EPBF... So what is the EPBF?

For many years there have been different bodies trying their best to improve Paintball and take some of the steps needed to make the sport of Paintball safer, more regulated, have better rules, etc. Some of these bodies have had much more success than others. The EPBF (European Paintball Federation) has been set up with these goals in mind. A centralised set of rules across all the different bodies, a European ranking system where players will receive points for playing in sanctioned events, to give European Paintball a recognised body to professionalise and to promote Paintball as a whole. As the EPBF grows I’m sure we will start to see many more interesting and innovative ways that the EPBF will hopefully help Paintball. The UK Fed and the UKPSF have discussed the EPBF at length and have decided to join the EPBF.


To be a part of the EPBF is something that the FED members believe is good for UK paintball. With England already holding the EPBF Nations Cup it was a no brainer to join the EPBF to enable the ‘Players’ to continue down this road. Joining the EPBF also gives the UK the ability to field teams into the EPBF European Championship, European Under 19 Championship and the Women’s European Championship at a reduced rate, as well as some other benefits like custom jerseys. It gives all UK teams the chance to earn ranking points while playing the CPPS events and firmly puts the UK on the European Paintball map.

The Fed isn’t going to try and take over any of the Nations teams, that isn’t our intention at all. We think the people involved did a great job last year and we want to try and support them if possible this year and into the future. The Fed believes that by joining the EPBF we will help the Nation's teams and also any teams that are serious about tournament Paintball.

Last year three UK teams finished in the top ten of the EPBF Euro Ranking; London Nexus (6th), Birmingham Disruption (7th) and Manchester Firm (8th). What better way to show your current and future sponsors how committed to the sport you are?

Where would you rank in Europe??

The members of the Fed that have stood up and paid money to join the EPBF are:

BZ Paintball
Just Paintball
Kee
LiPS
Max’s UK
Phoenix
Planet Eclipse
UKPSF
Warped Sports

For more information on the EPBF visit the web site: http://www.epbf.info/

Am I right in reading this that if you are not currently playing the CPPS domestically you will not receive ranking points for any other domestic tourney? Will the other tourneys be invited or is this the only way for UK ranking points? Please explain if I have misunderstood

At the moment this is correct. We wanted to join the EPBF before the first leg of the CPPS so teams could get ranking points. We are not sure what will happen in the furture.

Ouch, Looks like my team better work hard in the Mills to make up for being handicapped in the UK

Handicapped..... AMAZING! Would you prefer that nothing was done?

I think I see how it works... If you are registered for the Millennium or the Cpps then to play the london event is 300 euro's & if you are not it's 750 euro's

To play the event you need National Jerseys & these are supplied for free if you are a registered federation but if you are not they are 30 euro's each?

So the UKPBF if affiliated & as such any uk or selected uk teams can play? It is not very clear to me sorry can someone explain this to me?



Participating conditions
EPBF-affiliated National Federations:
- event registration fee - 300 EUR;
- teams receive 12 national teams jerseys free of charge from the EPBF official Supplier - Maxsimum company.

Non-affiliated National Federations:
- event registration fee - 750 EUR;
- teams should order jerseys from Maxsimum company directly, the special price was set to €30 per item for the amount up to 12 jerseys.
Registration will be closed in 4 weeks before the event, to give the National Federations a time to order National teams jerseys and for other tournament questions.

This is for the European Championship (nee Nations Cup) rather than for teams entering the London Masters (nee Campaing Cup) leg of the MS. The two events will be held side by side but the Championship is for national teams i.e. one team per nation entered by their participating federation, or otherwise. For all other teams the entry will be as other MS events.

http://www.millennium-series.com/teams.php?team=register

Hope that helps

I see.... we will see if it works then

Well, simply because nobody else other than the CPPS has applied to be recognised by the EPBF.

Or that others haven't paid the required fees!

The whole ranking system is somewhat skewed by where and in which division you play, For instance, Snatch, who did well in the CPPS Race 2 events this year rank 39 places higher than Lisbon Benfica, who didn't do so well in CPL, does that make them a better team? No disrespect to either team, but I think a match-up might be an interesting one.

Especially if that ref-botherer turns out for Benfica.

I'm a little unsure of where the UKPSF and/or "The FED" fit i to the structure.

As far as I can see, the major benefit of the EPBF rankings is for the trade/industry as a marker of performance and activity for teams applying for deals/sponsorship. If you can go to X trader looking for a deal and they say, what is your EPBF ranking, then they have an idea of how well you may represent their brand. If you do OK in your chosen league(s) and division then you get a good EPBF score, if you bomb, you don't. If you are struggling in your millennium division but are doing OK domestically, in an EPBF ranked league then you will have a decent ranking, this shows the trader that you are out there potentially representing their brand in a good light. As an example, Disruption haven't posted particularly impressive results in their first season of CPL, but have a good EPBF ranking bolstered by their results from CPPS. Therefore, they have a good potential to represent a brand in a positive light on a domestic scene, even if they are not a top international team.

If you look through the EPBF rankings you can probably find yourself a few examples, it's not so much an indication of the teams ability as their marketability.

1 euro league and 2 domestic leagues, in a season that typically lasts from April to October, with a month off in August, so that's 2-3 events a month, plus training to ensure some results to gain points in the first place, any team who could afford to play that much, and train, probably wouldn't need sponsorship. However, I get your point, but I doubt that the sponsorship pool would increase, especially in these times when most of us take a year on year pay cut in real terms and therefore the customers of paintball companies, tournament organisers, et al, are suffering a spiraling reduction in their disposable income we should be thankful for whatever is available.