ProPaintball.com Player of the Week: Drew Templeton

Roster changes and tryouts have been the talk of the scene for the last couple months as players attempt to find new homes for the 2010 season. Team VICIOUS, brand new to the PRO ranks in the PSP, has been developed with a core group of players who fought their way up through the ranks to the top of the charts.

Recently seen rostering such players like G-no Benedicto formerly of Infamous, most recent pick up is Drew Templeton. We were able to catch up with Drew to put him in the spotlight for this weeks PRO paintball player of the week.

Name: Drew Templeton

Age: 24

Hometown: Chicago/St. Louis

Any hobbies other than paintball: basketball, graphic design, working out, video games

Current Team: Vicious (PSP), Avalanche (USPL)

Home Field: In St. Louis it’s Xtreme, Chicago it’s Badlandz & CLP, and in Omaha it’s MPG and Mad Cow

Position you play: Whatever is needed

Favorite PRO Team: Growing up it was Avalanche

Favorite PRO Players: Rocky Cagnoni, Paul McCord, Angel Fragoza, Chris Lasoya

Favorite tournament accomplishment? Tie between winning World Cup ’07 with Avalanche and winning Toulouse World Cup ’07 with Philly

Advice to any new players? Keep playing and be humble.  Watch pro games and see what they do that you could put into your own game and make it even better

Who would you say was your biggest mentor? Paul McCord.  He was one of the top players in Ohio when I first started playing and he was always helping out my buddies and I.

How is paintball different in St. Louis, Chicago and Omaha? St. Louis paintball reminds me of paintball when I first started playing in 1999.  Everyone for the most part is very friendly and out there to have fun.  In Chicago it’s a little more competitive and it seems to be more of a dog eat dog environment, obviously there is exceptions to that though.  In Omaha it’s about the same feeling as in St. Louis but there is a lot more focus on playing a TON of paintball.

Briefly tell us about your new team, Vicious: I just joined the team this off season.  I’ve known all of these kids since they first started playing and I have been to plenty of their practices.  They have come up from D3 and done it all on their own.  I am excited to come aboard and do my part to  help make them a dominant pro team.

Goals this season?: Continue to improve individually and fulfill my role on the team that will give us the best chances to win.  Overall I’d say winning sums up the goals for this season pretty well.

What should people expect to see from Drew Templeton in 2010: I guess people will have to wait and see whatever results I produce.  I prepare and practice as hard as I possibly can so that when the tournament comes there is no second guessing whether or not I deserve to go out there and play to my full potential. Half-assing anything has never been my style with things I am passionate about and I’ve never been as passionate with anything as I am with paintball.

Thanks Drew for taking the time to give the readers a little in site about your paintball career as a PRO player and good luck to you and your team in the 2010 season!

This article was authored by Kyle Johnson – who has written 40 paintball news and gear articles.

Kyle was born into some unusual circumstances. His father, Arnold, a goat farmer, fled the Allied invasion of Germany and married a Finnish woman with whom he had 17 children. Kyle was the only one who survived childbirth. Kyle was born a twin, but he “resorbed” his twin while still in his mother’s womb. He believes that he now has the strength of a full grown man and a tiny baby. He claims to have been born weighing 13 lb 5 oz, rendering his mother incapable of walking for three months and two days. Kyle was shunned by his family between the ages of four and six for forgetting to save the excess oil from a can of tuna. He lost a grade school spelling bee by misspelling the word “failure” in front of the entire school, and subsequently lost the spelling bee to Raj Patel. Kyle is trained in the art of surveillance and is a former Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff’s deputy. He is also a purple belt in Goju-Ryu karate. He enjoys Battlestar Galactica, the Harry Potter franchise, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Lost and 24. His favorite movie is The Crow. Kyle lives on his family’s 60-acre beet farm, in a nine bedroom farmhouse with one bathroom, with his cousin Mose, where they grow table beets. On the weekends, Mose and Kyle spend their time selling beets to local stores and restaurants from their road side beet stands. As well as run a decently successful “themed” agritourism bed & breakfast. Kyle also likes paintballing and has an impressive array of weaponry, including laser tag equipment. He enjoys playing ping-pong and many of his heroes are olympic table tennis players. He is also known to be very good at the sport. His musical tastes vary, but classic rock is his favorite, especially when sung accapella. His personal musical talents are not lacking, as he plays guitar and recorder, and sings, which is quite impressive as Kyle has lost 12% of the hearing in his left ear because of a ninja attack. Kyle’s life goal is to become the pilot for Air Force One and an ambassador to Hawaii.