The Red Sevens started playing in tournaments in 2007 starting in the Werdnahol Cup and Division 3 in the MPOC both in Malaysia.

Back then there were a lot of teams in the MPOC - a lot of them very good teams. We had 32 teams in Division 3 and there was real competition. Making it to Sunday or the sweet sixteen was something to be proud of. We had to play teams like the two Immortalz teams, D'Mercy Kids, Johore Pirates, Gang all of which were really good teams that are big names today.

Personally the difference is also in what the sport is to us. Paintball is not just about rocking up at tournaments and blowing teams away. For us these days Paintball is about promoting the sport and our sponsors and traveling to participate in international tournaments and making friends. In the first half of this year alone we have played in Thailand, Kuching, Melaka and KL. And we will be going to the Philippines and Taiwan later on in the year. With the friends we have made in our travels, we have also been invited to play in the SSC Cup in Kuching again, the CyberJaya Series, the Thailand Cup as even as far as the Iranian League.

SPNS was a first for Singapore Paintball -  everyone played in an organised tournament series for the first time as there were no organised paintball competitions before SPNS. It was a breakthrough event for all paintballers and first in Singapores paintball history. 

SPS will be a mature version with the organisers and players having gained experience from the 2 years of SPNS. With only 1 event planned for this year - I hope it'll make it that more special for teams to want to participate in the only Paintball tournament in Singapore. I think with the advent of having compressed air in a tournament for the first time- it'll give the players another new improved and experience to Paintball. 

I think it'll only broaden the sport and bring it out to more Singaporeans to see and discover it. With the sport being active for the last 2 years, the standards of the Singaporean teams are much higher now and thus it will be even better event for the public to watch.  

I hope the turn out out SPS will be big and bring back come of the teams and players who have lost touch with the sport recently. I hope to see new teams and players come out and take a chance and try it out. Singaporeans have a fear of looking bad. I think they should overcome it take a chance and try it. It is important for local players to support your local event. We have friends from Malaysia who take time out to come down to support the tournaments in Singapore like Daniel from XFox who have come out to Singapore on his own expense to teach a clinic and help to marshal during SPNS last year. If people like Daniel and Junaidi can come all the way to Singapore to support the Singaporean Paintball scene - I hope Singaporeans will do their effort justice and come out and play SPS.   

I also hope for more attention from the Singapore Sports Council and local media. We have been around for 3 years and we have grown the sport to over 300 registered players and 20 plus teams.

With the Red Sevens's win in Division 2 in PALS Thailand and MPOC leg 2- I think that says a fair bit about the standard on Paintball in Singapore. PALS is an Asian League so that means that a team from Singapore can compete with the best in Asia in Division 2. There are also few other Singaporean teams that playing Division 3 that have what it takes to compete with the regional teams.

However Singapore is still behind Malaysia and the other Asian countries simply because we started only recently compared to them. The laws in Singapore are still not paintball friendly as compared to them. We make do with what we have on hand and we do our bit to get paintball accepted by the authorities. We travel and play in tournaments, we do the nessesary paper work to enable us to take our markers in and out of Singapore to tournaments in Taiwan and Thailand. All paintball activities and events are done properly according to local laws and procedures. This is to ensure that the sport has a clean and good reputation to Singaporeans.

I think its vital to come out and play and learn as much as you can. I have seen many people come and go - most will start with a big interest and huge expectations but their enthusiasm fades when they cant get a team going or can't win. We are behind our counter parts in Asia and we have a lot of catching up to do. What Singaporeans need is the patience to develop their game and be able to compete with the Malaysian and Asian teams.

The biggest mistake new players is to be too focused on getting all the gears and marker. Granted paintball has a big cool factor with the masks, jerseys, pants and of course the marker. But all too often I find people get caught up with wanting to own a marker and not the game. Every experienced player and even the proshop will tell newbies not to buy everything at the start- because they might be wasting their money. What they should be focusing on at the beginning is to use that money to come out and play and learn as much as they can. 

The Red Sevens and the staff at Red Dynasty Paintball Arena regularly organise paintball clinics and I would like to encourage everyone from all levels come and learn and reinforce their skills. I wish people would get over themselves and just come out and play. I welcome any player form any level to come and practice with us whenever the Red Sevens have practice. Even if you're a noob - if you make the time to come out with us - we will take the time to teach you how to play well. All you have to do buy some paint. The clinics we are involved in are also free as long as the participants buy some paint to cover the field costs at Red Dynasty. 

I also think its important to support the local scene. There are a lot of opportunities now than compared to 3 years ago. Back then we would have to take a 10 hour round trip to KL just to play. Today there is a speedball field in Singapore with proper air bunkers, air propelled makers, people to play with, people to teach you how to play and even a proshop to support you. If you dont support local paintball scene then we might lose it all and go back to having to travel up to Malaysia to play and buy gear.