Tippinators Win Halifax GT Speedball Tournament

The Halifax GT, the first event in the Golden Triangle paintball series, considered the unofficial start of the outdoor speedball season in Atlantic Canada was played on May 26th. Twenty teams from throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick who merged on Overkill Sportz for the first event in the Golden Triangle paintball series of 2007. The GT kick off event was played under warm sunny skys, unlike the previous five season opening GT's in which torrential rains and cold temperatures greeted players.

The great weather brought out some great paintball teams who were ready and willing to play their hearts out. Incredible slides, dives and run throughs were the hallmark of the day with every player giving it their all. When the day was done and the flag hangs counted, less then 100 points separated the four podium finishers showing the strength of the field in the rookie division.
Tippinators - DraxXuS rookie squad of Chris 'Fuzzy' Landry, Justin 'KossaK' Landry, Trevor 'Awkes' Colwell and Mark 'Tinman' Miller were able to win their second consecutive tournament since their victory at the March Meltdown indoor tournament. The DraXxuS line's performance anchored by the aggressive snake play of Justin Landry coupled with the heads up one on one gun fighting skills of the other players proved to be the difference at the end of the day. Of the line's second straight tournament win, Trevor 'Awkes' Colwell said, "The GT seems to bring out the best players around. There were a lot of great teams on the field today. We played hard, stuck to our system and we were fortunate enough to have things work out for us."

The second Tippinators rookie line entered in the tournament, Tippinators - SpecOps, squad of Steven Fong, Richard 'Krush' Robinson, Chris "Mully' Mullins and Tyler 'Dexen' Johnson placed a strong fourth to round out the teams on the rookie division podium. The SpecOps line's fourth place was a pleasant surprise for the players because the Halifax GT was the first speedball tournament for two of the line members. "What an experience for our first GT." Commented Steven Fong, "there were some hard fought games out there against some great players but our first time players really stepped it up. I am really looking forward to the next GT."


The line entered in the amateur division, Tippinators - Tippmann squad of Bruce 'Charon' Johnston, Austin 'Juno' Flaherty and Jim 'Jimbo' Langlois, did not finish on the podium, as with the other Tippinators lines, they did come away with a respectable sixth place finish against some of the best players in the region.

The podium finishes for both rookie lines show the hard work and time put into practicing under the watchful eye of Kevin 'Big Can' Curry is beginning to pay dividends to all team members. Every player seems to be getting better at every event.

Tippinators coach Kevin Curry said of the team's performance, "Both starter teams played phenomenal and I am impressed" Curry continued, "The Tippinators have an excellent core group of paintballers, with an excellent support staff who have come a long way in a short time. The problem is at they are not surprising the other teams anymore." Curry concluded "We have lots of work to do to get the guys to that next level. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be involved."

At the end of a tough day of paintballing rave reviews were given to Carter Johnson, owner of Overkill Sportz, who organized a first class event. Referees who made great calls all day long coupled with DraXxuS paint that shot flawless in all makers, and the incredible sportsmanship shown by all teams made the Halifax GT an unqualified success.

With two lines finishing on the podium the Tippinators very much look forward to the remaining 2007 GT events to be held in Moncton, New Brunswick.