The Smoking Balls are a young and ambitious paintball team from the Berlin area in Germany. Everything started in 2005 on a regional BigGame. They met there as a group of people just to have some fun together. From this point the group met more often to play BigGames.

Caused by the constant visits on BigGames the concept was born to form a team instead of just a group of people which are playing together. From then on the ambition was there not just to take part in a BigGame, but to achieve something. Through the games the Smoking Balls learned to play tactically and coordinated, and as result they learned to stand their ground on the field. Through all these positive results and experiences the team spirit began to grow steadily.

After 4 years of Big Game and Woodland experience some players wanted more. They wanted to discover the challenging side of paintball and wanted to take part in tournaments. There they had more chances to live out their ambition and to improve their gameplay. Consequentially the team Smoking Balls was formed during the EuroBigGame in May 2009.

Even though being an experienced team in woodland paintball, SupAir is a completely different style of playing and so they had to start from scratch again. Finally, in 2010 they started playing the 3-man east division of the
DPL (german paintball league).

As expected, they got mowed really bad on the first day. With hanging heads and without a victory they drove home. They didn't expect to lose the initiative that fast. Also, the last time most of them trained regularly was back in school. As a result their shape was not the best. But the boys learned from their mistakes and as result of hard practice and commitment to the team they earned a 3rd and 4th place on the last 2 playing days in the league as Thomas, team captain of the Smoking Balls, proudly tells. Since then he made several changes in the team structure which affected the team in a positive way.

Nowadays the tournament players meet each weekend to practice up to 7 hours. A lot of the players are out of breath after a session, but they enjoy the ambition and the difference to the old days. The team did also a step forward in their techniques and decided to move one class up in the league. In the 2011 season the Smoking Balls are playing eastern division of the 5-man league. Also they have a new blood team that holds the flag high in the 3-man league. And their thoughts are going further. of course there are plans to go up another class someday and to play the X-Ball at the so called "regional league".

But Thomas makes clear that these thoughts have time. “At first we have to learn to play as a 5-man team under competitive conditions. The difference playing with 5 instead of 3 players is big. If we are good enough to play the regional league in the future, ok. But we want to stay together as a team and don't want to buy in players to make that step."

As the past shows, because of the great team spirit there is no need to have thoughts about new blood in the team. "Everybody of us tells his friends about the team and so one thing comes to another and a team mate brings a friend that wants to try paintball. That shows up in the team age average as well. In the old days we all were around the age of 30, but today the age average is around the age of 18 – 20 years." Thomas describes the situation.

One half of the Smoking Balls still only plays woodland paintball, and the other half decided to play tournament paintball or both. The core of the team is still the old crew. On each EuroBigGame the whole crew comes together to play and also party side by side.

Thomas puts it to the point: “ Of course we want to move forward in the tournament direction, but our root is BigGame paintball. We have take that and our team spirit up our cause. So we meet between practice sessions, tournaments and league days again at the EuroBigGame. The whole team comes together without stress or the pressure of tournament sport. Because of this, the EuroBiGame is still one of our Highlights in the paintball schedule”.

What the Smoking Balls are capable of on the field showed on one of the last years EuroBigGames. With a mobile fog machine on the field they covered the field in dense fog several times. “This thing has 3.5 kW and was absolutely overpowered for closed rooms. In first matter I was angry about it, but now I have a smile on my face when other players on the field are throwing their tiny smoke grenades”, and a smile runs over Thomas’ face. We are pleased to meet up the Smoking Balls on the next EuroBigGame and we can be sure that the joke with the fog machine wasn’t their last one.