Ac Dallas
Ac Dallas, commonly styled ac: DALLAS, was an American tournament paintball team based in Dallas, Texas. Associated with coach Greg Pauley, the team competed in professional X-ball from 2015 to 2021 and reached four National Xball League (NXL) event finals between 2017 and 2019. Following relegation in 2021, its rebuilt squad continued in semi-professional competition under the PBFit name.[1][2][3]
History
[edit]Divisional competition
[edit]Ac Dallas competed in Division 3 of Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP) in 2013, winning the Chicago Open. It moved into Division 1 in 2014 and won both the Dallas Open and West Coast Open.[1]
Professional competition
[edit]The team entered professional competition in 2015, appearing at the final PSP Dallas Open before competing in the newly established NXL. It finished fourth at both the Virginia Beach Open and World Cup that year.[1]
Ac Dallas subsequently reached NXL finals at the 2017 Chicago Open, 2018 Atlantic City Open, and the Texas and Chicago Opens in 2019.[1]
Its registered playing roster at the 2017 Chicago Open comprised TJ Danner, Ryan Hall, John Jackson, Matt Jackson, Brad McCurley and Jesse Stephens. Pauley and Jel Stewart were among the registered staff. The team defeated San Antonio X-Factor and Tampa Bay Damage in the elimination rounds before losing 4–3 to Edmonton Impact in the final.[4]
2021 rebuild and relegation
[edit]Ac Dallas fielded a substantially different squad in 2021. NXL coverage described the roster as having been assembled from the Division 2 PaintballFIT team under Pauley.[2]
The team was relegated at the conclusion of the season, with the New Orleans Hurricanes earning promotion through the semi-professional series title.[3]
In December 2021, Iconic Paintball reported that the squad would compete as PBFit in the 2022 semi-professional division. An update attributed to Trenton Mason clarified that the name change had been discussed with Pauley and that the team would continue working with the ac programme and ac Diesel.[3]
Training programme
[edit]Ac Dallas trained within the wider ac programme alongside ac Diesel and PaintballFIT. In a 2019 interview, Johnny Luckau described shared tournament preparation involving PaintballFIT, ac Dallas, ac Diesel and TOG, crediting Pauley and PaintballFIT coach Casey Harris with supporting productive practices.[5]
Ac Dallas and ac Diesel competed as separate professional teams in 2020 and 2021, following Diesel's promotion after the 2019 season.[1][2]
Selected results
[edit]| Year | Event | Division | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | PSP Chicago Open | Division 3 | First |
| 2014 | PSP Dallas Open | Division 1 | First |
| 2014 | PSP West Coast Open | Division 1 | First |
| 2017 | NXL Chicago Open | Professional | Second |
| 2018 | NXL Atlantic City Open | Professional | Second |
| 2019 | NXL Texas Open | Professional | Second |
| 2019 | NXL Chicago Open | Professional | Second |
Source: PBLeagues team event history.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ac DALLAS: team profile and event history. PBLeagues.
- Anywhere BUT here. Relegation looming.. National Xball League, 21 October 2021, updated 27 October 2021.
- 2021 Pro Paintball Offseason Rumor Mill Archive. Iconic Paintball, entries dated 16 and 30 December 2021, with subsequent update.
- ac DALLAS at Chicago Open 2017. PBLeagues.
- Imperial Program E-Letter Vol1!. G.I. Sportz, 14 July 2019.