In 2005, two players from the Kingston, ON area got really bored with traveling to scenario paintball events by themselves. They were Mat MacDonald and Mitch Sabourin, having played together since 2002 under various teams … they eventually decided to build a new team. Being refs at a local field, they had the perfect opportunity to review some of the raw talent that ventured to the field on weekends, and possibly build a team.
Mat and Mitch eventually recruited a few players from their old team, a few new players and were soon able to field a team of twelve players.
Blackthorn Paintball was born.
Within their first and second year, Blackthorn were able to become a strong presence in the Great Lakes Scenario Paintball scene. Having attended and assisted in establishing charity events, big games and eventually becoming a field team for one of the greatest scenario paintball facilities in Ontario and possibly all of Canada. Unfortunately the facility closed it’s doors the same year, but Blackthorn, now running full steam ahead, returned home to Ground Zero Paintball in Gananoque, ON.
With the support of Ground Zero Paintball (www.gzpaintball.ca), Blackthorn continued to try to bring innovation to the scenario paintball world by developing the Offensive Action Scenario Series (OASS). The series unfortunately strayed from its intended format, but became the leading 10 man Scenario paintball series in Canada in 2008.
For the 2009 season, Blackthorn lost one of its founding members, having 
moved out to Western Canada, Mat became Blackthorn’s online resource and a connection to a new cross Canada series (CWC) which Ontario through Ground Zero Paintball will now be a member in. However, the team as a whole decided to push on and try to concentrate on the Speedball side of paintball for the season, rebuilding the team and trying to establish itself as a newer face in the speedball community. Along the way we were able to sign some major sponsors such as: YouScared? (www.youscared.com)clothing – Interesting clothing designs that are cutting edge and that always ask the question … you scared ? Fluid (www.livefluid.com) Muscle Recovery – along with some of the leading paintball and other intense sport teams in their respective leagues, Fluid muscle recovery helps athletes stay on top of their game by allowing their muscles to get back in the game faster. SPY (www.spyoptic.com) Optics – Some of the best eye-wear on the market. Durable, fashionable and above all … just really really cool looking. EPIC (www.epicstealthcam.com) Stealth Cams – a great advance in technology, we’ll be using the stealth cams at the end of the 09 season and well into 2010. Inner-Cooler (www.inner-cooler.net) Performance Wrap – We may be in Canada, but it isn’t always cold up here. During the summer months, it can get really warm running around in the woods. We will be using inner-cooler wraps throughout the rest of 09 and into 2010.
In August of 2009, Blackthorn’s founding members were reunited, Mat returned from out West and when he arrived, it was decided that we should return to what we are good at, while still building on our gains in speedball. Starting from scratch, Blackthorn is currently rebuilding it’s woodsball/scenario/milsim presence into what it once was … and possibly more.
For the 2010 season, Blackthorn will once again be bringing innovation to the woodsball/scenario/milsim scene in a way never seen in Ontario. We will be venturing further than we have yet, expanding our field experiences and playing some of the best games in Canada and the United States.
Keep an eye on Blackthorn throughout the 2009-2010 season, while we rebuild into a better version of ourselves and look forward to what we will be bringing to all the players in 2010…
To learn even more about Blackthorn be sure to visit their website at http://www.blackthornpaintball.com/
Blackthorn has also created a new blog that will follow all the teams events and successes as they progress through the rest of the paintball season and begin 2010. The blog can be viewed by visiting http://blackthornpaintball.blogspot.com/
Team bio courtesy of Mat “4Sight” McDonald and Mitch “Prophet” Sabourin
