NCPA

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The 7th annual Xbox 360 College Paintball National Championships presented by JT USA returns to television this summer. 65 different colleges from
across the country competed in 30 events leading up to the National Championships held at the Xdrenalin Zone Paintball Park near Dallas, TX on April 7th, 8th and 9th, but only two teams survived to the Championship match, defending National Champions University of Illinois Illini and challenger University of Connecticut Huskies. The spectacular back-and-forth match between these two powerhouse college teams will be broadcast on
July 6th at 9 PM EST on CSTV: College Sports Television.

Tristan Heinmiller helped propel his University of Connecticut paintball team to the finals, and also played a role in getting the Connecticut club team off the ground three years ago. But he admits the team was fortunate to receive significant funding as a student organization from the school. In fact, for the 2005-2006 school year, the UConn team received a cool $35,000.

"That's one thing: To be good at paintball, you need money," Heinmiller says. "That's one college kids don't have, so it can be hard. It's only with the support of our school that we've done so well. And we have a local field about five minutes away from campus and we go down there every weekend and practiced our *** off."

The Huskies' commitment to the game and the support from the school paid off. UConn blasted Grand Valley State and Maryland by a combined score of 21-7 in the preliminary rounds.

"We watched Illinois play in their semifinal game and we were blown away at how good they were for a college team," Heinmiller said. "I was really impressed with their play. We wanted to win, but we knew it was going to be really hard to beat them."

"I have never seen a more exciting paintball match," said NCPA President Chris Raehl. "One team would get a good lead, and then the other team would come back. The determination these teams had to get the win was obviously reflected in their play on the field."

If you miss the Huskies and the Illini face off on July 6th, there will be plenty of chances to catch additional broadcasts of the match on CSTV over the summer, including:

Friday, July 7: 4 PM EST
Saturday, July 8: 11 PM EST
Sunday, July 9: 2 PM EST
Monday, July 10: 1 PM EST
Thursday July 13: 10:30 PM EST
Sunday, July 16: 12 PM EST

The National Collegiate Paintball Association is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization created by college players to promote paintball at the interscholastic level. The NCPA and its member clubs organize recruitment drives, informational meetings, recreational club outings, scenario and
big games, charity events, intrascholastic events for other university organizations, and of course the national intercollegiate tournament league. NCPA members play a vital role in presenting paintball to the public in a positive manner through various volunteer and legislative efforts. For more information about the NCPA, visit www.ncpapaintball.com.