Black Friday is a one of a kind event where after a long winter of only being able to play the occasional game of indoor reball, woodsballers, speedballers, milsim teams, xball teams and rec players gathered for a day of camaraderie, sportsmanship and fun before players gravitate back to their preferred style of play.
Mersey Road Paintball in East River, Nova Scotia, Canada once again hosted the Black Friday scenario event on April 2nd 2010. 2010 marks the 9th year for Black Friday at Mersey and drew 373 players from across the region.
"I have been to a few Black Friday games and this one was special." commented Tippinators Captain Bruce Johnston "I don’t know if it was the warm weather or the influx of new players this year, but there was a level of excitement I haven’t seen in a long time."
By 11:00am the staging area swarmed with players eager to start the season, and have some fun. When the opening horn blew, players rushed forward to shoot paint and bang the rust off the skills that laid dormant all winter. Ferocious firefights and spectacular individual efforts were commonplace all around the field, with players giving it their all throughout the day.
"It was fun to have the entire team out to play alongside, and against, teams from the AXBL and ATWL." said Tippinators player Chris Landry, "Plus the draw run for prizes donated by Tippmann and DXS, VForce was a huge success." Photos from Black Friday "Everything just flowed well all day," remarked Landry "Reffing, administration, food, raffles. The staff and players pulled together and made this Black Friday an event to remember."
Black Friday 2010 showed paintballers, be they woodsballers or speedballers, can come together in the true spirit of the game and play for fun. Any day when almost 400 players come together to play paintball is a great day. If Black Friday is any indication, 2010 will be a very good year.
