In its second full season, the University of Tampa paintball team is advancing to nationals in the National Collegiate Paintball Association. This eight-member club sport will be playing a round-robin best two out of three tournament with each of the five teams in its bracket. The national championships are taking place on April 16-17 in Lakeland, Fla.
“It’s the best field in central Florida for tournaments,” stated captain and president of the squad Brock Mangus.
The team competed at the championships last year, but as Mangus explained, the group of UT paintball players did not do so well.
“We didn’t play very well in nationals last season. Most of the players were playing in their first big tournament and we didn’t get much practice. With the competition from around the country being superior, we only won a few games,” said Mangus.
The senior is impressed with the team’s improvement over the course of this season. UT hopes for a better showing at nationals since it has been scrimmaging against the most talented teams in the state.
“I can tell the team is getting better,” Magnus said. “The communication and technical skills have improved tremendously.”
In the national championships, the top two teams in each bracket advance to play on Sunday, where the tournament becomes single elimination.
Leading up to nationals, the October through March season is composed of a bunch of scrimmages against local and top teams in the state of Florida.
“Florida is a hotspot for tournament paintball, and a majority of the organized teams here win on the national level consistently,” Mangus explained. “We scrimmage against a mix of other colleges and local teams.”
Mangus said that the local colleges the teams plays include the University of South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Florida.
UT paintball is partially funded through the department of recreation here on campus. The team formed out of the UT Paintball Club, which Mangus said he established back in the fall semester of 2008.
After doing some interest meetings, Mangus attracted enough tournament-level players to field teams for local and national tournaments.
On April 17, UT paintball hopes to secure the trophy and come out on top in Lakeland.
To find out more information about the team, search on Facebook for their page titled “University of Tampa Paintball Club”.
Tim Shanahan can be reached at tshanahan@spartans.ut.edu.