Rusty Glaze

Rusty Glaze is an American former professional paintball player, coach and paintball industry entrepreneur. He competed for several leading American professional teams, including Avalanche, Miami Effect, Los Angeles Infamous, Sacramento XSV and San Diego Dynasty. He later became head coach of Dynasty, leading the team through multiple professional tournament victories.[1][6][8]

Glaze is also associated with paintball coaching and education through BKi Paintball, the historical tournament results website Paintball Win Count and his paintball industry marketing business, Constant Pursuit.[1][9][10][12]

Playing career

Early career and Avalanche

Glaze began playing paintball in 1998 and entered professional competition during the early 2000s.[1]

By March 2002, he was listed on the professional roster of Avalanche in the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL). His teammates included Chris LaSoya, Travis Lemanski, Todd Martinez, Steve Rabackoff and Jon Richardson.[2]

During this period, Avalanche competed internationally in traditional 10-player tournaments and the emerging airball formats that increasingly defined professional competition.

Glaze also participated in European tournaments. In a retrospective article published in December 2014, he recalled facing the Russian Legion at the 2002 Millennium Series Campaign Cup in England.[11]

Miami Effect

In 2003, Glaze joined Miami Effect, one of the original franchises in the newly established National Xball League (NXL).

The team's published roster for the 2003 Mardi Gras Open included Glaze, Chris LaSoya, Jon Richardson, Brian Fow, Travis Lemanski and Davey Williamson, with Steve Rabackoff as coach.[3]

The original NXL introduced a professional X-Ball competition format featuring timed matches and repeated points, departing from the traditional tournament structure in which individual games were typically decided by elimination or flag capture.

Infamous and XSV

Glaze subsequently became closely associated with Los Angeles Infamous, where he spent a substantial part of his professional playing career.

BKi Paintball identifies him as one of the team's founding members and describes his participation in championship-winning teams in the United States and Europe.[9]

He also competed with Sacramento XSV, appearing on the team's roster at the 2006 Smart Parts Paintball World Championships. The published roster listed him wearing jersey number 997 alongside players including Jon Richardson, Nicky Cuba, Thomas Taylor and Scott Kemp.[4]

Glaze later returned to Infamous and continued competing in professional tournaments through the late 2000s and early 2010s.

His playing career spanned the transition from traditional NPPL tournament formats to modern X-Ball competition.

San Diego Dynasty

For the 2012 season, Glaze joined San Diego Dynasty, having previously played for Los Angeles Infamous.

Contemporary reporting identified him among Dynasty's new player additions ahead of the 2012 PSP Galveston Island Open.[5]

Later that year, following the departure of coach Mike Hinman, Glaze moved into the team's head coaching position.[6]

Coaching career

San Diego Dynasty head coach

Glaze became head coach of San Diego Dynasty ahead of the 2013 season, succeeding Mike Hinman.

His appointment came during a period of roster changes and organisational adjustments. Dynasty added players including Brandon Short and Kyle Spicka as it sought to improve its performance in professional X-Ball competition.[6]

Glaze's coaching approach placed emphasis on structured game planning, field analysis and tactical preparation.

He remained associated with Dynasty's coaching programme throughout much of the 2010s.

In 2020, Dynasty player Ryan Greenspan published examples of Glaze's methods for preparing tournament field layouts and game plans. These included simplified field diagrams intended to assist players and coaches in developing tactical plans.[7]

Dynasty won the professional division at the 2020 NXL World Cup, during Glaze's tenure as head coach.[8]

Glaze departed the head coaching position before the 2021 season, when Kevin Bredthauer returned to coach Dynasty.[8]

Paintball education

Glaze has also worked in paintball coaching and player development outside professional tournament competition.

He became involved with BKi Paintball, an online training platform providing instructional material from professional players and coaches.

His contributions have included coaching education, tactical breakdowns, practice drills and written instructional material.[9]

BKi has also offered a coaching masterclass developed by Glaze, covering team organisation, coaching fundamentals and tournament preparation.[9]

Paintball history and business activities

Paintball Win Count

Glaze helped establish Paintball Win Count, a website dedicated to documenting professional paintball tournament victories and championship records.

The project collects historical results from professional competitions, including the NPPL, PSP, NXL and Millennium Series.

By September 2014, Glaze was publishing material on the website explaining its purpose of recognising professional teams and players who had won major championships.[10]

In a December 2014 article about Russian professional player Mikhail Knyazev, Glaze explained that one of his motivations for helping create Paintball Win Count was to recognise successful competitors who had received relatively little media attention.[11]

The website has become a resource for researching historical professional paintball results.

Constant Pursuit

In 2018, Glaze founded Constant Pursuit, a business providing website development and digital marketing services for commercial paintball parks.[1]

The company focuses on creating and managing websites for paintball field operators, drawing on Glaze's experience within the paintball industry.[12]

References

Paintball Nerd – Fun Five Interview with Rusty Glaze. 17 July 2023.
WARPIG – 2002 NPPL Professional Rosters. 10 March 2002.
WARPIG – 2003 Mardi Gras Open NXL Rosters. 20–23 February 2003.
WARPIG – 2006 Smart Parts Paintball World Championships Team Rosters. May 2006.
Social Paintball – PSP Galveston Island Open: 6 Storylines to Watch For. 6 March 2012.
Social Paintball – Dynasty Reloading. Lawrence Abernathy, 20 January 2013.
Ryan Greenspan – 2020 NXL World Cup Field Layout. 2020.
Paintball Nerd – Dynasty's Triumphant Return to the Top. 1 December 2021.
BKi Paintball – Coaching Master Class with Rusty Glaze.
Paintball Win Count – The Professional Paintball Division. Rusty Glaze, 3 September 2014.
Paintball Win Count – Who is Mishka Knyazev?. Rusty Glaze, 14 December 2014.
Constant Pursuit Marketing – About Us.

External links