Lucas Punkari
After taking place on the Victoria Day long weekend last year, the Fritz Bujold Memorial singles paintball tournament was pushed back about a month this year, with the second-annual event scheduled for this Saturday (June 25) at Spirit Fire Park in Devlin.
“The May long weekend is normally always so busy, especially with trying to get volunteers, so we just moved things back for this year’s event and it seems to have helped,” said Spirit Fire Park owner Joe Carlson.
“Originally it was more of a test every spring just for bragging rights back in the day, but we opened things up to everyone last year and we’re pretty excited to have some new faces come in and take on our core group,” he added.
Last year’s event saw the crowns go to Abby Perreault in the female competition and Jason Webb for the men.
“It was kind of interesting last year because we had a couple of girls that play paintball quite regularly, and then we had Abby who was just getting started,” Carlson recalled.
“She really surprised everyone by getting an instant win right off the bat, and she was pretty excited about doing that.
“Jason winning was not of much of a surprise last year, as he is a quite a regular to paintballing and he is always a top player,” Carlson added.
The main issue Carlson might face putting together Saturday’s event is the weather, which also has been a situation at the park itself since the season began.
“It’s like the Rainy River District can’t make up its mind as to whether or not it’s going to be nice out or rainy from day to day,” he joked.
“The volunteers and the attendance have been a little bit down so far for this time of year, but I think a lot of that has to do with the weather.
“A lot of people like to look a couple days ahead before making their plans for the weekend, and if the weather isn’t looking like it’s going to be nice, you’re not going to see people want to make a lot of plans to go outdoors,” Carlson reasoned.
The weather also may play a key role into how many official entries will be a part of this year’s competition, along with the format for the tournament itself.
“So far, we’re seeing a lot of waiting and seeing in regards to those who are pre-registering,” Carlson noted.
“I have done a lot of work with outdoors events in the past, and I know that if it rains a lot during the week that it’ll have a big effect on the event.
“If it rains the day before, it doesn’t matter if the sun is shining the day of the event as a lot of people aren’t quite as gung-ho as they may be if the weather is nice out the day before an event,” he explained.
As of press time, Carlson was hoping to get the event underway around 10 a.m. on Saturday. But with everyone getting their equipment together and their forms signed, he figures everything will get rolling around 10:30 or 11.
Depending on how may entries they are, the tournament either will feature a triple or double elimination format, and will go until around 4 p.m.
The entry fee for the tournament is $15, which includes daily field fees, with paintball sales and a CO2 filling station both available at the park.
For more information, call Carlson at 276-2804.
