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Due to the current situation, there are also a few drastic changes in German tournament paintball, which not only affect this season, but will also have an effect on the coming years. We spoke to DPL press spokesman Sven Reimann about this. In this article he explains the situation and the upcoming changes from the point of view of the DPL. An interesting insight that not only makes the current processes and changes more transparent, but also more understandable.
A contribution about discovering opportunities in the crisis and the courage to implement changes… The Corona crisis has probably confronted each of us with enormous challenges in the last few months and nobody expected such a situation. The uncertainty of how things will continue in the coming weeks and months has made it particularly difficult. Especially when it comes to setting up a sensible plan, such as for a paintball league. But that is exactly the job of the DPL. To set up a paintball league that offers its participants a high level of competition without compromising health and safety through naïve action. The decision on how this season can come about was anything but easy and a lot was exchanged with the players to work out the best possible option. The health of the players, all those involved and their families was set as the highest standard, as was the long-term development of tournament paintball in Germany.
The season gets a split and the 2020 season becomes the 2020/2021 season. With this, the paintball sport adapts to a large part of the mass sports and thus takes another step towards a more professional existence. At DPL, we know that big changes often bring a lot of uncertainty, but above all they also bring a lot of opportunities. Yes, it's unfamiliar at first and yes, it's different than in the past, but so has it been with all the other changes that paintball has gone through in recent years. After the first postponements of game days, the current developments show in any case that it was the right decision to start the season accordingly late.
The regional league and the 3rd Bundesliga will start this year. Only then do the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga follow. In the future, all game classes will play the first two game days from August and the remaining game days only in the following year after the winter break, from April. In the winter break, a real preparation for the season can be completed. This gives the teams the opportunity to prepare even better for the second half of the season. The squad can be strengthened, mistakes eliminated and a financial breather can also take place. The final matchdays are therefore in the months of May and June, which certainly allows for a much nicer end to the season and can fuel anticipation for the new season.
This is followed by a family-friendly summer break of eight weeks for the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. The leagues from the beginners' league (district league) to the 3rd Bundesliga even have a summer break of up to twelve weeks, which will offer enough time for family, preparation or even some clashes, tournaments, events and the like. The higher leagues have enough time to integrate individual new players into their team after a team change. The leagues in which complete newcomers start can also use the time and the warm summer months to prepare for the season and then start an exciting season with these new players in the same year. Especially for newcomers and returnees, this new regulation is a clear barrier reduction. Those interested in paintball, who come into contact with paintball for the first time in the rental business, often do so in spring, when the good weather and the first rays of sunshine start again. Our sport has the amazing quality of being more contagious than other sports and leaving almost everyone who has tried it wanting more. These people, the potential league players of tomorrow, now have the chance to get involved with tournament paintball on the fields or via the live stream in warmer months. You can look for or find a connection to teams, or set up your own team and have an easy start thanks to the team development program. A tremendous opportunity for paintball to grow better than it has in the past. Another big advantage is that the season doesn't end over the winter, it just pauses, which is a clear difference. The players will not fall into such a deep motivational hole, from which they have to be pulled out with a lot of effort by your team captain. The teams can take the necessary breaks in winter and also put their feet up for a certain period of time, if they wish, in order to then start preparing again and start the second half of the season stronger.
Whether the problem with the lack of motivation after the season is not simply shifted is certainly a legitimate question and that will certainly be the case to a certain extent, albeit under different, better conditions. Nevertheless, it will be the case that team captains, teams and every single player should deal earlier with how things will continue after the season, because the two to three months of summer break between the old and new season are no longer with the up to five Compare months break in the past. The DPL is convinced that this permanent change is a significant step forward in the long term and will bring far more advantages than disadvantages. Anyone who has doubts about this will certainly have them for legitimate reasons and from their personal situation, but whether it might have a very positive effect will probably only become clear when not only the Corona year, but also a "normal" season was played under this system. It is all the nicer that this change is also accepted by the teams and given a chance. This reflects the current number of over 300 registered teams in the German Paintball League. The DPL would like to thank all players for the trust they have placed in us.
Here you will find a small overview of the dates for 2020 as well as the dates for 2021. If you always want to be up to date. Just have a look at the homepage of the German Paintball League. Or contact your league coordinator if you have any further questions about your paintball season.
