English
The last NXL event of the season is always a huge spectacle and draws hundreds of teams in. As in previous years, the NXL final was held again this year in Dreux, France. We were there for you and captured the atmosphere of the event in great pictures. There is also the latest information about the teams, because this year's European Championships final was a complete success, especially from a German perspective.
On the last weekend in August this year, the grand finale of this year's NXL Europe season took place in Dreux, France, not far from the capital Paris. At the so-called European Championships, the teams were treated to a top-class paintball event in addition to a huge trade show and lots of other things. Top-class tournament paintball was then offered on site for five days. A total of 244 teams were registered for this superlative event and played for the respective winners in the X-Ball Pro, Semi-Pro, WNXL and Divisions 2, 3 and 4 classes. There were also other formats such as the games of the national teams, which also competed in different classes. From the U19s, to the regular national teams, the national veterans team, which represented players from the older generation, and the women's national teams, there was something for every player and paintball fan. The whole thing was rounded off by side events such as the 7vs.7 tournament and a 3-man amateur, open and novice format for ambitious young tournament players.
Because so many teams and divisions were represented, the event started two days earlier than the other NXL events this year. It started on Wednesday morning with the national team games. They played until Thursday evening to determine the winners of their respective divisions. The German teams once again showed what they are capable of and that they are among the world's best in international comparison. The men's national team secured a respectable fourth place and the German veterans were also able to claim an impressive place on the winners' podium with third place in the overall ranking. For the German women, it was enough for a good fifth place in the overall ranking.
The U19 juniors, on the other hand, did a little worse. They managed to finish in tenth place, but this may also be because in other countries people start playing paintball much earlier and therefore have a considerable deficit in terms of playing time and experience, especially at a young age, compared to other U19 teams. Nevertheless, all teams impressively demonstrated their skills and showed that there are strong tournament players in Germany too. We asked Tobias Pfenning from the German national paintball team and Christopher Will from the German national veterans team for a statement on the event.
Paintball Sports: Tobi, what can you tell us about the event and your successful performance as a national team?
Tobi: The Nations Cup is a special event every year and brings with it a few challenges. The biggest challenge is definitely the communication on the field between players from different teams and the slightly different game mode M500 – race to four instead of M800 – mercy four/five, as played in the NXL. Thanks to the good NXL preparation with the guys from P!MP Squad and Ballern. Factory this year and the years before, it was easy to find our way as a team and work very well on the field. This is also clearly evident from the fact that we were able to beat teams that had the stronger squad on paper.
We were able to finish the preliminary round with two wins (Finland 4-2 and Netherlands 4-1) and a narrow defeat (Great Britain 3-4) and thus move into the 1/8 finals on Thursday. We won the 1/8 finals with a score of 4-2 against France aka Toulouse Ton Tons. In the 1/4 finals we were unfortunately unable to put up much of a fight against the USA and had to admit defeat 0-4. Unfortunately we also lost the match for third place 0-4 to Belgium aka Breakout Spa. Nevertheless, we are very happy with fourth place and were able to show that paintball in Germany is still at a very high level. Many thanks to the DPL and especially to Sven, who ensures that we are allowed to represent Germany as the national team at this tournament every year!
Paintball Sports: Chris, first of all, congratulations on a strong third place. How did it feel for you and the team to end up on the podium as the German national veterans team?
Chris: That's what you work so hard for. To be on the podium at the end and enjoy the three minutes of "fame". Although after our training together in Hildesheim it didn't look like that at all. I think we won a whole point against the men's national team, who beat us pretty badly. And even though we all know each other from the different teams, it's something else entirely to be on the field together and understand how your teammates think. With this head-butt, you then travel to France for the Nations Cup, which takes place before the NXL. Not an easy task! In our preliminary round on Wednesday we won against Switzerland and Portugal 4:1. On Thursday we then played against the USA, who hadn't lost a point up to that point. In a close match we unfortunately had to admit defeat 4:2, but the quarter-finals were already secured, which we then won 4:2 against Lithuania.
In the semi-finals, the French were waiting for us, and they also had some pro players with them. Unfortunately, after a 2-0 lead at one point, we got in our own way and in the end it was 2-4 from our perspective. Those are the moments that you have to get over as a team, especially when you're really annoyed because you could have done better. In the match for third place, we played against Belgium. Emotions were up and down, points were back and forth, but in the end a narrow but deserved 4-3 victory that brought us the long-awaited Nations Cup medal, which I would never have expected after training in Hildesheim. Thanks to Dustin, who did an incredible amount of coaching and was always there for us! We threw ourselves into the tournament and got on extremely well on and off the field despite being on different teams. I'm really proud of us as a team!
Paintball Sports: Thank you both for these great insights into your everyday life at NXL this year.
Next up are the women. Here too, the All-Women Female Team Belladonna, half of which is made up of German players, was at the top of the winners' podium. The European team, which plays under the Belgian flag and which we have already reported on in detail in one of the previous editions, trains in the Breakout Arena in Spa, Belgium, and at Paintball Solms near Frankfurt. There they are preparing for the NXL season on international soil and the Belgian Paintball League.
Training is carried out under the guidance of Felix "Flexi" Müller, who has successfully passed on his knowledge to the girls. The result is a strong first place in the overall ranking of the WNXL (Women National X-Ball League). After a strong season with two first places and a second place in the final event, the girls are the deserved overall winners of this year's NXL season and at the same time another figurehead for German tournament paintball, and above all the renewed female power in paintball sport. Here too, we were lucky enough to interview one of the ladies and wanted to know from Belladonna player Mandy Bertram how she experienced the event and the atmosphere in and around the team.
Mandy: Every NXL event is special, but the European Championship in Dreux is always something very special. Not only are Pro, Semi-Pro and WNXL represented there – like at the other events – but also the amateur divisions, the Nations Cup, the 3-man formats and of course the 7-man event. This of course means even more players, more great paintball and finally a great trade show. As a team, we really enjoyed the event, just like last year. In addition to our games, we were able to watch great action on the pro field or cheer on the divisional teams. We were also particularly pleased that we had a total of six teams in the WNXL Pro at this event and that there was also something for the women's juniors (WNXL 3v3). Our own junior team – the Belladonna Jayvees – got their first taste of NXL experience there.
The three new teams in the WNXL Pro have made things even more interesting and we at Belladonna hope that even more women's teams will find their way into the WNXL for the coming 2025 season. We found the atmosphere among the individual teams to be very friendly and it is always nice to meet paintball friends from further afield at such events. As a team, it was a great experience for us to be able to experience such an event together with both squads. Of course, such an event is always very emotional. As a team, we have grown even closer together and will continue to work on ourselves. Our next stop will be the World Cup in Orlando. As we all know, the best comes last and so we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Team Ballistics Göttingen on a very strong season and their well-deserved victory in the Semi-Pro Division! This also means promotion to the Pro Division, the premier class of European tournament sport. After many years, a German paintball tournament team has finally made it to the top again and will now compete with Europe's top teams for the title of the best European paintball tournament team. It's basically the Champions League of paintball. We are extremely happy that a German team has finally made it to this level again. We would therefore like to leave the final word to Dustin Hauk, the team captain of Ballistics Göttingen.
Paintball Sports: Dustin, congratulations on your overall victory and the associated promotion! How did you experience the tournament as a team and how did you celebrate your promotion to the Pro Division? What can we look forward to next year? Is there anything you would like to tell us?
Dustin Hauk: “Blood, sweat and tears”… that and a lot more describes our year in the NXL Europe pretty well, I think. The final event in Dreux is always something special because it exudes the old flair of the Millennium Series. Dozens of teams, five fields, a big trade show, a huge grandstand – that's something really special!
Our goal was twofold. The focus was on overall victory in the 2024 SPL season. A sideshow was a second event win this season. To win the season, we had to finish ahead of our direct competitor in second place, Stockholm Ignition, and finish at least fifth in the event. With this guideline in mind, we were able to win both preliminary round games on Friday with a 4-0 Mercy win against the Rangers Povoa and the Indians. Saturday started similarly well with a 5-1 win against the Jets Oeresund, a revival of the Copenhagen Ducks. In the fourth preliminary round game against Paintball Happening Leopoldsburg, we had to admit defeat 5-7, not least due to unnecessary penalties on our side. What of course has a dampening effect at the moment is actually something pretty good – it increases the motivation to once again deal intensively with the mistakes made and the resulting measures. Highly motivated, we went into our round of 16 match against Joebar from France on Sunday, the big final day of the NXL: 5:3 victory for us! At the same time, Stockholm Ignition lost their round of 16 – so with another victory we would be the overall winners of the NXL Europe Semi-Pro Division 2024.
We won our quarter-finals with a solid 5:2 against the Ugly Ducklings from Denmark without leaving any major doubts. It was clear that we had earned the series title and thus promotion to the Pro Division. 3 minutes of joy, then focus on the semi-finals on the Pro field. The team on the schedule was Freedom and Independence, essentially the U19 team from the USA, supported by Kyle Barry, a long-time Pro player. We still had a score to settle with the guys from 2022. Back then, we started under United Strasbourg, and had to narrowly admit defeat to the American kids in the final of Division 3. Not so this time – a clear 6:3 win for us.
Off to the final, a rematch against Paintball Happening Leopoldsburg. We knew exactly what to expect – and that's a good thing: 5:2 victory, event victory, series title, promotion to the Pro Division! The reader is probably thinking that it was an excessive promotion party with everything that goes with it – no luck, an hour and a half wait for the awards ceremony, an hour of attending the awards ceremony, taking photos, off to the accommodation for a handful of beers and mediocre fast food. Not least because six of our eight players had already been on the field for Germany since Wednesday, we were simply exhausted and happy to be able to relax together before the ten-hour journey back on Monday.
We have set ourselves clear goals for 2025, but I don't want to shout them out loud at this point. To be more precise, it is a goal tree that starts with the smallest branch and ends with the large trunk – we are excited to see how far we get on the journey. Our preparation starts in October and will include a comprehensive program on and off the field. If you are interested in gaining insights here or need advice on how to take your game to the next level – please get in touch!
That was our report and the interviews about the German teams in NXL Europe. We look back on a great 2024 NXL season and are already looking forward to next year. The dates of the individual events have already been announced, earlier than ever before. So if your team would like to get a taste of international tournaments, you can start planning your 2025 NXL season now. We wish you the best of luck!
