Springfield, Missouri was home to the 1st annual, Kick'n 2000 Open Class Paintball Tournament, which was held at the Ozark Fairgrounds.  Hosted by Kick'n Paintballs (who are based in Springfield), Kick'n 2000 was open to all class levels of play, except for pro players.  Over 49 teams combined signed up for this one of a kind tournament, with teams coming from as far as California on the West Coast, Texas on the South, and Illinois on the East Coast.  Prior to the main tournament, Kick'n also hosted a "Top Gun" on Friday evening, where over 40 players competed for a variety of prizes, to see who was truly, the best individual player.

        The field consisted of a series of supair bunkers, which included twinkies, cupcakes, and Doritos (names matching the characteristics of the bunkers).  A variety of spindles, which also included an 8 foot high spindle at each end of the field, were also strategically placed with drums to add a little variance to your average "Sup'Air" field.  Another interesting bunker was a pair of outhouses, which were placed in the middle of the field.  A rope connected the two unusual bunkers, and held the flag in the center.  The arena was also indoors, which was a large plus because it had excellent lighting, and heaters, which kept the field nice and cozy compared to the 30 degree weather outside.

        The games were six minute games, center flag format.  Things ran exceptionally smooth, with the Kick'n staff having the next three games on deck, ready to go.  Teams were broken up into separate divisions in two different sessions, with the morning session (with five divisions) running from 9 am, finishing around 6:30 pm.  The evening session (with two divisions) started around 7 pm, with the last game finishing around 10:30 pm.  Over 270 games were played on Saturday alone, with the top two teams from each division progression to Semi-finals on Sunday morning.  The amazing thing is that the same staff worked the event from 6 am that morning till after 11 pm that night, with all games running on only one field!

        Teams had alot to compete for.  With sponsors such as Worr Game Products, Tippmann, Flare Fittings/Crossfire HPS systems, Kingman, BOA, Smart Parts, Action Pursuit Games, Paintball Ridge of Joplin Missouri, Custom Products, Gator Joe's Paintball, Stopper Netting of Springfield, Paintball Operators of America, The Monthly Paintball Newsletter, and of course, Kick'n Paintball.  1st and 2nd place both consisted of enormous trophies along with five Autocockers, and five Crossfire High Pressure Systems.  3rd place was five Model 98s, donated by Tippmann, 4th five Crossfire Systems, and 5th ten cases of Kick'n Paintballs.  Places were given all the way to tenth place.

       Teams were given the entire lower level to unpack their gear, get ready for the event, and chrono their guns.  Tables and chairs were also provided as a more than expected luxury.  Many teams took advantage of being all in the same area by walking around, meeting, and getting to know other teams.  This was also a great idea because it kept all of the markers of players not competing, out of the staging and spectator area.
 
 
 
 

        Competition throughout the day was very rough, especially in the Amateur bracket.  Some of these teams included Team Energy from Oklahoma (99' World Cup 5-man Champions), Team C-Ya also from Oklahoma, Missouri Magic, Bunker Monkeys from Tennessee, Team Express from Wichita, Nasty Doughboys from Missouri, Hooligans, Dyslexic Dogs, and Team Broken Arrow from Southern California.  One highlight of the day was with kids team, Black Knights, who had eliminated their opponent, having all sorts of complications during the game (such as hoppers falling off).  After a few moments of confusion, Derrick (Black Knights) proceeded to grab the flag and with the entire crowds participation, hung the flag for the win.  "It was alot of fun, but got a little confusing.  I just wanted to win the game and get off the field", said Derrick.
 

Standings going into Semi-Finals

1st - Thunderballs - 600 points 2nd - Broken Arrow 1 - 598 3rd - Broken Arrow 2 - 587 4th - Unknown - 532 5th - C-Ya - 524 6th - Team Express - 516 7th - Energy 2  - 504 8th - Hooligans - 494 9th - Outer Limits Black - 464 10th - Missouri Magic Blue - 440 11th - Rattlesnake - 440 12th - Sniper Blodget Black - 432 13th - High Voltage - 404 14th - Nasty Dough Boyz - 377 * Bunker Monkeys - Wildcard Note, rankings and scores based on our scorecard.  Rookie, Novice, and Amateur teams are all mixed into one division going into finals

Jason Warner from Team C-Ya

Final Standings

1st - Energy 2 2nd - C-ya 3rd - Broken Arrow 2 4th - Broken Arrow 1 5th - Bunker Monkeys 6th - Team Unknown 7th - Rattlesnake 8th - Team Express 9th - Thunderballs 10th -

Tournament Coordinator, Steve, from Kick'n Paintballs

The overall winner of the Sportsmanship award went to Team Broken Arrow of Southern California, who received a special plaque for their display of hard, fair play.
 

For more pictures from the Kick'n 2000 Tournament, goto the Photo Gallery
 
 
 

Sean Takeda
MPN Columnist