Wild Bunch Paintball Team

Wild Bunch
Founded 2002
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Stadium Splat Tag (Hudson, Wisconsin)
President Brandon Petersen
Head coach Nick Hettwer
Manager Ken Neumann
Local media Wild Bunch Team Page
Website http://www.wildbunchpaintball.com/
Wild Bunch Team Logo

Wild Bunch is an American scenario paintball team, and is one of the most-widely known and award-winning teams in the Midwest. The team is based out its home-sponsor field of Splat Tag in Hudson, Wisconsin, but travels nationwide, as well as internationally to promote the sport of paintball.[1][2]

Team History

The team was founded in 2002, by call signs LoudThunder, Delta Echo, Squishy, and Brutis, who formed the inaugural team. Over the next 14 seasons, Wild Bunch grew to a team of 27 players, 22 on the active traveling roster, and five on the reserve.[3]

Team Schedule

Wild Bunch plays a normal season schedule, which consists of nine scenario games at its home field.[1] In addition, they help anchor the two large Giant Big Games, which draw 800+ players in summer and 500+ in the fall.[4] In addition, team members play in tournaments across the country, attend Oklahoma D-Day, and host an annual charity game, Battle For The Cure.[5][6][7]

Team Travels

The team has traveled to play games in Michigan, Indiana, Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, New York, and California, making many of those destinations regular stops on its annual team schedule. In 2015, the team was invited by Behind the Bunker staff to attend its first-ever international team event. The team traveled to Canada for Shoreline Paintball's “The One.”

Notable Milestones

In 2013, Wild Bunch was selected as one of only two scenario teams in the world to participate in The Valken Cup, an invite-only international mixed venue tournament.[8][9] In preparation for the event, Wild Bunch team members attended a clinic with Justin Rabackoff, one of the top-ranked Professional Paintball players in the world.[10][11][12][13][14]

The team then flew out to San Diego, California to compete against the best paintball teams in the world, including San Diego Dynasty and Edmonton Impact. The tournament was hosted at Camp Pendleton and featured three events: Woodsball, Urban, and Pump. The competition was fierce and Wild Bunch drew both Dynasty and Impact over the course of the tournament, getting the chance to face off against Rabackoff and the opportunity to compete in one of the worldwide live broadcasts from the event.[8][15] Though the team did not place, it was an incredible learning experience and helped the team focus and challenge themselves in the seasons that followed.

The team was featured in the international magazine Paintball 2Xtremes and one of the team founders was featured on the cover of the August 2007 issue.[16][17] The team was featured in the February 2008 issue, again with one of its players featured for the issue’s cover.[18] The team made another appearance in the March 2008 issue.[19]

The team was twice featured in the paintball magazine Action Pursuit Games, in both the December 2007 and August 2009 issues.[20][21] In addition, the team was profiled in the April 2007 issue of Facefull Magazine and team's charity efforts were featured in the May 2008 issue of Jungle magazine.[22][23] The team and players were even spotlighted in the European paintball magazine Paintball Games International.[24] Wild Bunch was also selected for the "Team Feature" segment of the international paintball show, Behind the Bunker, for the October 6, 2014 episode.[25]

The list of awards earned by Wild Bunch during their journeys to fields across the United States and Canada include:

Charity Work

Over the past 14 years, the Wild Bunch team has been involved with raising money for charities. One of the most important chapters in the team’s fundraising history was The Hunt for the Cure. The charity series ran from 2003 until 2010.[39] The team donated 100% of the proceeds to the Huntington's Disease Society of America. The Hunt for the Cure was produced by paintball players, for paintball players, with outstanding results. The game was the pinnacle of the team's season, despite the fact that Wild Bunch members did not play in the game. Wild Bunch teammates constructed the scenarios, worked the registration booth and refreshment stations, served as referees, and coordinated the game. Wild Bunch received strong support from many volunteers who gave graciously of their time and energy to promote this worthy cause.[40][41][42] To help raise funds, Wild Bunch raffled off some of the highest-end markers in the world of scenario paintball, and held special donation drives; through their combined efforts, they raised nearly $100,000 for the Huntington’s disease Society of America.[43]

In 2015, the team announced a return to the charity game world with a brand-new series, “Battle for the Cure.”[6] They partnered with CURE SMA to help raise funds to create a cure for SMA (spinal muscle atrophy), a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease among young children.[44] The team will be holding a second installment in this new series in the summer of 2016 and plans notable expansions to the game.

Sponsors

The main team sponsor for Wild Bunch is their home field of Splat Tag, based out of Hudson, Wisconsin.

As the Wild Bunch team grew and expanded its focus on national destinations, it benefited from the support and numerous sponsor organizations over the years. From 2002 until 2007, team sponsors included Northern Command Paintball, Fast Signs, Family Friendly Chiropractic, Sierra Ink, and Atomic Ordinance. Then, on June 10, 2007, Ian Duthie from WDP agreed to terms with then captain Burt Peterson (call sign “Brutis”), to have team Wild Bunch become the first Angel sponsored scenario team in the nation.[45][46][47][48]

In 2012, the team added, ANS Gear and Country Wide Financial as sponsors. In 2014, the team added Buffalo Wild Wings as a sponsor and, at the end of the season, Wild Bunch was selected as only the fifth scenario team in the nation to be sponsored by international paintball giant Planet Eclipse.[49] Securing sponsorship from the single-biggest name in paintball and becoming part of the Planet Eclipse Emortal Army was an enormous step and it revitalized the team.[50][51] In 2015, the team picked up sponsorships from WESTconsin Credit, and DuraCoat. Based on their on-field success, Contract Killer also selected Wild Bunch for sponsorship at the end of the 2015 season, making Wild Bunch the first CK Fight Life-sponsored scenario team.

Wild Bunch Edition Planet Eclipse Markers

Over the course of the 2015 season, Wild Bunch partnered with Planet Eclipse to design a completely custom team edition paintball gun. Planet Eclipse placed the team in contact with artist Sean Jones, of Total Field Domination (T.F.D.).[52] The team relayed their vision for the markers and Sean realized that vision in art. The artwork was featured on the paintball website PbNation and several art websites.[53][54] Planet Eclipse then approved the artwork and commissioned the guns at their international headquarters in England. The team received the finished guns while at their first traveling event of the 2016 season. The finished custom-edition Wild Bunch guns premiered on the paintball show Behind the Bunker.[55]

The story behind the design.

Meet the Valkyries

Norse mythology tells of the valkyrie, one of a host of female warriors who choose who will die in battle, and who may live. In Old Norse, valkyrja means "chooser of the slain.” As valkyries sweep the battlefield, ravens flock among their ranks, raiding the bodies of the valkyries’ victims and picking the bones clean. After the valkyries choose the warriors who will die in battle, they usher the fallen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla.

Featured most prominently in the design, is one of the most famous valkyries of legend, Hildr. She possesses the unique power to revive the dead on the battlefield, and she uses it to ensure everlasting battle.

Custom Wild Bunch Team Edition paintball gun artwork.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wild Bunch Paintball Team". Wild Bunch Paintball Team.
  2. ↑ D. Johnson - Saint Paul, Minnesota. "Splat Tag Paintball Park - Twin Cities, Minnesota".
  3. ↑ "Wild Bunch Paintball Team". Wild Bunch Paintball Team.
  4. ↑ "Giant Big Game™ - Minnesota vs Wisconsin Scenario Paintball Game".
  5. ↑ "Paintball Battle For The Cure July 12".
  6. 1 2 "Battle for the Cure". Battle for the Cure.
  7. ↑ Planet Eclipse HQ Blog. "Planet Eclipse HQ Blog: Wild Bunch Charity Event - Battel For The Cure !".
  8. 1 2 "Valken Cup, 3 Disciplines $50,000 Prizes 1 Winner". PaintballX3. September 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Valken Cup". Valken Sports.
  10. ↑ "APPA - World's #1 Paintball Event Registration System".
  11. ↑ "Pro Clinic with Justin Rabackoff".
  12. ↑ "Justin Rabackoff Autograph Session and Clinics - Facebook".
  13. ↑ "JRab Pro Clinic - Facebook".
  14. ↑ "Rabackoff Post Clinic with the Team".
  15. ↑ "Post Match with Edmonton Impact".
  16. ↑ "What the Locals Do". Paintball 2Xtremes (Vol. 14 No. 8). August 2007.
  17. ↑ "Paintball 2Xtremes August 2007 Cover Photo".
  18. ↑ "Angels and Demons". Paintball 2Xtremes. February 2008.
  19. ↑ "Objects in Motion". Paintball 2Xtremes. March 2008.
  20. ↑ "Visited by an Angel: How Wild Bunch Got Signed by the Biggest Name in the Game". Action Pursuit Games. December 2007.
  21. ↑ "A Walk on the Wild Side". Action Pursuit Games. August 2009.
  22. ↑ "New Season Exclusive; Leagues, Teams, Players (Scenario Spotlight)". Facefull. April 2007.
  23. ↑ "Hunting for the Cure". Jungle. May 2008.
  24. ↑ "Wild Bunch". Paintball Games International. July 2007.
  25. ↑ Behind the Bunker Live Paintball Show - October 6th. 6 October 2014 – via YouTube.
  26. ↑ "Predator's Bane Most Formidable Opponent Award".
  27. ↑ "Indy Paintball Battleground Return of Predators Bane Event – [video by Valken] - FACEFULL". FACEFULL.
  28. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13177220_1172297649455389_204004152956719715_n.jpg?oh=1e87f757ee605d90588e24d30c935c75&oe=57E3232D
  29. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13118896_1172297646122056_8765836676296389170_n.jpg?oh=869b4c682e5c68e905026769f95fdf8b&oe=57E3141F
  30. 1 2 https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/11988555_1040574439294378_2205977939689221229_n.jpg?oh=6ddab87b98c67515784d0d9eb0349ce9&oe=57B04525
  31. 1 2 3 https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10169202_845861078765716_7995387766444363987_n.jpg?oh=859a4174f6a896838a1b1b9c061ab1fa&oe=57B7764B
  32. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1505275_778353965516428_1306248082657339443_n.jpg?oh=94ceb217fc1e154457c4d25910102f5e&oe=579DAB91
  33. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1609694_778353922183099_2242555891191674669_n.jpg?oh=0990b2a2dc2da8eb71abdfed16af7e41&oe=57B0CCF4
  34. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/13138847_1172298392788648_6478600411688719586_n.jpg?oh=e57d3a606312e3036e96541e8657a304&oe=57E74891
  35. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13178697_1172296812788806_9138639426903092345_n.jpg?oh=4a7f5c4245925dc90d736c6380320dc8&oe=57E1E68A
  36. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10616131_832924866726004_2754188943218900784_n.jpg?oh=a89b83399cc623fdcff34a08d6453d9f&oe=57E62DDE
  37. ↑ https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10592715_832925210059303_6983471833171188_n.jpg?oh=518c39c18f387e912632658750faeffb&oe=579E021B
  38. 1 2 3 https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10635784_832924863392671_724606817161624609_n.jpg?oh=e4167602ffe32a9a33ee8821d6e278b9&oe=57B7D7EB
  39. ↑ "Hunt for the Cure 2010 - pbpancho".
  40. ↑ "News Archive for MNpig.com".
  41. ↑ "2010 Hunt for the Cure paintball game - MNPIG.COM".
  42. ↑ https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10612929_832925083392649_7589451647994181575_n.jpg?oh=dc5f39ab40e6faef37874fcd514b8c31&oe=57E16ABC
  43. ↑ "Hunt for the Cure '09 - Minnesota Scenario Paintball Forums".
  44. ↑ "Cure SMA - Home".
  45. ↑ "Scenario Team Wild Bunch lands Gun Sponsor from WDP, Inc. - 2007 Press Release - MNpig.com News".
  46. ↑ "Wild Bunch - View topic - WDP, Inc. and Wild Bunch Announce Partnership".
  47. ↑ "WARPIG - World And Regional Paintball Information Guide".
  48. ↑ "WDP Sponsors Another Scenario Team". PbNation.
  49. ↑ Planet Eclipse HQ Blog. "Planet Eclipse HQ Blog: The Wild Bunch !!!".
  50. ↑ Planet Eclipse HQ Blog. "Planet Eclipse HQ Blog: Wild Bunch 2015 and beyond !!".
  51. ↑ "Teams - Planet Eclipse Paintball Markers, Equipment and Accessories".
  52. ↑ "Sean M. Jones Art Gallery".
  53. ↑ "Wild Bunch Custom Lv1.1 Marker". PbNation.
  54. ↑ "WILD BUNCH LV1.1 Marker Design".
  55. ↑ "Behind the Bunker Live Paintball Show - Wild Bunch Team Edition Marker World Premiere - Facebook Simulcast".
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