Sandbaggers in tournaments

By Sean Takeda

What exactly is a Sandbagger? A Sandbagger is a tournament experienced player who tries to play as a player of a lower class (when he/she is not) in a tournament, mainly for the compensation of the prizes, easy team wins, etc. Primary examples would be a Pro player trying to pass as an Amatuer, or an Amatuer player trying to pass as a Novice. These players should know better, but how can we prevent this from happening in Tournaments?

So I know what a Sandbagger is, how do they affect me?

Sandbaggers affect everyone. They affect you directly when they enter into a class that you and your team may be playing in, especially if you have to play against them directly. Many players spend good, hard earned money to play in tournaments (which in most cases isn’t cheap). So why should they play if they know they are playing against a team which they know they can’t beat (due to players on that team which shouldn’t be playing in the first place)? The fact is, they shouldn’t. It’s not fair to you, your team, or anyone else which is following the tournament rules, regulations, and restrictions. Unfortunately, these players (the sandbaggers) know they shouldn’t be there, but don’t care…they are there for one thing, to win the prizes!!!

History of Tourneys and the players

Back in the late 80’s, and early 90’s, there where far less teams then there are around today. Just like any sport, things expand quite rapidly when a sport becomes popular. Paintball has definitely expanded to more teams then we can even count. Whether these teams were new, old, good, or bad, one thing was clear, most of the teams were honest because there wasn’t a whole lot of “talented” teams yet. The NPPL was just starting up, and the GWS series hadn’t been created yet. As paintball had become more competive, more players started doing more than just play, these players started stacking teams, cheating (wiping mainly), basically anything they could do to win the game.

Tourneys Today

Everybody wants to win, but there are only 2 ways to win a tournament, fair and square, or not at all. Throughout my years of tournament play, I have played with teams who play hard, honest, and fair. Teams which I, or my team (or teammates) have encountered cheating in any way, shape, or form, we have made it very clear to the those players, their captain, and the refs. Unfortunately, most of the time, most people will acknowledge that they are aware of it, but do very little dispite of the fact that cheating has occured.

Most tournaments which I have personally participated in, the rules and regulations have been fairly strict, at least as far as the circumstances, and the penalties which will be assessed if an individual or team cheats. I personally respect these rules, and have found that most players and their teams abide by these rules. However, I have seen a number of players who have absolutely no respect for these tourneys, rules, or other players…they are there for one thing…to win.

First Hand Experience

I have recently held a tourney for the MPN, which we encountered a few teams which had players which didn’t belong. When I brought it to their attention, they acknowledge that they had broken the rules of “no sandbagging” (at least what the way I interpreted it), but continued to enter a team anyways. I immediately disqualified them, and asked them to leave. Most tournament coordinators will let it slide because yes, they want to make money, but when it comes down to being fair to others, the money is no longer important. If all tourneys allowed sandbaggers to enter, they would eventually lose all of the teams to better run tournaments who don’t tolerate sandbaggers.

It soon became aware that another team had sandbaggers on their team as well, but by that time, the tourney was almost over. Unfortuantely, that team ended up winning their divsion, but if they need to “stack” a team in order to win…they can be sure that they will not be welcome at the next tournament. Being that it was our first tournament, things didn’t go absolutely like we had intended, but went to the best to what we were capable (for the first tourney). One thing which a lot of tourneys do nowadays, is follow current or existing rules and formats of other tournaments which are currently in place. This makes it easier for tournaments to incorporate rules which players are already familiar with, in a tournament environment which most players have already played.

Out with the Old, in with the New

So now you may ask yourself, how do we take care of the Sandbagging issue? You create your own rules, which completely disregard whether or not you have played in one division or another in another series. You come up with a panel of experienced players who are familiar with players, to be able to distinguish teams, faces, and skill levels. If you break the rules, play in a class which you are not supposed to, basically anything which test the limitations of our established rules and regulations, you (and/or your team) will be penalized heavily, if not completely ejected with you and/or your entire team. I think that many tournaments are being held for monetary compensation, which of course most are, but we are forgetting completely about what we are out there in the first place for, to be competitive, and to have fun.

What do others say?

Since our last tournament, and when I have been playing on the fields, I have been interviewing a number of players on and off the field to get their interpretations on the issue of having sandbaggers in tournaments. Here are a few interesting reponses I received.

Player 1 from Southern California – “Well I have been playing for sometime now, and everyone does it. I’m a sandbagger, but so is everyone else”.

This may be true, but 2 wrongs don’t make a right.

Player 2 from Northern California – “I think that Sandbaggers should be banned from all tournament series when the are caught. I know it sounds kinda harsh, but my team and I would like to have a fair shot at the prizes too.”

I wouldn’t go as far as banning players unless they repeatedly attempt to Sandbag. They should definitely be penalized however in some form.

Player 3 from Canada – “Experienced players already have all of their equipment, so why don’t they play against other teams in the same category? Why do they need to have to cheat?