Editing Association of German Paintballers

The '''Association of German Paintballers''' (German: '''Verband Deutscher Paintballer e.V.''', '''VDP''') is a registered paintball association based in Runkel, Germany. Publicly active by December 2024, it promotes cooperation among German leagues and represents Germany in the [[United Paintball Federation]] (UPBF), which lists its membership from 2026.[1][2][3][4]

== History ==

In a May 2025 interview with ''Paintball Sports'', VDP chair Felix Müller traced the association's origins to cooperation among regional tournament organisers. He said the UGPL brought together organisers from ICS, XSeries and CORE and worked with venues that hosted the Deutsche Paintball Liga (DPL). Müller identified discussions with the European federation about establishing a German association as the immediate impetus for forming the VDP.[4]

The VDP recruited members at the inaugural Shot World fair in Troisdorf on 7–8 December 2024. The association is recorded in the Limburg local court's register under VR 2402. The register-derived listing records Müller as chair from 6 January 2025.[2][3]

In February 2025, the VDP announced a partnership with the German Classic Open to promote classic-format paintball. In May, Müller identified youth development, cooperation across playing formats and broader access to national-team selection as priorities for the association.[4][5]

== International representation ==

Before the VDP appeared in the UPBF directory, the DPL's 2020 rulebook described the league as a member of the [[European Paintball Federation]] (EPBF) and UPBF and stated that it appointed German teams for the European and world championships. UPBF's directory lists the VDP as Germany's representative under EPBF, with a membership year of 2026.[1][6]

In June 2026, the VDP announced July trials for the men's, women's and veterans' national teams ahead of the World Championship.[5]

== See also ==

* [[European Paintball Federation]]
* [[United Paintball Federation]]

== References ==

# [https://www.upbf.net/organizations United Paintball Federation, member organisations directory]
# [https://www.registercheck.de/companies/verband-deutscher-paintballer-e-v Registercheck, Verband Deutscher Paintballer e.V., Limburg association register VR 2402]
# [https://www.paintballsports.de/paintball-airsoft-messe-die-shot-world/ Paintball & Airsoft Messe – Die Shot World, Paintball Sports, 4 March 2025]
# [https://www.paintballsports.de/alle-zusammen-verband-deutscher-paintballer/ Alle zusammen! Verband Deutscher Paintballer, interview with Felix Müller, Paintball Sports, 14 May 2025]
# [https://www.gyms1.com/DE/Runkel/469244272931354/Verband-Deutscher-Paintballer Verband Deutscher Paintballer announcements, including the German Classic Open partnership of 8 February 2025 and national-team trials notice of 18 June 2026, reproduced by Gyms1]
# [https://dpl-online.de/download/DPL-Rules-1-0.pdf Deutsche Paintball Liga rulebook, 1 May 2020, p. 9]

== External links ==

* [https://www.upbf.net/federation/56a76841-714b-4857-b9b6-c7fffde1fbb7 UPBF profile]

[[Category:European paintball organisations]]
[[Category:Paintball in Germany]]