Just this past weekend the entire world of paintball shifted its focus to Polk City, a small town near Orlando Florida, to witness the 2012 PSP World Cup. There were over 350 teams in attendance, but G.I Sportz is incredibly excited to claim the winners of the 2012 PSP World Cup and over all series title as one our own!
Congratulations Houston Heat!
Houston Heat burst onto the paintball scene early during the 2011 off-season when team owner Randy Smith announced he would be assembling a professional paintball team based out of Houston, Texas. Quickly, this announcement caught the ears of nine of the best paintball players from around the world, including several former World Champions: Konstantin Fedorov, Chad George, Mikhail Knyazev, Samuel Monville, Sergy Solnyshkov, and head coach Jason Trosen, who assembled in the waning months of 2011 to begin practices for the 2012 season.
Initially, commentators were skeptical of the success that a “throw together” team could achieve in their first season. However, Heat quickly silenced the critics by placing 2nd in the first event of the year in Galveston Island, Texas. During the event they battled some of the most extreme weather conditions ever seen in tournament paintball, as well as the best paintball teams in the world. Heat finished the event going 5-2 over all; their only losses being to defending World Champions, Tampa Bay Damage.
The next event Houston took the field by storm as their G.I Sportz 5 Star Paintballs hit their mark! The team managed to grab their first championship at the Phoenix Open, during which they went 5-1 overall, defeating the Moscow Red Legion in the finals, 6-3.
However, the paintball season is a marathon – not a sprint — and Houston was not immune to compliancy. Their performance at the Chicago Open was only good enough for 5th over all and was marked by stellar play early in the preliminary rounds, followed by an untimely loss to San Diego Dynasty (7-2 final score). Houston did achieve the “bye” during the tournament, but then lost in their quarterfinals match against Tampa Bay Damage (6-5 final score), which knocked them out of the tournament.
The true test of any championship sports team is how they respond to adversary, and at the Mid Atlantic Open, Houston returned to the field with an intensity and focus rarely seen. They ended up winning the event going 6-1, overall and taking the finals 4-2 against the red-hot Los Angeles Infamous who was coming off a victory during the Mid Atlantic Open tournament.
With these two first place victories in hand Houston had already accomplished something no first year professional team has ever done, however they were still not content and turned their attention to winning the coveted PSP World Cup, which would complete the hat-trick and be their third victory of the season. A staggering number which had not been done since the 2006 NXL season when the Moscow Red Legion won three events in a season, including the World Cup.
Houston finished with a 6-1 record for the event, defeating – once again – Tampa Bay Damage in the finals with a score of 4-2.
We at G.I Sportz would like to congratulate the entire Houston Heat organization for their dominant, record breaking season and wish them luck as they align their sights toward the 2013 season.
Roster:
Chad Bouchez, Front
Ronnie Dizon, Front
Konstantin Fedorov, Front
Chad George, Front – Snake
Mikhail Knyazev, Back
Samuel Monville, Front
Nicholas Slowiak, Back
Ryan Smith, Mid
Sergey Solnyshkov, Front
Jon Woodley, Mid
Head Coach:
Jason Trosen
Team Owner:
Randy Smith
