English
Only a few weeks before the start of this year's tournament season, we would like to give you an up-to-date overview of the individual leagues and teams. We spoke to DPL, ICS, X-Series and Co. and asked for current information, team lists and an up-to-date status of things. The result is a pretty good overview of this year's season, the individual game formats and the participating teams. Enjoy browsing.
We start at this point with the largest and oldest league in the German tournament sector, the DPL. At the time of going to press, a good 90 teams across Germany have registered for the current DPL season. We spoke to DPL Managing Director Sven Reimann and asked him for a brief statement on the current season planning.
DPL – GERMAN PAINTBALL LEAGUE
Sven Reimann: As far as the number of registrations is concerned, the DPL views this with mixed feelings to be honest, as it falls a little short of expectations. Nevertheless, we do not approach the whole thing with naïve eyes and rose-colored glasses. Everyone should be aware that we no longer have 600+ teams in Germany, of which over 450 compete in the DPL. A new time has dawned, a new era in which the level has to find itself again and level off. Holding on to the times from back then doesn't work and we have to look ahead.
The total number of teams in Germany has fallen massively and with gallows humor one could say that the percentage distribution for the DPL is actually quite good, especially if you include the distribution of the venues. But joking aside – the DPL still wants there to be a big league in Germany in which all teams that are looking for real competition can compete at national level. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be FunCups, events or the like, quite the opposite. We believe that this can and should be mutually beneficial. Over this season and given the current circumstances, many teams are having to regroup and find themselves again. This will also require work at the base and new players will have to be created.
The growth of paintball and the preservation of playing fields has always been and continues to be important to the DPL. Then many things intertwine. A good, big league can then also do a lot for a new player base and support them, for example, with a team promotion program. The fact that other events are now also benefiting from the work of the DPL is just the way it is. If this makes paintball bigger again in the long run, then that's still a good thing. Together with teams, playing fields, dealers and industry, holistic growth can be safely achieved and in the long term current decisions as well as those of the future are good for German tournament paintball.
In any case, we are grateful to every team that expresses their trust in us and thus makes their contribution to promoting a long-term, positive development of tournament paintball in Germany. This season is more likely to be seen as a kind of foundation stone, or maybe even before that, on which to build for years to come. From this point of view, we are relatively satisfied and, above all, confident about where the development will go. Strong partners support us in putting paintball forward again and we are very grateful for that.
The teams that have already decided on this common path will not regret it and will play a great season. We are looking forward to the season and everything that is to come in the future.
Thank you and bring Paint to the air. 😉
So much for the official statement from the DPL in response to our inquiry about the current season. Here are the current DPL leagues that will be held this season, as well as the teams that have registered.
ICS—INDEPENDENT CLUB SERIES
The ICS clearly dominates the Berlin area this year. After the three performance classes "Amateur", "Semi Pro" and "Pro" were initially advertised at the start of registration, the ICS managers decided to add another game class due to the extremely high demand. Beginners and newcomers can compete in the so-called "ICS Rookie" division for the first time this year. It's a classic 3-man hit-the-base format.
The ICS is almost fully booked this year across all four divisions. That definitely speaks to the quality and fun factor this series has to offer players. Let's now look at the individual divisions and the registered teams.
X-SERIES & P.UFF SERIES
At the time of going to press, we unfortunately had no current team lists for the X-Series in Gera and the P.Uff Series in Uffenheim.
