RPL Finale wrap up

Where to start - so much to remember - First - Dad did not take too many pics or vids at this event. He was way to caught up in the games and everything else going on. Friday Dad picked up Sawyer early from school at 11 am. It was a minimum day so Sawyer only missed the last hour of the day and not much was going on. We got his mohawk going (not allowed at school) then headed off fo Camp Pendleton to register for The RPL Finale being held on the Marine base at the paintball park. After registration and getting out ID cards we headed off to walk the fields. They ended up opening one of the three fields as well for us to get a little playing time on. After running out of paint Sawyer played a good game with some other older kids of "throw the paintball". He had a blast just running the fields and playing to end the day as Dad packed up the gear.

The next morning came early - as is we left the house at 5 am early. We got to the fields and had plenty of time to get ready for the 8 am start. As usual - we totally bombed on our first game. First game gitters are a curse for us but we think we figured out a cure on Sunday (I'll get to that later). It also didn't help that Sawyers hopper went down after 1 shot and the team had to play 4 on 5 as he fiddled with it until getting shot out. Game 2 almost continued with disaster as Sawyers trigger broke in the tent before taking the field - thank God for back up guns. Dad scrambled back to the pit - got his gun - got it back to Sawyer (shattering a pair of sun glasses on the sprint) switched over the hopper and air just in time to take the field.Max'd Kidz won the game thanks to a few superstar moves by Brandon. And they won the next one. And the next one. Then we had a really bad game with Brandon and Kyle both getting unlucky shots on them during the breakout and Larry getting called for a penalty on the breakout so we were down 2-5 after 2 seconds and quickly lost the game. And I mean quick. It was a brutal 2 on 5. A little shell shocked, we took the field for game 6 and got it back together and won. And then won again. And then won again bringing our record for the day to 6-2.

After the games as we were hanging out Sawyer was asked to shoot a segment by Rob for the new Derder Short Bus DVD. Of course he readily agreed. So off we went to an empty field to do the shoot. Now I won't spoil Rob's video here but it was GREAT. Sawyer has a shooting and speaking role. Todd, Nicky and Catfish were on hand as well to watch all the fun. It was a blast and we can't wait for it to come out next year. Sawyer also looks to have a "blooper" scene in the episode as well from one of his first times playing on an airball field.

After the games we headed out to get food and to the hotel, but on the way made a pit stop at the Marine Corp Museum on base for their heavy equipment. It was a lot of fun seeing all the great weapons of war. Sawyer really dug getting to hold real machine guns and rocket lanchers.

That night after getting cleaned up and getting our gear ready for the next day we all met at a bowling alley nearby to hang out and have some fun bowling and playing video games. But we called it an early night to be rested for Sunday.

Sunday morning 5am was a bit rough again but we could take our time more since we were now in town and so close to the fields. We got ready in the pits and the team went to an empty area to get warmed up running, shooting, practicing a few breakouts, laning, sliding - all just to get the blood flowing and try to get rid of those first game gitters. IT WORKED!!!

We played a very good team to start Sunday off and won with 3 guys left. For the first time in an event, Sawyer ran the flag in for the win. Larry and Kyle shot the back left out of the game quickly and that really opened up the game.

Next game - THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENT FOR DAD - We kill 1, they kill 1, we kill 1, they kill 1 - then Sawyer accidentally shoots Brandon out of the snake because he had pushed up so far - DISASTER and we are down 2-3 with Larry on back left and Sawyer back middle - but we quickly got another G to make it 2-2 with about 3 minutes to play. This is when it gets good. There two are basically mirrors to us back left and back center. Sawyer makes a move and bumps to the right brick - notices no one shooting from the right side and bumps to the dorito on the right - still no one shooting from his right so he dives into the snake (right side of field). He never stops. He books up the snake knowing there is no one on the tape and blows past all 3 knuckles. His dive in was perfect. Their back center was still shooting at the dorito. He gets all the way to the end of the snake and squares up his body to where he knows the player is - snaps up - gets the G. Now the stands and sidelines were full to watch this little Thomas Taylor look alike and everyone was watching him fly up the snake and get the G - the crowd ERUPTED - way more than even in Las Vegas. It was so loud that Larry thought the game must be over and peeked out and got shot - but Sawyer quickly turned and shot out their last player - 30 seconds left and Sawyer runs to grab the flag and deliver it - last man alive on the field - and get the team into the Quarterfinals.

The Quarterfinals were a mess. We lost. We pushed the first game to a 1 on 1 with Sawyer losing it when he ran out of paint and then we lost the second game as well. But we played great considering we were playing a D3 team. Yes, they snuck down a division and no one noticed until us. We protested. Lost the protest. Good news is a rule change will happen for 2010 to prevent it from happening again probably. Bad news is we were out of the event. Can't blame the RPL though. Cheaters just found a loophole in the rules. If it were not for a sandbagging team we hit at the wrong time who knows how far we would have gone. The kids were playing great and we had beat the 2nd and 3rd place finishers before. This loss kept us off the podium. The sandbaggers won the tourney of course - "Good for Nothings" with a ringer who was sandbagging even more than the rest, Junior Mohr. We cant wait for our kids to get a little more experience and little older so when we start to play higher divisions we can crush these 25 year old sandbaggers. Perhaps you can tell we really dislike it when grown men play down a Division or two when they know they can get away with it just to get a win they can't earn at their own level. OK. Next subject. So our tourney is over. But the kids still had fun, which is the most important part. And, we really played better. Next season is going to be great. To cap off the weekend, we bought Sawyer a pump gun from KM. He is going to start playing pump on occasion to improve his skills and other aspects of the game. He really looked good out there at this event. Right now with as well as his team and he are playing it looks like the sky is the limit.

2 Videos from RPL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh3R984leWc - a clip after Sawyer is done shooting a segment of the New Derder Short Bus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07YUp3GQhXw - Sawyer just being a kid with other kids the day before the RPL started having "throwing" paintball wars on the field as the sun was going down.

RPL Pics

Saturday Night after going 6-2 the team went to the Bowling Alley to of course bowl but also to play some video games and eat very good but rather unhealthy food.

Pic 1 is Brandon and Sawyer playing some big game hunting game. Pic 2 is Sawyer watching the bowling and just chilling. Pic 3 is Sawyer bowling. Notice the Max'd Kidz Tshirt and bandana and mohawk even when not playing paintball. Pic 4 is James who spent the whole night texting :-)

More RPL pics

At each event we have decided to do something fun and educational. At this event since were on base we stopped at the Marine Corp Museum and checkout some really cool Marine weapons stuff.

More RPL - SHOOTING DERDER'S SHORT BUS

All 5 photos are of Sawyer shooting or prepping to shoot a segment in the next Derder Short Bus. Pictured here and there with Sawyer are Todd, Rob, Nicky, and Catfish. It was really fun to shoot a video segment - especially Short Bus.

More RPL trip pics

Photos left to right and top to bottom - Early in the hotel room before Sunday's games, Larry and Chris in the pits, and the last 3 are Sawyer on Friday getting the feel of the fields.

Press Release - Max'd Kidz adds a player to roster

Press Release 11.15.2009 Laguna Hills CA

Max'd Kidz is pleased to announce the addition of Brandon Teunissen to their roster. Teunissen, 17, brings a wealth of playing and tournament experience to the team.

After informally practicing with the Kidz last weekend, he was invited to join the squad and accepted the invitation.

"I'm very excited and it should be fun training with a fresh new team and little Sawyer," said Teunissen. "The Kidz have a lot of potential. We just can't get too big headed and have to trust in one another."

Brandon's leadership on the field and high skill level was one of the keys to this past weekend's great practice for Max'd Kidz at SC Village when they went 15-0 in games during the day.

"Brandon was the piece of the puzzle we were missing," said team manager Dan Smith. "We went from a team that could make it to Sunday to a team that can win on Sunday. He is a natural leader and great communicator. But best of all, even though I usually think he might be the best player on the field at any given time what is really impressive is he is also the most humble."

Teunissen joined the team just in time to play in the RPL Finale in Oceanside, CA on November 21 and 22.

4 videos of Max'd Kidz practice - they went 15-0 - WOW

Not going to write a lot here - just click on the link and read the detailed YouTube description.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZCAVN2bKqk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNj3-RvC6c0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXbxsvOdqw8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbQUGLChA-Q

Max'd Kidz practice for RPL Finale

WHAT A DAY!!! The Kidz went 15-0 all day - taking on every team throughout the day and winning every game in the process. There was one close call when the Kidz were down 2 on 4 - but they fought back to win it - keeping the two alive in the process and the unbeaten streak as well. A really amazing day of practice and play. The Kidz really gelled and playing together more and more is really starting to pay off on the field in the Win-Loss column. Everyone was super excited as the day went on and the wins kept coming. This is the big boost of confidence the team needs heading into the RPL tournament next weekend at Camp Pendleton. Brandon has been a great fit to the team and just in time as Kevin has injured his ankle and will have to sit out the event (but he will be in the pits helping out). Pictured above top left Kyle moving down the tape to bunker the last player for the win, top right James looking ultra cool shooting from a bunker, middle left Sawyer laying paint from back center, middle right the Furman brothers, bottom left Larry between games messin' around

Max'd Kidz practice for RPL Finale more pics

Top left is Brandon and Larry closing out a game. Top right is Brandon sneaking around the snake. Middle left is James diving into the snake and middle right is Brandon and James mixing it up on the breakout. Bottom left - before the breakout.

Sawyer hits 25,000 on YouTube

Press Release

11.12.2009

Sawyer Smith of team Max’d Kidz is happy to announce his YouTube videos have just surpassed the 25,000 views mark. Smith is 10 years old and the youngest player to compete in the USPL/NPPL .
“Wow,” said Smith. “That’s a whole bunch of people watching videos of me and the team practicing and playing.”
The YouTube channel is www.youtube.com/dansmithfirstteam. It features not only videos of Sawyer and rest of Max’d Kidz practicing and at the latest USPL/NPPL Las Vegas event but also fun clips such as Sawyer doing the “paint bob” on Thomas Taylor’s Beat Down City Tour and of his 2 year old little sister decked out in some i4’s rolling the trigger at a paintball campout trip.

Thanks Catshack Reports - Max'd Kidz press

http://www.catshackreports.com/2009/11/maxd-kids-update/#more-4138

Rusty Glaze's Bday Party

A few week's ago Sawyer got invited to the Golden State Paintball Big Game and Rusty Glaze's birthday party. They were held at the same time at the scenario paintball field at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA. Todd Martinez was also there for part of the day and was heard yelling "get som" often. It was a long day of playing and TOTALLY fun. Sawyer said it was nice to take a break from the turf fields and just go play in the woods. He had a total BLAST and usually chose to be on Rusty's team and play against his dear old dad. In one game, Rusty and Sawyer were pushing hard down their left side of a hill type field - the two of them leading the charge on that side for their team - and dad got shot at the same time by both Rusty and Sawyer - which turned out to be great because I sat back and watched the two of them push all the way up and destroy the rest of my team from a high slope and win the game. Even though it was Rusty's bday they had a few raffles and Sawyer won big - an Empire Jersey that almost fits and a Halo loader and a few microfibers. The last picture is him holding up the gear. The top left is Sawyer popping out to shoot down the left line of the field while Rusty directed from inside the shack. The top right pic is during a game and Rusty (hand on Sawyer's shoulder) giving him the green light to push up. Middle left is a pic of Sawyer and Rusty before a game. Middle right is of the two of them after the games were over.

Press Release 11.11.2009

11.11.2009 Laguna Hills, CA

Max'd Kidz is proud to announce the newest addition to their paintball family. Exalt has agreed to offer the team sponsorship assistance. Exalt (www.exaltpaintball.com) gear will be used by Max'd Kidz players for the 2010 season as they compete in some USPL, PSP, RPL, and Bear's Cup tournaments as well as other events as their schedule allows.

"It's really cool having Exalt sponsor us," said Sawyer Smith, the youngest player on Max'd Kidz and in the national tournament scene at 10 years old. "I'm excited to to get the new gear they are sending especially their feed gate for my Rotor."

More information as well as pictures and videos of Max'd Kidz and Sawyer can be found at http://sawyerpaintballer.blogspot.com

Nicky Cuba talks about Sawyer and Max'd Kidz on PB Live

Go to www.pblive.tv
Click on the On Demand tab under the video screen
Click on PbLive Show Archives
Click on 10/7 episode
Advance episode to minute 28