This interviewee was first connected to paintball when he played for a
friend’s birthday party at 13 years of age. Now 23, Brett Robinson has 10 years
of paintball under his belt. Joined by his brother Chase and several friends,
the Robinsons started their competitive journey by starting a local young guns
team known as Binbrook Revolution. The team played their first Soldier of
Fortune young guns series and according to Brett, had “minimal success”. They soon
came back stronger with a new team name – Anarchy and finished as the overall
series champs in the same league.
After their Soldier of Fortune success, they went on to play Tournament
of Champions (TOC) in the young guns division subsequently moving up to a
successful season in the 5 man rookie division. Robinson and his teammates
planned to play 7 man Novice TOC tournaments the following year but at that
time the novice division ended up being united with the pro division meaning
that their team (having never played 7 man style) had to play the likes of
Synergy and Chop Shop. As a result, they finished the season 1-7 in last place
but Robinson admits that it was an excellent learning experience.
At the end of the 2006 CXBL
season, Brett was presented with the opportunity to play in the first season of
the MXL division. He began his CXBL career playing for Waterloo Wildcards in
the 2007 season at the MXL level and as Robinson says, “I was bitten by the
Xball bug.” He continued playing for Waterloo for the next 4 years through many
roster changes, ownership changes, and location changes. Throughout those
years, Waterloo always managed to finish in the top half of the ranks but due
to the many significant changes, the team never managed an MXL season win.
Following the 2010 season, Brett, his brother Chase, and their friend Jack
Sikkema were offered spot on Scarborough Hustle - which was to be a new CXBL
team. After learning that this would allow them the opportunity to play alongside
Oliver Lang, the three were driven to accept the offer. For the next two
seasons, Robinson was a proud part of Hustle, fighting to be competitive in
their division and to maintain their CXBL spot.
In response to being asked about his paintball highlights, Brett says, “While
I have never truly been on top of the Canadian paintball community, there are a
few things that were really special to me throughout the years.” Some of his
highlights include: the overall series win at SOF young guns and taking home
the pocket bikes that they won as prizes, his first season playing the xball
format with Wildcards, his first season at the CXBL level and playing alongside
Ollie Lang, and getting his Gridfighters franchise and playing in the 2012
season. In terms of the future of his paintball career, Brett says, “things
aren’t really sorted out for 2013 at this point but I can tell you that I will
be playing lots of paintball!” Look for Robinson’s Toronto Hustle Gridfighters
pro team and Hamilton Anarchy Semi-pro team in future Gridfighters events. Also
watch out for them at PSP World Cup this year!
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
- What is your general impression of the 2012 Elite standings? Were there any major surprises or did the season finish as expected?
“While I wouldn’t call it a major surprise I am a
little shocked to see Medonte as high up the rankings as they are. I know that
Medonte’s secret to winning MXL was hard work and organization and it showed
again in 2012.”
“I must admit that I am shocked to see my own
team relegated down to the MXL division. I truly believe that we had many
opportunities to put some wins together this season and it just simply didn’t
happen for one reason or another. This certainly wasn’t the way I pictured the
season unfolding in January.”
- What do you feel was your team’s greatest strength this season?
“Hustle’s greatest strength is our bond as a
team. Almost every weekend the team spends time together off the field whether
that’s out for dinner, team BBQ’s or just some extra paintball for fun on our
day off. We truly like to be around each
other and that makes things a lot easier when you have to function together in
stressful situations.”
- What are you able to take away from the 2012 season that will allow you to develop as a player and as a team throughout the off-season?
“Coming out of 2012 I am personally much more
aware of how hard I need to work to get ahead of the competition. I know that
me, along with many of my 2012 team mates are working hard on their own physical
fitness in the off season and leading up to the PSP World Cup. The biggest
thing I will work on with any team I play on in the future is practicing with
the attitude that every practice is like its game time. Not just when you’re on
the field but in between points at practice, talk more about what went wrong,
adjust better, get yourself turned around faster so you can get more points in,
etc. Working smarter AND harder for the 2013 season will be my goal.”
- Having lost to Toronto Rockstar, Hustle is the team to be relegated for the year ahead. Do you plan on remaining together for the 2013 season in the MXL division?
“This is still yet to be 100% decided but it isn’t looking like the
same team will be competing in the MXL division. With 12+ players it’s hard to
get everyone on the same page especially with us all at different points in our
personal lives. More than likely the majority of Hustle will remain together,
whether that means playing CXBL, MXL, Gridfighters Pro or PSP/NPPL is still to
be determined.”
- What was your highlight of the season?
“There weren’t
too many on field highlights for Hustle this season, so the highlight of the
season was by far the trip to Ottawa for Border Battle. You can’t put a price
on a road trip to play paintball with some of your best friends!”
- Which individual on your own team do you most respect as a player and why?
“This is a tough call but in terms of respecting
someone only based on paintball it would have to be Keith Choi. This guy is a
monster, tending bar every weekend, sleeping for a few hours during the car
ride to the field (if someone is nice enough to pick him up so he actually gets
to sleep) every single weekend! Then he wakes, plays like a boss and never
complains! This guy LOVES paintball and works as hard as anyone to play it and
that is one of the reasons I respect Keith Choi.”
- Your team had a very difficult season, losing every match played. That being said, you and your teammates always seemed to enjoy playing and finished every match with smiles on your faces. What were you able to take away from these losses as a team? How did you maintain such positive attitudes in the midst of struggle?
“The key to maintaining our smiles and upbeat
attitudes was simple, we know that getting angry NEVER WINS GAMES. I have seen
many players removed from teams for the issues they cause in the pits and we
made sure that wasn’t an issue on our team. The other bonus we had working for
us was as I said earlier, we truly are all good friends and we are all mature
enough to keep our heads high and support our team mates. It may have not
helped us get any wins but our plus minus could have gotten worse and no
relationships were ruined during the course of our season.”
- If you had to choose a team as most likely to win NAX, who would you choose and why?
“I would have to
pick Windsor Lockdown. While I do think that Tremblant may have a slight
advantage in the dedication of their pro players I think that the core of
Lockdown is one of the strongest teams ever assembled in Ontario or even
Canada. With that being said I will be cheering for Lockdown and hoping that
their Canadians including Ryan Dowling and the Herda brothers make a good
showing.”
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
“I would like to add that I think it’s great what
you’re doing for the sport here Niki! While you might still be small time every
little bit helps for the exposure of our sport and I appreciate that.”
Brett, thanks for the interview! While you and your teammates may have
had a tough time on the field this season, you were all an inspiration of team spirit
and camaraderie off of the field. I wish you all the best in whatever the 2013 season brings!
Signing off,
The Paintball Wife
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