We're almost there ... only 6 weeks left of this year

Well here we are – mid of November and quite a few things have been happening.

THE TOURNAMENT – WINTER SERIES

First off we have been participating in the RaceTo2 Division of the Bricketwood Winter Series (Round 2), which was a huge experience and learning curve for the team looking at 2012. We arrived as usual at 7:30/8:00 a.m. to walk the fields and have a look at the lay out. After the team captain meeting we received our schedule and realized that we actually would be playing teams that normally play 2-3 Divisions over us, so we thought to ourselves let’s see how this goes.

It will not come as a surprise that we didn’t place high in this tournament (7^th of 8 teams), but we gave them a run for their money and pinched one point off of 2 teams we played in the preliminary rounds (which play Division 1 and Semi Professional) and lost the last of the 3 matches 2:0. The last game of the day, after the group stage, was against our sister team Samurai Rage, which we decided for us in a 2:0 win. So maybe not great on paper – but the team now has a lot better picture of what a “RaceTo2”tournament will look like next year and not to forget, this was against veteran teams that have been playing this format for ages.

THE “NEW COACH” FOR SAMURAI MV

The next highlight for us was that we found a new “coach”who will help out training “Samurai MV” in the off season and support us throughout the 2012 season. He has been in domestic and international tournaments for quite a while and is an absolute asset to have around for knowledge and training schedules and support – we might even get him on the field next year … but time will tell. I’ll go into this more in early December once we had our first training with him (27^thNovember 2011). Darren, the “Samurai Paintball” coach, I think is a bit relieved that we have someone now, since he has been a busy man over the last months trying to support almost 40 people split in 4-5 teams … it’s just not possible and I think this will be a huge support for him. Again here –thanks Darren for all you have done for us up to here – every trophy we bring home is for you. =)

THE SPONSORSHIP

Last but not least – we have finally finished our sponsorship proposal and got it signed off by our current supporters/sponsors. We have sent this out toa dozen of companies yesterday and now are

keeping our fingers crossed to hear back from them soon. The final deadline for them is the 15^th January 2012, since we need to then start ordering our gear and jerseys.

SUMMARY

So it is all taking shape now – our new logo is almost final, new coach and support is found, new players have been drafted in the team over the last weeks and we have sent out our sponsorship proposal - all this and more will be revealed to you here in the next few weeks in every dirty little detail ... so stay posted and tuned … 2012 is only 6 weeks away!!!

Last Pro-Clinic Training for 2011 – with Jason Wheeler (from London Nexus)

Thanks to the great relationship of the teams training at Bricketwood Paintball and our fantastic owner/coach Darren we got Jason Wheeler from London Nexus to close the season with a last Pro-Clinic in 2011 on the 6^th November. It was a great opportunity to get the heads ready for Samurai MV looking at next season – but just as useful for all our sister teams that were attending this training.

It was a great day with an early start – warm-up, drills and 3vs.3 games before lunch. Following lunch we continued with some RaceTo2 format games back to back, to put into action what we had learned that day - until we all ran out of paint. After this really good but exhausting session, Jason actually took another 30-45 minutes speaking about “5-man” tournament style paintball vs. “X-Ball/Race To” tournament style paintball. It was an absolute privilege listening from one of the best players in the UK about what Nexus do to prepare for a new field layout before a tournament:

• What time/action go into preparation
• Detailed list of process on and off the field – tricks and tips on what to look out for
• What sideline coaches should and shouldn’t do

I think the entire group of teams that Samurai Paintball had down that weekend were well impressed and have a much better grasp on what is on the plan for 2012 – and especially us from MV know it will be quite a stretch to keep up … but I think it will be just as much fun. As Jason said “The good thing about this sport, like many other sports is – you get out of it, what you put into it” – and I think we will be putting in loads.

Since I don’t want to blur this post with our last training with other admin things that are currently happening – I’ll leave it as this for now and give you all an update later this week.

Jason – Thanks again for your help and time and good luck for your plans in 2012! =)