01

paintball athleteScott Kemp

scenario

England vs Scotland

reviewGF Boomstick

Ronnie Dizoninterview

millenniumParis

N.º 12 January 2015

02

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© 2014 Copyright Planet Eclipse Ltd. Eclipse, the Estar Logo Device, LV1, Geo, Etek, Etha and EMC are all either design trademarks, registered trademarks or trademarks of Planet Eclipse Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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04 index

index06–07Team

09Editorial

10-11News

12–13HighlightMedia

14–15ProfileJay Lasheras

18-33MillenniumParis

36-39Paintball AthleteScott Kemp

40-42The New LegacyZane KJ Mañasco

44-51Gallery

52-57InterviewRonnie Dizon

58-69TOP 5

70-77Miss GRIPAna Martins

14-15ProfileJay Lasheras

18-33MillenniumParis

44-51Gallery

index

05index

78-82ScenarioEngland vs Scotland

84-85ReviewGF Boomstick

86-88ReviewWoodland-envents.com

90Thanks 84-85

ReviewGF Boomstick

70-77Miss GRIP

Ana Martins

52-57Interview Ronnie Dizon

77-82ScenarioEngland

vs Scotland

06 team

PEDRO SIMÕES GRIP Magazine’s pho-tography editor. He’s also an accredited photojournalist.

RITA PEREIRA GRIP Magazine’s Art Director. She works as a professional graphic designer.

DANIEL TEIXEIRAGRIP Magazine’s kid. He is the man in charge of our website and all bits and bytes.

ANDRÉ FARIAThe scenario man. If we’re talking about camouflage, gun replicas and lots of fun, then that’s where he is.

ZANE KJ MAÑASCOIf he is not shooting, he is pulling some serious magic on the computer. the Design madmen and genius together in a unique guy!

07

HUGO BETTENCOURTIf there is something new in our sport, he already know it. The news man!

team

SCOTT KEMP There is only one person in the paintball scene that grew as much in paintball skills as in his body. He is your nutrition and fitness coach.

SIEGIE KELLYWho better to help out than one of the RSH designers? Any subject related to image, he’s your man!

ANDRÉ GOMESOne of the “kids” of the team. Dominates the English language. and helps us translate a few thousand words per issue.

RITA RISCADOOur «Irishwoman» translates and puts up with us and all our doubts. Without her, you simply wouldn’t understand us!

08

GRIP – Paintball Magazine or André Filipe Sobreira Garrido are not responsible for the content of the ads nor for the accuracy of the characteristics and features of the products and/or goods advertised. Their veracity and accordance with reality are fully and exclusively the responsibility of the advertisers and advertising agencies or companies.

IT IS STRICLY FORBIDEN TO COPY TEXTS AND IMAGES BY ALL MEANS

Property of André Filipe Sobreira Garrido NIF: 227215290

Legal address: Rua General Taborda Nº3 - 1º 1070-137 Lisboa

ERC Registration Nº 126231 Frequency: Quarterly

DIRECTOR EDITOR

MARKETING ADVERTISEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY

André Garrido (mail@grippaintball.com)André Garrido (mail@grippaintball.com)Carla Peixoto (carla.peixoto@grippaintball.com)GRIP - Photo Services

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09

editorial

With this edition we can finally close our third year. And it seems like it was just yesterday when we started this as joke. And I’m not saying joke in a sloppy manner, we just never took this project as a very serious one.

Our great «problem» is that we have raised the standard to such a point that it isn’t easy to surpass our previous editions.

On the day that we sat down in my home and decided to create this project, we chose to have as much quality and research as possible in every edition and be different and innovative every year. That is the reason for us to keep it at four editions a year.

We have faults and we think we can identify all of them. Some we want to correct, some we will just ignore since it’s impossible to affect them now. We can only reach the concept of perfection with the tools we can’t get, such as more strong human resources and high capital spending.

But we aren’t looking for perfection. We wish for this magazine to continue being one that is interested in promoting the sport and worry about its players. We don’t wish to be a power in the community, just another member of it!

In this edition you will meet the Spanish captain of the team FiveStar – Jay Lasheras. Once it comes to players you can read about the humble and quick Ronnie Dizon.

We also had a participation coming from Scot Kemp with an article dedicated to nutrition and sport.

Regarding events we will have our usual Millennium write-up and the England Vs. Scotland game.

Much more can be seen, including our lovely Miss GRIP!

By André GarridoDirector GRIP

editorial

10 news

Engler Customs created the first upgrade to the new Tippmann TCR. This

new upgrade allows the player to use any M4 style buffer tube stock on the Tippmann TCR.

New Exalt Pod Swab, Custom Goggle Straps and Headbands!

Straps, headbands and pod swabs; that’s only a fraction of what Exalt is launching this month. The straps can be fully custom or you can choose from a pre-made selection. A new limited edition was also released for headbands using a camouflage fabric, perfect for the woodsball lovers.

The Axe Pro is out! Empire decide to provide it in four colours: Dust Black/Grey, Dust Blue/

Blue, Dust Silver/Brown and Dust Red/Black. Some of the features include a bolt removal using a push button, a relay regulator ASA with an on/off lever, accessible eyes for simple cleaning, two-piece barrels, joystick interface with energy efficient OLED, etc.

You can’t buy one yet but the BR1 Bullpup Project started with the goal of creating the world’s first bullpup paintball marker. As HonorCore Industries say: «By having the action of the weapon located behind the trigger, designers are able to decrease the overall length and weight of a rifle while retaining the same barrel length.»

BR1 Bullpup ProjecteNMEy .50 Caliber

A new marker called eNMEy .50 Caliber was launched in the

market. It’s perfect for the younger players and most likely for the fields because its dual-gas compatibility, using a low pressure (130psi) and simple to maintain. With an average velocity of 250fps it can shoot over 1200 shots in one tank.

Empire AXE Pro Tippmann upgraded

11

Loaders from Globtacs arrived

GRL is the red dot sight replica and the GSL is the ACOG sight replica. Both have a 20 round capacity and a patent pending 10bps gravity feed system, for a milsim or limited paint style games. They fit and work in any marker with central up or side feeding, and rail interface system.

Sup’airball has always provided new obstacles every year. This year was no exception, with the addition of six new cones and one snake beam. Two obstacles that are highly technical positions to play will bring a new mentality to the game.

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Sup’airball new obstacles

1212 highlight

We can’t avoid the fact that almost everyone is a reporter, photographer and journalist in today’s world. We all have a phone that takes pictures, records sound and video. Aren’t these the tools of a real reporter?

Unfortunately most think that’s the case. It’s necessary to remind those that investigate anything do their

research, will study for endless hours to execute an interview, they will dig until they find that piece of information that will give them the edge over others and will spend hours out in the rain just to get the perfect shot.

It’s more than being at the right place at the right time, it’s about creating that moment!MED

IA

1313highlight

We can’t avoid the fact that almost everyone is a reporter, photographer and journalist in today’s world. We all have a phone that takes pictures, records sound and video. Aren’t these the tools of a real reporter?

Unfortunately most think that’s the case. It’s necessary to remind those that investigate anything do their

research, will study for endless hours to execute an interview, they will dig until they find that piece of information that will give them the edge over others and will spend hours out in the rain just to get the perfect shot.

It’s more than being at the right place at the right time, it’s about creating that moment!

14 profile

LasherasJ

ay is one of those people who we immediately like. His sympathy and politeness are only put aside when things aren’t going the way of his

team FiveStar Lleida. FiveStar are the best Spanish team

in the international circuit, and a lot is owed to the fact they train in France with top teams and are fully dedicated to the Millennium Series.

This season they bet on the capture of American stars (Nicky Cuba, Kevin

Rudolph and Damian Ryan) to solidify their knowledge and achieve the highest possible ranking in their division, SPL1.

Jay has recently become the International Sales Manager of Anthrax and has travelled the world promoting his brand, going to all big tournaments from Millennium to PSP.

Jay doesn’t hide his pride in taking the Spanish team to all the SPL podiums and the future that awaits him and his team is certainly bright. •

Jay

15profile

NICKNAME Jay

DATE OF BIRTH04/02/1975

OCCUPATIONInternational Sales Manager of Anthrax Paintball

STARTED PLAYING IN 2005

PLAYS FORFiveStar Lleida

INTERNATIONAL EVENTSMillennium, PSP, NPPL, World Cup Asia, CPS, Med Cup, EP5,

EVENTS WONMore than 30 podiums, including several first places in Millennium

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PAINTBALLTaking a Spanish team all the way through the Div’s of millennium and getting it to SPL.

Text: André Garrido

Jay

16

17

1818 millennium

Paris is always that place that everyone wants to be in, especially in the year that history could be made! GRIP was there to tell you everything.Text: André Garrido

PARIS

19

PARIS

20

Paris isn’t any other city. This fact is very clear and it’s difficult to imagine our sport’s evolution if it hadn’t passed through the French capital. We have had better times than the current ones in paintball with more players, teams and a stronger economy to boost the number of casual players. Yet when we go to Paris, everything looks unchanged, and there is definitely an air of nostalgia in this Millennium event. The Disney days aren’t forgotten and will always be used as a benchmark for any European paintball event for many years to come. But those days are

millennium

gone and we must move forward and try to improve the scenario we have been given, the old mews of Chantilly. There is no doubt that this town is the perfect environment for paintball. All the photographers already had their memory cards full of pictures of the palace that sets the background for the event even before it started, which gives the tournament a romantic environment for the whole weekend.

The layout of the event is the same as last years, with a central corridor with shops down the centre and a larger than usual food court, where we could play volleyball

21millennium

Regarding the fields, these were found around the hippodrome, so all spectators could accompany all moves made within the game, except the CPL field which had

the paid stands. One of the negative points we had was the exclusivity of the

event by having it within a hippodrome. It is hard to attract spectators from outside the sport in this

manner and we in GRIP are strong defenders of making the

sport one for the «people» so that those from the outside can understand

our magnificent sport. We have previously seen a tournament in the capital of Portugal - Lisbon - in a garden in front of the major

or go sliding down some aquatic slides built for the event. The Millennium felt the need to be different this time round, creating a stronger family environment, where there could be more social interactions between all those invited; this corridor essentially stopped being a place of passage for players that have just finished games, to one where families and teams could rest and socialise together. The idea, although not innovative, is very welcome and helps develop the sport and it had some visible results, with many more people laying around than usual. The amazing weather also helped, something that is very rare in this Parisian event.

In Paris there

is always an air

of nostalgia

22

touristic place and we can guarantee that we have never seen so many non-paintball people interested in the sport.

As we said, the weather was incredible. The smile on player’s faces and the spectators showed this. Enough with the bad rain and weather!

The field layout was a trip down memory lane, where the move back to classic formats was made and hard and aggressive lanes were available, allowing all to see a rapid and interesting game. Some spectators were still traumatised with the beginning of the year’s layouts, where moving five metres was seen as a highlight of the day but came at the expense of three boxes of paint. This field kept it simple: snake on one end,

doritos on the other with an M down the centre. The small backs were used as a passage place and the rest is as normal. If

it ain’t broke don’t fix it!Keeping in mind that Paris is the last event of the year, we can

say that a lot was at stake. The thousands of euros spent by every team on paintballs, equipment, subscriptions,

trips, hotels, cars, gasoline and training all came down to

this moment, where qualification was essential to guarantee a place on

the table. Many don’t have the chance to be promoted, and others already know they will be relegated, yet no one gives up without a fight in this last European stage.

Even with all this happening, there was only one topic that everyone spoke of:

The Millennium felt the need to be

different, creating a stronger family

environment

millennium

23millennium

24

would Impact be able to win all events for the first time?

The closest a team has gotten to winning all European events was in 2005 with XSV winning four events and a second place in the fifth and final event. In Paris, Impact could be making history.

In the last division, OD2, everything was up for grabs as usual. It’s common for teams that win an event to drop to last place in the next due to inconsistency. It’s also common to see teams like Oslo Embers go from a 24th spot in Bitburg to a second place overall. This inconsistency ensures that those that stay in

millennium

25millennium

the top 6 consistently will always have a spot at the top of the table.

The Norwegian team managed to win this event, but were unable to pass fifth place and beat Whazzup Moscow. Whazzup had a very humble 2013 and this year they managed to show some more ambition typical of Russian paintball; they’re a team to keep your eye on.

Third place overall was reserved for Slamdancers. Veterans Assala took fifth place and if they hadn’t had a bad show in London they would have had their best season yet.

OD1 had 27 teams playing, many with at least one Millennium on their belt, with others trying European paintball for the first time. Although it’s an open division, it’s the start of X-Ball and the rivalry between teams is palpable; there is practically a fixed number of teams that will always be in the first seven places.

There was still a lot to decide, although Indecence were a team to shoot down as they were 32 points ahead of second place. Even with all teams against them the French team didn’t give up and solely lost

in the final with the team from Montreal, where J-Rab’s brother Brandon Rabackoff plays. Second place overall was enough for them to conquer the golden medal for the 2014 season.

Even after a seventh place in Paris, Section Paradise won second place leaving third for the Anthrax team, FiveStar 2, who would be runner ups for the title had they not slipped in Bitburg.

Being an open division there are no teams to be relegated, but the first three places are promoted to SPL2.

We want to highlight Harca Gandia’s run in the tournament, a team

that GRIP has been following since its creation, them being a Spanish team with little to none resources yet still scraping an eighth place.

And although it was far from their expectations, Poison

Ivy managed to finish in tenth, something that still seems like an

accomplishment after this all women’s team suffered major changes to their roster in the beginning of the season.

SPL2 is always a mathematical headache as there is always the possibility of teams

Reffing for points should be rethought, especially

the amount of points

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26 millennium

27millennium

28

reffing and winning the same number of points as a first place. Although this is a strange policy, only those that haven’t reffed can say it’s an easy job. It’s a hard event for those wearing the stripes, and for just having to put up with that annoying player that every team has they should be commended for their efforts. The big problem is that the weak teams are then able to rise up the table and the stronger teams create chaos in the rankings, which can lead to some unfair changes in the overall classification. A case study of this is Brussels Heat and Outlaw Lille: up until the London event Brussels Heat were in front of the French team yet Outlaw was reffing this last event, giving them the lead by 22 points. The rules are the same for everyone, it’s

true, but once it in reality the team that is reffing will always come out on top due to the point increase they receive. We understand the necessity of Millennium

recruiting teams for this function, sparing costs yet this model should be

rethought, especially the amount of points won.

As it is custom, this is one of the divisions with the largest rivalry. Year after year we reach the end of the

season with literally no idea who the favourites are to win

the tournament. The team that had been the most consistent so far were the Russian Fighter Pro-Shar Perm that already had two second places and a fifth, yet Vienna United were only 28 points behind, which in our sport isn’t that much. Tied with the same score were RedBall. Not

Mariya Korolyova,

a female player that not many men want to see in front

of them

millennium

29millennium

very far off we could find SPA2, Brussels Heat and Outlaw.

After London things didn’t change much, ensuring the Russians won first place without ever in fact winning a final. However they demonstrated the most consistent paintball in this division and a lot of that credit is due to Mariya Korolyova, a female player that not many men want to see in front of them.

Second and third came Vienna United and RedBall respectively.

Accompanying these three teams into the next division was Outlaw Lille with their fourth place.

In SPL1, everything changes. There was

a clear winner that would only not finish in first if there was some sort of catastrophe. We are talking about Hulk Kiev, that with the help of Alex Goldman and Marcello Margott have become a big powerhouse in this division.

But there are still events that can go wrong and this was without doubt one of them. Paris was a nightmare for this team, where you could see that the pressure of that first place was already starting to build up. When they lost, guaranteeing them solely a 17th place in Paris, they looked like they had been in a car crash where they had been run over with no resistance

30 millennium

31millennium

whatsoever. They put everything down to fate with this play, and they could even avoid promotion if Amsterdam Heat and MLKings had a good showing.

The fight was fierce between all the teams to take advantage of the Ukrainian’s collapse, but FiveStar were the first to falter. In a game against Ronholt Blast, the Spaniards weren’t able to come out on top. Believe us when we say that the mood after that game was deadly.

In the run for first place Heat and MLKings weren’t going to back off at any point. Unfortunately they were both left behind in the quarter finals, giving Hulk Kiev an automatic victory. This meant that one of those wouldn’t be promoted and this unfortunate roll was given to MLKings. The team from Amsterdam could finally breathe.

It is a shame that only two teams go up in this division, as teams like MLKings and FiveStar are teams that would bring a more aggressive edge to CPL, in a way that the weakest teams there are struggling to show.

If in SPL1 there are favourites for the cup, for CPL we don’t even need an event to already know who is going to win. Impact were destructive this year, they never stopped to give their opponents some breathing space. As we said before, only one team was close to having a perfect season, yet Impact this year showed absolute domination of the field, in the same way Dynasty played many years

ago. And when we say they dominated the game, we mean that they were the ones that chose when the other team attacked and where, and what their moves were. That’s how good they are.

The only team that could oppose them were Houston Heat that were 60 points behind, meaning the Canadian team had to finish in ninth for them to take their place away. Not even Heat believed that would happen.

In this division practically everything is set in stone except one or two spots.

The most pleasant surprise was the rise of Art Chaos back to the level

which we expected of them. For the first time this year we saw them play with their heads on the right place. Another comeback from the French Tonton was welcome,

after their shameful season where they finally managed to

head in the right direction in their hometown Paris.

The problem with these comebacks is that you’re adding a big block of TNT to the best teams in the world, which is going to wildly destabilise many of their performances.

Unfortunately for Impact they had to stop in fifth place from a flawless victory, as they were stopped by Breakout Spa that have had one of the most interesting seasons this year and ultimately proved they’re a team to be reckoned with.

If they maintain their team in 2015 they will be a strong force. Although they beat

MLKings and FiveStar

are teams that would bring

a more aggressive

edge to CPL

32

the future victors, they didn’t pass fourth place, losing against those that went on to become the champions of Paris, Art Chaos.

In third came Tonton that lost the semi-finals against Houston Heat.

In the overall ranking, first came Impact as expect and second for Houston Heat. In third came Polar Bears that didn’t get anything better than a sixth in Paris, but had an overall incredible season which they will find hard to keep up without Lang and Greenspan.

The big surprise this season were Nexus that for the first time in their history ran the risk of being relegated. This fact is

important as they are one of the only teams that have been part of the Millennium since the start. Fortunately for them they beat Vision and Hellwood which are the two teams dropping to SPL1.

Overall this was an interesting year. There was a break of some team’s total hegemony over the competition and created a vacuum for new and better teams. Another important part of 2014 was the incredible weather during all events.

Once again we can notice the huge difference between the North American teams and the European, where although they had one or two good moments, the

millennium

33millennium

Europeans struggled to keep up with the American professionalism. We need more of that for paintball to grow in Europe.

With all the locations and dates of the 2015 events out, we can’t stop feeling incredibly disappointed. Players are starting to get tired of the same places all the time. Chantilly is nice and different, but the rest is too similar. Puget reminds us of an American trailer park even after their considerable improvements. The German and British events don’t have a confirmed location yet, but just the fact of not seeing a new country on the list makes things so disappointing.

Millennium has to risk more, and leave their infamous triangle (Germany, UK, France) and explore new locations: Spain for their

development in the sport; Portugal for the amazing weather, touristic

and unmatched sport facilities; Italy for their recent paintball boom; Holland for the sake of having a different sporting environment… we could

mention so many more!We honestly don’t know

what to expect of 2015. But we would like to see paintball with more

women and children. It has to stop being such a selective sport and move to a sport for everyone! •

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Millennium has to risk

more, and leave their infamous triangle and explore new

locations

34

35

36

As a personal trainer, fitness coach and professional paintball player, I can tell you first hand that everyone has different goals that all need to be treated differently. Your nutrition and training need to cater to your goals, not just a generic meal plan or workout you find in fitness magazines. Some people want to put on muscle, some want to lose weight, others want to increase speed and some just need to lower the amount of doctor visits they have each year. So if you are looking to enhance your performance on the paintball field, then you need to follow the proper training and nutrition in order to improve your skills. I’m going to start with nutrition because I truly believe it is more important than training. Most clients I deal with start out overweight. That being said, I’m going to focus on how you can drop your excess body fat.

NUTRITIONYou can train your butt off each day but if you are eating junk you will find yourself

unable to drop body fat. You’ll just be spinning your wheels all year long and it can be very frustrating. First off, if you are overweight, you need to drop your body fat. This alone will help you be faster on the field and a smaller target. This should be step one. The scientifically proven way to drop excess body fat is to be in a calorie deficit of 500-1000 calories each day. Meaning, you are burning 500-1000 more calories each day than you are consuming.

Your body is constantly burning calories every minute in order to function. You burn calories when you exercise, eat, sleep and even just sit there reading this article, but it’s not much. When your heart rate is elevated from exercise is when you will burn the most amounts of calories in the least amount of time. Let’s say you are not exercising. How many calories is your body burning in 24 hours on average? Take your

By Scott Kemp

training and nutrition for the paintball athlete

Too much of anything good can be bad. If you drop your calories too low your body will go

into survivor mode, thinking it’s starving.

paintball athlete

37

training and nutrition for the paintball athlete

bodyweight in pounds and (men multiply by 13, women multiply by 11). That’s the total number of calories your body will need each day in order to maintain your current weight. Since we are looking to drop weight and not maintain, we need to do two things. 1: exercise 2: lower our calories. Start by lowering 500 per day. If you workout for an hour each day that will be about 500 calories burned. Thus, leaving you in a 1000-calorie deficit each day.

EXAMPLE90Kg man x 13 = 2600 -500 = 2,100 calories per day plus exercise.

So why don’t I just drop my calories even more and get faster results? Great question! Too much of anything good can be bad. If you drop your calories too low your body will go into survivor mode,

paintball athlete

thinking it’s starving. It will then hold onto all the body fat it can and eat away muscle mass. A good indicator of how much weight you should be losing is 900g. per week. This is the average amount of body fat you can drop in a week. Anything more and it’s just water and muscle you’re losing.

Now that you have your calories

JUMP SQUAT

38 paintball athlete

in check, you can start to lose body fat and get in shape! Once you are as lean as you want to be, re calculate the formula above to find your maintenance calories and stick with that.

TRAININGApplicable for athletes over weight or already in shape, the training program I have designed will burn calories, increase metabolism, improve speed, improve endurance and lower your risk of injury. It is a mix of plyometric, strength, power, agility and cardio.

MONDAYPlyometrics Box Jumps- 20 reps 5 setsBuries- 15 reps 5 setsSquat to jump- 15 reps 5 setsIncline clapping pushups (hands on bench or ledge knee high) 15 reps 5 sets

TUESDAY Power and Strength Weighted squats: 10-15 reps 4 setsWeighted lunges: 12-15 reps each leg 4 setsStanding overhead dumbbell press 12-15 reps 4 setsPull ups (assisted if needed) 10-12 reps 5 sets

WEDNESDAYAgility and Power Incline sprints or parachute 50 metros 7 sets (at a park or none busy street) Backwards sprint 10 metros 4 sets

CARDIO

High jump high knees (knees to chest) 20 reps 4 setsPlank on elbows and one foot off the ground 5 sets each leg 15-20 seconds each leg

THURSDAYSteady Cardio 45-60min of a steady state with your heart rate elevated to at 120-140 beats per minuteBike, stairs, treadmill, swim, jog, elliptical or row machine.

39

PULL UPS

exercise. Your rest time will vary. Keep it minimal. Each training session should not take more than 45 min.

Remember, you might not ever be the fastest person in the world, but you can always be a faster you. Your speed can continue to improve from power and resistance training as well as keeping excess body fat down. •

paintball athlete

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FRIDAYRest

SATURDAYPaintball

SUNDAYPaintball

Notes: Perform each exercise in order from top to bottom until all are complete. Finish all assigned sets in each exercise before moving onto the next exercise. Rest between every set and every

40 the new legacy

As the season draws to a close we look back at what has made our team so strong on and off the field. Whether we win or lose we have always looked at this journey as a real group of friends having the time of their lives. This team was made by players for one reason, to win, and with 2015 in sight we can say that we are just getting started.

Each event has given us something to learn, fix and try to adapt. Harca Gandia is still a very young team. All the players have some experience and bring something to the table. Yet the most important aspect is that win or lose we do it together and off our own backs. We are lucky to have great sponsors and our families that give us the support we need. It’s this system which gives us strength when things don’t always go as planned.

Ending the season in the Top10 of our division has been a great thing for us to allow the team to realise that we have potential but still need to power through those eight places and get the win. Nobody in this team feels like their job is done, if

anything the hunger is worse now that we can see how hard we need to work.

To end the season in style Harca Gandia travelled to the PSP World Cup in Orlando to compete as a Spanish team and essentially try and keep the same squad as Millennium. The experience was amazing and everyone was able to cross that event off their bucket list. Needless to say the game and skill was on a different level and Harca was humbled by the qualities and aspects of the PSP format.

Florida also proved a harsh mistress with increased humidity and intense games. The whole squad was tested and enjoyed every second. We knew it

was not going to be easy, the level in the states is extremely high and you are playing a different game with its own aspects to overcome. We also had issues of fielding players we had never worked with so we had to get used to a different squad structure. All in all this was a

By Zane KJ Mañasco

there is no off season

We have potential but still need to power through those eight places and get the win.

41

dream come true; we wanted to win and show the PSP what we were made of and yet happy to live through an unforgettable weekend of friends and paintball.

Unfortunately we had a catastrophic injury to our snake player in just the second match of the weekend. Manel Molina fell and suffered a serious knee injury preventing him from playing the remainder of the event. We quickly reached out to some friends and managed to replace Manel with Jorge Filipe Silva, a Portuguese player and friends of ours that happened to be in Orlando.

With these changes we battled through

the new legacy

and saw improvements in our game as we got to 3-3 against Wild Monkeys. This was a close game which we almost won, but a major a penalty in the last 60 seconds closed that game with a heartbreaking loss. This was one of the most enjoyable matches for us and a real pleasure to have played against all the teams in our bracket. We then played REVO who had won the last three events PSP and the truth is that we put up a decent fight but those guys were on fire and we ended our run in Orlando with a desire to return to the PSP in 2015 with a better understanding of the series and enough

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pits, (you know who you are) and all the sponsors and businesses that have given us advice, equipment or funds to help this journey move forward.

We need to thank Vicent, our ‘Uncle’ with a very big heart; Nuno for his constant help and finally a massive shout out to Vincent and our brothers in

Indecence PB Team! You guys deserve the win and we look forward to sharing more memories in 2015.

In the words of the great John Madden: «Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.» Thanks for everything 2014, get ready 2015 we are coming for you! •

the new legacy

grit to get us as far as possible. With a few months ahead the team is

focusing on rebuilding and refining the squad. We are polishing everything and ensuring that the basics are on point and ready for the next year’s challenges. In the off-season we take stock of what has happened, what works and what does not. During this break we also hit the gym, work on drills and start to speak to sponsors to plan the next stage in our evolution.

Harca are thankful for all the friends we have made this, our first year in the Millennium Series. Even though some of our players have been here before, it is amazing to see how many people have helped us and truly taken us in. A massive thanks to all the guys that helped us in the

It is amazing to see how many people have helped us and truly taken us in.

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By Siegie KellyPhotos:Dave Stuffelbean - Aztek

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52 interview

Ronnie Dizon

If we had to describe Ronnie in two words we would say: humble and hard-working. And this attitude is without any doubt paying off

for this amazing player. If you want to know how this ex-Division 4 player got into one of the best teams in the world, just read this.

53interview

GRIP: You started playing at Arson, a Division4 team. Don’t you miss those times?Ronnie Dizon: Wooow! Arson… Yeah! Those were my first PSP tournaments, I still see those guys when I go home and they are still good friends of mine. Those are old memories, I miss those!

GRIP: After four years you were World Champion with Houston Heat. How did you climb so high?RD: You know what it was… In 2010 I started playing with Distortion which was Randy’s (Smith) team (the Houston Heat owner). We played Division 2, we got second in World Cup in 2010 and we won the World Cup in 2011 in Division 2. The next year Heat was created. I think it was just playing in the MidWest against AfterShock and just grinding with them. That really got my skill level up because I was just practicing with a Pro team all the time.

GRIP: You’ve been in Houston Heat for three years now. You had an excellent first year and now things have been a little inconsistent. What is happening with the team?RD: The first year the bar was set really high because of how well we did. We won three out of four events and since we set the bar so high we had to fulfill that or people would think that we are not the same. They expect us to win every event, to dominate, and it’s hard to do that especially when you are on top…. to stay on top! Once you are on top, you start

Ronnie Dizon

If we had to describe Ronnie in two words we would say: humble and hard-working. And this attitude is without any doubt paying off

for this amazing player. If you want to know how this ex-Division 4 player got into one of the best teams in the world, just read this.

Text: André Garrido

54 interview

to get comfortable and other people are working hard to get there…

GRIP: You are very young, only 22. You have at least ten years of paintball left

in you. How do you foresee the next decade?RD: Hopefully ten years! (Laughs) I’m just going to play with Heat and see where it goes… I still need to finish school. If there are any kids out there trying to pursue this… honestly, stay in school! There is a slim chance to find something like this, but if you are blessed with an opportunity like this, take it! I talk to my parents about this and they told me to take this opportunity to play and travel the world. I’m blessed right now and I just hopefully that continues!

GRIP: You are very dedicated to physical training. How important for you this type of training?RD: Paintball is an athletic sport! You are diving, you are running! It’s a little bit comparable with soccer but you are not moving as constantly so you have to go out there and make those aggressive fast athletic movements, go off the field and then do it again. I think a lot of explosive training for speed is needed and some endurance training for those long point is really what players need to work on.

GRIP: We saw you training with a high altitude mask. How does that work with paintball?RD: It imitates being in the mountains and being on a higher elevation. When you are in those places it’s harder to breathe, you are working out your lungs. Imagine training with a heavy suit of armor and then when you go to war you’d wear something lighter. You are training the inside of your body.

«Really got myskill level upbecause I wasjust practicingwith a Pro teamall the time.»

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GRIP: Is the physical training and the mask the secret for your velocity?RD: Yeah… (Laughs) They help! But you have to balance things, I still go out and party with my friends and hangout. You can’t be 100% something, you got to have balance in your life.GRIP: You have already won the PSP Series, World Championship and you are in one of the top teams in the world.

«It’s hard to win a paintball tournament! Everyone’s brains need to be on the same point at the same time for that one match.»

How do you manage to be so down to earth?RD: Greg (Siewers) has a tattoo of this: «Remember where you came from». It means you got to stay humble at all times. You can’t take anything for granted.

GRIP: Last year in Bitburg I remember you got an ugly injury. How did you react on this injury?

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RD: I remember that point specifically against the Tontons… Man, I still think about that when I play. My ankle is still not at 100%, it keeps me conscious when I play. At the time it was kind of devastating because I’ve never been injured that severely before. I was out for ten weeks and I had to miss London, Chicago… we ended up winning Chicago. It’s kind of rough to not be on the field with the boys and them winning the tournament. It was rough!

«If there are any kids out there: stay in school! There is a slim chance to find something like this!»

GRIP: This year you are one of the top teams in Europe. What change did you make to go from 8th to 2nd place?RD: I think in our first year we were just getting used to the format. The majority of the team was playing in Europe for the first time. Now we have a lot of experience on the team. Personally it was my second year and we are now comfortable with the format. Maybe it’s the practice, maybe it’s the coaching!

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«You can’t be 100% something, you got to have balance on your life.»

GRIP: Many North-American players complain about the refs in Europe. What is your opinion?RD: The refs are really, really strict! If you go to a bunker, regardless if you think you made it or not, you always ask for a paint check because they are not very lenient on that. They call a penalty if you play on for some seconds. You just got to be on the top of your game when it comes for asking for paint checks. The reffing has been pretty consistent though!

GRIP: Which one do you think is better? The North-American or the European style of paintball?RD: It’s tough! It’s a tough decision! The American are more laidback than the Europeans. The Europeans are very strict, so… I can’t compare that!

GRIP: This year Houston Heat have been surpassed by Impact throughout the season. What is missing for you to become winners?RD: Hummm (breathes deeply). It’s hard to win a paintball tournament! Everyone’s brains need to be on the same point at the same time for that one match, even the coaches, even the guys that are filling pods. It’s crucial! Then move on to the next match and do it again and do it one more time. I think there is a little luck in that, there is a lot of heart into it. 60% of our team is new and we had to adjust to each other’s playing styles. I think we practice more than any team and I think it’s paying off. •

58 top 5

Since we started GRIP’s Top5 we have never had such a hard time picking CPL players for this list. With Art Chaos’ slow start, other figures have appeared to push the Russians out of the spotlight, shown by the absence of Konstantin Fedorov.

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Since we started GRIP’s Top5 we have never had such a hard time picking CPL players for this list. With Art Chaos’ slow start, other figures have appeared to push the Russians out of the spotlight, shown by the absence of Konstantin Fedorov.

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MIKHAIL KNYAZEVART CHAOSAlthough the Russians had an odd year there are players that still continue to beat all competition. Knyazev dropped one place since 2013 but was one of those responsible for the return of the former European Champions to the main spotlight. Knyazev continues to be known for his stable gameplay and above all by controlling the game as no other player can do.

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ALEKSANDR BERDNIKOVART CHAOSBerdnikov is the one who suffered the most in this pick by the performance of his team. The player that won last year’s best player, responsible for making the Russians win another European title, dropped three places.His intelligence and aggressiveness makes him one of the players to follow in every game he plays. And believe us when we say that you don’t want to see that orange beanie popping behind any bunker.

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JUSTIN RABACKOFF EDMONTON IMPACTJustin Rabackoff or J-Rab, as everyone calls him, took a while to appear in our Top5 players. Although he is one of the most versatile players in the World the European captains weren’t convinced by his performance in Millennium in the past.This year J-Rab convinced everyone with his quality of game, way of thinking and the

way that he calmly can destroy an entire opposing team. All these aspects helped to

make Impact the European Champions.

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JUSTIN CORNELL EDMONTON IMPACTJustin Cornell is a fantastic killing machine. He is fast, he is aggressive, he is smart and he makes G’s like no other player in Europe. His presence is so important at Impact that we have no doubts that the results would be the same if he didn’t play.Without any doubts the best snake player in the world!

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OLIVER LANGPOLAR BEARSThere are no words for the presence of Ollie as the best player of this year! After 17 years he can still be the top player year after year in different formats.This year he embraced the «enemy» by joining the ranks of Polar Bears. He taught the Russians how to play the Californian style with a huge success, bringing them from a humble sixth place to an amazing third place in the overall ranking and making them the team fighting for their first final in CPL.And if you still have any doubts about his skills he proved that he is not here to mess around by winning the first 1ON1 of this year!

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Photographer: Carlos RodriguesModel: Ana MartinsMakeup: Silvia Ferreira

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The remake of England vs. Scotland was a cry of patriotism for each player that attended this event,

on the border of Scotland and England, between the 17th and 19th of October.

Text: André Faria | Photos: Dave “Taz” Bradley

England Scotlandvs

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GRIP interviewed the well-known Dave «Taz» Bradley, owner of Tazball Paintball and a common general of several UK main games. After running Tazball for ten years, he decided to take over Prozone Paintball three years ago, the venue for this event, and the original ground of this game series.

His job is overseeing everything that was going on across the weekend, making sure things were getting done, all the safety protocols were in place and that everyone was having a great time.

As for the activities planned for this weekend, Friday was to be a day for chilling and the early arrivals setting their tents up, with a movie planned for the evening with «Warriors» and «We Were Soldiers». But not everything goes

according to the «chill out» plans and as Taz describes: «Though a small number of people were already itching to play, we ended up going out and playing a few games in the afternoon to scratch that itch».

Saturday was a mix of extra activities

like Airball Workshop by Gaz Jones, CQB Workshop by the Hostile Intentions, the Tippmann Pistol Challenge by the Scottish Warriors and small games, ending up with a long Bunker Party that went into the early hours of the morning. Sunday was the big day, players loved and enjoyed it.

Small but amazing game clashed two countries that

have a great history behind.

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cast their vote and score points. With no cover at the top! We provided folks with a little leeway in getting shot when voting, as long as they did it with style and speed.»

«As for the main game on Sunday, we’d

set up a voting system, which involved players carrying votes to two polling stations out on the field and voting for their team to score points. Either team could vote at either polling station and

scenario

As for the games Taz describes what happened game wise: «Pond games generally consisted of one team defending the pump station for as long as possible, with a max of 15 minutes, and the other team trying to capture and take over the pump station, starting at the opposite end of the pond. Due to the area being 95% natural cover and no barricades, we also equipped both teams with riot shields for extra support. The games worked out awesomely and we only had one person fall into the pond!»

«We also had our Voting Slapstick game mid-way through where players would charge up a hill and slap a spinning stick to

This weekend showed a good mix of scenario, tournament, magfed,

pump, old & young and even ancient paintballers.

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votes could even be stolen if they weren’t being currently used! Both teams had two respawn points, positioned diagonally opposite from each other, which helped with any issue of spawn camping. If a team was boxed in at a spawn point, they could respawn at their other base! As a secondary objective we also had severed heads scattered about, what we called, the Riot Zone. Extra points were awarded for collecting those heads, with a couple of extra special ones for more points.»

Simon Cole from Maxs UK and Paul Banks from Tippmann Europe and BZ,

were the vendors on site, as well as Stuart Wallace teching for Planet Eclipse.

This weekend showed a good mix of all kinds of players: Scenario, tournament, magfed, pump, old & young, and even ancient paintballers. All ages and areas of the sport.

The game staff consisted of ten to 15 people, where some were temporarily helping out with running activities through Saturday, before playing on Sunday. As for referees on the field, they had seven in total: one in each polling station, taking and counting votes, one outside each

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polling station to keep eyes on the fight going on around it and three floating refs, keeping an eye on things elsewhere throughout the site heading to areas where the battle was most intense.

On a more serious note, we asked Taz what could be done to make more people play this sport, and he answered: «As an industry, I think, in order to bring in these new players to the sport, we need to nurture and motivate them and make sure they’re enjoying every aspect of this amazing sport. And this needs to come from all parts of the industry, whether retail, the paintball sites or the players themselves.

Overall, getting new people into paintballing falls on the shoulders of

everyone in the industry, even the current players now, who’ve been playing for ten years already. Retailers need customers to buy their goods, site-owners need players to play on their sites, and the current generation of regulars need other players to play with or against.»

What players can expect for 2015 England vs Scotland? More activities and planned games through Friday and Saturday, new man-made structures and an earlier date for the beginning of October, making use of the hopefully better weather, for the Beach Party.

Taz says goodbye with a final message: «hopefully we’ll be seeing some of you GRIP readers over here next year!» •

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It’s well known that DYE pursues perfection. And we have to have this in mind when we are reviewing items from them because sometimes it’s difficult to understand why they have released a piece of gear when they already have something similar.

Many will say that it’s to sell more things… and in fact it is, but it’s also more than that, it’s giving something refined to the more experienced and professional player, that improves his game and gives him that edge over the others.

And that is what is happening with the DYE’s new barrel – the GF Boomstick.

The GF stands for Glass Fiber. DYE used the same method that already has been used on carbon fiber barrels but this new material is stronger and has a longer durability. Besides this the great advantage of this type of barrel is the capacity to customize the colors and everyone knows how vain the average paintball player is.

Alongside these new specifications the

GF barrel keeps the same tradition of accuracy and efficiency of its «older brother».

When we contacted DYE about this item they asked what bore size we would like to test. Between the two available options (.684 and

.688) we choose the latter just because it’s more common.

If on one hand not having removable bores is a disadvantage, having a fixed barrel is more accurate. The trade-off between «bore offer» and reliability is difficult to decide for all the players but we strongly believe that if you have the right size of paintballs passing through the new GF barrel it would be difficult to find

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Text: André Garrido

GF BOOMSTICK

ADVANTAGES• Customization• Durability • Accuracy

DISADVANTAGES• Only two bores

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GF BOOMSTICKDoes the new barrel from DYE bring something new to the paintball scene? Read our opinion if you want to know.

another brand that outperforms it.We tried the barrel during a training

session, with some singles shots against targets and the results are perfect as expected, but nothing that the CF version wasn’t already capable.

Without a doubt the big thing here is the customization with colors giving that extra look that everyone is seeking in a piece of gear that everyone can count. In the next season everyone will be changing tips and backs trying to be different from the rest..•

advertisement

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On the search for the woodsball player’s perfect tools, GRIP talked with Miroslav Milicevic, the creator of the website Woodland-events.com.

This website gathers information about worldwide paintball events and fields, displays them in an easy and attractive way, so you can search what you need without any problems or delays. Some core sections are only in German language, but the majority is in English.

How did he come up with this idea?

Miroslav explains: «I had to read three, four forums, now Facebook got also into it... so there’s a thousand places where you can find a thousand small pieces of information but no big picture about the event/field situation around you».

A great idea for any paintballer travelling the world, in business or leisure mode, that needs to cure the hangover, by attending another paintball event.

Miroslav started to gather information from about 200 fields worldwide and about

What if someone gathered all the information on paintball events going on across the world on one platform? His name is Miroslav and we talked with him to know everything about his idea.

Text: André Faria

Woodland-events.com

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Woodland-events.com

400 events in the main season times and then transformed it in lines of code to build the website.

The website is now on the 1.8 version, and you can find a nice world map overview with all the events, in a very fast way. Just click on it, and you’ll get the information you need.

In the fields section, you find a world map view, and realize instantly that this service is used on five continents! Click on any of them, browse through all the

info details or get a straight shot from the google street view perk.

On the events section, you only see the ones that are due to happen, removing any browsing pain for the user. Click it and see all the game info, venue and links to buy tickets.

You can register by e-mail as a field owner or event organiser and put all the information about the field or event, or go all the way on lazy mode and send an e-mail with the basic information.

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Up to 100 daily users from all over the world use the website, with more and more event organizers and field owners supporting the project.

Since it’s a non-profit project, and to face all the running expenses, woodland-events is looking for the support from manufacturers or individual player donations.

For the future, you can expect more services like ticket selling, newsletters, among other great ideas.

Go take a look, use and support a service that was created in the best interest of the players, the field owners and event organisers: www.woodland-events.com •

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A TRUE EVOLUTION IN PERFORMANCE AND TECHNOLOGY.The DM-14 represents over ten years of paintball marker evolution. Our customers and athletes demanded perfection, so that’s what we strived for in all our design decisions. Revamped and rebooted, the DM-14 is smaller and more air efficient than previous incarnations of the DM, with a streamlined design, nearly half an inch shorter than the DM-13. It is also easier to clean and maintain than ever before. When you take the field you can be sure DYE has spared no expense in putting pure performance in your hands, as the DM-14 has been born again hard.

DYE GERMANY Albert Einstein Str. 2 B 77656 Offenburg, Germany, P +49 (0)781 639 349 91 F +49 (0)781 120 302 99

DYE Precision, Inc. USA 10637 Scripps Summit Ct. San Diego, CA 9213, P 858-536-5183 F 858-536-5191

DYE ASIA No. 253, Guojhong Rd., Dali City, Taichung County 412, Taiwan (R.O.C.), P +886 (0) 4-2407-9135 F +886 (0) 4-2407-2090

Copyright ©2013 DYE Precision, Inc. The stylized “dye” logo, the “sphere” logo, the “dm” logo are either registered trademarks, trademarks, or design trademarks of DYE Precision, Inc. DYE Precision, Inc. U.S. Patent # 5,613,483; 7,594,503; 7,765,998. OTHER U.S. AND INT’L PATENTS PENDING. Covered by one or more of the following U.S.

Patents, 5,613,483; 5,881,707; 5,967,133; 6,035,843 and 6,474,326. For a complete list of patents please visit www.dyeprecision.com/patents

TO SEE ALL THE DM14 COLORS AND PGA PATTERNS VISIT DYEPAINTBALL.COM

THE CHOICE OF CHAMPIONS™

DM14INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW

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