Recruiting paintball players
Maintaining a roster of reliable players is probably one of the most difficult tasks that is set upon a team captain. For some baffling reason it seems that the good players are unreliable and the reliable players are at times not very good. Having played on numerous teams as well as captained my own teams, this has proved to be a major concern. I am not saying that all good players are unreliable, or that all reliable players are not very good. It just seems that as a whole, the good players know they are good so they tend to set their own schedule, while those that have a lot to learn are often dedicated in order to improve their skills. Enter into this the idea of managing a tournament team and at times this almost becomes overwhelming.
There are two primary ways to attract prospective team players, one is by visiting established fields in an attempt to recruit potential players (like a talent scout), the other is to advertise in paintball oriented publications. Both of these techniques have their advantages and disadvantages, but both are successful methods for finding new players. I personally lean towards the advertising technique since this affords me an opportunity to critique the player prior to setting up a try out. Allow me to explain how this system works in a hypothetical situation.
Team “XYZ” started playing tournament ball in the fall of last year. They had fair season in playing three man tournaments and think they will fare better playing in a five man division. Currently they have four reliable players, they will need at least two dedicated players but would like to have more. They have exhausted their known resources of players and either can’t find any willing to commit to the team or none that are acceptable, they have decided that their only remaining option is to advertise.
There are three forms of print that they can advertise in, the first being local newspapers, then paintball publications and finally the web. Local newspapers cover the local areas, while the paintball publications on the most part tend to be distributed on a national level, while the web offers international exposure.
Local newsprint is a good start but you are often limited to the length of advertisement that they will permit you to print. In most cases you will need to pay some sort of small fee but there are some small local newspapers that will allow you to advertise for no charge (Penney Savers, Trading Times, County Reminders, etc). The positive sides of advertising in this media is that you are almost guaranteed that the person is conveniently located in your area. On the down side, your not advertising in a paintball media and the average person reading the ad is not going to be interested in playing on a paintball team so it’s a shot in the dark but it can be successful. Also as I said before, you are often limited as to the size of the ad that you can run, the free publications tend to limit their ads to twenty-five words or less. A typical ad that I would run in this situation would be something along the lines of: “Tournament paintball team is looking to expand its current roster. If you’re interested in playing tournament paintball contact Joe Doe at 123-456-7890.”
Paintball publications often offer an opportunity for their readers to run personal ads for teams and paintball players in their publications. These are often listed as available space is provided and these are also usually limited as to the length of the ad. On some occasions it may be several months before the ad is run and actually comes into print. The positive side of this sort of advertisement is that you are advertising in a publication that is targeted to paintball players. The down side of this form of media is that only too often these publications can only be obtained at paintball stores, fields or through regular subscription, the fact that it could be months before your add is printed and the limiting factors as to the length of the add. This form of publication is usually on a national or regional level, so make certain that you are descriptive towards the area that you are located in. An ad that I would typically run in this form of media is as follows: “Team “XYZ”, located in Central Kalamazoo is looking to expand its five man roster for the upcoming tournament season. Call 123-456-7890 for further information.”
The final media that is at a paintball teams disposal is most likely the most powerful in their arsenal and all it requires is a computer and an internet access provider, this is advertising on the web. There are numerous paintball sites that are available for advertising teams and paintball players alike. There are so many online options that they all can’t be listed, but with the help of a web browser and a little time, your call for additional players can be heard almost around the world. The positive side of this media is that there is not usually a limitation as to the length of the ad, postings are at most times instantaneous and the listings are usually free of charge and accessible to anyone with a computer. On the down side, the disadvantages are that a lot of people who are not serious about playing tournament paintball will waste your time with inquiries and despite what you write as requirements for the team there will always be those that want you to make an exception in their case. This I feel is due to the ease of replying via e-mail. It is easy and doesn’t cost anything extra to respond to an ad, not to mention that you don’t have to meet with the individual thus the person responding is capable of putting up an illusion of being something more than they actually are. Unfortunately, I have found this scenario to be true all too often.
What I have found to be a successful tool in weeding through the applicants is to present them with an application or questionnaire of sorts. The application is sent to the applicants prior to any actual meeting, and is reviewed prior to any tryouts being scheduled. This has a general player profile such as age, equipment and previous experience as well as a multiple choice section that test the player’s knowledge of tournament rules as well as provides some insight to the players’ attitude on the field. The multiple choice question answers range from aggressive maneuvers to much less aggressive responses. This adds more insight into the players’ personality than the fill in the blank questions. I have found it to be useful for both the applicants and myself, especially in instances where a person sends in the application yet has no idea of the distance that he would have to travel. This affords the opportunity for the applicant to back out and I attempt to assist them in finding a more local team.
