ROI of Pro Paintball

It should have been understood that today's post wasn't about the return on investment of pro paintball in any conventional sense of the term because, at least as an economic enterprise, there isn't any return despite nearly two decades of efforts otherwise. It's actually much closer to that classic paintball joke, "How do you make a small fortune in paintball?" "You start with a big fortune." There is however another relevant equation we can substitute: For those with the resources and the inclination how best to allocate those resources? Where do you get the biggest bang for your buck? Is it investing in star players? Is it in practice paint? Organization? Or coaching? Traveling for practice? For anyone funding a sports team that will only lose money the payoff must be in on-field success, mustn't it? (Okay, sure there's almost always all that happy family talk too but if that was the goal it would be more fulfilling to run a camp for under-privileged kids.) The real return on investment in pro paintball is winning. And while having the money to spend is a plus it's no guarantee of success.
Granted it gets a little tricky making these sorts of distinctions because of course more talented players is a plus as are all the other advantages superior funding can accommodate but we've seen mixed results from the big spenders. The object then of this post isn't to say money doesn't matter but to take a hard look at how that money is being allocated and the results derived from those allocations. Or, how come one guy spends big bucks and succeeds and the next guy spends big bucks and fails.
A good place to begin is with the 2014 iterations of Impact and Heat. In the prior off season both teams underwent significant roster changes and both teams are among the handful with the resources to do as they please. Coming into 2014 Impact had perhaps under-performed their talent and Heat had just completed a very successful two season run. Heat lost 3 top tier players to Art Chaos and Impact lost 3 top tier (or close to it) players to Heat. Impact in turn opted for a couple of experienced journeyman pros and a pair of up-and-coming pro players to re-stock their roster. Heat also signed another very high profile very experienced pro player to go with the 3 from Impact. Impact seemingly took a talent loss into 2014 while Heat made a strong effort to match their talent losses. Impact takes both PSP and Millennium series titles while Heat does well in Europe they also get relegated twice in the PSP. So what happened? If the talent theory of winning paintball was all there was to it Heat should've had a distinct advantage as everything else between them was similar. And why does Impact succeed now, with seemingly less talent where they didn't quite measure up before?
Let's start with that old sports cliche about a team being more than the sum of its individual parts. While true a team can also be less than the sum of its individual parts too. And this begins to get us closer to the crux of the matter. Whether it's evaluating talent, maximizing practice opportunities, calling matches or utilizing to best effect the advantages of superior resources a team requires leadership and that leadership must have a plan. And ideally more than a plan--a philosophy that encompasses all the elements of the chosen sport. How can anyone lead a team if they don't know where they're going?
While most factors can be controlled to one degree or another we are left with the alchemy of team chemistry--not quite a science nor fully an art--the only place it really matters is on the field. Sure it's nice if everybody gets along and enjoys each other's company but attempts to create off the field chemistry is the cross-your-fingers-and-hope-it-translates-onto-the-field effort of every team from D5 to Champions--and it's a crap shoot. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Even in developing the requisite on field chemistry of successful teams leadership is paramount. Doesn't matter if it's a coach or captain or a small group with different team responsibilities the core value is laying a proper foundation for future success. And a proper foundation begins with a plan--a map to future success. That's where you begin to maximize your ROI regardless of your budget or your level of play.