Improvements

[Mike]

When gravel was added to the road leading to the field, I thought, "good job, that really helps"
When the netting was added, I thought, "awesome!!"


I'd like to see ongoing improvements like this that we can all benefit from. It can be simple things, or large goals we can work for.
More air bunkers?
An airball only field?
an air compressor?
new tables?


My idea is to come up with a few ideas that we can throw into a vote here on the forum. The winning topic becomes our goal, we work towards it until the goal is met, and then go back to voting for something else.
All these improvements will most likely cost money , so my current idea is to have a jar at the shack labeled "Improvement Fund" where people can donate. If it shows signs of never getting enough to realize the goal, we can recycle what there may be in the jar towards something like a free rental day for the first X people, whatever, and scrap the project.

Input?

[Xaber]

All great ideas Mike. I don't know that we'll put out a jar to solicit funds from our members, but if someone feels led to make a donation to go towards a specific improvement, we are always open to receiving those.

I would love to see us get more inflatable bunkers or a larger airball field, but I don't know that we have enough interest within our membership to justify running an airball only field. As more people start participating in the forums, that would be a great poll to see where interest lies.

As for newer tables, I'm interested in finding out what people would prefer. Do you guys like the round tables with benches, or would you prefer standard picnic tables like the ones that are in various stages of destruction currently? A third option would simply be to bring more spools in and use those with no seating.

While only a few of us run Crossfire, the group is here for everyone and I want to make sure that everyone knows that suggestions are welcomed and accepted. Thanks for your suggestions Mike!

[Mike]

More air bunkers?
An airball only field?
an air compressor?
new tables

^^^^ These were just to get the ball rolling to show example of what we could be capable of.

My over-reaching goal is to get everyone involved. We aren't the typical field with a clear break between staff and players - it's more organic than that. We have all have a voice in Crossfire's future. I never want to lose sight of what we are right now - a ministry, a community, a gathering, a safe place - but as this organic entity, we can improve where needed.


Since you ran with some of the ideas, let me answer:

I don't know that we have enough interest within our membership to justify running an airball only field.

To me, airball is the portion of the sport that is most intimidating and... well, not as family oriented! I haven't left one airball field where language or pride weren't overshadowing the play.
I think we have the unique community who can provide that portion of the sport in a manner catering to the amateur portion of our players; and moreover, provide it in a format that has positive sportsmanship.
Agreed, I don't know if there's the interest, but I'm leaving the possibility open.

newer tables

The round ones we have are very small
The traditional-style are much better, gives people a square of room to work on. However, these can be spendy. I strongly suggest we try to weatherize the new set
Spools: Probably the cheapest option? They hold up to weather like a champ, and the surfaces are usually nice and large. Are they too tall for younger players? What about seating during lunch?


If you want to take these further, let's bust it out to new posts.

As more people start participating in the forums

I think you nailed it on the head there. My vote for first project is we get a new banner to hang on the shack that has the forum address printed on it!


EDIT: the jar is just one way we could do things. My feeling is that people are apt to donate if they know what the donation is going to do, and there is no pressure/expectation to participate - you need to give a how & a why. I might be a singularity, but I crave opportunity - someone just has to ask!

[jhibby]

I thought the field set up was very unique. I would like to see the snake run brought up from the middle of the field to the top of the air-ball field, and i think it would be good to rotate some of the spools on the lower field towards the air-ball field to provide lateral coverage from the air-ball field. That way the air-ball guys can utilize the snake run and not be surrounded 360% and it opens up the field so there isn't just one on one snap shooting on the air-ball field. And with the spools rotated it would make the top portion of the field more even with the lower, and make some of the air-ball guys more nervous of whats going on in the lower field. As the field was setup I think is was really hard to get eliminations on the air-ball side and once you owned that part of the field it was almost unfair for the people playing the lower field due to lack of lateral coverage. Maybe moving the snake run up top might attract more air-ball players to the events. And it just would be a lot of fun because it would be like two games in one, fight for the top of the field, and then have to fight your way down field. Overall this is an amazing place to play and I'm plugging it wherever i can. Thank you for what you do.

[Mike]

That is a good point about the airball field, one I keep forgetting to bring up. once you get to airball you have height advantage (you are on a slight rise) and cover advantage.

If we move snake, I'd suggest moving it far enough up that it provides usefulness as an airballer, but is too far from woods to use as a sniper spot.
Giving some of that lateral coverage to woods needs to be partial rather than complete coverage. I don't want to separate the two fields more than they are - I'd rather unify them, do something where I could bounce between the two fields. Currently you have to dedicate yourself to one or the other.

One of the things that I would like to change is the spools on the east side (the side nearest the shack. I think that's east at least): In the middle is the big spool. Just rear of that is another large-ish spool. They both provide tremendous cover and I'm too inclined to lazily bump from one to the other knowing I'm safe to stroll up +75% of the time. The first spool needs to go somewhere else. Possibly west side in the middle, slightly offset? It seems that all the capture-the-flag events are won by east side because it's real easy to bump forward, where west can't move up as fast.

[jhibby]

True I definitely noticed that wile playing capture the flag also.

[Xaber]

Great points guys! I'm open to the idea of adding the snake. Our struggle so far has been trying to keep teams from simply wrapping the airball field and side shooting everyone in the woods. The concept of a snake seemed to provide too much cover for anyone wanting to do this, but at the same time it would also slow players down and make it more difficult to bump through to the opposite side. If we do a snake, we would need to have a standard setup with cans in line with the snake at opposing corners and bunkers that offer some significant protection midfield at 30 and 50. I think I'd also like to see some spacing between the snake sections (similar to the snake on the woodsball side) so players can't just crawl all the way downfield without exposing themselves. We may have to play around with it a bit to get it right, but I saw we try it out in January.

Providing latteral cover to the woodsball field has been the most difficult thing for us to implement. By rotating those center spools, it would provide additional cover from the airball field, but it opens you up real quick to anyone coming castle side. We may be able to use inflatables to block lanes and limit angles from the airball field, but it also blocks the visibility of the players in the spools.

Like I said before, we may have to play around with it a bit. I'm open to trying anything as long as it works to the benefit of the majority. We have new and experienced players who attend our events, and the last thing I want to do is provide a spot on the field where an experienced player can exploit the advantage and mow faces. Simply due to the lay of the land, the east side has a slight advantage with distance (about 20 ft) and space (the field is much narrower on that side). The advantage on the west side is they have more bunkers to choose from, but it does take them longer to get to them. I really appreciate your suggestions, and I'm excited to see how they work out.

We're usually at the field by 9:00am on game days. If you'd like to help out with setup, be sure you get there early and talk with Dave, Nick, Brady, and/or Brent about your ideas. I'll back you up and we'll see how it goes.