played Football from the age of 7 all the way up until college. I was able to somewhat balance the two and make it work between Football and Paintball most of the time. I took a few years off from Paintball to focus on school and football. Being in shape for football and then transitioning back into paintball wasn’t what I remembered. I felt stronger/faster but I just had to get used to the agility movements again.

Okay, so we know how it started and why.  But what about becoming a professional in the sport?  How did that happen?  Was that the plan all along or did it just kind of happen?

“My paintball journey to the professional ranks was something I never had in my head and it wasn’t really a goal of mine. I just love to compete and be the best I can possibly be. Every time I went out to play, I wanted to get better and learn something new. I would work on my weaknesses from snap shooting left handed to running and shooting left handed until my left side felt just as comfortable as my right. It didn’t matter if I went to the field without paint or even a gun…”

*Author’s note – pay close attention to this next part – remember we were talking about Heart?

“… I would literally play pretend with a paintball squeegee. I would ask the Ref if I could play (without a gun) and I didn’t care if I got shot.  The goal was to get as close to the opponents and make them surrender.  I had to figure out ways to be sneaky and communicate since I couldn’t shoot back.”

WHAAAT?!!!  Awesome…

And the motivation?  Where did it come from?

“I would work at my local paintball field and Ref all day Saturday to be able to play on Sundays. I remember playing a 7-man tournament and I only got to play a few points.  I was sat a lot and not being able to help lit a fire in my heart and since that day I played as much paintball as I possibly could so that wouldn’t happen to me again. After that, my game started to improve.  I had always heard from my teammates or friends “Dude you’re going to go pro someday.” I wouldn’t even think anything of it.  I’d just continue to play the game I love.”

So how did it eventually happen?

“That day of becoming pro was starting to pop up in my head when the Ironmen and Royalty merged into one team. The Men would practice at Santa Clara paintball, my local field in San Jose, California. I was on Royalty division 3 at the time and we got to play the Ironmen a couple times and I knew we had to bring it to them.  We weren’t just going to let them smack us around because they’re Pros. Shane Pestana was the coach of the Ironmen at the time.  I honestly didn’t really know much about him because I was so in tune with focusing on my game.  I guess he started to notice and saw something in me that he liked…”

What do you think he noticed?

“I don’t know what it was, you’d have to ask him yourself!” he says laughing.

Jerry mentions a moment from the 2014 World Cup that he recalls vividly.  The Ironmen had just lost to Tampa Bay Damage in the semi-finals.  Jerry had been in the pits during the match.

“I remember the looks in all the guys faces after the loss. So many emotions from tears, frustration, and their heads down. I could tell how disappointed they were. I went up to Shane gave him a hug and he told me “Be ready next year kid”.  Words I wasn’t expecting!

And that started the fire.

“I’ll tell you what, I was ready that moment! Little did I really know what he meant but I felt like I was ready.”

That next year during the off season, Jerry got an invite to come out to Camp Pendleton in order to practice with the Ironmen. He was anxious the entire car ride down to San Diego (9 hour drive) and didn’t know what to expect.

“That all went away once we were on the field playing paintball. I thought I had a decent weekend of practice. They ended up losing a guy by the name of Steven Pits. I think he injured himself going into the Dallas event.  Shane calls me two nights before the event, “Hey kid, so here’s the deal.  We need a guy but I need to know now if your able to go”.

And with that, Jerry donned the shield.  Shane put it in perspective for Jerry that very night on the phone when he told Jerry, “Don’t thank me… it only gets tougher from here on out!”

“It was a blessing and something I will cherish till the day I die.”

Jerry is one of the most humble guys I know and incredibly self aware.  He pushes himself all the time.  He wants to do well in ALL things, not just paintball.  Interestingly enough, he encourages everyone else too.  He genuinely wants everyone to do well, be happy, and live a good life.  He’s accountable, almost to a fault.  He’s powerful that way, at least in my mind.

I asked him, like I do all the Gun Fu professors, what is the best advice you have received for your paintball life?

“The best advice I’ve received was – have fun, enjoy it and play the way you know how to play. It wasn’t so simple for me, Paintball is a mental game and I would put too much pressure on myself and that wouldn’t help me to a certain extent. I notice when I just play the game the way I know how to play and have fun, my mind felt clearer. I clear my head of anything negative,  any doubts I have I will think as if I am back home at my local field playing and having fun.  No pressure. That mindset helps me focus on the task at hand. That doesn’t mean don’t work hard… it means work smarter. So don’t put too much pressure on yourself to the point where you’re just beating yourself up. For the longest time, in my professional career, I would put too much pressure on myself. I would worry about getting shot, making a mistake, being overly aggressive or not aggressive enough. I would hesitate and start second guessing myself… That hurt me and my play time. Recently, I started to take a different approach. I now think back to why I started and everything I have done to be in the position I’m in today, realizing I’m doing what I love at the highest level.  Now I just need to apply everything I’ve worked for and learned along the way and play the game the way I know how to play.”

Honesty and humility… awesome.  This is why I love this guy.

So what drill does Jerry love to do?

“There isn’t a drill I don’t like doing if it’s going to benefit me and my game.  If it does, then it’s going to benefit my team. It’s important to have a goal going into any practice and life in general for that matter.”

See what I’m talking about?  But I digress… come on, give us one.

“My favorite drill would probably be 2v2.”

Really?  Why?

“It’s a great drill because you pick a buddy and it’s you and him against two other guys and you have to communicate. Once you shoot one, you immediately have the advantage. You let your teammate know ‘hey he’s on me’ so he can make a move and close it out. I also like the fact that, if you end up being the 1, you have to keep your head on a swivel.  It’s challenging but rewarding if you figure out a way to beat them.”

Let’s give them what they want.  Let’s talk about the Skeleton crew… You’re new team Infamous.  How is that going?

“Joining Infamous I didn’t know what to expect honestly.  But change is usually good for the most part. I knew some of those guys have been playing for a while and I felt like I could learn something from them and them from me. I’m really confident that this team has what it takes to win and be a top level team. I love how many people doubt us.  I’m really looking forward to how the season goes and I know we will progress every time we play together.”

Let’s get the ‘infamous’ Thomas Taylor head shot moment out of the way (see what I did there?)  What was going through your head at that moment (besides a couple of .68 caliber Tylenol gel caps)?

Laughing “Man… let me tell you, my lights went out for a second or two!  I took a jump shot over the fifty snake.  I knew I was able to shoot the snake side can from that side of the field since it was higher. Everyone on the team knew we had to score big so everyone knew we needed to put points up on the board. There was one guy left.  It was Scott Coleson, my former teammate and great friend of mine at this point.  We all smelled blood in the water and wanted to get the last guy but I was the one who got the worst of it getting shot by Thomas! We have practice coming up so who knows maybe I’ll get some payback… just kidding” he chuckled.

Any final comments?

“Shout out to all the people who have helped me get to where I am. I couldn’t have done it alone that’s for sure. And to my mom and family for always supporting me. Much love!”

If I have said it once, I have said it one hundred thousand times…Commitment, belief, and a positive mental attitude are all aspects one must possess in order to become a success, whether you’re in sports, in business or, what have you.  Now, I have a tendency to begin a lot of my blogs with a quote.  Here’s one; I believe it was Muhammad Ali who said, ” It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”

Not many of us can say we have won a National paintball event, much less two or more, or even more impressive, the World Cup.  But that’s exactly what the subject of this Gun Fu blog did.  And after reading this, I think the quote will make more sense.

Born in the small town of Madisonville, Louisiana and raised just outside of New Orleans, Stuart Ridgel will celebrate his 28th birthday later this month.  And just like a good many of us ballers, it all started at a birthday party…

“I was around 10 years old when I first played paintball. I was invited to a childhood friends birthday party. I remember one game we played capture the flag and I grabbed the flag from the center 50 area and ran it back to our starting area without getting touched. I thought I was invincible at that moment in time, I was praised for doing that by my friends and the parents. That was my first experience with paintball.  It was a positive experience.”

When talking to Stuart (Stu as his friends call him), its obvious he has a love for learning as well as sharing.  It’s pretty contagious actually.  But there is no doubt he is competitive.  And you can tell almost immediately that he is a truly honest and humble guy.

“I played rec sports throughout my childhood so I enjoyed competing and I was always very competitive. When I made my way to high school, I played a season of football and didn’t play much probably because of my size mainly. Then I tried out for baseball and didn’t make the team. I was already playing woodsball quite a bit and dabbling in speedball playing a couple local tournaments. After my experience with high school sports, I wanted to do something where I could actually contribute to a team and compete. That’s when I really started to play speedball a lot more. I was playing with guys around the field older than me and actually shooting them. I thought this is awesome! I can beat grown men and hold my own! It didn’t matter how big or how strong I was. Then at the end of 2004, at my home field 10 minutes down the road from my house, the New Orleans Rock-It-Kids hosted a tryout because they were moving into X-ball from 10-man. For the Rock-It-Kids to be that close to my house I think I was just destined to play paintball. I was 14, tried out and they picked me up because they saw potential and could mold me. At our first D2 PSP event, the LA SoCal Open 2005, we won first place.  I only played maybe 4-5 points, but I was hooked. First time flying in an airplane, traveling halfway across the U.S. with older guys to play paintball. I was in love.”

In case you missed it, Stu and his team the Gulf Coast Hurricanes won the Division 2 World Cup back in November.  And they did it in an impressive manner.  After their first match which they tied, they found their rhythm.  They finished the prelims with a 3-0-1 record landing the 3rd place seed headed into Sunday (right in front of another team who had a pretty decent coach… but I digress).  They would dispatch their first opponent 6-2 in the Ochos followed by a mercy rule win (6-1) over the 2018 NXL Atlantic City Champions Carolina Crisis.  They would follow that win up in the semis with another mercy rule win of 5-0 setting up their greatest challenge of the event. *Side note – Yours truly was coaching the team in the pit right next to them most of Sunday morning. The composure these guys showed was awesome to behold.  A back and forth match, the ‘Canes were triumphant in the end winning 4-3.

“I always wanted to start my own team and have control of a team or organization. After experiences with other organizations that had policies and practices I didn’t agree with, I knew I wanted to call the shots one day and have more control. Being one of the youngest on these other teams, I didn’t really have a voice yet but I knew I didn’t agree with the way things were. I eventually stopped playing with them and looked for something else.

Then a couple years later after Aftershock and way too many 13 hour drives to Chicago, I decided I was going to start a team of my own. I hosted tryouts in 2015 and we had probably 30 something players (including almost all of the core D2 players) that formed the NO NAMED TEAM. I was just looking for like-minded players at the time to see what we were going to do and where we could compete. You know how paintball players come and go, we lost half of them from lack of commitment before the first season. A couple months after the initial tryouts, Matt Hamilton came to me (He was already on the no named team at this time) and told me he was opening a field, Gulf Coast Paintball and wanted to help fund a team. He gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse and we agreed to name the team Gulf Coast Hurricanes and that’s how the Hurricanes were born.”

And now you know.  Stu had seen a lot and learned a lot from teams like the Rock-It-Kids, Warped Army, and Aftershock among others (for the record, he doesn’t consider himself ever having really played professionally.)

“I only played 3 events with them (Aftershock) at the professional level. I can say I’ve been shot by a lot of pro players though”

So he took what he had learned and, partnering with Matt Hamilton of Gulf Coast Paintball in Slidell, LA, the Hurricanes were born.

To understand Stu and the ‘Canes, all you have to do is ask them about their mindset coming into the 2018 season.  I think it speaks volumes about the team and their positive and confident approach.

“The team’s mindset was to compete and win at the D2 level one last year before all of us got ranked up. We felt the 2017 season had a few unfortunate things happen to us at the events (like most teams I’m sure) even with winning Chicago in 2017. We knew our group of guys had the experience and talent to compete with the best D2 teams in the league and we were ready to win.

We just needed to figure out the financial portion of the team and what we could realistically afford. Unfortunately, we could only afford 3 events during 2018 Vegas – 2nd Place, Dallas, 5th Place, and World Cup 1st Place. When you only have 7-8 players in your organization that are ready for this level and 1 is a college student with no money national paintball can get expensive.”

Ah yes, don’t we all know it.  But the story of their win at World Cup doesn’t end there.  There is one other aspect that I think makes this a great story about a team that not only overcame adversity financially, but one other thing as well: they won the event with only 5 guys!

“This was our last opportunity to play at the D2 level together and we were playing no matter what. We have played events in the past where 90-95% of points were played by 5 players with only 7 on the roster. I knew we had the stamina to run the race, we just couldn’t get hurt and luckily no one got hurt. This is a group of veterans that have put in years and have made their sacrifices to compete and win. I wasn’t really worried about only having 5, I believed that whatever was meant to happen was going to happen and it happened for us. The guys on this roster have a lot of heart and I knew you would have to drag their lifeless body’s off the field for them not to play.”

Motivating, yes?

But what’s next?  The team is planning on stepping up to the Semi Pro\Division 1 next season.  What adjustments will they make and what do they feel they need to fix in order to be competitive in a division that has teams like Indianapolis Mutiny, NRG Elite, and Montreal Image?

“We need to be better at working together and communicating. We all have good gun skills, but where a team separates themselves from the pack is their level of communication and how well they can accomplish points together. Communication is the key to success in this sports.

We’re still trying to figure out our player situation and who is looking to commit possibly new players, but our core group is still around and I know they can compete at the semipro level.

This organization needs a dedicated coach and scouting/assistant coach. The top teams have that coach they can count on. This is something that we really don’t have at practices leading to the event. We do have Jamie helping at events, I’d love to have a coach with us running practices and giving us feedback. It’s extremely difficult to do that as a player.”

Okay, so they won the World Cup with five guys and are headed to the semi-pro division for 2019… but how does Stu plan to approach the next season? What keeps him and his crew motivated?

“My own progression and watching the people around me work hard and want to progress and get better motivates me. The effort motivates me. It’s a gratifying experience to watch someone dedicate and sacrifice so much of their time and life just to try to accomplish a goal. It motivates me to want to continue to work hard for the team and people around me and contribute to winning. Wins are few and far between, but when you do get one, you’re on a roll for that indescribable moment. Paintball has taught me to be disciplined, and if you work hard, eventually you will be rewarded. It took me almost 10 years to get my third national tournament win, from 1st place at the Boston NPPL in 2007 to the Chicago Open in 2017. It took until 2018 for me to win my first World Cup; it takes time.”

Stu is always one to give credit where credit is due.  What I love about the guy is how he is quick to rattle of the people he credits with his success.  He will tell you he didn’t do it alone.

“I look up to Matty Hotard old captain of Rock-It-kids for teaching me how to lead a team and play with heart. Drew Bell for always putting in the work week in and week out throughout the years and just leading by setting the example.  Then just almost all of the guys in my organization, in the league and around me that I’ve come in contact with. I try to look for, look up and be influenced by any and everyone that I can take something good away from. I like to search for little gold nuggets in everyone. I’m a strong believer that any and everyone has the potential to influence and teach you something positive, you just have to observe and listen.”

Any favorite Pros or team?  I love this answer by the way.

“No favorite pro team. I just enjoy the grind and watching great play.”

Some other things you may not about ole Stuart Ridgel.  He has been published – that’s right.  You could say he wrote the book on paintball communication (literally).  You can order it here!

https://www.amazon.com/Paintball-Communication-101-Guide-Tournament/dp/1542682398

And he has a youtube channel!  Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6msmaaRbQog521LKw1Lp_g

When you ask him about what is the one piece of advice he wish he had been given when starting out, the response is almost predictable.  Same goes for what he tells other teams just starting out.

“Communication is the most important aspect of tournament paintball. I wish this would have been stressed to me from the beginning.

I’d tell them that an okay team that can work together and has an open dialogue during the game can beat a group of good players that can’t work together any day. Investigate the various aspects of communication and learn how to collaborate to achieve goals. “When a player not only has the capacity to have complete field awareness for himself and know the accurate kill count, opponent’s positions, and his team count, but he can make every single teammate on the field completely field aware and understand the game situation, that’s when you start to become a truly great player.”

Here’s another thing I like about Stu.  All of you know how I emphasize the basic fundamentals of paintball.  I believe no matter how experienced you are, you need to find time to do certain drills.  After all, they are perishable skills since muscle memory can fade.  So I asked him, what is your favorite drill?

“Fundamentals – Breakout shooting and snap shooting. Win the break and your probability to win the point is exponentially higher. Win a gun fight and you possibly win a tournament. I feel like if I would have won this one gunfight in Vegas this year during the very first point, we would have won that event.

There is a communication circuit drill and a communication situational drill we do that is a lot of fun and helpful, but it’d take me quite a bit to write.”

Love it.

So, in case you were wondering what it feels like to be a World Cup Champion, Stu sums it up for us.

“It feels like all the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices I’ve made to play this sport have finally paid off. I’ll cherish that moment for the rest of my life. Being on the field with my brothers and sharing this moment with them will be etched in my brain until I leave this form. We all worked hard together, and on that day, we all became Champions! It’s something special.”

Be water my friends