The 2018 National Paintball Combine

120 combine participants, 8 highly skilled combine coaches, a handful of scouts from professional and divisional teams and one amazing weekend of paintball. The National Paintball Combine is an opportunity for players to come showcase their skills in front of some of the best in the game with hopes of earning a spot on a roster. This event is unlike any other and is something paintball has needed for a long time!

We started the event Thursday night at check-in where we got to meet everyone that would be participating in the Paintball Combine. I couldn’t believe how many people were there! The place was absolutely packed which excited me, I couldn't wait to see what skills everyone brought to show off. The meet and greet went well - we got to introduce ourselves and give a brief explanation of what drills they would be performing and how we would be grading them based on their efforts. Everyone also got an awesome swag bag with a jersey and some extra goodies!

Friday morning came early. Everyone was at the field by 7:30 so we could start the warm ups by 9 and get on the field by 9:30. Greg Seiwers led everyone through a series of dynamic stretches and activation exercise to start the day. With 120 people we had to be extremely efficient so we divided the groups into 4, amongst 4 different fields, each with a different drill station. The idea was that each group of 30 would spend 75 minutes at each station with the different Combine coaches. Field one was the Red Zone drill with Ryan Greenspan, Rusty Glaze, and myself - a fast paced 1 on 1 team oriented drill that showcases many of the main fundamentals of the game. Nick Leival and Justin Rabakoff were on field two for off the break shooting with different levels that you could unlock based upon your performance. Field three had Greg Seiwers and Archie Montemayor with a Dorito side obstacle course target drill and field four was a snake side obstacle course target drill with Brad Mcurly and Thomas Taylor. As coaches, we would instruct them on how to do it, show them the correct form and technique and then grade them on how well they listened and performed. Since the combine is more of the players showcasing their skills rather than a traditional clinic, we try to pass along as much knowledge as possible in between reps to keep it fun and informative.

With the combine being so much bigger this year than last year, and last year was big, I knew we were going to see some seriously talented kids. The first group on our field boasted some majorly skilled, young players that I plan on reaching out to. There was at least three players that I would love to work with on a closer level and possibly even groom for a future Dynasty player. Up until the 2018 combine I have been asking myself where the next generation of pro players will come from. It has been talked about among some of us pros that we don't see anyone really ready to come take our spot, however this weekend proved otherwise. There are really talented players out there that just need to get recognized and put into the right organization. The paintball Combine is bridging the gap and making that happen.

Each heat had at least one or two players that could be getting close to a breakthrough in their division and have now put themselves on the radar of an eclectic of professional organizations. Even the players that still had a ways to go to be pro, had opportunities to find themselves a team in higher divisions than they are currently playing. To me, this is the ultimate opportunity for any player that wants to see where they match up against players from all over the world in front of some of the best to ever do it. We spent most of the morning / early afternoon getting all of the heats through the four stations but once that was complete it was time to crunch the numbers. Based upon a grading system we have put into place and notes taken from all the coaches and scouts, we placed the players into teams dependent on where they ranked. We put them in their respected divisions to compete over the weekend in the Winter Classic.

To finish off Saturday we selected the top 12 participants from the combine to compete in the GoSports timed obstacle course. These 12 participants would then be chosen 1 by 1, schoolyard style by Brad Mccurly, Greg Siewers, and Thomas Taylor to compete with them in the OPEN division against teams like San Diego Dynasty (us), Edmonton Impact, San Antonio X-Factor, and Houston Heat. I mean what an opportunity in itself! It was so difficult for us to choose 12. There were definitely more that deserved to be in the group but we had to go off the grading and performance within our drills. It was not easy! The sun was setting as Day 1 of the Paintball Combine was coming to an end. It was a successful one to say the least.

Over the next two days I tried my best to watch all the combine teams in between our matches at the Winter Classic. There were at least 15 people that had been to some of my clinics in the past and just the progression they have made since then was unbelievable. Three of them were actually in that top 12 which was amazing for me. I felt extremely proud of how all my kids played. There just isn’t any other event like this in the world and it’s only going to keep getting better. Throughout the event all the coaches would go discuss with the combine teams strategy and help fix flaws in their game plan or execution. They still had us by their side all the way through. Some of the combine teams gave the pro teams some excellent games. One of them bunkered me! To see this was huge because it excites the upcoming players and shows them how real of a possibility it is. I definitely think we will be seeing at least one or two of this years combine players in the pro league within the next few years but only time will tell. It is all about how hard they continue to work and how much they continue to love the game.

Overall I feel the weekend was absolutely amazing. We are creating a platform that is unlike any other and has been needed to be done in our sport for years. I can't thank Anthony and Lori enough for what they’re doing for paintball and I know we are all excited to be part of it. Moving forward we are going to be adding a summer camp that will be focused on teaching fundamentals and scrutinizing over every detail of the game. It will be a 3 or 4 day 100% pro school where we will eat breathe and sleep paintball. We want to show you guys how to become true professional paintball athletes so stay tuned. While the combine focuses more on us grading you on your current skill set, the summer camp will be focused on really teaching you to take your game to the next level so when the next Paintball Combine comes around you will be more ready than ever. You can also catch up with us and learn on your own through our newly revamped BKi School Of Paintball subscription based program that will surely elevate your game to another level. With over 400 current videos of content and many more to come from all of the new PROfessors, you cant go wrong!

I appreciate you guys reading my articles and all of the continued support, if interested in BKi use signup code Margott33

– Marcello