Thomas “The Troll” Taylor

The Catshack is very pleased to have Thomas “The Troll” Taylor of XSV stop by to discuss his recent tour. Through 2009 Thomas launched an exhaustive journey dubbed the “Beat Down City Tour” across the US promoting paintball and showcasing the game everywhere he went. As far as pro paintball players in the game, Thomas is easily amongst our favorites as a very laid back, more than approachable individual with a zany, most excellent sense of humor.

So here he is, the man himself discussing his Beatdown City Tour 2009 as follows:

Where do I start! This was one of the best experiences I have been had the opportunity to be a part of in my entire life. I originally set out to have some fun and make some money. As I started planning and praying about it I realized the tour was so much more than making money for myself, I could use this money to help families in need, grow the sport of paintball and shine a better light on who we are and what we do.

I presented my proposal to many companies and a number of them decided they would love to be a part of the tour. These companies which included; JT, DGX, FULLCLIP, EXALT, FACEFULL, STYLEPOINTS, PODIUM PAINTBALL, BALLERS CAFE, SUNDAY MEDIA, SUNDAY CLOTHING and Keith Taylor (PAPA Troll), all wanted to not just make a buck but see our sport grow and also be a part of helping out people in need. I feel so blessed to have worked with so many companies in the paintball community that actually care about making a difference.

Once I figured out what we could afford I set our plans into motion. My original plans had to be cut down and I had to use my Dads van for the tour vehicle as funding was tight and I wanted to be able to give as much to help people as I could. I think a lot of people would have given up at this point but I know God would provide and I was not worried about making sure I made a bunch of money as long as we could help. Little did I know that spending a ton of time in the van, tents and making our food would be so rewarding.

Freddy (camera guy) and I covered 9 states, 64 stores/fields and close to 9000 miles and more hours then I can tell together. We used a good portion of this time to be in the word and listen to praise music. We met many people along the tour that we were able to talk to about how they could get involved in the community as well as explained that not all the paintball world is some big rock star drug party. I feel its very important for Moms and Dads of kids in our sport to know that their kids can play become pro and still hold onto their values no matter what they are. Speaking of kids and families, I had the pleasure at the clinics and store signings to meet so many interesting and talented individuals!

At the store signings and clinics I had contests and games to give away many prizes donated by the sponsors. It was so great to see people faces when they realized that they were not just going to hang out or learn, instead they were going to have fun and walk away with free gear! Once again I can’t thank the sponsors enough for donating what they did! We did contest like the paint bob, races, one vs one, accuracy, dizzy bats, mohawks, as well as sportsmanship and most improved awards! I joined in in a number of contests and had a lot of fun as well as laughing my butt off at many off them. During all this we had the camera rolling.

We tried to put out as many video blogs as we could during the tour so people could get an idea of where we were at and what we were doing. Sunday media (Freddy) kept the film rolling the whole trip. There is more footage then I have any clue what we can do with. Thats ok though because Gene with Sunday Media edits and puts out a show youtube.com/beatdowncitytour every saturday for me. I dont know exactly how many shows will air but I would expect around 24 plus shows. I hope this is the first of many years to come.

I will start working on the 2010 tour soon. It will take a little more planning and time as I would like to do it along the East Coast, God willing it will happen and it’ll be great!

Thank you for following along and showing your support. Each week I get more subscribers and that makes all the difference.

To learn more about Thomas Taylor and his Beatdown City Tour…check out the rest of his videos on his YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/BeatdownCityTour