Bki Pro Summer Camp

40 participants, 8 professional coaches, 2 amazing organizers and one of the best weeks of my life. Seriously, the BKi Summer Camp was one of the coolest things I have ever done in paintball and I am still missing it. We created some memories that I will cherish for a long time. We wanted to create an intimate experience unlike any other for players to come and learn what it takes to reach the highest levels within the sport. Our vision was to have a week long camp that would teach the players everything they need to know to become a professional paintball athete. This is more than just understanding the fundamentals, it is understanding the lifestyle. We wanted them to understand the type of hard work it takes to succeed and show them first hand how we have reached our positions within the sport. Becoming a professional paintball player is not easy at all and we wanted to be sure we set everyone up with the tools it takes to get there. I think it’s safe to say we accomplished that goal.

We have been extremely busy at BKi building a platform to help players reach their max potential. Our online paintball school is a project that originated because of our passion for teaching clinics and desire to find a way to help the masses in the paintball community. Getting players excited about playing at the competitive level is tremendously important for the future of our sport and we are working every single day to find ways to connect with as many people as we can. The BKi Summer Camp was a passion project that we had been working on for over a year and to see it finally come to fruition was nothing short of spectacular. There was so much work put into making the event happen but it was well worth it and due to the tremendous feedback I know we will be expanding these types of camps.

So lets dive into it, everyone arrived on Wednesday for the meet and greet at Anthony’s indoor field, Boston Paintball. Wednesday was just a very casual hangout day while participants were arriving at all different times. Once we had everyone feet on the ground in Boston, we headed to Maynard where the epic week long summer camp was going down. That night we kept it pretty mellow, we let everyone settle in to their amazing rooms built by the pros and followed up with a dinner and orientation. Everyone was extremely friendly from the very beginning. We had a few shy people but that didn’t last long. By the end of the night we were all playing games, laughing, and having a great time. The real fun hadn’t even started yet!

After an epic game of ultimate frisbee that turned out to be quite competitive we decided it was time to bring everyone back up to the camp site and mellow out. Thursday was going to be a long day so we wanted everyone to be well rested. Ryan Greenspan, Greg Siewers, one of the camp participants, Cameron and myself were sharing a room so we established some camp roommate rules before falling asleep. Rule number 1 was to have each other’s back and if any shenanigans go down we have to protect our base! You never know what kind of pranks someone is going to try to pull at summer camp! I didn't want to wake up with a frog on my face.

The next morning was the start of the camp. We had a 7:00am wakeup time with an outstanding professionally done breakfast ready for us at 7:30 to get us ready for the long day ahead. We had 3 separate sessions planned for the day. 9:00am - 12:00pm for drill session number 1, lunch from 12:00pm - 1:00pm, 1:00pm - 4:00pm for drill session number 2, snack break from 4:00pm - 4:30pm, 4:30pm - 6:30pm drill session number 3. We wanted Thursday to be a full day of working solely on individual fundamental skills. We laid the foundation with the importance of technique because if you don’t have that down then it’s going to be difficult to bring your best once we start incorporating the team stuff. Fundamentals are a huge part of the game and it’s something that can set you apart from the rest. We went through a series of drills that really dissected the major fundamental skill sets required to be an effective paintball player, such as snap shooting, off the break shooting, and running & shooting. There are so many little nuances that come into play when trying to master these skills so it was great to be able to spend an entire day teaching the players not only how to execute the drills but also how to work on these skills on their own.

From 7:30 - 9:00 we had the most delicious steak dinner made up near the campsite. Everyone was starving as it was an extremely tiring day. We spent almost 10 hours playing paintball!!! The funny thing is everyone wanted to keep playing. After feasting on a 5 star steak dinner we walked back to camp and got everyone together for a film session. If you guys followed us on Instagram throughout the event you would have seen the brilliance in this part of the camp. We truly wanted to work through every detail and provide the best experience that the paintball community has ever seen when it comes to clinics. Throughout the day we had filmed the participants during their drills so that at night we could all watch together and break down film. This is proven to be one of the most effective ways to learn and there is a reason all of the top professional athletes diligently watch film. I can’t tell you how many times I have played a match, thought I was playing like Michael Jordan on the paintball field only to go back and watch the film and realize how many mistakes I made or missed opportunities there were.

By this point everyone had started to feel like a little BKi family. We were having so much fun, playing paintball, hanging out, having a good time, enjoying good food, and everyone just seemed extremely comfortable to be there. We were all there for the same reason and paintball is an already tight community, we just made it tighter. All 45 of us were staying in cozy living quarters too so it’s not like there was much privacy or alone time, we were one big family for the week! The night ended shortly after as we had an 11pm lights out curfew. You didn’t have to go to sleep but all the lights were out because each morning was very early and we didn't want to disturb the players that like to catch a lot of shut eye.

The next morning we rose with the sun again to start an epic day of paintball. Friday was going to be all about situational drills. Half field type stuff, really dissecting each aspect of the game and diving into paintball theory. We had two full fields setup so we had plenty of space to run a ton of different drills. Friday was meant to progress from the individual technique required to bring your best to your team, to the understanding of how to play AS a team. We followed a similar schedule as the day before but cut out drill session number 3 because we had a Red Sox game to go to! After a full day of working on situational awareness and putting the participants through a plethora of different drills that teach the importance of positions, jobs, percentages, and how to play the game, we all rushed back to get cleaned up and go out for a night on the town. As much as we wanted the week to be solely about paintball we also wanted to bring everyone out for a bonding experience. Chemistry is important in paintball and in life it’s important to have balance. If you work hard then you should also enjoy extracurricular activities with your friends and family and that is exactly what we did. All 45(ish) of us hopped in a giant school bus and road tripped into the one and only Fenway Park. We took up two full rows and were all together in a giant group. It was epic. I was mainly hanging out with my little homies, all 15 and under, so it was basically a giant snack party with popcorn, chicken tenders, hot dogs, lobster tacos and baseball! We had so much fun this was definitely a highlight of the trip. However, shortly after it was back to work.

We got back a little late so we decided to move breakfast up by 30 minutes. The next day (Saturday) was going to be mainly focused on full-field situational scenarios. Saturday was the day where it all comes together. By now everyone is supposed to be sharp in their technique, have a great understanding of the snake side, the Dorito side, the center, how to break down different situations, and now it was time to move into the final stage of the clinic. We spent the day putting it all together and teaching the entire game from start to finish. At this stage of the event I remember just being absolutely stunned at the progression. You could tell the players were getting tired but that’s because they had already done two full days of what was probably the toughest training they have done in paintball to date. We had 8 different professional players over the course of 3 days teaching everything we knew. There was no shortage of knowledge or mercy in activity. That reminds me.. Each morning was started with an intense warm up (could be considered a workout by most) led by Greg Siewers. Yea, this camp was no joke! The players were a bit fatigued at this point but everyone was so eager to push themselves and that’s what we really loved, we loved the commitment from the participants to absorb everything we had. Everyone was absolutely amazing and improving at a rapid pace. As we finished up the 3rd day the coaches (Greg, Nick Slowviak, Ryan Greenspan and myself) had to start thinking of what players we were going to choose for the different awards we had.. That’s right. Awards. We had medals and trophies made to give to players that earned them. Awards like most improved, Camp MVP, best fundamentals, best teammate, all sorts of things that we felt are important factors in becoming a professional player.

After a long day of paintball we headed back to camp to enjoy a lobster dinner and get the award ceremony under way! Not only did we have to hand out awards but we had to place players in teams because Sunday was the big shabang! Sunday we were holding a BKi tournament for all of the participants to showcase what they have learned. The BKi Professors would be the coaches and we would be putting them through the test to see how they could apply everything they learned over the last 4 days. After the award ceremony we placed everyone into teams and let them start strategizing. It was really cool to see the types of conversations everyone was having. As I was walking around to check in on the different groups I was really impressed by the types of things they were putting together for game plans etc. You could see everyone had really paid attention and grown tremendously in just a short amount of time. After a bit of strategizing we wanted to end what would be our last camp night with a camp fire and s’mores so we took everyone down to the fire pit and sat around, enjoying each other’s company eating delicious s’mores. Ryan Greenspan gave a full on clinic on how to make the perfect s’more! There is an art to it! In any case, 11:00pm rolled around extremely quick and before you knew it, it was time for bed..

Rise and shine.. it’s Sunday morning, tournament time. We wanted to create a real tournament environment and treat the players as if they were our teammates waking up Sunday morning to go compete for the championship. As soon as we woke up it was tournament mode. We had breakfast, went down to the field and everyone was just locked in. As the coaches we made sure to point every team in the right direction as far as taking care of their paint, having lines ready, game-plans, conversations, everything we do as professionals we tried to instill into them. Even though there was nothing really on the line and the tournament was for fun we wanted them to see the importance of being a competitor. We were super into it as coaches. As the games got going you could see small battles unfold between the coaches and teams. It was a great atmosphere and even more so it was extremely gratifying to see the achievements of all the players. Players that came into the camp wanting to learn how to play the snake because maybe it was their most feared position were dominating in the snake. Players that had been struggling to shoot people off the break were shooting people off the break. Players that wanted to learn how to attack better we’re flying down the field shooting people. You get the point, it was absolutely amazing.

As the day was coming to an end and we finished the final match, I was starting to get a bit sad. We had created such a unique bond with everyone that I didn’t want the camp to end! It was honestly one of the best paintball experiences of my life. I know that this is only the beginning of what we have planned and the future is so bright for so many of these players. Next year we are going to do multiple camps and we are committed to making this the best paintball experience up and coming players can have. As I said, it started as a passion project and will continue to be that because all of us truly care about the future of our sport and the players that are going to take our spots one day. I really hope to see as many of you there as possible. In the meantime, keep up with us as a BKi member. We even have a free section! Changing the game.

All the best and I hope to see you there next year,

Marcello