College Paintball History
The history of college paintball is almost as long as that of paintball itself. Here are just a few highlights.
1986 - The first college paintball club is formed at the United States Military Academy.
1991 - Penn State Paintball Association, the paintball club for Penn State University, is formed.
1991 - Michigan Tech Paintball Club is formed.
1992 - Purdue University Paintball Club is formed.
May 24, 1994 - The first Intercollegiate Tournament is held at Sherwood Forest in LaPorte, IN, organized by Andy McGowan, Mike Sheldrick, and Alexander Rose of Carnigie Melon University, Kao Wang and Jimmy Liang of Washington University, and Doug Seman from the University of Michigan. Schools also in attendence included Purdue University, West Virginia University, and Wright College in Chicago. First Place: University of Michigan. Read the article in the October 1994 issue of APG: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5
September 24, 1996 - First Northeast Intercollegiate Tournament is organized by Gil Besana of Cornell University and Phillip Shie of the University of Pennsylvania and held at Poco Loco Paintball. Teams attending included Cornell, UPenn, West Point, and NYU-Columbia. First Place: Cornell University
April 5, 1997 - West Virginia University hosts the College Challenge at Mountaineer War Games in Morgantown, West Virginia. First Place: Penn State University
September 29, 1997 - Second Northeast Intercollegiate Tournament organized by Andrew Yeh of Drexel University and held at Top Gun Paintball in Monmouth, New Jersey. First Place: University of Rochester
March 27, 1999 - First Midwest Intercollegiate Tournament organized by Purdue University and held at Sherwood Forest in LaPorte, Indiana. First Place: University of Illinois
August 17, 2000 - University of Illinois student and MICT III co-organizer Chris Raehl registers www.college-paintball.com and forms the National Collegiate Paintball Association.
September 30, 2000 - First College National Championships are held at Paintfest in LaPorte, Indiana. First Place: University of Illinois
Spring 2001 - The NCPA, led by Chris Raehl of the MICT, Mike Quinn of the NEIC, and David Shaw of the SEIC, runs the first College Paintball Season, with four conference events and a National Championships, including the first Great Plains Intercollegiate Conference and South-East Intercollegiate Conference events. Thanks in part to a paint sponsorship from KiCK'N Paintballs, event pricing is as low as $65/team and $45/case, making the college league the lowest priced national league by a wide margin.
April 7, 2001 - Second College Paintball National Championships held at Xtreme Paintball Park near Nashville, TN. First Place: University of Illinois
September 16, 2001 - First NCPA Elections for the Board of Directors end. Elected are Matt Spitz from Iowa State University, Paul Searl from Iowa State University, Karen Dunn from Purdue University, Mike Ramsey from Iowa State University, Brent Miller from the University of Maryland-College Park, Brad Reardon from Berry College, and Owen Panzica from the University of Arizona.
September 18, 2001 - The Board of Directors holds its first meeting, electing Brad Reardon of Berry College as the Chairman and Matt Spitz of Iowa State as the Vice-Chairman. They also appoint NCPA Founder Chris Raehl as President by a unanimous vote.
September 24, 2001 - The National Collegiate Paintball Association is incorporated as "NCPA, Inc.", a non-stock (non-profit), tax-exempt organization capable of accepting tax-deductible contributions.
October 20, 2001 - The Fall 2001 MICT at Challenge
Park Xtreme sets a college event attendence record of 22 5-man teams from as far as Iowa, New York, Maryland and Georgia.
December 6, 2001 - The Iowa State University Paintball Club receives $14,000 from Iowa State University to construct the first permanent on-campus paintball field ever, including netting, an airball field, and rentals. Over 8,000 students walk by the site each day.
December 9, 2001 - Diablo Direct becomes the first NCPA Gold Contributor by pledging to donate $10 towards the entry fees of each college and high school team at every NCPA event.
