Post-season Interview #5 - Medonte Ntwo Factor

This interviewee started playing paintball in 2004 at the old Wasaga Beach Paintball Adventure (WBPA). Soon after that, he witnessed the famous (but now non-existent) tournament called “Beach Blitz” where he became hooked on speedball. Alex Lyness started playing at the young guns level but quickly moved up the ranks, playing open tournaments, then rookie, and finally winning MXL in his first season playing Xball. Having played mainly the snake side of the field, Lyness recently made some changes and he currently plays on the dorito side for Medonte Ntwo Factor at the CXBL level.  

Alex started playing speedball locally on a team known as Tek’N in 2005. The team won their first young guns tournament at WBPA where they beat out 31 other teams! They continued playing many different young guns and rookie tournaments placing in almost all of them.  In 2006-2007, Lyness had the opportunity to play with the Toronto Mavericks organization at PSP World Cup in division 3. He also played with TKO in the PETS rookie division where he met Tom Guest and Shayne Salmon, now Ntwo Factor teammates.  TKO placed 3^rd overall. In 2008, Tek’N and TKO merged forming the MXL team Nottawasaga Beach Boyz. Though it was their first year ever playing xball, Nottawasaga finished the season 7-0-0, becoming the first MXL team to win a season undefeated. Lyness remembers a great game against Kitchener Recon in the fight for the MXL title that season.

Having won the MXL title in 2008, Nottawasaga joined forces with Wasaga Beach Boyz for the 2009 season to play in the CXBL under that name. Alex and his Wasaga teammates played well, finishing the season in 4^th place, missing out on NAX by only one point. That same year, Lyness played with Syracuse Chaos in the final season of the AXBL before it shut down. Chaos tied for first in their conference losing only in plus/minus and made NAX where they placed 5^th despite lack of practice. Alex went on to play for various CXBL teams in 2010 and 2011 and was pleased to be chosen to play in the 2011 CXBL All-Star game for the central conference. He fondly recalls a decent win over the Eastern All-Star team. While Lyness thoroughly enjoyed playing in the All-star game and having the opportunity to play with Oliver Lang, he found that he was looking for something  more in Paintball. He was given the opportunity that he was looking for when he joined Ntwo Factor, his current team. 

 

Alex and his Ntwo teammates came into this season as a thoroughly under-rated team. One of his highlights of his paintball journey thus far has been surpassing everyone’s expectations with his Ntwo counterparts, finishing 4^th overall in the regular season. I am sure we will all be watching this team closely at NAX to see whether they continue to impress!

                                                Photo Credit: Helen Grose

• What is your general impression of the 2012 Elite standings? Were there any major surprises or did the season finish as expected?

“There are not really any surprises. The last event, it was nice to see so many.... Upsets? As people call it, teams that people are not expecting to win, actually winning their matches. That's one of the reasons I love paintball. 5 guys, 5 guns! Enough said!”

• Many did not expect to see Ntwo as NAX contenders in their first year in the CXBL Elite. Not only will you be competing for the championship, but you also finished the season fourth overall. What are your team’s keys for success? What will you do to maintain your momentum for NAX?

“We are not content with what we just achieved in the regular season, it's playoff paintball time and we will be doing whatever we can, to come out with the best possible result!”

• What do you feel was your team’s greatest strength this season?

“Our greatest strength was our ability to overcome adversity, and beat the ‘unbeatable’ teams.  Also being completely open with each other - the meetings after practice and matches we have are very in-depth. We are open with each other, but we know whatever is said, it is to help us succeed, not set us up for failure.”

• 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?

“The commitment from our players is amazing! Working as hard as we can to try and prepare the best we can, and seeing results, is amazing. I have never really had that before. I can thank Ron and Wayne (coach and owner) for this, without them, Ntwo would not be what it is.”

• Medonte had a surprising victory over Tremblant Cowboys at Border Battle this season. What did you take from this match to help elevate your game for the remainder of the season?

“Everyone went into the match calm and collected, you can't worry about who is on the other side of the field. We knew it would be a tough match.  Maybe they underestimated us, perhaps they knew we would put up a great match, but at the end of the day, that win is all that matters, and that is what we achieved against the team with 2010 and 2011 NAX cup winners on it. We know whatever they thought, will be different come NAX, and if we meet up with them, it will be another great match I'm sure.”

• Your team faced the skilled Windsor Lockdown at Elite Event 3. From a spectator’s perspective and I am sure from a player’s position, this match was made up of very slow, methodical points. Was this your plan going into the match and was it difficult to execute?

“Our coach Ron gave us plans and we followed them and the end result was an 8-3 game. I know many people thought it was a boring match but oh well, we won the match and used a plan that beat a talented Rage team, and that's all that matters! We're off to the CXBL Finals and our game plan allowed us to do that, say what you will about how we played, it proved to work out in our favour.”

• What was your highlight of the season?

“Being able to play with guys I’ve known for years and oh...of course making NAX, this is the highlight of my season...So far.  ;)”

• Which individual on your own team do you most respect as a player and why?

“Respect... Every teammate I respect and care for equally. If I had to pick, it would be Wes Elliot. Not to sound conceded, but I feel everyone knew Tom Guest, Nick Gascon and Myself coming into the season. The progress I have seen Wes (and everyone else on Ntwo) make all of these years, because of the Ntwo team, has been incredible. From playing RXL the year my team won MXL, to being the player in 1st overall for NAX points this season, Wes puts his heart into paintball, like all of us to be the best players we can be.”

• If you had to choose a team other than your own as most likely to win NAX, who would you choose and why?

“None... Every team is just 5 guys with 5 guns!”

•  Is there anything else you would like to add?

“I would like to thank Ntwo Cryogenics (Wayne Chuck) for the support all of these seasons. Any freezing you may need, check out www.n-two.com, also Ron Guy for giving up his time to help coach us and trying to make us better every practice. Also congrats to Brandon Arnold and Mike Lowery from our team for winning the PSP MAO event recently. Many guys on the team have known them for many years and it's great to see them succeed on the national stage.”


Alex – Thanks for the interview! I wish you and your Ntwo teammates all the best at NAX! Keep surprising people! 

 Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski

Signing off,

The Paintball Wife