The Carolina Field Owners Association will be well represented at the 2004 PSP World Cup, held in Orlando, FL at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports. The week-long event runs from October 23rd through the 30th. The event will have a distinct CFOA flavor as about 50 of the leagues participating teams will be represented in competition in Orlando. Hopefully this year's World Cup will prove as exciting as the 2003 Cup. 2003 saw many local teams still playing on Sunday. Hopefully, the incredibly tough competition that the CFOA has seen this season has helped to prepare everyone for the best competition the world has to offer.

This year's Cup has many different tales to tell. First among those is the NXL / ESPN deal. After snubbing paintball for years, ESPN is finally going to give tournament paintball a second shot. Reports on the deal say that ESPN will be there with a full crew, including over 30 cameras for the taping of the NXL / EXL Nations Cup. Among those competing will be the local boys from Greensboro, aka: Baltimore TRAUMA. Also competing will be Eric Dearman with the Philadelphia Americans. Hope everyone will find the Nation's Cup schedule and show their support when Trauma or Eric takes the field.

Another tale of CFOA interest would be the showdown brewing between Team Ultimate and Xtreme Sports Factory in Div. 1 XBall. These 2 teams have been dueling back and forth through the first 4 PSP events for divisional dominance. Going in, XSF is in front, but it's up in the air from there. That's one confrontation I'm looking forward to. Kinda get a sense of deja vu. This showdown reminds me of the XSF/Mayhem match from last year's Cup. Anyone who was there knows what I mean. And while we're into Div. 1, let's not overlook Precision. Those guys gave Team Ultimate quite a fight in PA before finishing 5th in only their 2nd event playing the xball format. It only reasons that Precision has been working hard to improve upon their finish at Nemacolin.

Div. 2 will feature more of the region's finest. Demented Kidz, fresh off their CFOA Amateur Division Championship, will hopefully be making some noise in D2. The competition in D2 is always fierce and among that competition will be Fat City and Team Xtreme. An interesting element here would be if somehow Demented Kidz and Fat City got to square off. With Marcus Palmer, formerly of the Demented Kidz, now playing for Fat City, things there would be very interesting.

Div. 3 will be the inaugural test for TMV Factory. Aka: Thrash, Machine, & Virus. These 3 teams definitely have the talent and personnel to shake things up in D3. Hopefully their strengths as teams and players overcome their inexperience in the xball format.

10-man will make it's final appearrance at World Cup. The nostalgia of playing in the last 10-man event has seemingly drawn many teams out of the woodworks. The oddest tale from this years cup is the noted absence of the last and only 10-man team from the Carolinas, Mantis Factory. Mantis Factory will be playing 7-man at the Nppl finale in San Diego. Joining the last gasp for 10-man action will be Bobby's CCX in the Novice Div. In the Rookie Div. it will be Panic DGS, Overkill Factory, Unknown Rage, & Most Wanted.

5-man will see Team PC in the ProAm Div. The 5-man Novice Division will have Animosity, Authority, Bad Boyz, Big Ballz, Bobby's CCX, CIA, Clean Up Crew, Fracture, Mutiny, New Gen, & TopChoicePaintball.com. Would love to see TopChoice and New Gen continue their battle all the way down in Florida. 5-man Rookie Division will have Atlanta Storm, CCX, CPS Factory, Destroyer Kidz, Freedom Factory, Hailstorm, Illusion, KMA, Lockdown, Peanuts, Rush, Rush Factory, Team Impalers, Team Splat Zone, & Toxic Kidz+.

Hope I didn't leave anyone out. Looking at these World Cup teams and their rosters I believe 16 of the top 20 CFOA Amateur teams are represented, as well as 24 of the top 45 CFOA Novice teams, and at least 7 of the top 15 CFOA Rookie teams will be represented in Orlando. Man that's incredible. Just hope that the scheduling works out so that these teams go all the way to Florida to play some new opponents. I hope everyone has fun, kicks ass, and travels safely. I will see you down there.