Editing Splatfest '91

'''Splatfest '91''' was a Philippine [[speedball]] tournament organised by Gotcha, Inc. during the Second Defence and Security Fair in November 1991. A contemporary report in ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'' described it as the first speedball competition held in the Philippines.[1] The event included separate novice and expert competitions and was presented before spectators attending the fair.

== Background ==

The Second Defence and Security Fair ran from 2 to 6 November 1991 and featured exhibitions by branches of the Philippine armed forces alongside airgun and firearm exhibitors.[1] Gotcha, Inc. staged Splatfest '91 at the fair as part of an effort to promote paintball in the Philippines. The organiser intended to demonstrate that paintball could be conducted professionally while encouraging teamwork and sportsmanship.[1]

== Tournament ==

The tournament was divided between a morning novice competition and an afternoon expert competition.[1]

The novice division attracted ten five-player teams representing students and companies. Gotcha, Inc. provided [[Splatmaster]] markers to novice competitors without rental charges. Cobra won the novice competition.[1]

Twelve teams entered the expert division. Before play, competitors attended a briefing covering the rules, discipline and sportsmanship. Markers were chronographed to a maximum velocity of 275 feet per second, fully automatic markers were prohibited, and the speedball field was enclosed with netting so spectators could watch safely.[1]

The published report recorded the following first-round expert matches:

{| class="wikitable"
! Match
! Winner
|-
| Grunts A v Bullseye B
| Grunts A
|-
| Posse A v Upstarts
| Posse A
|-
| Bullseye A v Bishaw
| Bullseye A
|-
| Cobra v Grunts B
| Cobra
|-
| Posse B v Body Painters
| Posse B
|-
| Batas Group v Grunts C
| Batas Group
|}

The report did not identify the subsequent results or an overall expert-division champion.[1]

== Spectators and promotion ==

Spectators watched from outside the netted course and reportedly cheered and sometimes coached the teams during play. Author Vince Padilla compared the atmosphere to a basketball game, with teams attracting their own groups of supporters.[1]

Reported sponsors included Agfa, Colgate-Palmolive, Transfarms, Sime Darby, [[Tippmann Pneumatics]] and [[National Survival Games]]. Radio stations 99.5 RT, 88.3 City Lite and 89.9 WTM were also named, together with the television programmes ''Sports Review'' and ''Sports Life''.[1]

== See also ==

* [[Paintball in the Philippines]]
* [[Speedball]]
* [[Splatmaster]]

== References ==

# Vince Padilla, “Splatfest '91”, ''Action Pursuit Games'', July 1992, pp. 98–101.

[[Category:Paintball tournaments]]
[[Category:Paintball in the Philippines]]
[[Category:1991 in paintball]]