Larry Sekely
Paintball 102 is a book written for those players who have been playing the game for a while, but have decided they want to get more serious about the sport. It teaches basic as well as more advanced skills to allow the player to step up their game in preparation for competition play. The book also offers insight on how to form your own tournament team including how to get started, how to organize and grow your team, and tips on how to raise funds to be able to play competition paintball.
Other topics covered include:
Defining what it takes to become a tournament player.
Advanced techniques to take your game to the next level.
The basic structure of a tournament team.
Communication on the field.
Practice drills.
Preparation for a tournament.
Playing in a tournament.
Developing a game plan.
Executing the game plan.
Closing out the game.
Diagrams for paintball plays illustrating basic strategies.
Complete glossary of common paintball terms.
Paintball 102 was written to help newer players advance their game and take it to
... the next level.
Larry Sekely works and lives in the Tampa Bay area. He was introduced to paintball by his son, Jason, who was ten at the time, shortly after attending a friend’s birthday paintball party at a local field. Over the next several years, Larry and his son played paintball in all their spare time and eventually began to participate in local tournaments. In the summer of 2003, they formed Team ICE with a couple of Jason's friends. By the summer of 2004, the team had grown in size and skill level and had finished at the top in tournaments in Miami, Port Canaveral, as well as Tampa.
Larry currently plays for Men at Work, a team comprised of the fathers (and in one case the grandfather) of younger paintball enthusiasts. The team has a minimum age requirement of 40 years old. They play NPPL and PSP tournaments through out the United States.
Larry has published two books on the subject of paintball thus far, with plans for additional books already in the works. Paintball 101, the first in the series, was published in October 2005. The second book in the series, entitled Paintball 102 was published in December 2006.
Larry attended college in the state of Florida and majored in Business Management. He also is the V.P. of Purchasing for a large national homebuilder.
Larry continues to be an avid fan of the sport of paintball. His involvement includes playing whenever possible, attending major tournaments and trade shows, publishing and promoting his books and free lance writing.
As rec-ballers continue on in their paintball life, a large majority of them will give serious consideration to becoming a tournament player and joining or starting a paintball competition team.
When you are considering whether to become a competition paintball player, there are several factors that need to be weighed carefully.
One aspect of becoming a tournament player that needs to be understood from the beginning is that playing on a tournament team is different from just playing paintball. You will be on a “team” and therefore you must be willing do those things necessary for your team to win. You will have assignments and it will be paramount for you to execute all tasks given to you to the absolute best of your ability. You may have the task of shutting down one zone so that your opponents cannot advance. You very well may have to stay focused on that one part of the field for the majority of the game without looking at the other side of the field or bumping up to the next bunker.
The team is counting on you to do your job. Another teammate may get most of the glory, but it is always a team win.
Investing your time
Unlike other styles of paintball, if you are on a tournament team, you must have the time to devote for practices and you must be willing and have the means by which to make such a commitment. Other than local tournaments, national tourneys are held during the week. If you are still in school, this could be an issue. If you are younger than 16, transportation to and from the fields for practice may also be an issue. You must also factor in travel for playing in tournaments outside of your local area, depending on the goals of your team. Most teams start out at the local level then step up to statewide and maybe even the national level. Teams that play nationally are also the best candidates for sponsorship.
