2012 ATWL Season is Underway

Season Kicks Off With Some Of The Best Woodsball Ever Played

The sixth season of the premiere woodsball league in Eastern Canada, the Tippmann X7 Phenom Atlantic Tactical Woodsball League (ATWL) kicked off May 19th, 2012 Mersey Road Paintball in East River Nova Scotia.

The blue skies and warm weather that greeted the five teams at event one belied the gathering paint storm that was brewing, ready to be unleashed. As the teams milled about they prepared for the first stage of a season long battle to decide who would be crowned the best woodsball team in Eastern Canada.

The ATWL has a simple point scoring system. Points are scored by capturing one of three flag stations that are set up approximately equidistant to each team’s start point on the field. To ensure fairness, and overcome any possible advantage due to field layout, all teams play, switch end of the field and play again. The team with the most capture points at the end of each game wins.

The defending champion Mersey Road Predators are intent on defending their crown. The Predators once again have a very experienced squad which should be the team to beat.

Former ATWL champions Anthraxx (2010) and Mercenaries (2009) will not let the Predators simply walk away with the ATWL Cup. Even though the Predators have a strong team they will have to play their best to get past the former champs who are as eager to repeat as champions as the Predators.

The first game of the season featured the new to the league Green Acres Goblins up against the defending champion Mersey Road Predators. The games were exciting to watch and a true deep end of the pool experience for the Goblins. Playing the defending champions in the first game of the season was a bit of a shock, but the Goblins now know what parts of their game need to be tweaked before event two at Hypersports Paintball on June 9th.

Once again the province of New Brunswick entered a team keeping the ATWL a true Atlantic Canadian league. The SU Militia from Mission Paintball in Moncton New Brunswick came into the league with the intent of taking the ATWL Cup to a new province.

The SU Militia do have a paintball pedigree and are the woodsball division of the tournament CXBL and NPPL Moncton Strict Union team. The SU Militia team has some of the most experienced and talented paintballers in Eastern Canada that will battle hard for every point.

"We have a strong field of teams this year" said Tippinators Captain and ATWL Commissioner Bruce Johnston. "We have experienced teams mixed with young guns eager to make their mark on the Atlantic paintball scene."

Players and fans have said they want to know game results as soon as possible. To push as much information as possible out to players, the league is once again using Facebook for updates. Game scores, play updates, and updates in real time posted on the ATWL Facebook Page. Go to Facebook, 'Like' the league and you will be kept up to date on scores and action, as it happens.

If the athleticism and paintball skills displayed by every team at event one is any indication, the 2012 Tippmann X7 Phenom Atlantic Tactical Woodsball League championship is up for grabs. The parity of the teams in the league coupled with the steady progression of individual player skills will make this woodsball season the most exciting ever.