Beach Paintball, a Cal State Long Beach intramural sports team, took the cup at the 2012 National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA) College Paintball National Championships in Florida on Sunday afternoon.
The intramural team defeated more than 100 other schools in the championships, becoming the only team on the West Coast to ever win the tournament, according to Erik Muto, president of Beach Paintball.
The team beat Ohio State University, University of Connecticut and West Point Army during the A division’s first game of preliminaries on Friday.
The competition continued for the next two days, with the top 12 schools moving on to play against each other on Saturday.
The semi-finals and finals were then held on Sunday.
Muto said not all of the tournament’s expenses were covered so the team held its first local beginner tournament as a means of paying for things, such as the cost of airfare, gas and food.
Beach Cup, the beginner tournament, was held at Action Star Games, where the team practices.
Professional paintball player Jon Millman, who coached the team at the NCPA national championship game, started the team about five years ago.
Since then, the team has been a leader in the paintball community.
The first year the paintball team was established, they won the AA division at the 2008 NCPA Nationals. For the last two years, they have placed second in the A division.
Beach Paintball is composed of two elements: the tournament team and the recreational club. This is aimed at promoting the growth of the sport, Muto said.
The recreational club has no fees and introduces the sport by hosting games once a month.
The tournament team plays in local regional tournaments and finishes the year by competing in nationals. It also requires a $25 yearly fee from each member.
Everyone is encouraged to play. The team has players ranging from those who have never picked up a paintball gun to professional paintball players like Corey Bornstein and Chris Tarhen.
The club meets once a week in the University Student Union.