English
The DPL has undergone a major change this year. The ban on sporting events in the first half of 2020 forced them to change their entire schedule and set new dates for the league match days. The result is a new season format with a winter break and the second half of the following year. Tobias Martens, aka Kress from Paintball Channel, was a guest on the first day of the DPL, took a look at the new format personally and also talked to one or the other player about the new season.
Hello friends, we've all had a hard time and I'm all the more happy that I'm seeing so many old acquaintances, good friends and also new faces in the current time, who can finally play league paintball again. The fields are open again and there are tournaments, fun cups and clashes all over Germany. For about 5 weeks now, the German Paintball League has finally been going around again, all divisions have already completed their 1st matchday and after the long break there are only 2 to 3 weeks of training time for the 2nd matchday kind of strange just before. I used the last few weeks and went to Solms and Uffenheim to accompany the 4 highest divisions of the German paintball league with my cameras. In addition to more than 2500 km of motorway route, I finally saw top-class, super-cutting paintball again. Even if things went on in the fields as if nothing had happened and as if Corona had never existed, something serious has changed.
The DPL has come out of the almost four-month lockdown with a new season concept. Instead of a shortened 2020 season or the cancellation of the season, something was considered that would make it possible to continue with the usual, professional and competition-oriented league system this year. The league year was simply postponed by 6 months and is now divided into two years. The 2020/2021 season started on August 22, 2020 with the regional league and will have its last and final match day in the 1st Bundesliga on June 20 next year. The next season will not start until August 2021 and will end the following year, i.e. 2022. So if it's simply a matter of maintaining everyday life during the season without any obvious complications, the DPL has done everything right. There will continue to be the usual number of match days per season, even if, in the long run, we will have to deal with the consequences of the Corona lockdown in the German tournament scene. So that's about the current status of the league, in the last few weeks I've finally been able to talk to the players who love paintball as much as I do during my breaks in shooting. This has resulted in clear fears, which are very similar from the 1st Bundesliga down to the Verbandsliga. Among other things, the statements "The new winter break is too long", – "Who knows if we can still provide the complete squad for the 3rd matchday.", or "It doesn't feel like a season anymore." The new format is clear still unfamiliar. The season starts very late in the year, the preparatory phase was completely different and the prospect of the turn of the year and the second half of the season, which only starts with a significant delay, worry many players and offer all kinds of things to talk about.
As we reported in the last issue, those responsible at DPL made this decision anything but easy for themselves in advance. But since there was only this option and the alternative would have been to cancel the 2020 season completely, the decision was taken at the time to take this courageous step from our point of view. Whether it was the right decision in the end, or whether the players will be right with their current concerns, we can't say at this point in time. You should definitely give the new format a chance and you have to have a complete season behind you before you can draw a final conclusion. Who knows, maybe next summer, when the season is over and you don't have to wait 6 months or longer until the new season, many will suddenly think differently and be happy about the short summer break and that things will start again soon.
What you can definitely say positive about the DPL is that there is again league paintball under the best tournament conditions in Germany. We can only see in 7 months what effects this season shift will have on the DPL, because that's how long it takes the winter break for the league. Whether there can be a step back and what that might look like is still an open question. The DPL definitely wants to stick to the new concept, and it may also bring positive changes to the league, which we can't see yet.
Personally, I am definitely happy that there is paintball at this level in Germany again, which is bringing more and more international teams into our league and thus offers a high level of performance and excellent athletes. If you want to see more about the DPL check out the paintball channel on youtube, there is a lot to see about the DPL.
So until then, stay healthy and all the best, your Kress
