WDP (company)

Last updated

WDP PAINTBALL LTD owns and operates NPF Bassetts Pole Adventure Park, a paintball site / adventure park in Birmingham. [1] , England . The company WDP is also known for manufacturing the Angel line of electropneumatic paintball markers.

Contents

History

WDP began operating in 1987 [1] [2] with the opening of National Paintball Fields paintball site. Once the field became successful, the company opened a shop and began running paintball tournaments in order to stimulate local demand for paintball equipment. [1] Not content with woodland tournament play, WDP pioneered the "arena" paintball concept, introducing what would be called "Hyperball" - a speedball arena field constructed from corrugated plastic pipe and designed for a much faster game format. [1]

The first product introduced by the company was the Mamba Remote Coil hose [2] - a coiled high pressure air line for connecting high pressure air and CO2 gas systems to paintball markers remotely.

Development of the Angel paintball marker began when engineer John Rice began working with the company in 1994. [2] The marker would remain in development for a further three years before being publicly released. [2] The Angel introduced electronically controlled paintball markers to the industry and ushered in a new and unprecedented level of marker firing speed in paintball.

In 2007 WDP began using the trading name Angel Paintball Sports (APS) [3] and internally restructured. During this restructuring, long-time sales manager Owen Ronayne departed from the company. Technician Frazer Colley has been promoted from within the company to become Technical and Team Sponsorship Manager and will be working more closely with US Master Tech Robert "PI" Moon to provide technical support and service. Matt Green, previously WDP's head of sales, is the new managing director and chief executive officer at Angel headquarters. Bart Walkerdine joins Matt as president and chief operating officer.

As of November 2011 Angel Paintball Sports has ceased operation.

As of January 2014 National Paintball Fields rebranded under the name of NPF Bassetts Pole Adventure Park. NPF Bassetts Pole Adventure Park is now a multi activity venue providing paintball, airsoft, quad trekking, a shooting range, axe throwing, inflatable assault courses and gladiator type dueling games, laser combat, bushcraft courses, and event management for corporate events.

Related Research Articles

Birmingham, Alabama Most populous city in Alabama, United States

Birmingham is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. With an estimated 2018 population of 209,880, it is the most populous city in Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous and fifth largest county. As of 2018, the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 1,151,801, making it the most populous in Alabama and 49th-most populous in the United States. Birmingham serves as an important regional hub and is associated with the Deep South, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions of the nation.

Paintball sport

Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules ("paintballs") that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using a low-energy air weapon called a paintball marker that is powered by compressed air (nitrogen) or carbon dioxide and was originally designed for remotely marking trees and cattle.

Tippmann is an American manufacturer of paintball markers and paintball equipment, including military simulation (MilSim) kits. A related company, Tippmann Industrial Products manufactures manual and pneumatic heavy-duty sewing machines primarily used for leather, other leather-related equipment, and some industrial products. Originally a family owned business run from Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2004 Dennis Tippmann Sr. sold a majority ownership stake to Summit Partners, a private equity firm. Tippmann designed the first automatic marker, the use of refillable air systems in place of 12 gram cartridges, the "Cyclone Feed" system, the "Flatline" barrel, and the Tippmann C-3, the first propane-powered marker.

Naming rights Financial transaction and form of advertising whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility or event, typically for a defined period of time

Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility or event, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three to 20 years. Longer terms are more common for higher profile venues such as a professional sports facility.

Hy-Vee Arena Arena in Missouri, United States

The Hy-Vee Arena, previously known as Kemper Arena, is an indoor arena located in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to conversion to a youth sports facility, Kemper Arena was previously a 19,500-seat professional sports arena. It has hosted NCAA Final Four basketball games, professional basketball and hockey teams, professional wrestling events, the 1976 Republican National Convention, concerts, and is the ongoing host of the American Royal livestock show.

Laser tag tag game played with lasers

Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use light guns that illuminate infrared beams to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated within the arena in which the game is played.

Scenario paintball

Scenario paintball is a type of paintball game in which players participate in a scenario, or story; and may include historical re-enactments, futuristic or video game simulations. Games tend to last in the range of hours or days, and may include a large group of players. The largest paintball scenario games are the Skirmish Invasion of Normandy (ION) scenario & Oklahoma D-DAY, both of which attract upwards of 4,000 players annually.

Angel (paintball gun) electropneumatic paintball marker

The Angel is one of the first electropneumatic paintball markers. It was manufactured by Angel Paintball Sports starting in 1997 and was introduced alongside Smart Parts' original Shocker.

Smart Parts was a paintball manufacturing company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which filed for liquidation on July 28, 2010. As of August 22, 2010 Smart Parts Assets and IP was Acquired by Kee Action Sports.

Paintball marker main piece of equipment in the sport of paintball

A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, paint gun, or simply marker, is a air gun used in the shooting sport of paintball, and the main piece of paintball equipment. Paintball markers use compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) or compressed air (HPA), to propel dye-filled gel capsules called paintballs through the barrel and quickly strike a target. The term "marker" is derived from its original use as a tool for forestry personnel to mark trees and ranchers to mark wandering cattle.

Paintball is an equipment-intensive sport and in order to safely conduct a game, every player requires a marker with propellant to fire the paint, a mask to protect the eyes and face, paintballs, and a loader to hold them. To ensure safety off the playing field, a barrel sock or plug for the marker is also compulsory.

Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC was an American chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.

National Pro Fastpitch American professional womens softball league

National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), is a professional women's softball league in the United States. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.

Paintball is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. Generally paintball is divided into either its original incarnation woodsball, or the small arena-based and tournament de facto speedball. Amongst these paintball game types, variations of basic rules can be played.

Speedball (paintball)

Speedball is one of the three distinct game variants in the sport of paintball, woodsball and scenario paintball.

Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Philadelphia Fusion of the Overwatch League, and formerly owned the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. The company owns and manages the Wells Fargo Center and formerly managed the Spectrum in South Philadelphia, plus several community skating rinks in the Philadelphia region known as Flyers Skate Zone. The Comcast SportsNet (CSN) regional sports networks were also owned by Comcast Spectacor prior to parent company Comcast's acquisition of a majority stake in NBCUniversal in January 2011; CSN is now operated through NBC Sports.

Airgun Designs, Inc. (AGD) is a manufacturer of paintball markers and equipment formerly based in Wheeling, IL. The company is now based in Cary, IL. They are best known for manufacturing the Automag paintball marker. Tom Kaye founded AGD in 1987. As one of the oldest paintball companies in existence, AGD has been responsible for several innovations now common on the paintball scene.

The Intimidator is an electropneumatic paintball marker that was manufactured by former professional paintball player Bob Long and his company, Bob Long Technologies.

Oklahoma D-Day is the world's largest scenario game of paintball that recreates events of World War II, held at Oklahoma's D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, Oklahoma every June. The game was created by Dewayne Convirs, and was first held in 1997 - with attendance of 135 players. The following year was more popular, with 335 players participating.

Skirmish Paintball

Skirmish Paintball is a paintball arena company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. Paintball venues operated under the Skirmish trademark are privately owned.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 WARPIG - World And Regional Paintball Information Guide Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Owen Ronayne - WDP". Pbstar.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2007. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  3. "Angel Paintball Sports - FAQs". Angel Paintball Sports. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

National Paintball Fields

NPF Bassetts Pole Paintball Adventure Park

NPF Corporate Events Birmingham